The actor Vanessa Redgrave, a lifelong activist for the left, has hailed the German Chancellor a hero and the only world leader to grasp the gravity of the “refugee emergency” affecting Europe. Redgrave went on to dismiss the hardline attitude of the interior minister, Theresa May, who she called “a Dracula of a home secretary”. Read more. Students of the Los Angeles public school system were treated to an unexpected holiday when school officials received an anonymous email containing a “credible threat” of violence. Shortly after the Los Angeles Unified School District shut down, New York City Police Commissioner William J. Bratton revealed that New York City schools received “almost exactly the same” threat, but identified it as “a hoax". Read more Pop icon Sir Elton John has told the BBC "I'd rather have empty seats” after tickets for his 2016 UK tour went on sale for up to five times face value on secondary ticket sites, despite the show having yet to sell out. Read more.

Police now believe that three teenagers from Wood Green, London, who went missing last month have not left the UK but may actually be sleeping on buses or elsewhere on the public transport system. Fardowsa Hassan, 13, Abir Salah, 16, and Ahlam Salah, 15, are believed to be together. Read more In the first debate after the California and Paris attacks, Republican Presidential hopefuls sparred over how to stop the so-called Islamic State (IS). Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio clashed on surveillance and immigration policy and Jeb Bush attempted to revive his flailing campaign by forcefully attacking front-runner Donald Trump. Read more.

The Republican candidates appearing at Tuesday night’s debate weren’t the only ones making a run for the White House: Placeholder president Frank Underwood announced the return of Netflix's House of Cards with an extremely clever campaign-style ad. The series is set to return on March 4 to Netflix. Prepare to binge! Read more