“Groundhog Day” is back

A bottle of Scotch whisky billed as “the most sought-after” in the world has sold for almost 2.2 million pounds ($2.7 million)

BEIJING (Reuters) -The United States needs "Kissinger-style diplomatic wisdom" in its policies towards China, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi told

Jamie Foxx and Alyce Huckstepp's relationship first caught attention when they were spotted together during their trip to Cannes in 2022

Detectives investigating the long-unsolved slayings known as the Gilgo Beach killings have searched a storage facility in the Long Island community of Amityville over the weekend

Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang is heading to China to meet with tech executives in the

An attempted uprising by mercenaries has revealed cracks in Vladimir Putin’s authority, according to the US secretary of state. The mutiny by the Wagner Group, which saw its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin order his troops to march on Moscow, left the Russian president hiding from public view on Sunday after being forced into an amnesty deal. Though the astonishing revolt was short-lived – with the fighters withdrawing under the agreement that saw Mr Prigozhin exiled to Belarus – it has raised questions about Mr Putin’s grip on power. The Russian president has not commented publicly since the deal was struck to de-escalate one of the biggest challenges since he rose to power more than two decades ago. He said he was giving top priority to the conflict in Ukraine in excerpts from an interview aired by state television on Sunday, but it appeared to have been recorded before the rebellion. Speaking on Sunday, US secretary of state Anthony Blinken said the revolt was a “direct challenge of Putin’s authority”. Mr Blinken said the turmoil has weakened Mr Putin in ways that could aid Ukraine’s counteroffensive. Mr Blinken told US media: “We’ve seen more cracks emerge in the Russian facade. It is too soon to tell exactly where they go... but certainly, we have all sorts of new questions that Putin is going to have to address in the weeks and months ahead.” The Wagner Group’s forces were just 195km (120 miles) from Moscow before the rebellion was called off to avoid shedding Russian blood. Mr Prigozhin had said his “march” on Moscow was intended to remove corrupt and incompetent Russian commanders he blames for botching the war in Ukraine. Mr Prigozhin has for months accused Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov, of incompetence and of withholding ammunition from his fighters as they battled to take Bakhmut in Ukraine. This month, Mr Prigozhin defied orders to place his troops under defence ministry command. He launched the rebellion on Friday after alleging the military had killed some of his men in an airstrike – a claim denied by the defence ministry. Mr Prigozhin, 62, was seen leaving the district military headquarters in Rostov, hundreds of miles south of Moscow, late on Saturday. His whereabouts on Sunday were not known. The deal brokered by Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko also means Wagner fighters who joined the “march for justice” will face no action. In an earlier televised address on Saturday, Mr Putin said the rebellion put Russia‘s very existence under threat. “We are fighting for the lives and security of our people, for our sovereignty and independence, for the right to remain Russia, a state with a thousand-year history,” Mr Putin said, vowing punishment for those behind “an armed insurrection”. In his daily address on Sunday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Mr Putin is “obviously very afraid” and is “probably hiding”, while his defence minister Oleksii Reznikov said the 36-hour mutiny shows Russian authorities are “weak”. Mr Reznikov said: “Had a phone conversation with my friend and colleague secretary of defence Lloyd J Austin III. “We talked about recent events in Russia. We agree that the Russian authorities are weak and that withdrawing Russian troops from Ukraine is the best choice for the Kremlin. Russia would be better served to address its own issues.” He added: “We also discussed the #UAarmy‘s counteroffensive and the next steps in strengthening our defence forces. Things are moving in the right direction. Ukraine will win.” Meanwhile, the Institute for the Study of War said Russia struggled to respond clearly and coherently to the threat from the Wagner Group. It said the incident has highlighted “internal security weaknesses likely due to surprise and the impact of heavy losses in Ukraine”. Commons defence committee chair Tobias Ellwood told the i newspaper: “Putin’s days are clearly numbered, he might survive the initial wound for a period of time but as Russian history shows, often it triggers a series of subsequent events that lead to the leader’s downfall. “Power is ebbing away. The Wagner Group may be neutered, Prighozin exiled, but Putin is definitely weaker and the hawks are now circling.” Read More Ukraine says Wagner’s mutiny proves Putin’s fragility – but this war ends on the battlefield US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says ‘we haven’t seen the last act’ in Russia’s Wagner rebellion Russia-Ukraine war live: Wagner rebellion shows Putin’s power is finally cracking, US says The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

Switching half our clothes in each of our wardrobes to pre-loved could prevent carbon emissions equivalent to those produced by 261,000 flights from London to Greece, Oxfam have suggested. So what is the allure of buying brand new clothes, when we know it’s worse for the environment? Well, there’s a reason we refer to shopping as ‘retail therapy’. Whether it’s a going-out top grabbed on your lunch break or a designer bag you’ve had your eye on for months, fashion acquisitions in particular have the power to lift your mood, thanks to the chemical dopamine. “Dopamine is known as the reward agent,” said cognitive psychologist and business consultant Dr Carolyn Mair, author of The Psychology of Fashion. “We produce more dopamine when we’re on the hunt for something that’s going to give us a positive outcome or make the situation we’re in at the moment more easy to bear. “It can become an addiction, certainly, because the same neurotransmitters and same behaviours are involved.” And buying an on-trend outfit provides more of a thrill than loading up a supermarket trolley because it satisfies our desire to fit in. “It’s a fundamental psychological drive that we want to belong to communities – part of the way we do that is through the way we dress,” said Mair – who is working with Oxfam for the launch of its Second Hand September campaign – but it’s a double-edged sword. “Fashion can do wonders for us in terms of highlighting or concealing parts of our bodies that we love or don’t love so much,” Mair continued. “But it can also be quite damaging when we feel that we have to join in with other people’s ideas about what’s fashionable.” Peer pressure can have a powerful effect, as can the boredom. “We get bored with what we’ve got, and we’re also very much influenced by fashion trends, celebrities, social media and so on,” said Mair. “There’s quite often a temptation to join in with those trends and be part of that… It can be quite difficult for people to resist that.” Even, that is, when we know that the fashion industry is hugely detrimental to the enviroment in terms of carbon emissions and unwanted garments going to landfill. “I think the huge majority of people already know [the environmental impact],” said Mair, and yet fast fashion brands continue to churn out millions of items a year and consumers lap them up. Instead of telling people to quit clothes shopping altogether, she said to ask ourselves: “How can we get the pleasure from fashion by not buying brand new, but by buying something else?” That’s why she encourages fashion fans to make more sustainable choices, starting with ‘shopping your wardrobe’. “You can make something you’ve already got feel new by upcycling it or changing it a little bit, if you’re creative. We can swap with friends, because then it’s ‘new to me’.” Hunting on sites like Vinted, eBay or Depop is a great way of “finding treasures so that’s giving us the dopamine hit and we’re saving money”, she added. If the proceeds are going to a good cause you’ll get an extra altruistic boost as welll. “We know from positive psychology that one of the best ways to feel good about ourselves is to do good for someone else,” said Mair. “Whenever we buy secondhand from a charity shop we know that our money is going towards doing good.” She’s also a big fan of rental sites like HURR Collective, Hire Street and By Rotation that offer premium pieces to hire for a fraction of their retail price. “Rental sites are great, particularly for special occasions when we think ‘I need to buy something new,’ because that’s the social norm,” she said. “Rental is a great way to keep an item of clothing in use for longer so it’s worn by more people and looked after.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live How can I improve my teenager’s low mood? Drinking alcohol does not make people look more attractive, study suggests Maya Jama and Stormzy: Can you make it work with an ex?

Logan Paul ranks #10 on the Forbes Highest-Paid YouTube Stars 2018 list

A federal judge in Montana has blocked a bid to ban TikToK in the state. The state-wide ban would have come into effect on 1 January 2024 and would have seen Montana become the first US state to ban TikTok, which is owned by the China-based tech giant ByteDance. Judge Donald Molloy said he blocked the ban because it “oversteps state power” and Montana failed to show how the original SB 419 bill would be “constitutionally permissible,” among other reasons, according to a legal filing released on Thursday. “Despite the State’s attempt to defend SB 419 as a consumer protection bill, the current record leaves little doubt that Montana’s legislature and Attorney General were more interested in targeting China’s ostensible role in TikTok than with protecting Montana consumers,” Judge Molloy wrote in the filing. Judge Molloy’s ruling was a preliminary injunction, so it is possible the ban can still be reinstated. The bill was signed into law by state governor Greg Gianforte in May with the aim of “protecting Montanans from Chinese Communist Party surveillance,” he claimed. Under the law, Montana’s 200,000 TikTok users did not face any repercussions for using the app, however TikTok and other companies faced a $10,000 daily fine for each time someone accessed the app or was “offered the ability” to download it. Opponents of the bill have argued that it violates users’ First Amendment rights. A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement the company is “pleased the judge rejected this unconstitutional law and hundreds of thousands of Montanans can continue to express themselves, earn a living, and find community on TikTok.” ByteDance sued Montana in May to “prevent the state of Montana from unlawfully banning TikTok,” the company said at the time, after state officials alleged the Chinese government “could access data about TikTok users, and that TikTok exposes minors to harmful online content.” TikTok has previously insisted that it does not share data with the Chinese government. Montana attorney general said in a statement that the judge’s decision is merely “a preliminary matter at this point,” adding that the state will continue to defend the ban. In January 2020, the United States Army and Navy banned TikTok on government devices after the Defense Department labeled it a security risk. US lawmakers have expressed concern over the ability of the Chinese Communist Party to access the data of US citizens using the app, and have considered implementing a nationwide ban on TikTok. Read More Apple users told to make urgent update to stay safe Three has gone down Advertisers ‘won’t take risk’ of returning to X after Musk’s expletive-filled rant Apple users told to make urgent update to stay safe Three has gone down Advertisers ‘won’t take risk’ of returning to X after Musk’s expletive-filled rant

Former President Donald Trump confirmed Sunday he will not participate in the first Republican primary debate this week.

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's automated border control gates have returned to normal operation, the Home Office said on Saturday, after a