At least five people have been killed by heavy flooding and mudslides in the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna, with more than 5,000 residents being forced to evacuate, CNN affiliate Sky TG24 reported Wednesday, citing local authorities.

By Makini Brice WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has been medically cleared to continue with his schedule,

Taylor Swift won 10 awards, including awards for top artist, top country female artist, top Hot 100 songwriter, and top song sales artist, at the Billboard Music Awards

BANGUI Central African Republic is voting on a constitutional referendum on Sunday which, if it passes, could remove

Tension between Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia’s Wagner private militia group, and the nation’s defense establishment exploded in

Typhoon Koinu is sweeping southern Taiwan, injuring 190 people but causing no deaths as it brings intense winds and rainstorms to the island, leading to school and office closures

There were rumors bubbling about gymnast Dunne and retired NFL star Tom Brady, after his high-profile divorce from Gisele Bundchen

Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Claire Coutinho said she wanted to add a "light moment" in her speech as she referenced the 'meat tax' - which, in fact, doesn't exist. Coutinho sat down with journalist Sophy Ridge on Sky News' Politics Hub, where she was quizzed on a part of her Conservative Party conference speech "that really struck" Ridge. "'It's no wonder Labour seem so relaxed about taxing meat," Coutinho said in her speech. "Sir Keir Starmer doesn't eat it and Ed Miliband is clearly scarred by his encounter with the bacon sandwich". Ridge asked: "You didn't write that, did you?" "I did actually write that," Coutinho smirked. "I think it's good to have a light moment in your speech as well, but the point is actually very serious..." Ridge proceeded to continuously ask the Net Zero secretary about the non-existent meat tax. The clip was soon flooded to X/Twitter with many mocking Coutinho's remarks. "You can see the Tory media training so clearly (and other parties do the same thing)," one wrote. "If an interviewer catches on something that is awkward for you then deflect, pivot, digress, talk faster, do anything except acknowledge in any way (including allowing a pause) the lie that you've been caught on." "She repeatedly kept saying 'the point is…' before not making a single point," another noted, while a third joked: "Watching it on mute is also brilliant." Last month, in an interview with the BBC, Rishi Sunak was challenged over several measures he claimed he was scrapping, including the possibility of taxes on meat and compulsory car sharing, after his former environment minister Lord Goldsmith accused him of "pretending to halt frightening proposals that simply do not exist". The prime minister told Radio 4’s Today programme: "I reject that entirely." "These are all things that have been raised by very credible people about ways to meet our net zero obligations," he said, but was unable to provide evidence they were specifically recommended by anyone. He cited the Climate Change Committee as the source of general proposals to curb meat consumption, although it never recommended a so-called "meat tax". Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter 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.

By Jonathan Stempel Abbott Laboratories persuaded a federal judge to dismiss some claims in nationwide litigation over recalled

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron has told a public inquiry that his government made a mistake by focusing too much on preparations for a flu pandemic rather than considering other types of pandemic in the years before the COVID-19 outbreak

Russian forces allegedly gunned down an entire family of nine, including two young children, as they slept in their beds in the Russia-occupied town of Volnovakha in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk, officials in Kyiv said. Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said Russian soldiers killed all members of the Kapkanets family on 27 October after the civilians refused to give them control of their house. According to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office in Donetsk, the attackers were in army uniforms and had demanded the family house be vacated, leading to an argument. "According to preliminary information, the occupiers have killed the whole of the Kapkanets family, who were celebrating a birthday and who had refused to hand their own house over to occupiers from Chechnya," he said on his official Telegram channel. The suspects came back later as the family slept and gunned down the members, as per media reports. Mr Lubinets said that the “Russians’s bloodied hands were involved” in the killings, “just as traces of Russian torture were discovered in Bucha, Irpin, Izyum and other Ukrainian cities”. The Ukrainian Donetsk Region Prosecutor’s Office alleged multiple family members were shot while in their beds, still tucked in each others arms, according to CNN. Two children born in 2014 and 2018 were among the victims. Russian authorities have said two Russian soldiers were arrested over the killings. “According to preliminary information, the motive for the crime was a domestic conflict,” Russia’s official Investigations Committee said in a statement. The suspects were “Russian military servicemen from the Far East serving under contract”, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Donetsk People’s Republic said in a statement. An investigation was launched in connection with the murders, the committee said. Multiple Russian news channels on Telegram who have spoken to the neighbours of the victims blamed the Russian military for the deaths. “All of the neighbours are saying that the killers were in the military,” one neighbour told Astra, a Russian news channel, adding that locals in the area were scared. The Ukrainian town Volnovakha has remained under Russian control for more than 20 months after being captured just weeks after the full-scale invasion began. Read More Kyiv troops advance on two fronts as Putin’s air defences ‘struck in Crimea’ – live How much money does the US give to Israel, and is there more to come? GOP vows to bring Israel package to floor this week – without Ukraine funding Oil prices could reach 'uncharted waters' if the Israel-Hamas war escalates, the World Bank says If Putin dies, this is what would happen in Russia Putin ally Lukashenko calls for ceasefire in ‘stalemate’ Ukraine war

An unexplained blast in Johannesburg killed one person and injured 48 more, South African authorities say.