Adin Ross said, 'I'm sorry for not doing well, I'm gonna keep fighting but this shits keep getting worse'

The Taliban and Iran have exchanged heavy gunfire on the Islamic Republic’s border with Afghanistan

Shawn Mendes was taking the lie detector test when he was asked a question about Taylor Swift's ex-boyfriend

Western analysts say Russia is throwing more units into its effort to take a key eastern Ukraine city, after apparent setbacks that have slowed its dayslong onslaught

A deadly heatwave is sweeping Europe with ground temperatures in Spain hitting more than 60C while thunderstorms have been forecast for France. The heatwave - named Cerberus by Italian forecasters - has the potential to see record-breaking temperatures in the coming days, with 48.8C possible in Italy. A heat map for Europe has turned to dark red and even black in areas because of the severity of the extreme weather. Forecasters have said the heatwave could last for up to two weeks and already one person has died as a result. The 44-year-old worker was reportedly painting a zebra crossing in 40C heat in the town of Lodi outside Milan, Italy, at midday on Tuesday when he collapsed. He was said to have lost consciousness due to the intense heat. "We are facing an unbearable heatwave," Italian MP Nicola Fratoianni tweeted. "Maybe it's the case that in the hottest hours all the useful precautions are taken to avoid tragedies like the one that happened today in Lodi." Read More Land temperatures in Spain surpass 60C as deadly heatwave sweeps Europe Warnings issued to tourists over European heatwave Cerberus as temperatures soar and worker dies Will the UK see a 40C heatwave again this summer? European heatwave Cerberus claims first life as worker dies in 40C heat

Investigators from special counsel Jack Smith's office are set to interview Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, as part of the federal probe into efforts to subvert the peaceful transition of power.

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk is expected to visit China this week, three people with knowledge

Any thought that Donald Trump’s latest would dampen Republican primary voters’ enthusiasm for his candidacy was quickly dispelled by the overwhelming reception the former president received at the North Carolina Republican Convention in Greensboro. Before Mr Trump took to the stage, a video montage highlighted how the former president had faced multiple investigations, which it called persecution. When he took the stage at the Koury Convention Center on Saturday evening, he received a standing ovation. And rather than waving to the crowd or giving a thumbs up as he normally does, Mr Trump seemed to stand still as if to take in the wellspring of support from the GOP faithful. More tables were added to the ballroom for his speech than the night before, when Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, his chief 2024 GOP rival, spoke at the same event. Mr Trump has been on a pre-arraignment tour of sorts, having spoken in Georgia earlier on Saturday before his appearance in North Carolina. Mr Trump baselessly argued that Joe Biden’s administration indicted him because Democrats do not want the current to run against him, despite the fact Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith to independently lead the investigation of Mr Trump specifically because he would be a future political candidate. “They say well, we want to run against Trump,” Mr Trump said. “In the meantime, we got 5,000 prosecutors after us, because they don’t want to run against me.” The speech came days after a federal grand jury voted to indict the former president. The unsealed indictment accused Mr Trump of showing highly classified information to unauthorised people on two separate occasions – first with a author and publisher who was writing a book with his former chief of staff, and a second time involving a map of an unnamed country and staff for his political action committee. But throughout the weekend, Mr Trump’s supporters said the indictment made them all the more likely to rally around him, just as the earlier indictment in New York City energised his base. “It’s the same old racket the Democrats have been pulling for him,” Jim Forster told The Independent. “They have never had a good thing to say about anybody.” Patricia Koluch of Pender County told The Independent that she already supported Mr Trump but the indictment would make her more likely to get behind him. “Oh, absolutely, 110 per cent now,” she said and said it would get more Republicans behind him. “It already has.” So far, Mr Trump’s numerous legal troubles have weighed down his political prospects. After the federal indictment, scores of Republican lawmakers attacked the Justice Department and crowed about a two-tiered system of justice. Mr Trump’s poll numbers did not drop after his arraignment in Manhattan in April for charges related to his payment of hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Nor did they deflate after a jury in New York found him liable for the sexual abuse and defamation of writer E Jean Carroll last month. Mr Trump on Saturday decried the investigation as tampering with elections. “They just tried to stop our movement, they want to do anything they can to thwart the will of the American people – it’s called election interference,” Mr Trump told the crowd. Telia Kivett, the chairwoman of the Sampson County Republican Party, told The Independent that as a county party leader, she had to be neutral but she loved both Mr Trump and Florida Gov Ron DeSantis. But she said that the indictment if anything made Republicans more likely to support Mr Trump. “The Democrats think that this is going to suppress voters, but it actually will embolden them,” she said. “It’s making them angrier. It’s making them see the government for what it really is.” Ms Kivett said she thought that Mr Trump would be the next president. “That’s why they’re so against Trump, that he’s put out everything, you know, as far as what was going on with the FBI, the Department of Justice, CIA, all of that,” she said. “That’s why they do not want Trump to run.” Other elected officials threw their support behind Mr Trump. Rep Richard Hudson, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he endorsed the former president, citing the fact that his wife worked in Mr Trump’s administration. Similarly, the two other presidential candidates who appeared at the convention, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis and former vice president Mike Pence, criticised the Justice Department for their pursuit of Mr Trump. “Is there a different standard for a Democrat secretary of state versus a former Republican president,” Mr DeSantis said during his speech on Friday evening. “I think there needs to be one standard of justice in this country.” Meanwhile, despite the fact Mr Pence attempted to draw a line between himself and Mr Trump, particularly when it came to Mr Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, Mr Pence criticised the Justice Department and Mr Smith’s prosecution. “Now, as I said earlier this week, I had hoped the Department of Justice would see its way clear to resolve the issues involving the former president without an indictment and I’m deeply troubled to see this indictment move forward,” he said, warning about “its capacity to further divide our country at a time when the American people are stronger as never before.” Throughout the weekend, many attendees continued to wear Trump memorabilia, and Mr Trump’s endorsement continues to be coveted, as he said he planned to endorse Lt Gov Mark Robinson’s gubernatorial campaign at a later date. Mr Trump’s indictment also comes as a number of other Republicans have announced their candidacies. This week, Mr Pence, North Dakota Gov Doug Burgum and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie all announced their campaigns for president of the United States, adding to an already crowded GOP field. But few voters seemed to express interest in other candidates and Mr Trump was introduced as the next president of the United States at the North Carolina event, despite the fact that several of his challengers also appeared over the weekend. Read More Trump indictment: Ex-president kept nuclear and military papers and showed some to unauthorised people ‘Everybody needs to support Trump’: Ex-president’s indictment overshadows DeSantis in North Carolina Pence won’t say whether he’s read Trump indictment after calling for its release

The European Union has signed off on a new agreement over the privacy of people’s personal information that gets pinged across the Atlantic, aiming to ease concerns about electronic spying by American intelligence agencies

Christina Ricci is believed to have criticized Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis for pleading for leniency for Danny Masterson

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Vladimir Putin has admitted that Russia's security services "stopped a civil war" during the mutiny led by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenaries – whose wages and bonuses Moscow funded to the tune of £800m in the past year. His remarks came as the Belarusian President, Alexander Lukashenko, confirmed that the Wagner chief had arrived in his country as part of the last-minute deal that ended the extraordinary attempted coup. Mr Lukashenko said that Mr Progozhin and some of his troops were welcome to stay "for some time" at their own expense. Mr Putin appeared outside the Kremlin the praise his troops, seeking to portray the image of strength that Saturday's events had left a severe crack in. Speaking in front of hundreds of troop, Mr Putin said said the country's armed forces had prove their "loyalty to the people of Russia" in protecting the "motherland and its future". The Russian leader claimed that Moscow had not been forced to withdraw troops from Ukraine and he held a minute’s silence in honour of the servicemen killed when Wagner forces shot down Russian military aircraft, including helicopters and a communications plane, as they marched on Moscow. The mercenaries stopped about 125 miles outside the capital. Mr Putin was joined by the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, whose dismissal had been one of Mr Prigozhin's main demands – having feuded with Russia's military leadership for months. While Russian authorities dropped a criminal case against his Wagner Group – apparently fulfilling another condition of the deal brokered by Mr Lukashenko – Mr Putin appeared to set the stage for financial charges against an organisation owned by Mr Prigozhin. After his speech outside the Kremlin, Mr Putin told a military gathering that Mr Prigozhin's Concord Group earned 80 billion rubles (£733m) from a contract to provide the military with food, and that Wagner received more than 86 billion rubles (£790bn) between May 2022 and May 2023 for wages and additional items. That had come out of the Defence Ministry and state budgets. For years, the Kremlin denied any links to the Wagner group. "I hope that while doing so they didn't steal anything or stole not so much," Mr Putin said, adding that authorities would look closely at Concord's contract. Police who searched his St Petersburg office on Saturday said they found 4 billion rubles (£37m) in trucks outside, according to media reports confirmed by the Wagner boss. He said the money was intended to pay soldiers' families. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov would not disclose details about the Kremlin's deal with the Wagner chief – saying only that Mr Putin had provided Mr Prigozhiin with "certain guarantees," with the aim of avoiding a "worst-case scenario." Asked why the armed Wagner forces were allowed to get as close as they did Moscow without facing any serious resistance, National Guard chief Viktor Zolotov told reporters, "We concentrated our forces in one fist closer to Moscow. If we spread them thin, they would have come like a knife through butter." Mr Zolotov also said the National Guard lacks battle tanks and other heavy weapons and now would get them. Some Russian war bloggers have vented outrage about Mr Prigozhin and his troops not getting punished for killing Russian forces. The treatment stands in stark contrast to the harsh jail terms handed out to opposition activists in Russia who have criticised Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In Belarus, Mr Lukashenko said that he had convinced Mr Prigozhin to end the mutiny in an emotional, expletive-laden phone call, adding that Mr Prigozhin had arrived in the southern Russian city of Rostov – which Wagner seized to start the rebellion – in a "semi-mad state". Mr Lukashenko said he tried for hours by phone to reason with the Wagner chief, who has said he was furious at corruption and incompetence in the military leadership and wanted to avenge an alleged Russian army attack on his men. The Belarusian president said their calls contained "10 times" as many obscenities as normal language. Mr Lukashenko also said that, earlier on Saturday, Russian Mr Putin had sought his help, complaining that Prigozhin was not taking any calls. Lukashenko said he had advised Putin against "rushing" to crush the mutineers. Mr Lukashenko said that his country would accommodate Wagner fighters who wanted to go there, though it was not building any camps for them. "We offered them one of the abandoned military bases. Please - we have a fence, we have everything - put up your tents," Lukashenko said, according to state media. Such a prospect alarms Belarus's neighbours. Latvia and Lithuania both called for Nato to strengthen its eastern borders in response, and Polish President Andrzej Duda called the move a "negative signal". Ukraine is hoping to take advantage of the chaos caused by the attempted coup to push on with its counteroffensive to retake its territory from Russia. Mr Putin offering Wagner's troops the chance to sign contracts with the Russian army is said that was "likely in an effort to retain them" in the fight in Ukraine because Moscow needs "trained and effective manpower" as it faces a Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank that monitors the war said. In the US, the Pentagon said it would provide a new military package worth $500 million (£390m) to support Ukraine's war effort. The package will include ground vehicles including Bradley fighting vehicles and Stryker armored personnel carriers, and munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (Himars) to support air defences. Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary Wagner chief walks free after armed revolt. Other Russians defying the Kremlin aren’t so lucky In China, muted reaction to revolt in Russai belies anxiety over war, global balance of power Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin?