Airlines in the United States are now required to issue refunds for canceled or signficantly delayed flights

With so many islands to choose from, it can be tricky to know where to stay a having travelled to the Indian Ocean for the past 15 years, Sam Wylie-Harris shares her tips for making the most of your holiday, whether youare after an active break, culinary getaway or fly-and-flop

The Independentas travel team will be helping you make the best of your Christmas holidays during an exclusive online event

Warnings against travel abroad from the UK have been issued for countries including Lebanon, Iran and Russia

Royal Caribbeanas CocoCay boosts revenue by 43% since 2019

Travellers can save by flying on Boxing Day or 31 December

Tourists have been caught on surveillance cameras trying to enter private homes or looking inside without permission

The Santa Claus Village is Laplandas top tourist attraction

Spending a night among ghosts, traversing the Extraterrestrial Highway and visiting spacecraft sighting hotspots a Robyn Wilson takes a trip into the Nevada desert to see if she can answer the age-old question: Are we alone?

Poached eggs on sourdough with smoked salmon features on the alightera First Class menu

Dark tourists are flooding murder homes across America

Around 40 per cent of Avanti West Coast services will now board 20 minutes before departure

Airlines have said that the worst is yet to come

Two unions are taking action next month

Flavors include Green Bean Casserole and JalapeA+-o Cheddar Mac & Cheese

From parcels that look like theyave been savaged by a pack of rabid dogs to packages that mysteriously vanish into thin air, the courier has accrued enough horror stories to rival the Goosebumps series. But is it really any worse than its rivals? Helen Coffey looks into the reality behind the rep

Pregnant mother of four sparks concern after revealing that her children sleep in the living room of their one-bedroom apartment

From next-gen audio systems to smart home solutions, explore the gadgets, products and services shaping tomorrow.

Princess of Wales sent a heartfelt letter to Bollywood star recovering from cancer

The 2024 New York City Marathon will take place on Sunday, November 3

How do you protect your pumpkin from bugs this Halloween? Kaleigh Werner asks experts the five best tips to make your pumpkin last

BA1/4ndchen is reportedly expecting her first child with jiu-jitsu instructor Joaquim Valente

The new sandwich will be available at Jimmy Johnas from October 28 to November 14

aThis is a great loss for us,a his caretaker says

More than 32,000 children submitted their virtual ballots in Nickelodeonas polls

The world of semi-permanent beauty is only just beginning

Couple had been in a relationship for ten years

Two parrots that escaped from London Zoo were captured after they were found 60 miles from their home.

A father and son appeared on This Morning on Monday, 28 October, dressed head to toe in Yorkshire pudding costumes.

Comedian decided to clarify amisinformationa

aIt bloody hurts,a the reality star said

This year, Diwali falls on Thursday 31 October and will last for five days

Diwali, the festival of lights, represents the triumph of good over evil

aIt was rough,a the actor said

Matthew Perryas mother Suzanne Morrison says there was aan inevitability to what was going to happen next to hima

The aGlory Daysa singer blames his spending habits for diminishing his net worth

The aArmie HammerTimea podcast host admits he calls himself a acannibala after deeming the accusations aoutlandisha

The company had 21,812 workers in the UK at the end of September

Rachel Reeves is expected to announce a minimum wage rise benefitting millions of workers tomorrow

MP and voter were reported to have been arguing over closure of a bridge for engineering works

Police confirmed the Southport stabbing is not being treated as a terrorist attack, despite the new charges

Princess of Wales sent a heartfelt letter to Bollywood star recovering from cancer

This is the moment a bungling burglar tries to escape police by swimming through a lake to reach a adeserta island.

Almost nothing is known about Alice Mollandas life

The Independentas political columnist Andrew Grice is on hand to explain the key differences between Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick a and how their appointments could affect the future of the Conservative Party

It brings another headache for the chancellor as she looks to raise taxes in Wednesdayas Budget

Ministers have given varying descriptions of group they have pledged not to raise taxes on

Watchdog finds Aaron Bell touched complainantas bottom ainappropriately and without her consenta

Many experts expect tax rises to be on the cards

Boy was traced and tested for Novichok after contact with the Skripals on 4 March 2018, inquiry told

Exclusive: aEnslavement and colonialism were not agiftsa but imposed systems that brutally exploited people, extracted wealth, and dismantled societies, all for the benefit of Britain,a one Labour MP told The Independent

Supporters of far-right activist say he is being held at one of the UKas most notorious prisons after he was jailed for contempt of court

Argentine president Javier Milei said Sir Keir Starmeras decision to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius has shown the path for Argentina to claim sovereignty over the Falkland Islands

Opera singer Alex Harpum, 23, had tried to buy Xanax before he was found dead in his student flat last July, his mother said

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is due to unveil her first Budget since the general election on Wednesday

Wes Streeting told independent schools worried if children will be able to access them after VAT hikes in fees to acut cloth your cloth in the way state schools have had to do.a

Spending on asylum accommodation has risen significantly in the past four years

As ministers offer conflicting views on whether high earners, landlords, and those with investment income should be included in the group protected from tax increases in Labouras Budget, we want to know how you would define aworking peoplea

The prime ministeras approval rating has collapsed since winning the election

Tudor property Gainsborough Old Hall was once visited by Henry VIII and his fifth Queen, Catherine Howard

Health secretary says he is aworking very harda as he becomes latest minister embroiled in confusion

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is due to announce the inflation-busting hike when she delivers her first financial statement

Police are appealing for any information after two men were injured

The biohacker says he should be agenetically balda by now a but claims he fixed it without a hair transplant

Met Office reveals where they think snow could fall first in the UK

With the UK government planning to ban disposable vapes next summer, readers want them to go even further

With the prime ministeras poll ratings at rock bottom, Sir Keir Starmer is grappling with cabinet unity ahead of Rachel Reevesa Budget, writes Political Correspondent Archie Mitchell

Millions could pay more income tax if astealtha policy is continued

Rachel Reeves uses a pre-Budget visit to a hospital to warn that fixing Britainas problems awill take more than one Budgeta

Details have emerged over how transport secretary Louise Haighas intervention ensured a new cap in bus fares would feature in the Budget

Horror movies are supposed to scare audiences, not actors. Greg Evans looks at 16 movies that became too real for the people starring in them

Halloween doesnat need to be all gore and fright. Instead, weave compiled a list of shows that will bring laughter and delight this spooky season

aIam afraid of politics,a the rapper and previous Trump supporter admitted on a new episode of aThe Breakfast Cluba podcast

Actor said she was in a astate of shock and feara following the death of her husband

The comedian delivered a series of racist jokes aimed at Puerto Rico, Latinos and Black people during Donald Trumpas Madison Square Garden rally

Viewers slammed the showas writers for the sexist question

aOh my god I have never seen a brawl like this on CNN,a wrote one shocked viewer

aChristopher wouldave wanted this,a said the filmas screenwriter

You can now go back and rewatch many Homer scenes worry free

aI wasnat ready then,a the actor said

The Hollywood legend also revealed that she defended Julia Roberts early in the staras career

Pop singer had been working on new music when he died

aSexuality is such a beautifully complex thing, and itas so hard to just put into boxesa said the musician

The band issued a warning to fans to avoid unauthorised resale sites

Pop star apparently made the remarks on an episode of aNever Mind the Buzzcocksa

aI am not worried about them hijacking my characteras soul,a said the Iron Man star

Perry died aged 54 in October 2023 from the aacute effects of Ketaminea

aItas all I have ever known,a actor said

From Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni to Lucy Liu and Bill Murray, there are many TV and movie collaborations that havenat exactly been plain sailing, writes Ellie Harrison

The actor, whoas starring opposite Cillian Murphy in a new film about the Magdalene laundries and the lasting wound they inflicted on Ireland, tells Ellie Harrison about working with her old friend to bring the traumatic tale to the screen

Goldberg pointed out three big errors with Spotify podcast hostas assertions

The Nevada venue holds a special place in both starsa hearts

Including a soap star, football pundit and former aX Factora judge

aI did think that a petition is not the right way to go about getting that to happen,a he said

Avant garde filmmaker died in a New York hospital from pneumonia

Only 10 couples remain in the competition...

Matthew Perryas mother Suzanne Morrison says there was aan inevitability to what was going to happen next to hima

aIt really felt like a power move thing,a Kendrick says

One more star bid the dancefloor farwell for good

The Anguiculus dicaprioi is a copper-coloured snake with a short head, large nostrils and adozens of teetha

DiCaprio says America needs a abold step forward to save our economy, our planet and ourselvesa

Netflix will now let viewers save specific moments from its shows aA and suggested they might start with raunchy scenes from Bridgerton, for instance.

aAm I right ladies?a said the actor to the audience

The second season of the hit Korean-language thriller is set to arrive on Netflix later this year

Axel Rudakubana, 18, who already faces three murder charges, is separately accused of possessing terrorist material

The suspect charged with the murder of three girls in Southport is to be separately prosecuted on suspicion of possessing terrorist material and producing the highly toxic poison ricin, police have said.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, will appear at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday charged with producing the biological toxin ricin and having a document titled aMilitary studies in the Jihad against the Tyrants a the Al-Qaida training manuala.

Chancellor calls increase to APS12.21 an hour a asignificant stepa, with 18- to 20-year-olds in line for a 16% increase

The national minimum wage will go up to APS12.21 an hour in April after the chancellor confirmed a 6.7% increase, with more than 3 million low-paid workers in line for a pay rise.

Rachel Reeves described the move, worth APS1,400 a year for an eligible full-time worker, as a asignificant stepa towards delivering on Labouras manifesto promise to introduce a agenuine living wage for working peoplea.

Other UN agencies say it would be impossible to fill the void left by Unrwa

Al Jazeera has spoken with the director-general of the Gaza governmentas media office, Ismail al-Thawabta, who has said at least 93 people were killed in the Israeli airstrike on northern Gazaas town of Beit Lahiya. Gazaas health ministry said earlier today that 60 people were killed in the strike this morning, which hit a residential building housing displaced civilians. Al-Thawabta said that the building Israel attacked housed 200 people. Dozens of people are reported missing and 150 others estimated to be injured. Medics said 20 children were among the dead.

Many of those injured have been rushed to nearby Kamal Adwan hospital inside the Jabalia refugee camp. But the hospital is struggling to treat them as it reportedly has run out of medical supplies and only has two paediatric doctors, with no surgeons. Israeli forces detained dozens of medical staff at the hospital days ago. Dr Hossam Abu Safiya, director of the hospital, told Al Jazeera on Friday that most of the surgeons had been arrested by Israeli troops, meaning urgent surgeries could not be performed.

The UAV (drone) force of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a specific military operation targeting the industrial zone of the Israeli enemy in the Ashkelon region.

Former president rejected criticism of the Madison Square Garden event and claimed rally was abeautiful; 40,000 people expected at Harris speech

• Donat miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts

Most Americans are prepared to accept the election results as legitimate, according to a new ABC/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday.

The poll, conducted between 18 October to 22, 2024, states 83% of Americans surveyed and 86% of registered voters surveyed are prepared to accept the outcome of the presidential election as legitimate, regardless of which candidate they support.

Mark Steyn lost a high court battle against Ofcom who he claimed akilleda his career with rulings about Covid comments

A former GB news presenter who lost a high court battle with Ofcom has been ordered to pay APS50,000 in legal costs before the final bill is determined.

Mark Steyn claimed the regulator had akilleda his career with rulings about Covid content on two of his 2022 shows, but in July Mrs Justice Farbey dismissed his legal challenge.

Robert Prussak, who approached girl after she got lost on family holiday, acquitted of kidnapping and sexual assault

A former US air force pilot has been cleared of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl during her family holiday to London earlier this year.

Robert Prussak approached the girl after she became separated from her family near Harrods.

Alison McCourt says former Russian spy was achanting unintelligible wordsa and daughter Yulia was unconscious

A senior army nurse who came to the aid of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal after he was poisoned with a nerve agent has described how he was achantinga unintelligibly.

Skripal was half-raising his hand in the air and vomiting while the hand of his daughter, Yulia, was clamped in a aclawa a and at one point she had stopped breathing.

Charities plan to create flagship for nature recovery on 9,500-acre portion of Duke of Northumberlandas estate

The Wildlife Trusts have bought part of the Duke of Northumberlandas estate in the largest land sale in England for 30 years.

Offered up by its estate agents as aa paradise for those with a penchant for sporting pursuits, from world-class fishing on the illustrious River Coquet to pheasant and grouse shootinga, Rothbury estate has now been bought by the charity, with plans to restore it for nature.

Manslaughter inquiry launched after 14-year-old went into anaphylactic shock after dining with her family at pizzeria

Prosecutors in Rome have opened a manslaughter investigation after a British girl with a peanut allergy died during a holiday with her family.

The 14-year-old had dined at a pizzeria in the Gianicolense district and went into anaphylactic shock about 15 minutes later after the family returned to their hotel.

Ryan James Girdusky removed from NewsNight show after telling fellow guest aI hope your beeper doesnat go offa

• US elections 2024 a live updates

CNN has apologised to its viewers after a panellist on its NewsNight programme made derogatory remarks implying that a fellow guest on the show, the broadcaster Mehdi Hasan, was a terrorist.

Ryan James Girdusky, a conservative commentator, told Hasan, a Guardian US columnist and former host on MSNBC, who is Muslim, that he hoped his abeeper doesnat go offa, in an apparent reference to Israelas targeting of Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon with exploding pagers last month. The wave of coordinated explosions killed 12 and injured thousands.

Promoters said the affected tickets were bought using prohibited techniques, including acquiring more than four tickets per household and using multiple identities

Ticketmaster will cancel about 50,000 tickets for the UK and Ireland dates of Oasisas reunion tour for violating the companyas terms and conditions in the coming weeks, the BBC reports.

The tickets concerned are listed for sale on unofficial secondary websites such as Viagogo a as opposed to the official resale partner, Twickets, where tickets can only be resold at face value. Promoters Live Nation a which is part of Ticketmaster a and SJM told the BBC that 4% of tickets sold a close to 50,000 a ended up on resale sites.

Patients left behind accounts of their experiences at the Little Rock Family Planning Services clinic before it was shut down

• How a rightwing machine stopped Arkansasas abortion ballot

Eight patients were in the waiting room of the Little Rock Family Planning Services clinic on the morning in June 2022 that Roe v Wade died. Until that moment, the clinic was the only place where women in Arkansas, a deeply red state, could get surgical abortions.

Natalie Tvedten, who helped found the clinic and provided counseling to patients, remembers huddling in a back room with a visiting doctor from Los Angeles after they heard the news.

While some want Rachel Reeves to raise taxes for the wealthy, others fear the long-term sick could be penalised

• UK politics live a latest updates

Seven Britons share their hopes and fears about the chancellor Rachel Reevesas first budget, and weigh up the needs of pensioners, those unable to work and small businesses, with tax incentives for professionals and the governmentas budgeting needs.

Ukraine only beginning to grapple with impact of widespread but unspoken abuse

Russian troops tortured Oleksii Sivak for weeks, applying electric shocks to his genitals in a freezing basement in his home city of Kherson in punishment for resisting their rule.

When Ukrainian troops freed the city in the autumn of 2022, Sivak was presented with a long list of medical specialists who could help his recovery and asked to tick the ones he needed.

Polls show US voters unhappy about the economy, their top election concern. How would the presidential candidates address economic issues such as cost of living and labor?

The economy looms large over next monthas presidential election as tens of millions of Americans begin casting their votes.

Employers are hiring and inflation is fading but consumers are still counting the cost of years of soaring prices. Polls show voters of all persuasions remain unhappy about the state of the economy.

Donat miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts

Past threats former president a and present Russian ones a have spurred Europe to invest in self-defence, but as conflicts rise the alliance still looks vital

• Donat miss important US election coverage. Get our free app and sign up for election alerts

Politeness and convention dictate that European leaders try to sound noncommittal when asked whether a Donald Trump presidency would hurt Nato. But despite the rhetoric about aTrump-proofinga, Nato cohesion will be at risk from a hostile or isolationist Republican president, who has previously threatened to leave the alliance if European defence spending did not increase.

aThe truth is that the US is Nato and Nato is the US; the dependence on America is essentially as big as ever,a said Jamie Shea, a former Nato official who teaches at the University of Exeter. aTake the new Nato command centre to coordinate assistance for Ukraine in Wiesbaden, Germany. It is inside a US army barracks, relying on US logistics and software.a

Angel M CintrA3n, partyas chair on island, says he will not vote for Trump unless he says sorry for speakeras comments

• US elections 2024 a live updates

The president of the Republican partyas branch in Puerto Rico has said he will not vote for Donald Trump unless he apologises for racist remarks made at his rally referring to the US island territory as a afloating island of garbagea.

Outrage even among fellow Republicans is continuing to mount after the racist insult at the Republican nomineeas rally at New Yorkas Madison Square Garden on Sunday, with the podcaster Tony Hinchcliffe coming under fire for his inflammatory comments made about Puerto Rico in the opening speech.

Disgraced and disbarred former NYC mayor and Trump lawyer also says Biden administration is persecuting him

In a new book, Rudy Giuliani claims his extensive legal problems and those of Donald Trump are the results of persecution by aa fascist regimea run by Kamala Harris and Joe Biden a all while avoiding mention of a $150m defamation award against him won by two Georgia elections workers and repeating the lies about electoral fraud which saw him lose law licenses in New York and Washington DC.

Giulianias book also ignores the widely reported autocratic tendencies of Trump, which have triggered numerous warnings, including from former staffers, that he is a fascist in waiting, should he return to the White House.

The two members of the chairlift-making dynasty are branching out with startup led by the sixth generation of the family

Sam Stannah is only 31 but is already feeling the pressure to produce the next generation to lead the family-owned lift business. In a recent blooper reel from a corporate video, his 89-year-old grandfather Brian was filmed telling him aget going, donat hang abouta. Smiling, he points out: aIave only been married a few months!a

He is the sixth generation of the family to run the business founded by Joseph Stannah in 1867 as a manufacturer of cranes handling goods off the Thames docks during the Industrial Revolution.

Robert Zemeckis reunites with Tom Hanks and Robin Wright for an ugly de-aged nightmare that boringly follows the same house throughout time

A swirl of concern and outright fear has long been following Robert Zemeckisas unusual big bet Here, a 30-year reunion for his Forrest Gump co-stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright. The film, based on Richard McGuireas comic strip turned graphic novel, was heralded as the most ambitious use of digital de-aging yet, following the pair through the decades, from teenage years to final days, as part of an ensemble of characters who have lived in the same space over time. Early stills, and a trailer, had clued us into the film being plainly terrifying but nothing had quite prepared us for just how unforgivably dull it would also be. Here lies the yearas most eerie and embarrassing misfire.

Zemeckis was once a director who knew exactly how to manipulate a mass audience. He was the guy who made Back to the Future, Death Becomes Her, Romancing the Stone, Cast Away and What Lies Beneath, a conjurer of the kind of transcendent movie magic we just donat get that much of anymore. Weare certainly not seeing it in his contemporary work, whether it be pointless sub-par remakes like The Witches or Pinocchio or misfiring tech experiments like The Walk or Welcome to Marwen (I will gladly be one of the few defenders of his perfectly fun 2016 second world war thriller Allied). Here exists in the latter category, another baffling folly that plays this time like a museum installation crossed with a 100-minute insurance advert. His latest gimmick traps us in the same fixed spot as he flits back and forth in time, from the dinosaurs all the way through to Covid, an ugly sitcom melange of surreal FX, painful overacting and pat Live Laugh Love lessons.

His old-fashioned painting prowess and explicitly queer subject matter has made the young American artist hot property. So why are some people so shocked?

Next month, the 2024 Venice Biennale will close, and a memorable painting in the main exhibition will come down: I Keep My Treasure in My Ass, by Louis Fratino. With a title taken from a 1977 book called Towards a Gay Communism, the work depicts Fratino giving birth to himself from his rectum. It has been stopping visitors in their tracks. aI had a friend at the biennale,a says the 31-year-old American artist, awho said that people were almost queuing to stand at that painting a then grimacing or having physical reactions. Which to me is hilarious, because itas so not naturalistic. Thereas no implication of pain. Itas like a tarot card, almost.a

An unassuming figure in wire-rimmed specs, flannel shirt and New Balance trainers (who despite not being asuper gregariousa is recovering from a celebratory night in a Florentine gay bar called Crisco Club that finished at 4am), Fratino is talking to me at the Centro Pecci in Prato, Italy, where an exhibition of his work has just opened. Promoted on giant banners throughout the city showing a magnified version of his tiny work Blowjob and Moon a one of which is slung over the ramparts of the local castle a the show is called Satura, and itas his first solo show in a public art institution, rather than a commercial gallery.

They promised us an in-person interview a then sent along two decoys. So who are the enigmatic musicians who make it so hard for fans to hear their thrillingly alien music?

Two Shell, a buzzy London duo who make hyperactive yet melancholy bass music, are well known for giving people the runaround. They keep themselves anonymous, and perform with scarves and sunglasses hiding their faces. Fans are sent on digital breadcrumb trails via mysterious websites and social media posts. Their first interview, with the Face, was conducted in a chatroom of their own design, and scrubbed from the internet shortly after publication. Their second, with Mixmag, was done over email and paired with photos of a duo who fans on Reddit are almost certain are not actually Two Shell.

So I am excited and wary when I arrive at their Deptford studio to talk with them about their self-titled debut album, released last week on the big-budget indie label Young. Two Shellas music mashes together various kinds of dance music from the past few decades a speed garage, techno, hyperpop, house, dubstep a and runs it all through a cartoon filter, making for a sound thatas fast and dizzyingly heightened. Their studio is crammed with abstract paintings and pieces of outlandish raver gear. Two tables are covered with dozens of hats, each embellished with embroidery and scraps of fabric. Two young women are sitting on a fuzzy green couch, wearing outfits that sit somewhere between avant garde clubber and first-year art student: they introduce themselves as Flat Earther and Ghost Shrimp.

A shocking new documentary lays out the many allegations of abuse against the star, from attacking Rihanna to a claim of sexual assault on Diddyas yacht

On 30 December 2020, Jane Doe, a professional dancer who had just moved to Los Angeles, was invited by a friend to a New Yearas party on a yacht in Miami. The yacht was owned by the now-disgraced rap mogul Diddy; of course she should attend as someone trying to break into the music industry, she recalls thinking in the new ID documentary Chris Brown: A History of Violence. Once on the yacht, Jane Doe met Chris Brown, the R&B star once considered the next Michael Jackson, and still a successful touring artist. Jane Doe knew that Brown had once, famously, assaulted his girlfriend, Rihanna, on the eve of the 2009 Grammys (in fact, as the documentary reminds, Rihanna later said he assaulted her on several occasions), but that was a long time ago. She had been a kid then. Brown took an interest in her music and dance career, and offered her the first of two drinks.

According to Jane Doe, something immediately felt off. She describes feeling heavy, suddenly very tired and nearly immobilized. Through tears (and anonymizing techniques), she says Brown led her to the back of the yacht, raped her, then put his number in her phone, in order to connect about her career back in LA a a textbook way to stay close to and confuse the victim, as the domestic violence expert Dr Carolyn West points out in the film. The two stayed in contact for several months, until Jane Doe was able, through therapy, to come to terms with what had happened to her. aI know it for a fact. Instead of telling myself that it wasnat. It was. It was rape,a she says in the film. She filed a lawsuit, she says, only because she was advised that it would help another woman who had a similar experience with Brown.

A French newspaper has revealed the whereabouts of world leaders with the use of the hugely popular running app. So is it time to stop it tracking your location?

Name: Strava

Age: Founded by former Harvard rowers Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey in 2009.

The disgraced actor has returned with a lofi new podcast, shot in his tiny apartment, where he interviews other stars but seems more interested in talking about himself

Yesterday, with very little warning, Armie Hammer resurfaced. You may remember that in 2021 Hammeras career ended in an instant, after multiple women came forward to accuse him of varying degrees of abuse. His representatives dropped him, his work dried up and he was forced to sell timeshares in the Cayman Islands to get by. That, everybody thought, was that.

However, in recent months, Hammer has started to re-emerge into public life. He moved back to Los Angeles and made a big deal about selling his car. He was on Piers Morganas YouTube channel, and Bill Maheras podcast. And now it looks as if heas back for good. Yesterday saw the launch of the first episode of Hammeras new podcast, Armie HammerTime.

As a new show co-created by an AI performer opens in France, industry leaders including Wayne McGregor, Tamara Rojo and Jonzi D contemplate the technologyas possibilities and perils

aI think AIas going to change everything,a Tamara Rojo, artistic director of San Francisco Ballet, told me earlier this year. aWe just donat know quite how.a The impact of artificial intelligence on the creative industries can already be seen across film, television and music, but to some extent dance seems insulated, as a form that so much relies on live bodies performing in front of an audience. But this week choreographers Aoi Nakamura and Esteban Lecoq, collectively known as AI|E, are launching what is billed as the worldas first AI-driven dance production, Lilith.Aeon. Lilith, the performer, is an AI entity, who has co-created the work, with Nakamura and Lecoq. aShea will appear on an LED cube that the audience move around, their motion triggering Lilithas dance.

Nakamura and Lecoq insist theyare interested not in chasing the latest technology for its own sake but in enhancing their storytelling. Working as dancers with theatre company Punchdrunk turned them on to the idea of immersive experiences, which led to virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and now AI. Their question is always: aHow can we make this tech come alive?a But not in a robots-taking-over-the-world way.

The men on Graham Nortonas sofa found self-defence a hoot. Iam sure most women have found ourselves in that conversation

In a development that absolutely must not catch on, something interesting has happened on a TV chatshow. What a precedent: Iam desperately hoping the entertainment industry rallies around to prevent it ever happening again. We can probably count on it. The dance of all chatshows these days is almost entirely mechanised. You go on. You do your rehearsed anecdotes. The news that the late Michael Parkinson is being relaunched as an AI barely raises an eyebrow because itas all so synthetic anyway.

Therefore the moments when it isnat take on outsize significance. As you may have guessed, we are talking about last Fridayas episode of The Graham Norton Show, on which the Blitz star Saoirse Ronan appeared as a guest alongside Gladiator II actors Denzel Washington and Paul Mescal and Day of the Jackal leading man Eddie Redmayne. We join the sofa as Redmayne is doing an anecdote about how his Jackal preparation involved being trained in self-defence, in order to do what Team America would call ahis actinga. (Not how Eddie put it, obviously. And yet, the reality.) Redmayneas revelation that he was shown how to use a phone as a weapon if attacked proves quite the hoot, with Mescal riffing on the absurdity a aWhoas actually going to do that, though?a a Norton chiming in, and Denzel laughing along. Ronan is trying to say something but she gets honked over, before managing to cut through with a line for the ages: aThatas what girls have to think about all the timea.

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Thanks to reader support, the Guardian is free from the political and commercial pressures that influence other US outlets. Please help us raise the $2m we need to keep up our momentum.

The Guardian is unafraid. And itas independent. (No billionaire bosses.) In this media climate, those qualities are as rare as they are crucial to good journalism.

Good journalism is also crucial to the informed citizens we need for a functioning democracy. From too many legacy media outlets based in the US weare getting something else entirely: horse race coverage, scraped-up and reheated scandals of little significance, credulous repeating of claims, polite evasions about the threats and crimes of the right, and whatas been dubbed asanewashinga: the translation of the luridly loopy utterances of Donald Trump and his minions into coherent-sounding policy statements. And now weare seeing billionaire owners of major papers suppress their own editorial departmentas endorsements.

If you are able, please support the Guardian today. Thank you for helping protect the free press.

Neil OaBrienas simplistic plan isnat really about antisocial behaviour. Itas a litany of rightwing gripes aimed at human rights

Some years ago, the Guardian introduced a feature, Dining across the divide, to show that it was still possible to disagree in a constructive manner. The idea was born at a time when it seemed politics was so polarised nothing could ever grow again on the ground between. Happily, it turns out thereas an appetite for common-ground stuff, illustrated not least by the ability of two middle-aged political podcasters determined to talk rationally to fill the O2 Arena, as Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart did a fortnight ago.

Working politicians are taking note. Thereas a recognition that many voters donat like being shouted at, or shouting at all. Take the lament that the Conservative MP Neil OaBrien posted on his Substack page a few days ago a reported by the BBC as a aplan to make Britain vaguely civilised againa a about the decline of orderliness on the streets of Britain. Hereas a surefire winner thatas bound to get everyone to agree. Not even the most effete liberal welcomes apeople playing obnoxious music on public transporta, or the mass trip-hazard of abandoned ebikes and scooters on the pavement, or the kind of petty vandalism that makes so many city streets look neglected. Heas right that itas unsettling and sometimes downright intimidating.

Anne Perkins is a writer and broadcaster, and a former Guardian correspondent

Shareholders still do not know if giant will jettison goal to cut oil and gas production by 25% by 2030

There goes another of BPas shiny targets cum ambitions. This one is not related to the pace of energy transition but is purely financial. Soon after getting the top job permanently at the start of the year, the chief executive, Murray Auchincloss, said BP planned to spend $14bn (APS10.7bn) buying back shares over the course of 2024 and 2025. Now heas not so sure about the second lap of the track.

The $14bn figure is described as acurrently unchangeda, meaning the $1.75bn a quarter pace can be maintained for the rest of the year, but a warning has been attached thereafter. Next February, BP will areview elements of our financial guidance, including our expectations for 2025 share buybacksa, said Tuesdayas third-quarter report. In other words, this was pre-guidance guidance that BP expects to change. It is the sort of laborious preamble that is becoming a BP hallmark.

The debate over how to define workers will come back to haunt Rachel Reeves if she cannot convince the public that sheas acting in their interests

Workers of the world, unite. Nothingas too good for the workers. You know what it means, instantly, when you see aworkera in a phrase like that a what kind of working people, exactly, is being addressed.

You know it doesnat mean billionaires, even if they spend every waking hour in the office. It doesnat mean people who own a string of buy-to-lets either, no matter how long they spend managing their property empire. Conversely, you can identify as working class in this sense even if youare currently not actually doing any work but are on strike, or looking after small children, or even retired. Being a worker is more a virtuous state of mind than a socioeconomic definition, and like all feelings it doesnat always make logical sense. But when wrapped inside a clear political ideology, somehow it works.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

Almost a decade since his lawsuit brought down the Gawker website, the former wrestler seems to have a taste for hanging around with vengeful billionaires. He might even harbour political ambitions

It was less WWE, more WTF. On Sunday night, Terry Gene Bollea, better known as Hulk Hogan, strutted on stage at Madison Square Garden to speak at a Donald Trump rally. Wearing tiny yellow sunglasses that looked as if theyad been nicked off a toddler, Hogan attempted to rip his shirt off. It took a bit of struggling, but eventually the 71-year-old wrestling legend managed it.

The high jinks continued: Hogan treated the crowd to a dance. Notably, Hoganas dance moves are just like the ones Trump has shown off at numerous rallies. A lot of arm-pumping; kinda looks like theyare milking a cow. (That said, my own dancing looks like a penguin being caught in an earthquake, so Iam not judging.)

In blocking the newspaper from endorsing Kamala Harris, Jeff Bezos is not acting cowardly so much as slyly

Last week the Washington Post refrained from endorsing a candidate in the presidential race for the first time in 36 years. The decision was reportedly ordered by Jeff Bezos, the Postas owner and one of the richest men in the world. The Seattle billionaire, who owns Amazon, purchased the flailing newspaper in 2013 in a rare fit of civic duty.

The blowback was immediate and substantial. Within 48 hours of the announcement as many as 200,000 paying readers cancelled their subscriptions to the already money-losing news organization, according to reporting by NPR.

Readers respond to Keir Starmer saying Britain will not participate in any slavery reparations

Surely Keir Starmer could be more conciliatory on reparations for slavery (Starmer says he wants to alook forwarda and not talk about slavery reparations, 23 October), taking a lead from Justin Welby, who at least apologised for the Anglican Churchas role (Archbishop of Canterbury reveals ancestral links to slavery, 22 October). The slow escape from post-emancipation poverty that the UK could help alleviate with simple, inexpensive, long-term measures is what Caribbean prime ministers are drawing to peopleas attention.

Our local Labour party passed our motion on the topic, but this was sadly not deemed a conference priority by the constituency. The British public fail to realise how much empire wealth still current in Britain came from the 200 years or more of British kidnap-trading of Africans, transatlantic humiliation,�torture and forced labour that slavery was. Its lasting legacy, as the Windrush saga showed, is the ongoing racism endured by Britainas black and mixed-ethnicity population.
Kennedy Cruickshank Visiting professor, University of the West Indies, Alison Rooper Documentary producer, David Blagbrough Retired, British Council

Stewart Collins says support for the Petworth literary festival in West Sussex is growing, and Kathryn Streatfield suggests local events are the solution for a changing festival world

Laura Bartonas piece paints an understandably downbeat picture of where we are now in the world of the literary festival (After Baillie Gifford: are literary festivals on their last legs?, 23 October). But writing on day one of the Petworth literary festival, I feel there is another perspective.

The arts as a whole are, without doubt, struggling and the loss of big sponsors such as Baillie Gifford clearly represents a challenge to festivals that have relied on commercial sponsorships. But being at the heart of a community that backs its cultural offerings with private support, our particular festival seems to be riding on the crest of a wave of interest. This, combined with the continuing and active support of the publishing industry, led to our event doubling�in size in 2023, and we continue on this huge growth spurt�this autumn.

• Club release statement to market commission
• Reserve team coach JoAPSo Pereira ready to take over

Sporting have confirmed that Manchester United have made an approach for their head coach, RAoben Amorim. In a statement to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM) in Lisbon on Tuesday they said the Premier League club ahad expressed an interesta in hiring the 39-year-old and that United are prepared to pay the release clause of a!10m (APS8.3m).

Earlier in the day, Unitedas hopes of appointing Amorim increased with Sporting agreeing a deal with JoAPSo Pereira to take over from the 39-year-old should he leave.

• Bath scrum-half comes in with Alex Mitchell injured
• Tom Curry and Henry Slade also in starting XV

Ben Spencer will make his first England start against New Zealand on Saturday, with Steve Borthwick laying down the gauntlet to the All Blacks by naming his side two days early.

Tom Curry has also been selected in the starting XV for the first time in 12 months while Henry Slade will line up at outside centre at Twickenham despite just one club appearance this season.

• BBC offer too low but it keeps 15 live Hundred matches
• No interest from Channel 4 or ITV in four games a year

The England menas and womenas cricket teams are set to return fully behind the Sky Sports paywall next season after an extension to the BBC rights deal in which the Acorporation opted out of showing live internationals.

The Guardian has learned that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has been unable to secure a free-to-air television deal for some of its teamsa Twenty20 Ainternationals in a blow to its attempts to broaden cricketas appeal. The ECB has been�seeking to sell live rights to two menas T20s and two womenas T20s a�year on a four-year contract starting�next summer, but has yet to receive an acceptable offer at the end of the tender process.

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Isnat modern football just super? Weave got superclubs, super-agents, Super Sunday, supercomputers, even a weare not making this up a super-lawyers. And now, Real Madrid, a club that prides itself on conquering new ground, has ushered in the age of the super-sulk. Madrid effectively boycotted last nightas Ballon daOr ceremony, no doubt setting a precedent for future club-wide tantrums, when they heard a whisper that VinAcius JAonior wasnat going to win the big prize.

World No 29 is playing her 23rd tournament of 2024 yet her ambition and motivation has never dimmed on tough tour

As Katie Boulter closed out her 2023 season last November, she reflected with satisfaction on her best season to date. Having spent significant periods of her career struggling with injuries on the sidelines, she was finally able to steadily build her form week by week. She took her opportunities without hesitation, winning her first WTA title in Nottingham and establishing herself inside the worldas top 100.

Still, her contentment came with some caution. She now had the considerable challenge of defending those points and maintaining her position at the top level of the sport in the following season: aI know itas an uphill battle next year,a she said.

Manager reflects on the unexpected joys of running 10km a day for the annual Prostate United challenge

aI tell you whatas really nice when youare running around Doncaster in the mornings,a says Grant McCann, awhen you hear people beeping car horns at you, waving out the window.a Those snippets of encouragement are priceless pick-me-ups on the month-long annual Prostate United challenge, which entails running, walking or cycling every day to raise money and awareness for Prostate Cancer UK. McCann, his Doncaster Rovers coaching staff, club staff and supporters will finish at the clubas stadium on Thursday afternoon.

aWeave managed to get more than 60 people involved in the Doncaster page this year a everyone is doing something,a the manager says. aIt has brought the whole club together with the camaraderie around the place.a

Our resident cartoonist on the weekendas Premier League action and the latest developments at Old Trafford

• Get your copies of Davidas cartoons in our Print Shop
• Davidas new book, Chaos in the Box: order it now

• Race begins in Lille on 5 July and returns to Paris finale
• Tour de France Femmes begins in Brittany on 26 July

Mountains, crosswinds, cobbles and time trials: none of the hazards of the 2025 Tour de France route, unveiled in Paris on Tuesday, are likely to derail the seemingly unstoppable Tadej Pogacar, winner of almost every race worth winning in 2024.

Next summer the Slovenian a once a cheeky prodigy but now a ruthless terminator a will be back at the Touras Grand DA(c)part, for a race that starts in Lille on 5 July and returns to the traditional finale, after a one-year absence because of the Paris Olympics, on the Champs-AlysA(c)es in the capital on 27 July.

Exclusive: Linked accounts on X push petrostateas posts about climate summit and drown out criticism

Scores of apparently fake social media accounts are boosting Azerbaijanas hosting of the Cop29 climate summit, an investigation has revealed.

The accounts were mostly set up after July, at which time seven of the top 10 most engaged posts using the hashtags #COP29 and #COP29Azerbaijan were critical of Azerbaijanas role in the conflict with Armenia, using hashtags such as #stopgreenwashgenocide. By September this had changed, with all of the top 10 most engaged posts coming from the official Cop29 Azerbaijan account.

Researchers found 38,000 fewer people a 10 times number of murders a would have died if atmosphere was not clogged with greenhouse pollutants

Climate breakdown caused more than half of the 68,000 heat deaths during the scorching European summer of 2022, a study has found.

Researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) found 38,000 fewer people would have died from heat if humans had not clogged the atmosphere with pollutants that act like a greenhouse and bake the planet. The death toll is about 10 times greater than the number of people murdered in Europe that year.

As Pakistanas second biggest city takes the lead in the poor air quality index, one artist and activist struggled to find people who cared

It is asmog seasona in Lahore. Along with cities in the plains of the Punjab province, October is now popularly called the fifth season in Pakistan as the burning of stubble in the fields after the rice harvest takes the already poor air quality to record lows.

On Monday, Lahore took the world lead on several measures of poor air quality. According to Swiss-based IQAir, which partners with the UN and other agencies to measure pollution, the air quality index was 299 a just two points short of hazardous, followed by Delhi scoring 207. An AQI of 151 to 200 is classified as aunhealthya, 201 to 300 avery unhealthya and more than 300 as ahazardousa.

Former chancellor accuses Rachel Reeves of politicising Office for Budget Responsibility by release on budget day

Jeremy Hunt has called on the cabinet secretary, Simon Case, to prevent the release of a review by the Office for Budget Responsibility into his spending plans, which is scheduled to be released on the day of the budget.

The former chancellor has accused Rachel Reeves of politicising the Office for Budget Responsibility, after she announced she would release a review into the spending forecast published during his time at the Treasury.

Chapel and Swan Smokehouse in Cambridge was target of similar theft to Nealas Yard Dairy cheesemakers

The owner of a smoked salmon firm who lost tens of thousands of pounds to a similar scam to the one that defrauded Nealas Yard Dairy has said authorities need to act against ahigh-end food frauda.

Chris Swales immediately recognised the similarities when he heard how the London cheese specialist was scammed out of more than 22 tonnes of cheddar this month.

Essex force says threats made to son of Conservative PM were anot linked in any waya to his murder

A series of threatening phone calls made to the son of Sir David Amess the evening before the MPas murder were anot linked in any waya to the attack, police have said.

The Conservative MPas daughter, actor Katherine Amess, has called for a full inquest into her fatheras death, questioning why the police did not protect his constituency surgery after the threats.

Former SNP leader and first minister arestored pride in our nationa, says acting Alba head in eulogy

Mourners have remembered a apolitical gianta and a afriend to manya at the funeral of former first minister Alex Salmond, which took place in Strichen, Aberdeenshire, on Tuesday.

Salmondas niece Christina Hendry told the private service that in the period after the 69-year-oldas sudden death in North Macedonia earlier this month, his family had afelt the grief of a nation, and beyonda.

Marks found at Gainsborough Old Hall in Lincolnshire are among most identified at any of the charityas 400 sites

As English Heritage welcomes thousands of visitors over the Halloween period, a new discovery has made Gainsborough Old Hall in Lincolnshire a clear contender for the spookiest site of them all.

The charity has uncovered a astaggering arraya of witchesa marks and rare curses carved into the walls of the Tudor property, once visited by Henry VIII and his fifth Queen, Catherine Howard.

Rick Berry, a volunteer at English Heritage, discovered and mapped about 20 ritual protection, or apotropaic, marks a among the most identified at any of the charityas 400 sites.

Parliamentary watchdog rules Aaron Bell aabused his position of powera by touching woman in Commons bar

A former Conservative MP has been reprimanded for abrazen and drunkena sexual misconduct in one of parliamentas bars.

Aaron Bell, who was the Tory MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme until July, was found by a parliamentary watchdog to have aabused his position of powera by touching a woman aon her left thigh, waist and bottom inappropriately and without her consenta.

Exclusive: aHorrendousa MoJ figures show some prisoners given indeterminate sentences in England and Wales before 2008 still behind bars

Prisoners serving controversial indeterminate sentences were given minimum terms of less than six months but have remained in jail for at least 16 years, newly released data shows.

A total of five inmates serving sentences known as imprisonment for public protection (IPP) in England and Wales were handed tariffs less than six months, Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data shows.

If you have any information about the five prisoners serving IPP sentences who were given tariffs of less than six months, please email rajeev.syal@theguardian.com

Network Rail says about 40% of Avanti West Coast services will be accessible 20 minutes before departure

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Passengers using Londonas Euston railway station will be allowed to board some services early in an attempt to ease persistent overcrowding.

Network Rail has said it would allow passengers to board about 40% of Avanti West Coast services from the station 20 minutes before departure.

Trust us, you"re gonna want to put Mike"s Hot Honey on the very top of your wish list.

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Peter spoke candidly about how dangerous "first fame" can be, especially for young people. Mischa Barton was only 16 when she began starring on The O.C.

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Be prepared to achieve legendary gift-giver status. (Like, Santa may copy *your* list.)

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"With this guy, something just felt wrong... I had an icky, sinking feeling in my gut."

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"That"s the only regret I have in my career."

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The devil on your shoulder is gonna be chanting "add to cart" throughout this entire list.

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Whether you"re roaming the office, walking in the rain, or making the trek from TV to fridge a you"re covered.

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Because you can only blame yourself for forgetting to defrost the chicken for dinner.

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We know you"ve probably gotten some terrible advice.

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"She didn"t want to do that to her fans."

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Didn"t you know not to bring up politics at the dinner table?

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"This product is the best I have ever used in my 56 years."

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I need to see Bhad Bhabie"s reaction next.

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People reported Giseleas pregnancy on Oct. 28 a the exact same date that she and Tom announced and finalized their divorce two years ago.

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A couple of months ago, five people a including two doctors a were charged in connection to Matthewas death.

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With the temperatures ~falling,~ now is the time to buy all those cute chunky sweaters and coats you"ve been eyeing.

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I"m normally pretty skeptical, but this one has me absolutely convinced.

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Act fast to save over $60 on one of the internetas highest-rated and most beloved air purifiers.

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"Spoken like a true grumpy old man."

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Just a few fun things to get you and your kiddos through the inside cat months.

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Pretty privilege is very real and we want to hear about your experiences witnessing it.

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"It"s really hard to show up if you"re terrified of failure"

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"So many of my life"s "defining moments" happened to me in Canada."

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"I found out my husband didn"t actually register the name we had both discussed and agreed on. The name registered on the birth certificate is the last name of his boss, who is also a woman."

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"That Trump Univision Town Hall was something. I haven"t seen that many disappointed Latinos since my wife introduced me to her family."

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Someone call up Winifred Sanderson cuz I"m pretty sure this firming eye cream and a dead man"s toe are the ingredients to the spell that"ll keep her young forever.

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Points were made.

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aI think sexuality is such a beautifully complex thing, and itas so hard to just put into boxesa| Iam just figuring it out like everyone.a

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You may or may not want to throw a party after seeing just how good The Pink Stuff really is.

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"Very emotional, lots of tears."

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Simon is looking out for your yellow nails, your swollen feet, your stinky washing machine, and your weedy garden.

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aI did all that work just for someone to tell me, aUh uh, now go and sound like yourself.a That was another betrayal... And when I tried to return to my accent, I couldnat find it in my mouth.a

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Zeroing in on your Kindle charger in its dedicated spot during mid-flight is nearly as satisfying at the twist in your book.

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In her memoir, Drew Barrymore said, "I could tell my boss, who had hired me on the novel idea of having a washed-up former child actor behind the counter, was patient with all my learning curves but was also irritated with me."

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Liam was in the studio with Grammy winner Sam Pounds prior to his tragic death, and Sam hopes their song aeclipses the negative echoesa surrounding the star.

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Shoutout to the homemade DIY dress.

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"I have an ex who was a Marine and absolutely studied military history. He thought that Lincoln was our second president after Washington. It absolutely hurt my brain."

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aBeautiful people think theyare ugly.a

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If your goal is to make your bedroom comfier as we get into colder months, these products should be on your radar.

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"I wish I would have known about it sooner."

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A 100% cotton fisherman sweater for less than $30 = sensational.

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