List of All Articles with Tag 'le'

The 22-year-old died in custody after allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code, sparking mass protests.

Ukraine appears to be expanding its forces on the Russian-occupied left or eastern bank of the river.

Walgreens Boots Alliance has agreed to pay $192.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit by investors in

First responders to the scene tell a Dublin court there were no signs of life when they found her.

Victoria’s Secret is dropping its feminist makeover and bringing back “sexiness” as it tries to reverse a slump in sales. The lingerie brand ditched its glamorous catwalks and signiture ‘angels’ in 2018, and instead promoted a more diverse array of female ambassadors including Megan Rapinoe and Priyanka Chopra who modelled a line of relaxed loungewear. But executives are now reportedly re-embracing “sex appeal” after the short-lived makeover failed to boost sales. During a presentation last week, a top executive said Victoria’s Secret would be the subject of an image overhaul, adding “sexiness can be inclusive”. “Sexiness can celebrate the diverse experiences of our customers and that’s what we’re focused on,” Greg Unis, brand president of the company’s youth-focused venture Victoria’s Secret & Pink, told investors on Thursday (13 October). The reboot is part of a larger strategy to revive its sales after a five-year marketing overhaul fell short of expectations. According to the Business of Fashion, Victoria’s Secret is projecting $6.2bn in earnings this fiscal year – a five per cent drop on sales in 2022, and well below the $7.4bn sales reported in 2018. Now, Victoria’s Secret has laid out a roadmap to bolstering its revenue, including cost-cutting, reviving its swimwear and activewear ranges, and further expanding its offerings to include products such as sweaters, slip dresses, and corsets. Giving its stores a more “welcoming” facelift is also part of the plan. Chief executive Martin Waters added that the retailer’s inclusivity initiatives and campaigns had “not been enough to carry the day”, referring to the company’s performance in recent years. Once the purveyors of Swarovski-studded undergarments and unrealistic body standards, Victoria’s Secret has, in recent years, embarked on a journey to shed its hyper-sexualised image and pay attention to changing social norms. The attempt to rehabiliate its public perception also followed criticism that it promoted typically thin, white models as the preferred beauty standard. Its initial attempt to adjust its image came hot on the heels of declining sales due to the emergence of inclusive and diversity-friendly brands such as Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty and Third Love, as well as several controversies including top management at L Brands – the former parent company of Victoria’s Secret. In 2018, L Brands’ then-marketing boss Ed Razek sparked a backlash when he declared that Victoria’s Secret would never cast transgender and plus-size models in its annual Fashion show because it’s a “fantasy”. Razek resigned the following year after he was accused of inappropriate behaviour with models – allegations he called “categorically untrue, misconstrued or taken out of context”. Around the same time, an investigation by The New York Times uncovered ties between L Brands’ former chief executive Lex Werne and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, which further sullied the reputation of Victoria’s Secret. In an effort to rehabilitate its image, the brand’s recent campaigns have featuring stars such as former US women’s football captain Megan Rapinoe, plus-size models Paloma Elsesser and Ali Tate-Cutler, and Brazillian transgender model Valentina Sampaio. Last month, Victoria’s Secret: The Tour ‘23 was released on Amazon Prime, with the company declaring the televised catwalk event was the “ultimate expression” of its commitment to a new Victoria’s Secret that’s more in step with the times. Despite its struggles, Victoria’s Secret still owns a lion’s share of the north American market today. “We’ve been insufficiently differentiated in this difficult market,” Waters said, during the meeting last Thursday. “[But] our ambition of being the world’s leading fashion retailer of intimates apparel is unchanged.” Read More Victoria’s Secret was never feminist – why are they bothering to try now? Victoria's Secret overhauls its racy fashion catwalk in its latest moves to be more inclusive From Naomi Campbell to Hailey Bieber: All the top models and celebs in Victoria Secret’s new Icons campaign Black magic: Go back to black this season with the catwalk-inspired trend From collars to gloomy garments: How to dress like Wednesday Addams for Halloween Why Travis Kelce relies on ‘instinct’ and ‘panic’ when getting dressed

Kanye West is used to causing outrage on Twitter/X, having been banned from the platform in the past. But now he’s accusing Elon Musk of taking advantage of his clout in a bid to boost the “struggling” platform’s numbers. The controversial rapper, 46, apparently sent his friend, stylist Ian Connor, a screenshot of a furious text message he’d sent to the Tesla founder. He then told Connor, a former consultant for the Yeezy brand, to “get [the message] out to the public”. The 29-year-old duly obliged, posting a zoomed-in grab of Ye’s text on Instagram for all to read. Allegedly addressing Musk, the ‘Gold Digger’ star wrote: “When are we going to speak. “You owe me nothing. You never have to speak to me again. But if we do speak the nature of the relationship has to change.” It went on: “I’m not bipolar I have signs of autism from my car accident. “You can’t watch Kim keep my kids from me and not say anything publicly and then call yourself my friend so I can bring my audience to your struggling platform.” The bizarre diatribe, with its sudden, stream-of-consciousness-style changes of topic, includes references to his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, his mental health, and a car crash in which he nearly lost his life. The near-fatal accident occurred when he was driving home from a recording studio in October 2002. He miraculously survived but his jaw was shattered. He famously rapped about his recovery process, with his jaw wired shut, in the 2004 classic ‘Through the Wire.’ And yet, his claim that he is “not bipolar” runs at odds with numerous accounts of his struggles with the disorder over the years. He was reportedly diagnosed with the condition back in 2016 and, since then, a number of his more shocking outbursts and behaviours have been attributed to manic episodes stemming from the illness. Indeed, back in 2020, Kim defended her then-husband after he penned a series of jaw-dropping tweets about her and her mother Kris. The mother of his four children wrote at the time: “"He is a brilliant but complicated person who on top of the pressures of being an artist and a black man, who experienced the painful loss of his mother, and has to deal with the pressure and isolation that is heightened by his bipolar disorder (sic).” And whilst she has been less ready to jump to his defence since their split, she has also refuted claims that she has been preventing him from seeing their kids. In March last year, Kanye shared a photo to Instagram of their daughter North's backpack, saying he had spotted the design “when I was 'allowed' to see her last week." Kim fired back in a comment, which she subsequently deleted, telling him to "stop with this narrative” and pointing out that he’d seen their children that same morning. Elsewhere, it’s fair to say he hasn’t had the smoothest relationship with Musk. He was banned from Instagram for his horrifying antisemitic rants last year and was suspended on X/Twitter by Musk, who said he "tried [his] best" to reason with the hip-hop-star-cum-designer. “He again violated our rule against incitement to violence,” the billionaire wrote in December last year after Ye praised Adolf Hitler in an interview with Alex Jones. The 46-year-old’s account was suspended at the time and then reinstated around eight months later, however, he’s still yet to post on the platform. 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

MUMBAI The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sold a net $3.86 billion in the spot foreign exchange market

By Riham Alkousaa, Thomas Escritt and Layli Foroudi BERLIN/PARIS As tens of thousands of people took to the

The decision by US prosecutors to offer Joran van der Sloot a plea agreement on charges of extortion and wire fraud led to his confession in the 2005 killing of Natalee Holloway in Aruba -- and although he likely can't be prosecuted for the Alabama teen's death, legal experts say the deal was vital in helping the teen's family finally achieve closure.

Former Donald Trump attorney Sidney Powell has pleaded guilty in the Georgia election subversion case, one day before her trial was set to start.

Ghosts, ghouls, and monsters turn up everywhere at Halloween—including in our language, and sometimes where you least expect.

Thanks to an impressive offensive performance, the Houston Astros are right back in the ACLS heading into Thursday's Game 4 against the Texas Rangers.