By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Turkey's military say they have today shot down a Russian war plane near its border with Syria after the jet violated Turkish air space. It is claimed the Russian jet failed to listen to numerous warnings over a five minute period. The Russian Sukhoi Su-24 jet was shot down by Turkish F-16 fighter planes after ignoring nearly a dozen warnings, Turkish army officials said. However, Russia's Ministry of Defence claims the jet was in Syrian...

By Steve Taggart A slightly sniffy article in the Guardian last week declared that the fundraising campaign Movember’s growth cycle was in decline. It claimed that last year UK Movember raised £3 million pounds less than the previous year and argued that many men now already sport some sort of facial hair. But despite describing the campaign as ‘awful’ the Guardian conceded that often-ignored male health issues had benefitted hugely from a raised profile and millions of pounds. If Movember started...

by Miranda Hazrati @mirandahazrati Once the preserve of the art-house crowd, in recent years foreign films have begun to reach a much wider audience, reflecting the increasingly multi-cultural society we live in. As viewers discover the cinematic delights that lie beyond the subtitles, foreign language films have crossed over from niche to mainstream popularity with films like ‘Amélie’ taking on Hollywood blockbusters at the boxoffice. 1. Cinema Paradiso Ironically this beautifully crafted film by young, unknown Italian director Guiseppe Tournatore...

 By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent  British shoppers say they will be avoiding the high street this Black Friday after the events of 2014 which led to police involvement in several major retailers. The research shows ‘Black and Blue Friday’ is now competing with boozy ‘Mad Friday’ as emergency services are pushed to the limit. Indeed, a whopping 82 per cent of those polled say the mayhem of last year’s event has put them off shopping instore because they would feel...

Sport News 24/7 By David de Winter - Sports Editor @TLE_Sport  @davidjdewinter The England Rugby team and the RFU would rather forget the last two months ever happened.  Firstly, the national side was eliminated from the Rugby World Cup at the group stages, the only host nation to do so in the competition’s history.  Next, they sacked the coach Stuart Lancaster, the man they appointed to lead the team to glory at the World Cup.  Then, rugby league convert Sam...

Christmas is traditionally a time spent celebrating with friends and family, exchanging gifts and having fun. For the 500,000 older people expected to spend Christmas alone, however, Christmas isn’t such a joyful occasion. Loneliness is a growing issue for the older population - at Christmas and all year round. Last year Friends of the Elderly launched its Future of Loneliness report, which found that over five million older people in the UK are affected by loneliness, with more than a million...

By Miranda Hazrati @mirandahazrati Rufus Norris has enjoyed a successful few months since he took over as Artistic Director at the National Theatre in April this year with ‘Beaux’ Stratagem’, ‘Everyman’ and The Motherf**cker With A Hat’ all proving his salt. But that might be about to change with ‘An Evening At The Talkhouse’ which opens this week and looks set at the very least to divide audiences. An almost unbearable 100 minute no-interval mish-mash of undeveloped and half-baked themes and...

By Lewis Garland “Black Friday” evokes images of feral, foraging bargain hunters and TV screen tug-of-wars. Now in its fourth year, Giving Tuesday has become something of an antidote to these consumerist excesses. Taking place on the Tuesday after Black Friday and Cyber Monday, GivingTuesday is a global day of philanthropy . The emergence of Giving Tuesday has created a valuable space for the voices of charities, altruistic causes and community projects, rarely heard amid the clunking of shopping trollies....

Built To Spill Support: Disco Doom Electric Ballroom, 25.11.15 Later this week 90's indie legends Built To Spill will bring their genre-spanning sound to the confines of Camden's Electric Ballroom. For the uninitiated, expect winding Pavement-style pop and loose low-end jams. These boys have eight albums and twenty years under their belt; it might be a Wednesday night but it's going to be all-killer. Zurich-based art rock quartet Disco Doom are also along for the ride, getting the fresh sounds of their latest LP Numerals...