Promoting trade, protecting supply chains and fighting the climate crisis will feature at the APEC summit of Pacific rim powers opening Thursday in San Francisco after President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping helped settle...

When Ariana Grande was sighted at Wimbledon without a wedding band, people began to worry about her marriage

An announcement is likely soon on the UK becoming a fully-fledged member of the multi-billion euro programme.

When taking a flight, the etiquette of fellow passengers is one of the contributing factors that determines how good the experience will be. But one passenger who was on a "completely full Southwest flight" has sparked a debate after complaining about the person sitting next to her, all because she refused to use headphones when watching videos on her phone. A 32-year-old woman took to Reddit's "Am I the A**hole?" forum to share her frustration as she travelled from Dallas to Chicago. "I was in the window seat and there was a 50+ lady sitting in the aisle seat," she began. "The plane filled up and only middle seats were left so I was happy when this cute girl in her early 20’s wanted to sit in our middle seat. "She had her Chanel purse, and basic b gucci sneakers on.' Then, things took a turn when the woman whipped out her phone. "While we were taxiing for ~40 minutes before take off, I put my air pods in and start listening to an audio book and she proceeds to pull her phone out and starts watching TikTok videos on full volume. The poster described how she was in "somewhat disbelief by her lack of self-awareness," and thought "no way she’s going to do this for more than 5 minutes." However, it continued on... "Well, 30 minutes passes by and she is still scrolling through her feed and the videos are so loud (I can hardly hear my audio book) and just ridiculous mind-numbing crap." The woman couldn't put up with the noise any longer and decided to ask her to lower the volume. "I am finally so annoyed that I turn to her & ask if she can please turn her volume down or put in headphones. "She says nothing to me, but gives me the nastiest look like I am in the wrong for telling her off and proceeds to barely turn it down." Fuming from the woman's lack of response, the original poster is "so offended" she then turns to brightness up on her phone to "very obviously text my husband about what a devil she is and basically rip her apart and make sure my texts about her are within her line of sight." "I am sure she saw the texts, bc she avoided eye contact with me for the rest of the trip." She then asked: 'AITA for saying something and making sure she saw my awful comments about her in response to her reaction or can someone please tell me what is going on in these people’s heads? Is it entitlement? "Do they consider the people around them and just not care?? Help me out here!" Since sharing the situation, people have been weighing in with their thoughts - most believed the original poster was not in the wrong and agreed that it's basic etiquette to not play videos out loud. But the original poster was also criticised for her passive-aggressive move and was told she should have just told the flight attendant who would have sorted the problem. One person said: "NTA. Basic etiquette requires headphones. "Also, this may actually be in the contract of carriage, depending on which airline. Next time get an FA involved. They will shut that crap down in nothing flat typically because they hate it too." "NTA Once you asked once, it's time to get the flight attendant involved. Let them handle it," another person wrote. Someone else added: "ESH [Everyone sucks here]. Her for not using headphones, but you for your passive-aggressive bs. All you needed to do was ring for the flight attendant to handle it. That’s their job." "She’s the AH because any sane person would have had enough self-awareness to be mortified and immediately complied when you asked her to wear ear phones," a fourth person commented. Sign up to 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.

“If you’re a journalist and the government wants to kill you – you’re doing it right”. Those are the chilling words of broadcaster Irina Babloyan, who until Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine hosted Russia’s most popular morning radio show. But stalked by the FSB and taken off the air within days of the war starting, the journalist felt compelled to leave Moscow for her own safety. Little did she realise, like so many of Putin’s critics, she would also suffer symptoms of suspected poisoning that left her skin “burning all the time”. Established prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia’s sole major independent radio station Echo of Moscow was taken off air in March 2022, during the Kremlin’s clampdown on information, and then shut down completely. Events soon took an even darker turn. Late one evening, near her home, Ms Babloyan was out walking with her close friend, opposition politician Ilya Yashin, when he was arrested. He was later sentenced to eight and a half years in prison, over a YouTube livestream about Russian atrocities in Bucha. From that moment, she says Russian police and FSB agents followed her everywhere – even some 350 miles south to Belgorod – and openly sat outside her home, threatening her that “it’s probably better for you to leave”. It was as she began to investigate early reports of Ukrainian children being forcibly taken to Russia that the personal danger to Ms Babloyan intensified. She approached Russian government officials, who told her they were aware of the situation and that the children would remain in the country until the war was over. While she was initially aware of just one “school” housing Ukrainian children in Russia, the findings soon snowballed until she learned from a fellow journalist of dozens more facilities, holding thousands more. Ukraine’s current figures suggest at least 19,000 children have been taken. “I was really shocked and I understood: okay, probably it’s time for me to leave,” Ms Babloyan said, adding: “I was so tired and felt I couldn’t change the situation.” She returned to her home country of Georgia in October, amid another Russian exodus sparked by Putin’s mobilisation order. With Echo of Moscow set to resume programming via its app from Berlin, the journalist planned to move to there – in a journey requiring her to drive to Armenia, before flying from Yerevan to Moldova, and then on to the German capital. On the eve of the long trip, she suddenly “felt something strange going on”. “In a second”, she began to feel nauseous and tired. “I had dinner with friends – I didn’t want to eat, I didn’t want to drink, I ordered salad and wine, and didn’t [touch] it at all. I decided to go to bed, went to my hotel and fell asleep.” It was the last time she would sleep for three days. She awoke feeling “much worse”, recalling: “I couldn’t move normally – every single movement was very hard.” She felt a metallic taste in her mouth, with “crazy” pain in her head and “in a strange place” in her stomach, while her hands and feet had turned “wine red”. “I couldn’t move my fingers normally, and I felt like [I was] touching fire in [my] hands and feet,” Ms Boloyan said. Blaming hitherto dormant allergies, she bought some antihistamines, packed a bag and embarked on a four-hour taxi journey to Yerevan. Save for the border crossing, she lay on the back seat for the entire journey, unable to move. “Every single piece of my body was burning. I couldn’t think normally, couldn’t concentrate on anything.” At the airport after a sleepless night in a hotel, filled with anxiety, she arranged a phone appointment with a Russian doctor, who told her the symptoms were probably caused by stress. “I was sitting waiting my flight crying all the time I was talking because they didn’t understand what was going on,” she said. Ms Babloyan spent another sleepless night in Chisinau, the Moldovan capital, before flying to Germany, where finally on the third day, she found she could walk, talk and eat again. “It was not all gone, but it was much better,” she said. Without health insurance, it was December by the time she saw a doctor, who prescribed her antidepressants and told her allergy tests would cost €6,000. Soon after, Ms Babloyan was forced to stop doing her radio show, as “something strange started happening with my skin”, which broke out in hive-like red spots, “burning all the time”. She took the tests for all known allergens, which came back negative. At this point, a Russian friend recommended another doctor, who upon seeing her skin immediately told her she needed toxicology tests for heavy metals – and said she knew of two other Russians, a journalist and activist, who had recently fallen ill in Europe with similar symptoms. The two other cases – Novaya Gazeta journalist Elena Kostyuchenko, in Berlin, and US-based Free Russia Foundation president Natalia Arno, in Prague – were being looked into by Riga-based investigative outlet The Insider. Doctors and poison specialists have since told the outlet that poisoning is the only explanation for Ms Kostyuchenko’s symptoms, and is the most likely reason for Babloyan and Arno’s symptoms. She was tested at the Charité Hospital, where the now-jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was diagnosed in 2020. But she was later told that her toxicology tests had been “lost”, and although doctors also took a sample of her hair, she has still not been told the results. Ms Kostyuchenko is also still in the dark, despite claims by a source to The Insider that law enforcement carried out their own secret analysis of her blood. Having announced an investigation last month into Ms Kostyuchenko’s case, German prosecutors are now treating it as attempted murder. However, Georgia is yet to announce its own probe into Ms Babloyan’s case, and she is currently unable to return to Tblisi and formally trigger an investigation herself. For Ms Babloyan, it was while interviewing Ms Kosyuchenko on her radio show in mid-August that the stark reality truly began to set in. “When you are looking into the face and eyes of a person who felt the same [symptoms] and you understand it was real, it feels scary – very,” she said, adding that she is still “just trying to understand how to live when you know that someone wanted to kill you, and probably will do it again.” The journalist – who still has problems with her skin, and suffers pain in her fingers after opening a bottle or even a door – remains even more determined to offer an objective narrative on Russia’s affairs. “Work is like therapy for me,” she said. “I can’t stop working”, and noted that, as a journalist, if the government “wants to kill you, it means that, what you’re doing – you’re doing it right”. Asked whether she believed she had been targeted for her enquries into potential Russian war crimes, Ms Babloyan replied: “I just think that all Russian journalists and activists are a target for the Russian government. “But it’s hard to understand who’s going to be next because if you are trying to find logic, you can’t find it, and everyone can be a target.” Read More Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska’s interview with Bel Trew | An Independent TV Original Dodging a constant assault of Russian missiles – the war-weary keep fighting in Ukraine’s blood-soaked east Putin’s hit list: from poisoned tea to mysterious falls, the grisly fate of the Kremlin’s enemies Russia shuts down human rights group that preserved the legacy of Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov

Conspiracy theorists have managed to go viral after spreading false claims that the devastating wildfires that have torn through the island of Maui in Hawaii were started by a 'space laser.' 93 people have died as a result of the fires making it the deadliest in modern US history and destroying most of the beautiful island's natural habitat. Yet, whenever the climate is related to a tragic story it doesn't take long for conspiracy theorists to try and spin the narrative to make others think what they are seeing isn't really about the state of the planet. One of the most farfetched theories doing the rounds in connection to the Hawaii fires is that they were caused by a space laser aimed at Maui, as noted by Forbes. A verified account on Elon Musk's X website, formerly known as Twitter, asked its followers: "This photo is circulating social media. Apparently, this beam was captured before the Hawaii fires. Can anyone confirm?" The post has been liked more than 6000 times and had more than 300 shares. The image does appear to show a beam of light hitting a leafy hillside next to a coast but it's not in Hawaii. In fact, it does have a connection to Elon Musk as the community note that has been added to the post declares that it is actually an image of a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Air Force base in California. This isn't the only laser-related image that has circulated about Hawaii either. Another Twitter account asked: "If the fires in Hawaii were natural, what in the h is this?" The picture showed a large explosion at night in a non-specific location which resulted in the tweet getting 19,000 likes and more than 500 shares. Once again, this was not in Hawaii at all but in Michigan in 2018, as fact-checked by Snopes. Finally, another account this time on TikTok has suggested that 'direct energy weapons' have been used on Hawaii with suggestions that it has been deployed by either the Chinese government or by the Joe Biden administration. @mrmclark the directed energy weapon is getting it's use this week In Hawaii I see!!! This is insane , we know they're doing it still nothing happened? #hawaii #fire #directedenergyweapons #military #attack #information #prophecy #truth Once again there is no evidence to suggest that the Maui fires were caused by the US or Chinese governments or were started by a giant laser beam from space. In fact, the fires were probably started by an 'abnormally dry' period for Maui in August making the area more prone to wildfires. 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.

Two people with Swedish nationality were shot dead in central Brussels on Monday evening, according to Belgian public broadcaster VRT.

'GMA' star Michael Strahan posted a clip of Terence Crawford on Instagram as he watched the undisputed welterweight champion take on Errol Spence Jr

Colorado State head coach Jay Norvell made the giant mistake of taking a shot at Deion Sanders and now Colorado is taking it personal.

The average Brit starts to get itchy feet in their home after five years, a study has found. Researchers revealed after living happily in their homes for years, the five-year-itch hits, resulting in property owners browsing websites and estate agent windows for their next buy. Looking online at property websites (59 per cent) and taking an interest in ‘for sale’ homes in your neighbourhood (32 per cent) are the major tell-tale signs people are considering a move. And 31 per cent admit thinking about what they can do to get their home ready to sell (31 per cent) is another indication they’re ready to make the switch. Anthony Ward Thomas, of Anthony Ward Thomas Removals, which commissioned the study of 2,000 adults, said: “Moving can be a challenging task, but it doesn’t need to be. “It’s not a surprise for 54 per cent of people, cost is the most important factor when making a move.” The research, carried out by OnePoll, found Londoners get itchy feet the quickest of any region – as they want to move less than four years in. Those in the capital aren’t as willing to stay put in their property either, as they said they could stay at their current home for another seven years at a push – compared to those in the East Midlands who would live at their current abode for more than 13 years. Other top signs people are looking to move home include getting fed up with the neighbours (24 per cent), not having enough storage space (23 per cent) and no longer enjoying spending time in your home (22 per cent). However, one of the major factors putting people off moving was the thought of shifting their stuff (55 per cent). Despite this, only 43 per cent of people who moved home previously said they used a removal company to help them. Yet 59 per cent said if they were to move now, they’d get outside help from a specialist – highlighting just how important they are. In fact, a staggering show of support, 92 per cent of those who had used a removal company said they would use one again. Among the major benefits included not having to do the heavy lifting (62 per cent), being less stressful (50 per cent) and having one less thing to worry about (45 per cent). Others included saving time (42 per cent) and not getting injured lifting heavy things (40 per cent). Anthony Ward Thomas added: “As our results show, one of the major factors which puts people off moving is having to move their belongings. “Using a professional company to help you pack up, move out and move in buys you peace of mind. “It should be any delivery firm’s number one priority to ensure every single item is looked after as if it were their own and to care about every move.” FIVE TELLTALE SIGNS YOU’VE GOT ITCHY FEET: Looking online at property websites Taking an interest in ‘for sale’ signs in your neighbourhood Getting fed up with the neighbours Not having enough storage space No longer enjoying spending time in your home TOP 5 TIPS FOR MOVING HOME, FROM ANTHONY WARD THOMAS: Make a move plan – include all tasks on it and assign them to people and/or companies helping you Clear the clutter – give yourself 5 categories: keep, sell, bin, store or giveaway Hire professionals – don’t cut costs and do a DIY move, it pays to have peace of mind Pack from the top down – start at the top and work downwards, labelling your boxes with what’s in them, where they’ve come from and where they’re going to Box of essentials – from a kettle, mugs and coffee to bedding for the first night and the kid’s iPads, pack up useful items in one box. Read More What is Cheese-pulling? New world record set for highest pull Zombie ant parasite is ‘even more cunning’ than previously thought, scientists say NASA astronaut Frank Rubio breaks US record for longest spaceflight Mother explains decision to breastfeed her four-year-old son ‘My baby’s blue eyes drew praise - but their colour was a warning sign’ What the world’s happiest children tell us about where Britain is going wrong

The Nevada Senate adjourned on Thursday without voting on a a financing bill for a proposed $1.5 billion Las Vegas Strip stadium for the Oakland Athletics, extending the special legislative session into the next week amid negotiations over whether to contribute $380 million in public funding to the project

(Reuters) -Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said on Friday the U.S. health regulator approved its drug to treat a rare blood disease. The