The Supreme Court seems a bit quieter than in recent years as the justices begin a new term

By Gram Slattery WASHINGTON Fentanyl producers in Mexico should be killed. So too should human traffickers and drug

Angel Hernandez szn is back in full swing, and Atlanta Braves slugger Marcell Ozuna was his latest victim.The Braves faced off against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, but what fans didn't realize what that Atlanta is also tasked with defeating umpire Angel Hernandez.Hernandez, who r...

A former MI6 spy chief has said “all indications” suggest Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was “taken out” by Vladimir Putin, two months after staging a mutiny that dented the Russian president’s authority. Russia's civil aviation agency said that Mr Prigozhin, leader of the private mercenary group, and six top lieutenants were among 10 killed when a jet crashed soon after taking off from Moscow on Wednesday. Mr Prigozhin’s supporters claimed on pro-Wagner messaging channels that the plane was deliberately downed. Numerous opponents and critics of Mr Putin have been killed or gravely sickened in apparent assassination attempts. The Wagner group chief had mounted a short-lived mutiny against Russia’s military leadership in June and marched on Moscow with his mercenary fighters, with Mr Putin denouncing the rebellion as “treason” and vowing to punish those behind it. Sir John Sawers, head of the MI6 between 2009 and 2014, said on Thursday that all signs suggest the Russian president had “taken him out”, making it clear to Russians he was not going to “brook any challenge”. Former intelligence officer Christopher Steele also claimed it was an “inside job” and suggested a bomb inside a “wine crate” could have caused the explosion. Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Sir John said: “All the indications point to the fact Putin has taken him out. He has reasserted his control. “He’s making clear to everyone inside and outside of Russia that he’s not going to brook any challenge. If there’s a slim chance that he’s not dead and he wasn’t on that plane, he will be soon.” The plane carrying three pilots and seven passengers was travelling from Moscow to St Petersburg, according to officials cited by Russia’s state news agency Tass. Footage shows the flaming wreckage after a private jet came down. Sir John explained the MI6 “wouldn’t have any extra information’ on Prigozhin’s death yet, but said it was likely there would have been “some device” on board that took the jet down. He said: “If there had been some air defence missile that took him out then there would be traces of that which would be detectable through satellite means. But I would have thought there would have been some device on board that brought the plane down suddenly and killed all those on board. “Of course, those on board were not only Prigozhin but those around him like his military commander Dmitry Utkin, some other long-standing aides, so it’s a way of taking out the entire Wagner leadership all in one go.” Meanwhile, Mr Steele, who was with the Secret Intelligence Service and ran the MI6 Russia desk, claimed a bomb inside a “wine crate” could have caused the explosion. He added that the crash looked like part of a “pattern of state-backed activity” by FSB or GRU forces. He told Sky News: “I think it is unlikely that Wagner commanders were actually behind this ultimately. I would suspect very much that it was an FSB or GRU operation. “Certainly it’s an inside job, the suggestion is that it’s a bomb in a wine crate. That’s a kind of ironic end for Putin’s former caterer.” He added: “[The crash] followed the day after General (Sergei) Surovikin, who you will remember was the commander first of all in Syria and later in Ukraine, was sacked from his job which was to be in charge of the security over the Russian homeland. “He was seen as somebody that was one of the generals who was supporting Prigozhin and was an ally of his. For him to have been removed a day before does rather suggest a pattern of state-backed activity here.” So far, the Kremlin has not commented on the crash. Mr Putin did not mention the incident during a speech in Moscow to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Kursk during the Second World War. Read More Ukraine war - live: Wagner chief Prigozhin and co-founder ‘killed’ in Russia plane crash as Putin at concert Minister warns against jumping to conclusions over Wagner chief’s reported death Plane crash believed to have killed Russian mercenary chief seen as Kremlin's revenge The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

TL;DR: A lifetime subscription to Prism Drive (1TB) is on sale for £73.94, saving you

By Michael Erman NEW YORK (Reuters) -Merck & Co sued the U.S. government on Tuesday, seeking an injunction of the

The Federal Reserve’s decision to leave interest rates alone for the first time in 11 meetings raises hopes that it may be at least nearing the end of its rate-hiking campaign to cool inflation

Bayer AG’s new chief executive said he’s weighing a breakup of the pharma and agriculture conglomerate, a move

Whoopi Goldberg is no stranger to rants and heated moments, but this time she stunned her fans with something different

Fish auction prices at a port south of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have dropped amid uncertainty about how consumers may respond a day after treated and diluted radioactive wastewater began to be released into the sea

One US Senator has gone viral for seemingly offering a better alternative to dating apps: working for him. Republican Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley shared that he had attended the wedding of his Chief of Staff, Jennifer Heins, over the weekend which also happened to be the 20th marriage to occur from people meeting in his office. After sharing pictures of himself with the happy couple on their wedding day, many joked that they were going to delete dating apps and instead go to work for Grassley. "Who needs hinge when you've got the office of u.s. senator chuck grassley", joked one user: However some said that the shocking number perhaps meant that Grassley, 90, should resign. One user exaggerated that he had been in office "for 156 years", whilst another went for a slightly lower number of "137": Others said it was evidence that he had spent too long in office. Grassley was first elected in 1980. Another said it was evidence for the need of "term limits": Grassley isn't the only Senator to possess matchmaking abilities. Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer is also known for producing couples from his office, with 11 marriages between his staffers occurring during his time in office. 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.

The Cincinnati Reds claimed outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Harrison Bader off waivers in an effort to boosts their playoff push