This week’s new entertainment releases include a new album from Lucinda Williams, the kickoff of the 20th season of the reality dating show “The Bachelorette” starring a 27-year-old therapist from Georgia who was featured on the last season of “The Bachelor,” and Idris Elba is stuck on the worst flight ever in the new series “Hijack” for Apple TV+

Smoke from Canadian wildfires shrouded New York in an apocalyptic smog Wednesday as cities along the US East Coast issued air quality alerts and thousands...

Malaysia’s economic growth missed expectations in the second quarter of the year, expanding at the slowest pace in

Nissan Motor said Monday it will hike top wages for workers at U.S. manufacturing plants by 10% in

If TikTok is to be believed, American men are absolutely obsessed with ancient Rome – and now a historian has explained why. The trend: “How often do you think about the Roman Empire?” has swept the social media platform in recent weeks. Scores of women have posted about how often their husbands or boyfriends said they think about it. More often than not, it’s more than once a day. But why the fascination? Historian Tom Holland could have the answer – and it doesn’t reflect well on America. Firstly, he writes in Time magazine, it is likely to be something more “visceral” than the great orators and writers like Cicero and Ovid, whose work still gets academics excited 2,000 years later. Instead, he says, it is because the Roman empire was “the apex predator of antiquity: powerful, terrifying, box-office”. Not only this, he adds, but the fact that it was so long ago means modern audiences don’t feel as uncomfortable with the cruel and violent acts of the Roman Empire as with more recent examples. “The Romans, much like the dinosaurs, are not merely glamorous—they are also safely extinct.” However, writes Holland, an author and co-host of podcast The Rest Is History, there is more to it than that: “Romans, more than any other ancient people, seem to offer America a distorted reflection of itself.” @theyaresam_ the roman empire is actually fascinating “Just as American conservatives today look back wistfully to the Founding Fathers as patrons of an age of rugged independence and virtue, so did the Founding Fathers look back with an equal wistfulness to the early years of Rome. “There, for any infant republic victorious in a war against a great monarchy, was a morality tale to be found that could hardly help but serve as inspiration. “The Romans, like the Americans, had originally been ruled by a king; then, resolved no longer to live in servitude, they had dared all in a heroic and ultimately successful campaign to expel him.” The picture gets less rosy when you look to 21st century comparisons, he continues. Both the US and Rome suffered from from wars in Iraq, the rise of rival superpowers, “political vendettas pursued in the law courts” and “the emergence of radicals preaching that the last will be first, and the first will be last, to the excitement of many, and the consternation of others”. When Americans think of Rome, Holland concludes, they are thinking of a civilisation that is both “strange and familiar; terrifying and glamorous; safely extinct and the image of themselves”. Let's just hope the US doesn't suffer the same fate as the Roman Empire any time soon. 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.

Carolina Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson has a broken right leg and is expected to miss the remainder of the season, according to coach Frank Reich

Kanye 'Ye' West and Bianca Censori have caught the attention of social media after West was spotted flashing his bare bottom to spectators during a boat ride in Venice. In videos and images circulating online, the rapper can be seen sitting at the back of the boat with his bottom exposed to the cameras, while his rumoured wife rested her head on his lap. When they reached their destination, Censori was seen donning a grey leather trench coat. Meanwhile, West appeared to wrap a sweatshirt around his head and went shoeless, which one celebrity podiatrist warned could increase the "risk of injuries in the foot, and infection when walking barefoot may increase." The pair were accompanied by a mystery guest dressed in all black. The couple have caused quite a stir recently during their Italian getaway, with some calling for Censori to be arrested for public indecency. The 28-year-old has sported a string of daring outfits in past weeks, that some locals have deemed "offensive" – given some areas are known to be predominantly conservative Catholic. "I wish the police would arrest these two for their ignorant behaviour. They are making a mockery of the country," one furious X/Twitter user wrote, while another added: "Why won't the Italian government police or someone stop them?" Tourism website CIU Travel claims: "Walking around in beach attire or, worse, shirtless, is a huge no-no in Italy, unless you have your feet buried deep in the sand." 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.

By Jeffrey Dastin and Chavi Mehta (Reuters) -Amazon.com Inc on Thursday reported sales growth and profit ahead of Wall Street's

Two titles will be on the line at UFC 290 this weekend, as Alexander Volkanovski and Brandon Moreno defend their gold against formidable opponents. In the main event, Volkanovski defends his featherweight title against interim champion Yair Rodriguez, who will try to become the first fighter to beat the Australian at 145lbs. In February, Rodriguez submitted Josh Emmett to win the interim featherweight title, moments before Volkanovski challenged Islam Makhachev for the lightweight belt and came up narrowly short. That was just the second loss of Volkanovski’s career, with the 34-year-old’s only previous defeat having occurred 10 years ago – and at welterweight. FOLLOW LIVE: UFC 290 - Latest Volkanovski vs Rodriguez updates Meanwhile, Rodriguez’s victory over Emmett made him just the second Mexican champion in UFC history. His title win was followed by Alexa Grasso’s triumph in March, while Moreno preceded the pair as the first Mexican fighter to claim gold in the promotion. And Moreno will be in action again this weekend, defending his flyweight title against a foe who has beaten him twice: Alexandre Pantoja. Moreno has improved significantly since those losses in 2016 and 2018, but this co-main event marks a difficult defence to kickstart his second reign as champion. Here’s all you need to know. When is it? UFC 290 will take place on Saturday 8 July, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The early prelims are set to begin at 11pm BST (3pm PT, 5pm CT, 6pm ET), with the regular prelims following at 1am BST on Sunday 9 July (5pm PT, 7pm CT, 8pm ET on Saturday). The main card is then due to begin at 3am BST on Sunday (7pm PT, 9pm CT, 10pm ET on Saturday). How can I watch it? The card will air live on BT Sport in the UK, with the broadcaster’s app and website also streaming the fights. In the US, ESPN+ will stream the action live, as will the UFC’s Fight Pass. Odds Volkanovski – 2/9; Rodriguez – 100/30 Moreno – 1/2; Pantoja – 13/8 Whittaker – 1/4; Du Plessis – 3/1 Full odds via Betway. Full card (subject to change) Main card Alexander Volkanovski (C) vs Yair Rodriguez (IC) (featherweight title) Brandon Moreno (C) vs Alexandre Pantoja (flyweight title) Robert Whittaker vs Dricus Du Plessis (middleweight) Jalin Turner vs Dan Hooker (lightweight) Bo Nickal vs Val Woodburn (middleweight) Prelims Robbie Lawler vs Niko Price (welterweight) Tatsuro Taira vs Edgar Chairez (catchweight) Yazmin Jauregui vs Denise Gomes (women’s strawweight) Jimmy Crute vs Alonzo Menifield (light-heavyweight) Early prelims Vitor Petrino vs Marcin Prachnio (light-heavyweight) Cameron Saaiman vs Terrence Mitchell (bantamweight) Shannon Ross vs Jesus Aguilar (flyweight) Kamuela Kirk vs Esteban Ribovics (lightweight) Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More UFC rankings: The Independent’s pound-for-pound fighters list UFC schedule 2023: Every major fight happening this year Sean Strickland makes passionate plea for Israel Adesanya fight after dominant win Who is fighting on UFC 290 undercard tonight? What time does UFC 290 start in UK and US tonight? Brandon Moreno, piñatas and the promise that inspired UFC supremacy

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US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen begins a full day of meetings in Beijing including with Premier Li Qiang on Friday, as Washington seeks to steady the tense relationship...

Netflix Inc plans to cut its spending by $300 million this year, the Wall Street Journal reported on