George Osborne’s ratings as Chancellor have turned negative amid a sharp fall in confidence in the  economy, it was revealed today. For the first time since the economic recovery began in spring 2013, more people are dissatisfied with his  performance than satisfied, research by Ipsos MORI for the Evening Standard has found. The setback comes at a time of intensifying ...

Talks on reform of the UK’s place in the EU continued in the early hours after Downing Street said there was “real hard work to do overnight”. European Council President Donald Tusk said there had been “some progress” on the first day of the Brussels summit, but “a lot still remains to be done”. He began a series of meetings ...

The proportion of young women smoking cigarettes has risen for the first time in almost 10 years. About 21% of women aged between 16 and 34 currently smoke cigarettes, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics, up from 20% the previous year. Smoking among young women had been slowly declining since 2008, when the figure was 27%. The ...

Lionel Messi put on another show at the Camp Nou on Sunday, scoring a remarkable goal from a free kick and then helping to set up a hat trick for Luis Suarez – including a daring assist from a penalty kick – as Barcelona thrashed Celta Vigo 6-1. Ivan Rakitic and Neymar also scored as Barcelona opened up a three-point ...

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Sunday announced a 15-member squad for the 13th Asia Cup starting on February 24 with hosts Bangladesh taking on India at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) in Mirpur. The other teams of the Twenty20 format tournament include defending champions Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India and a qualifier, UNB reports. The qualifier will be determined through a ...

The wreckage of a South Korean army’s helicopter in Chuncheon, South Korea.  A South Korean military helicopter crashed in an eastern province today, killing three of the four soldiers on board, officials said. The helicopter went down in a farming field in the city of Chuncheon in the eastern province of Gangwon during a checkout flight, defense and army officials ...

The Paris terror attacks in November that killed 130 people were an intelligence failure, America’s top spymaster has said, warning that the ISIS is planning an attack on the US. “Paris was a failure of intelligence. All but one of the eight terrorists were French citizens, trained by ISIS in Syria. They returned, unnoticed, and attacked six locations killing 130 ...

By Ansar Ahmed Ullah :: Lord Avebury has passed away on the morning of 14 February. Lord Avebury, his full name Eric Reginald Lubbock, passed away peacefully at his home in south London, at the age of 87, attended by his wife, Lindsay, and other family members. He was suffering from myelofibrosis, a form of blood cancer, for more than ...

By Ansar Ahmed Ullahv :: The conflict in Syria has had a terrible human cost and is now considered the largest humanitarian crisis since the World War II. By January 2016, 13.5 million Syrians were in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the European Commission. The European Union and the member states have allocated more than €5 billion in funding ...

A cliff near New Zealand city of Christchurch collapsed on Sunday after a 5.7-magnitude quake struck the South Island city. The New Zealand government’s GeoNet monitoring service said the moderate quake was centred 15 km east of the city at a depth of 15 km, Xinhua reported. The US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the temblor at 5.8 with ...