
US, Iran Deny Reports a Nuclear Deal is Close: Iran Snapshot
Here is a snapshot of what’s happening with Iran, its nuclear talks and energy markets. Latest developments US
1970-01-01 08:00

'Welcome to hell' billboard perfectly captures the mood amid New York air pollution
A billboard has captured the atmosphere in New York, after the city was engulfed in smoke blown down from wildfires raging in Canada. The Canadian province of Quebec is currently experiencing hundreds of shocking wildfires and the pollution has led to the air quality in the city to be categorised as “very unhealthy”. It’s given the city an ‘apocalyptic’ look, with social media full of people sharing images of the city covered in orange smog. One image that has sparked a big reaction is a billboard advertising a new video game, which seems to capture the atmosphere in the city. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The advert is for the action role-playing game Diablo IV from Blizzard Entertainment and it features a demonic character on the front with the strapline “welcome to hell, New York”. Somehow, that seems strangely accurate right now. Meanwhile, NYC’s Mayor Eric Adams warned that the authorities “recommend all New Yorkers limit outdoor activity to the greatest extent possible” and people in North America have been advised to wear N95 masks outdoors. There are more than 400 wildfires raging in Canada which have led to mass evacuations in Quebec province. While some predictions said NYC might get some relief by Thursday evening, US National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Ramsey said "conditions are likely to remain unhealthy for at least the next few days", with no end in sight for the wildfires. The city’s health commissioner Ashwin Vasan told reporters on Wednesday that the city’s air quality is at its worst since the 1960s, with conditions expected to last through several days. 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.
1970-01-01 08:00

Streamer dies after drinking 'Chinese firewater'
A 27-year-old internet star has died after drinking 'Chinese firewater' on a live stream. Zhong Yuan Huang Ge was allegedly seen chugging a bottle of the local spirit known as baijiu, which alcohol content ranges between 35 to 60 per cent. Huang's Douyin account – the Chinese version of TikTok – has reportedly since been deleted. His wife confirmed the devastating news, according to The Straits Times, explaining that he had been "desperately" trying to make money to pay off debt. She said he had "to repay hundreds of thousands of yuan in debt that he owed before his marriage". Huang's death marks the second in a month as a result of drinking challenges, after a fellow influencer experienced a similar fate. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The man, identified as Wang Moufeng, was found dead on 17 May after reportedly drinking four bottles of the alcohol for his fans. "When his family found him, he was already gone," a friend identified as Zhao informed Shangyou News. "He didn’t even get a chance for emergency treatment." In a bizarre turn of events, the pair were actually friends with Huang attending Moufeng's funeral weeks prior to his own death. "I don’t know how much he had consumed before I tuned in. But in the latter part of the video, I saw him finish three bottles before starting on a fourth," Zhao told The Straits Times. He added: "The PK games ended at around 1 a.m. and by 1 p.m., (when his family found him) he was gone." 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.
1970-01-01 08:00

Streamer Pokimane says OnlyFans-style platforms are ‘the future’ amid Twitch branded content backlash
Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys has had her say on the recent controversial changes to Twitch, which has seen the streaming platform face an online backlash. Earlier this week, Twitch changed its branded content guidelines and faced immediate pushback from content creators. The changes impacted how users could advertise sponsorships as well as banning them from multi-streaming to “Twitch-like” platforms. Just a day later, Twitch revealed that they were removing the new guidelines after receiving widespread criticism. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “Yesterday, we released new Branded Content Guidelines that impacted your ability to work with sponsors to increase your income from streaming. These guidelines are bad for you and bad for Twitch, and we are removing them immediately,” a statement read. “Sponsorships are critical to streamers’ growth and ability to earn income. We will not prevent your ability to enter into direct relationships with sponsors – you will continue to own and control your sponsorship business. “We want to work with our community to create the best experience on Twitch and to do that we need to be clear about what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. We appreciate your feedback and help in making this change.” Despite the apology, users have continued to hit out at Twitch. Pokimane has now spoken about the direction streaming could take in future, and urged users to pursue new routes to get what they deserve for their content. “I feel like because content creation is becoming so saturated [and] we often have trouble relying on the platforms we use, the future is direct to consumer paid content (patreon, onlypans, consumer goods, etc),” Pokimane wrote. “Cut out the middle man and get proper compensation for what you make/do!” she added. “Social media platforms will obviously always be used, but I think people will start looking at them as tools to gain exposure instead of being the way to make money,” the streamer went on to say. It comes after the CEO of Twitch, Dan Clancy, personally apologised during a recent stream for the abandoned changes to guidelines and said the company had “messed up”. “Let me just go straight to the point. For those who don’t know, we recently released this branded content policy. I won’t go through all the details,” he said recently. “We got a lot of negative pushback and the bottom line is we messed up. It’s on us and I apologise for that.” 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.
1970-01-01 08:00

Italian influencer, 19, could be the country's first Gen Z Queen
A 19-year-old Italian model and influencer could be the country's next Queen. Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy – also known as the Prince of Venice – said he will soon pass the baton to his daughter, Princess Vittoria of Savoy, as he's sure "she will do better than me." While speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he said: "It won’t be tomorrow or in one year, but when she is ready. It’s important that the younger generation have a chance to put new, modern ideas into practice." He went on to suggest that the younger generation is "much more conscious" about the world and its challenges. "It is important that she doesn’t become the heir at too late a stage in her life," he said of Vittoria, who shouldn't have to wait too long to become Queen. Filiberto candidly declared mentioned King Charles III, saying while he "is a wonderful King," it "would have been helpful" if he had been sovereign 20 years back. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Vittoria – full name Princess Vittoria Cristina Adelaide Chiara Maria di Savoia – currently lives in London where she studies art history and political science. She is said to split her time between Paris and Geneva and dabbles with modelling outside of her studies, being signed to Parisian model agency, Karin. Her Instagram page has racked up over a healthy 80,000 followers. Here, Vittoria shares photos from her shoots, including a front cover for French Vanity Fair. Vittoria's future reign was made possible when the Salic Law – which meant the Savoy line could only be given to male heirs – was revoked. In 2020, the Prince of Venice announced that he was breaking this Salic Law of Succession. Slay. 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.
1970-01-01 08:00

Iran's president to visit three Latin American countries next week
MEXICO CITY Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will visit Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela next week, Iran's state news agency
1970-01-01 08:00

Fiorentina's Cristiano Biraghi Bloodied By Trash Thrown By West Ham Supporters
West Ham supporters threw trash that hit Fiorentina's Cristiano Biraghi.
1970-01-01 08:00

TRYing times: The slide and fall of the Turkish lira
By Marc Jones LONDON Turkey's lira took a 7% nosedive on Wednesday as the country's newly re-elected government
1970-01-01 08:00

Influencer slammed for selling $50 t-shirts dyed by her 5-year-old son
An influencer from Australia has rubbed some people the wrong way after promoting her son's handmade T-shirts on social media priced between $50 and $60. Ruby Tuesday Matthews took to her Instagram Stories, writing: "Mars has a few shirts and singlets that we are going to sell here," "100 (sic) of the profits go into his piggy bank as he does not have a bank account yet." She continued: "He just owes me money for the die (sic) and shirts LOL but I’ll let that slide." The seemingly innocent business venture caused a stir online – especially when it caught the attention of influencer watchdog, Dutch Minty. “What do you think of @rubytuesdaymatthews selling tie dyed tshirts for $50+ made by her 5 year old?” the account posted, according to AU News. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter "I'm sure she has plenty of spare change she could be putting in her son's piggy bank. $50 for a tie-dye shirt and they tie-dye isn't even that vibrant? Ya joking," one person hit back, while another added: "Yeah bc we’re going to buy shirts to fund a kid's piggy bank, surely gotta be taking the p**s. The physical cringe reaction I had to this." Others joked about the extinction of old-fashioned lemonade stands. Despite some negative comments towards the concept, others simply didn't find anything wrong with it. "I’m all for teaching kids how to make money and save. I believe it needs to be taught from a young age. Makes them appreciate things a lot better. Money doesn’t grow on trees," one person chimes in. "If her fans want to pay for something her kid did let them! She’s laughing all the way to the bank," a second added. Indy100 reached out to Ruby for comment. 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.
1970-01-01 08:00

Man admits to affair during live comedy show and instantly regrets it
A lawyer instantly regretted his comments after confessing to having an affair in front of an entire crowd at a comedy show. When comedian Jessica Kirson kicked off her show by warming up the audience, she pinpointed a man sitting in the front row and asked what he did for a living due to his "nice suit". He told Kirson he worked as a lawyer, which led the comedian to ask how long he and his plus-one were dating. Without thinking, the date responded that they were not and that he was, in fact, her boss. "This is why I didn't want to sit at the front," the lawyer responded, to which Kirson said: "You’re never going to see these f**king people again." It was then the man shared his concerns about being posted to social media, as the pair were having an affair. Kirson was clearly taken aback by the confession, as she quipped back: "You're having a f**king affair and you're sitting at the front?!" Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter @jessicakirson A lawyer came to my show and decided to sit up front even though ? #cheating #cheater #lawyer #wow #fyp #foryou The snippet soon went viral on TikTok, where fans took no time in heading to the comments section. "The fact he answered 'an honest lawyer' and then admitted to having an affair right after," one person highlighted, while another joked: "I'm going to hell because I laughed so much… I watched it twice. Hell for sure. Maybe purgatory… that’s worse (according to a friend)." A third person added: "I mean the best way to hide an affair with your assistant is to go to a TikTok-famous stand up and sit front seat." Meanwhile, one fellow TikToker did not see the funny side whatsoever, writing: "This makes me sad someone’s partners back home waiting for their love to come back." 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.
1970-01-01 08:00

Woman says she removed her husband's penis after he cheated on her – but there's a twist
A woman was left raging after discovering her husband had cheated on her again – so much so, she 'chopped off' his penis. Meirivone Rocha Moraes, 37, received a text from her friend one evening with explosive claims of his infidelity, prompting her to demote him to the sofa and punish him by "taking off" his manhood. While her reaction is incredibly extreme (and not to mention, illegal), it's not all that it seems. Moraes' husband is a rag doll. "It is just a white rubber dildo, which measures about 16cm. So I decided to take it off. I’ve done it before," she said. She went on to detail her paranoia that "other women will touch Marcelo's penis," so instead she "likes to put it in the [underwear] drawer when we go out to bars or shows." "Then, there is no chance of any other women lusting after him." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Moraes, who has a child with rag doll Marcelo, said this isn't the first time he's been unfaithful. "Last time, I found a bright pink thong on the floor," she shared. "I found out that Marcelo had been with another woman but when I asked whose they were, he didn't answer me." Moraes continued: "Marcelo is naughty, he goes after women and then lies to me that nothing happens." She also claims that the rag doll has over 500 contacts on his WhatsApp, all of which are women. She added: "Every now and then I catch him in a conversation with a girl, and when I ask who it is, he tries to say it’s his cousin." For now, Marcelo continues to sleep on the sofa, and hasn't received his penis back yet. 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.
1970-01-01 08:00

Turkish lira crashes as new government sets sights on 'rational' policies
Turkey's lira has plunged 7% to a record low in its biggest daily selloff since a historic 2021 crash, as the newly elected government appeared to loosen currency stabilizing measures in its switch to more mainstream policies.
1970-01-01 08:00