By Brendan Pierson A federal judge temporarily blocked an Idaho law requiring public school students to use the

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt defended his package of tax cuts, amid warnings of a looming post-election

Finland has announced it will close its last remaining border crossing with Russia amid concerns that Moscow is using migrants as part of “hybrid warfare” to destabilise the Nordic country following its entry into NATO. “The government has decided to close all the crossing points on the entire (830-mile) eastern border,” prime minister Petteri Orpo told reporters, saying Finland faced an “exceptional” situation that the government blames on Moscow for orchestrating. The Kremlin has denied encouraging migrants to enter Finland and says it regrets the Finnish border closures. It comes as multiple drones were fired towards Kyiv on Tuesday evening, causing air raid sirens to go off and sending civilians down into the bomb shelters. A Ukrainian monitoring group announced the presence of a handful of drones at around 9pm local time heading towards southern regions of Kyiv Oblast. Russia appears to have stepped up its assault on Ukrainian hubs hundreds of miles from the frontline in the last fortnight. Last winter, a similar trend occured as Russia tried to destroy critical infrastructure across the country. Read More Ukraine spy chief’s wife treated for metal poisoning as Putin rants at West for ‘plundering’ Russia Ukraine spy chief's wife undergoes treatment for suspected poisoning with heavy metals Ukrainian emergency workers tow ambulance from snow as storm kills at least five

A year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, some of the Republican Party’s most powerful evangelical Christian voices are gathering to celebrate a ruling that sent shockwaves through American politics

Two senior managers of Carlsberg's Russian subsidiary were arrested on Wednesday over allegations of fraud.

Lavon Glenn was provided medical attention for injuries he sustained before being taken to Volusia County Jail and held on a $23,500 bond

Ever wondered why people say they can smell rain before it rains? They are not pulling your leg - there is real science behind it. It is all because of petrichor, made up from the Greek words "petra", meaning stone, and '"ichor", which refers to the golden fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in their mythology. It basically means the the "smell of rain" with the phrase coined by Australian scientists Joy Bear and Richard Thomas in 1964. Jeff Weber, a meteorologist with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Unidata Program Center told the Mirror: "Petrichor is caused by oils derived from plants, primarily leaves, that accumulate over dry periods. These oils settle into soils or onto pavement over time and are released into the atmosphere by being disturbed by rainfall." According to the Met Office, the reason people claim to smell rain because it comes is because "when a higher humidity is experienced as a precursor to rain, the pores of rocks and soil become trapped with moisture forcing some of the oils to be released into the air". Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Despite some being released before it actually rains, the strongest smell is released during. This is when raindrops landing on soil "trap tiny air bubbles on the surface which then shoot upward" and "burst out of the drop throwing aerosols of scent into the air where they are then distributed by the wind". The smell is produced by a soil bacteria which releases a chemical called geosmin, which provides an "earthy", musky or fresh aroma. Before it rains, a person might be able to smell the scent of ozone, or O3, which is a naturally present gas in the atmosphere which gets its name from the Greek word 'ozein', or smell. It sometimes indicate that a storm is on the way because pockets of gas are pushed down to ground level by winds. This means that those who are sensitive to the smells will likely be able to pick them up. So now you know. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

After being banned in some Arab countries, the film "Barbie" is dividing audiences in...

Rep. George Santos, a New York Republican, pleaded not guilty to allegations of fraud and money laundering in a Long Island courtroom Wednesday.

The ban followed a parental complaint that the book has content unsuitable for children.

A Georgia grand jury has returned indictments against former president Donald Trump and a wide swath of his confidantes and allies who prosecutors allege to have participated in a criminal enterprise with the goal of overturning the disgraced ex-president’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. Grand jurors returned indictments against against Mr Trump and 18 other defendants late Monday after hearing from a number of key witnesses in the long-running Georgia election probe, including Gabe Sterling, who served as a top manager in the Georgia Secretary of State’s office in late 2020, and Geoff Duncan, the state’s former Republican lieutenant governor. Although the courthouse closes normally around 5.00 pm ET, authorities reportedly asked grand jurors to stay until approximately 9.00 pm to finish voting on what a cover sheet delivered to Judge Robert McBurney indicated to be 10 separate indictments. But the 98-page document unsealed later Monday evening was the only set of charges pertaining to Mr Trump and his co-defendants, a group which includes his former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, ex-New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, attorneys Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell, ex-law professor John Eastman, Trump campaign lawyer Ken Cheseboro, and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had been understood to be considering seeking charges against the ex-president under the state’s wide-ranging Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations statute, which is itself patterned after a Nixon-era federal law passed to combat the Italian-American Mafia crime syndicates. The former president is charged with violating Georgia’s Rico law, Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer, Conspiracy To Commit Impersonating a Public Officer, Conspiracy To Commit Forgery in the First Degree, Conspiracy To Commit False Statements and Writings, Filing False Documents and other charges stemming from his efforts to pressure Georgia officials into fraudulently reversing his loss and his role in a scheme which purported to submit what were forged electoral college certificates to the National Archives. Other charges referenced in the charging document include Impersonating a Public Officer and Criminal Attempt to Commit Influencing Witnesses. The grand jury which returned the indictments against Mr Trump and his co-defendants was the second to hear evidence against the ex-president as part of a long-running probe which Ms Willis first announced in early 2021, not long after a recording emerged of Mr Trump pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough non-existent votes in his favour to justify decertifying the state’s presidential election results. She subsequently asked the Fulton County District Court to empanel a special grand jury to investigate Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the election. That investigation, which wrapped up late last year, saw witnesses from all over the country summoned to give evidence behind closed doors in the Fulton County courthouse. Because special grand juries are not permitted to issue indictments under Georgia law, Ms Willis had to present that grand jury’s findings to a second, regular grand jury which began to meet in July. Mr Trump, who is also facing criminal charges from a local district attorney in his former home state of New York and set to be tried on Espionage Act and obstruction of justice charges in a Florida federal court next May, had unsuccessfully sought to have Ms Willis blocked from prosecuting him and has asked two Georgia courts to throw out the entire special grand jury proceeding, citing alleged deficiencies in the law providing for special grand juries and Ms Willis’ attendance at Democratic political fundraisers. Judge McBurney, the Fulton County Superior Court jurist who has been overseeing the proceedings for the last two years, wrote in a ruling issued last month that Mr Trump and a co-plaintiff who was one of the fake electors under investigation had lacked any standing to challenge the investigation in a pre-indictment phase. “The movants’ asserted ‘injuries’ that would open the doors of the courthouse to their claims are either insufficient or else speculative and unrealized,” he said. “They are insufficient because, while being subject (or even target) of a highly publicized criminal investigation is likely an unwelcome and unpleasant experience, no court ever has held that that status alone provides a basis for the courts to interfere with or halt the investigation.” Judge McBurney also called Mr Trump and his co-plantiff’s “professed injuries” from being targets of the investigation “speculative and unrealized” because neither has been indicted as of yet, and the mere possibility of an indictment “not enough to create a controversy, cause an injury, or confer standing”. Now, with charges against him having been officially approved by a grand jury, Mr Trump could seek to renew the litigation. But unlike in the two federal cases pending against him, the former president cannot count on regaining the power of the presidency or help from a Republican ally in the Georgia governor’s mansion to protect him. Unlike many US states, the Peach State does not grand its’ chief executive the authority to issue pardons for crimes committed against the state. Instead, pardon power is delegated to a nonpartisan board, and it can only be invoked to grant a pardon after a criminal has completed his or her sentence. Read More Trump campaign launches sprawling attack as Georgia grand jury hands down indictments Republicans decry Trump’s Georgia indictment before details are released Hillary Clinton reveals one ‘satisfaction’ she gets from Trump’s indictment All the lawsuits and criminal charges involving Trump and where they stand Trump legal team tries again to block Georgia election interference grand jury probe Trump probe ‘subpoenaed CCTV from Georgia 2020 ballot counting centre’ Georgia Supreme Court tosses Trump attempt to challenge 2020 election investigation over vote call

Dolly Parton's hit has a story behind it! 'Jolene,' is a tale of flirtation slightly inspired by a bank teller who set her eyes on Parton's husband