As the middle of the year approaches, it’s a smart time to check in on the money goals you set back in January and make any necessary adjustments

Indonesia is selling $2 billion in the form of a US-currency sukuk, its first such issuance in 18

A mother has gone viral after she sent out some hilariously blunt birthday invitations for her twins’ fifth birthday party. In a recent video posted to her TikTok, the parent, Natalie LeClaire, shared a picture of the now-viral invitation that her son received. As she described the note as “hilarious,” she shared a picture of the invite and recited what the beginning of it said. “This event is brought to you by Pinterest fails and the dollar store, so please set your expectations appropriately,” the note read. “As requested, the theme will be unicorns but with rainbows and maybe bats. But there should be princesses, also Minnie. But we need dancing lights, so dress accordingly.” The invitation went on to hilariously describe what parents should pack for their children, before attending the party. “Please pack a bathing suit, puddle jumpers, etc, in case your sweet baby angels decide our original plan sucks, and the pool would be a better time,” the note continued. The mother also invited fellow parents to the party, before noting that she’d understand if the adults say no to attending. “If you would like to drop off and run, we support that entirely,” the parent quipped in the letter. “If you would like to stay, we will provide adult juice and deny any offers to help, to be polite. But deep down, we want to support you. You do you.” Ms LeClaire, who’s based in Ontario, Canada, concluded her video by noting that she and her son are going to the party. “Needless to say, we will absolutely be attending because these are my people,” she said. “This is the kind of mom that I can be friends with.” Along with Ms LeClaire’s son’s name, the invite also had Minnie ears, bats, unicorns, princesses, and a rainbow drawn on it. As of 15 June, the video has more than 5.1m views, with many TikTok users in the comments applauding the honest thoughts that were put in the invitation. “This is incredible. It’s what we’re all thinking when hosting kids parties,” one wrote, while another added: “Do they realise how many people will now be emotionally attending this party?” A third wrote: “I’m glad a parent is finally lowering the standards/expectations because I’m done with these Pinterest/IG inspired kid parties.” Other people also poked fun at the seemingly open-ended dress code at the child’s party. “I think you should go all in and make sure you wear an outfit that hits every theme point. And from a dollar store,” one wrote. @not.just.nat #greenscreen These are my people. #birthdayparty #partyinvitations #parenting #funny #hilarious #adultjuice ♬ Comedy Music - Nissa “Can’t wait to see how everyone interprets ‘dress accordingly.’ Someone better be dressed like a bat princess,” another added. During an interview with Today, the mother who created the invitation, Carys Roberts, noted that the party will be held next month, for her twin daughters, Edie and Elle. She also shared that she came up with the invites pretty quickly, in hopes of amusing some of her fellow parents and making sure that they weren’t too worried about what gifts to get. “Ultimately, I just didn’t want anyone to stress about gifts. The last thing we want is for people to be spending a lot of money. We’re really low-key,” she said. “I’ve received a lot of great feedback and I’m truly thrilled that people thought the invitation was so relatable and funny.” Speaking to Today, Ms LeClaire went on to emphasise that she loved the invitation when she first noticed it. “I started reading it and my jaw dropped. It was so honest and straight up. I was like, ‘I need to be friends with this person.’” The Independent has contacted Ms LeClaire for comment. Read More Mother sparks viral debate for ‘shaming’ parent who refused to give her daughter a slice of cake Woman, 50, to become a surrogate mother for same-sex couple Father sparks debate over his ‘petty’ feud with an 8-year-old about her pool Mom reveals one regret after parent refused to give her child cake amid viral debate Mother sparks debate over parent who wouldn’t give daughter cake Drew Barrymore slams tabloids that claimed she ‘wished’ her mother was dead

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Rick Harrison, Corey Harrison, and Chumlee have joined hands again for a new season of 'Pawn Stars Do America'

The mystery behind the brightest explosion ever seen has finally been solved. In October last year, the Earth was hit by a blast that came to be known as the Brightest of All Time. It was recorded by telescopes across the world, and scientists have been scrambling to explain it ever since. Now researchers believe they may understand why that gamma ray burst was quite so intense. It was pointed directly at Earth and pulled along a large amount of stellar material. That’s according to a new paper published in the journal Science Advances. While scientists have suggested before that the brightness of the blast was the result of its angle, but some mystery remained: the edges of the jet could not be seen. “The slow fade of the afterglow is not characteristic of a narrow jet of gas, and knowing this made us suspect there was an additional reason for the intensity of the explosion, and our mathematical models have borne this out,” said Hendrik Van Earthen from the University of Bath. “Our work clearly shows that the GRB had a unique structure, with observations gradually revealing a narrow jet embedded within a wider gas outflow where an isolated jet would normally be expected.” The work is described in a new paper, ‘A structured jet explains the extreme GRB 221009’, published in the journal Science Advances. Read More Scientists demonstrate wireless power transmission from space for first time Whistleblower alleges UFO crashes – and a cover-up to keep them secret Watch: Strawberry moon lights up skies over UK

An experimental skin patch for toddlers with peanut allergies helped ease reactions in a late-stage clinical trial that

Justin Gaethje has claimed that he has little desire to fight Conor McGregor, after the Irishman called him out in the aftermath of UFC 291. Gaethje avenged a 2018 loss to Dustin Poirier on Saturday, knocking out his fellow American with a stunning head kick to win the ‘Baddest Motherf*****’ title. And McGregor, as he so often does after major UFC cards, then took to social media to call out one half of the main-event fight. “I’ll slap you around,” tweeted McGregor, 35. “I KO him one shot. Guarantee it.” At the UFC 291 post-fight press conference, Gaethje was asked about the former UFC champion’s comments. The lightweight, 34, replied: “I think he’s turned me down six times. And usually you have to lose to fight him, so don’t know what’s going on. “I don’t know, I don’t really care. Whatever. I fight MMA, I like to fight big fights, I like exciting things, so it sounds pretty exciting to me. [But] I’m not going to fight someone on steroids.” Gaethje was addressing the fact that McGregor, who has never tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug, is currently absent from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) testing pool. McGregor is set to fight Michael Chandler next, but the Irishman must first spend six months in Usada’s testing pool and return two negative tests – and zero positives. As such, McGregor vs Chandler is still without a date and location. Gaethje added: “I’ve never taken steroids in my life, never will. Well, maybe when I retire, I might... but I’ve never taken steroids, and I don’t want to fight someone that’s cheating. And I probably shouldn’t even say that if I want the fight, but it’s the truth.” McGregor vs Gaethje is a fight that many fans have long wanted to see. Meanwhile, McGregor has fought Poirier three times. McGregor knocked out the 34-year-old in a featherweight bout in 2014, before suffering a KO loss to Poirier in January 2021 at lightweight. In their trilogy fight in July 2021 – also contested at lightweight – McGregor suffered a broken leg at the end of Round 1. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Justin Gaethje stuns Dustin Poirier with brutal head-kick knockout at UFC 291 Jake Paul vs Nate Diaz live stream: How to watch fight online and on TV this weekend Next UFC Fight Night: Event start time, card and how to watch

Los Angeles Angels star slugger and pitcher Shohei Ohtani had the best-selling jersey of any Major League Baseball player this season, the first time a...