New York City
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New York Catholic Archdiocese to pay $800 million in historic abuse settlement
The agreement with the New York archdiocese would end more than seven years of lawsuits
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Nicki Minaj shares Air Force One video as Trump hints at new press secretary
Nicki Minaj shared a video from aboard Air Force One, the US president's official aircraft, as Donald Trump departed for Port Huron, Michigan, on the midterm campaign trail. (October 25) The rapper publicly began supporting Trump in 2025 and was then welcomed to the White House in July 2026. White House director of communications Steven Chueng also shared a video of the singer on board the aircraft, as he teased she could be the president’s next press secretary. Sharing the video on X, he said: “I think we may have found the new White House Press Secretary!” The post comes after the White House announced Katie Zacharia was leaving the role last week, just days after taking up the post.
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Israel votes in first election since 7 October attacks and Gaza war
Israelis will head to the polls on Tuesday (27 October) in the first election since the 7 October attacks and subsequent wars in Gaza, Iran and Lebanon. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a big challenge from former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, with neither expected to secure a parliamentary majority. But would a change in leadership bring peace in the region? Both candidates oppose an independent Palestinian state, and support continued Israeli security control over Palestinian territories. The Independent’s chief international correspondent Bel Trew reports.
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Ukraine war live: Elon Musk accuses Kyiv of breaching Starlink rules
Ukraine said that the Starlink satellite system and its military version Starshield were now fully functional
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New York's archdiocese and survivors of clergy abuse agree to $800 million legal settlement
The Archdiocese of New York and attorneys for about 1,300 parishioners who say they were sexually abused by clergy have agreed to an $800 million settlement of their legal claims
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Music streaming: Why we're listening to so many old songs
The chart is full is full of old music and classic songs are dominating streaming services. But why?
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Rare archival footage tours the CompUSA NYC store in November 2000 — soak up some Y2K Pentium III, Athlon, PowerPC, Windows Me, chunky laptop, and bulging CRT nostalgia in glorious 360p
Footage was filmed when Presarios and iMacs with translucent acrylic cases ruled the retail world.
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British Embassy quashes Winnie-the-Pooh return rumors, keeping the famed bear in New York
It turns out Winnie-the-Pooh and his fluffy friends aren’t being bear-napped from their longtime home at the New York Public Library
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Are California voters about to impose world's first tax on billionaires?
Voters are about to decide if the mega-rich among them should hand over billions of dollars to pay for improvements to healthcare.
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Woman at centre of Cornell University rape inquiry in 'constant fear', lawyer says
The woman, known anonymously as Jane Doe, alleged she was drugged and raped by several men on Cornell's campus.
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White House ballroom construction progress seen in aerial footage
Donald Trump’s administration has released aerial footage showing the construction progress on the White House ballroom. Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino shared the video on X, which he said was filmed from Marine One during a flyover on the president’s journey to Joint Base Andrews. The original East Wing of the White House was demolished in October 2025 to make way for the 90,000-square-foot facility, proceeding without congressional authorization. Trump has defended the project, arguing it will offer a secure location for state visits, official ceremonies and inaugurations. In February 2025, the ballroom’s cost was estimated at $100m. The figure later rose to $250m and has since grown to $600m.
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Why big music stars like Harry Styles and Celine Dion are embracing residencies
Harry Styles' residency at Madison Square Garden has drawn tens of thousands of fans eager for an exclusive experience
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Streeting tackled over ‘be-ready’ plan in Question Time ‘scaremongering’ debate
Wes Streeting defended the government’s campaign urging the public to prepare themselves for emergencies. The defence secretary told BBC Question Time that he wants people to be “alert but not alarmed”, adding there was a not a “specific thing” in mind when it comes to potential emergency incidents, but said the advice might help during power cuts or if a local shop is subject to a cyberattack. Put to him by an audience member that it could be “scaremongering” and push people towards panic buying like during the Covid-19 pandemic, he said: “We did have this debate though, just to reassure … because we want people to be alert but not alarmed, and the truth is we looked around the rest of Europe, ‘what are our friends doing across the continent?’ “They are way ahead of us on some of this stuff. So actually, my reaction as Defence Secretary wasn’t, ‘Is this the right thing to do?’ It’s ‘why haven’t we done this before, and why are we playing catch up compared to lots of other European countries’?”
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Streeting cites Churchill after Trump envoy calls Putin ‘humanitarian’
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said there is a “clear line between appeasement and a peace process” after Donald Trump’s chief negotiator on the Ukraine war described Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian”. Speaking on BBC Newsnight on Thursday (22 October), the defence secretary said: “I understand when people are undertaking, you know, the path of diplomacy, that sometimes you might feel the need to be gracious to the host sitting in front of you. “But I’ve got to say there is a very clear line between appeasement and a peace process, we should be in no doubt that Vladimir Putin is a cold-blooded killer.” Asked if he was saying this is appeasement by the US, he said: “I’m saying don’t feed the crocodile”. The phrase refers back to a comment Winston Churchill made on neutral nations during the early stages of the Second World War, most commonly cited as “an appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last”.
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We asked people taking GLP-1s what happened when their expectations met reality
‘All my clothes are falling off me,’ one GLP-1 user told The Independent
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NYC student dies after being drugged and raped and now two men face charges
Two suspects are facing multiple charges in her death and sex assault
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Selfridges unveils Christmas windows with festive scenes from around the world
The Christmas And The City theme greets shoppers at all the department store’s UK outlets this festive season.
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Ozempic users fuel surprise business boom as pounds fall away
U.S. consumers taking weight-loss drugs like Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Eli Lilly's Mounjaro have turned to cobblers and tailors as they try to save money while shedding pounds
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Trump says Google refused request to rename Atlantic ‘American Ocean’
Donald Trump has claimed that Google has turned down his request to rename the Atlantic Ocean the “American Ocean.” The US president told supporters at a rally in South Carolina on Wednesday (21 October) that the company’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, had refused his suggestion. Trump says he called Pichai, who told him, "Oceans are different, sir. You know, they cover, they cover a lot of, they cover really a lot of countries." "So I'll probably pass... I think let's keep it the Atlantic Ocean, right? Pacific Ocean, we're gonna call it the American Ocean,” Trump added.
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Some New Yorkers back ban on horse-drawn carriages, but drivers fear for incomes
As councillors prepare to banish the vehicles, views in Central Park are divided over the 160-year-old tradition.
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End of an era as NYC finally moves to ban Central Park horse-drawn carriages
The horse-drawn carriages that have cruised through Central Park for more than 150 years are set to be banished soon from New York City, winding down a tradition beloved by tourists but long opposed by animal welfare activists
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Facing a ban on horse-drawn carriages, Central Park's drivers fear for their livelihoods
The horse-drawn carriages that have cruised through Central Park for more than 150 years are set to be banished soon from New York City, winding down a tradition beloved by tourists but long opposed by animal welfare activists
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The real reasons US politicians are getting older
No country for young men and women: why do older politicians seem to have such a tight grip on the US political system?
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GM Wants Your Car to Do Your Chores
The Detroit automaker wants your next vehicle to be a personal assistant, a best friend, and an autonomous errand-runner.
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Israeli forces detain and then release US congressional candidate at West Bank harvest
Israeli forces have detained Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander as he helped Palestinian farmers harvest olives in the West Bank
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Driver is fatally shot while crossing the George Washington Bridge
Police say a 46-year-old man was fatally shot as he drove over the George Washington Bridge
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Fury of French youth explodes across borders: Bel Trew unpacks the chaos
Battles near the Louvre, graffiti over Place de la République, protests along the Champs-Élysées, and shopkeepers trying to fight off looters and plumes of tear gas. Long-standing fury from youth in France has exploded into these fiery scenes. Rage has spread across borders, with protests erupting in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Albania. Why is this happening, and what does it mean? The Independent's Chief International Correspondent unpacks the chaos as more protests are planned.
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Trump’s special envoy tells Vladimir Putin he is a ‘humanitarian’
Steve Witkoff, the United States’ special envoy, lauded Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian” for releasing a “wrongfully detained” American as Moscow continued bombing civilians in Ukraine. “You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that, I commend you, and I thank you again,” said Witkoff in a clip posted by Russian state media as he met with Putin in St Petersburg. Witkoff is continuing attempts to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table, after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday (October 20). On Wednesday, Russia released 74-year-old teacher Stephen James Hubbard, who had been held for four years over claims he was a Ukrainian mercenary. Russia has continued its bombing of Ukraine, killing 328 civilians in September alone.
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Israeli military detain US and UK volunteers in West Bank including Democratic NY politician Brad Lander
About 80 US, Israeli and British volunteers held near Nahalin in West Bank and taken to police station
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New Mexico sues Epstein attorney and accountant, accuses them of hiding sex trafficking operation
New Mexico’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit against Jeffrey Epstein’s attorney and accountant
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US congressional candidate detained by Israeli authorities in West Bank
One of the detained volunteers said the group had offered to leave the area but was instead put on buses by Israeli forces and taken to a police station
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Inside Ukraine’s strange rift with a Nato ally over North Korea
The unusual public confrontation between Ukraine and South Korea has raised questions about how relations between two nations facing the consequences of growing Russian-North Korean military cooperation deteriorated so sharply. Shweta Sharma reports
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In The Room
France is reeling after a weekend of unrest that escalated dramatically. Hundreds of thousands marched peacefully, but elsewhere shops were looted, cars burned, police attacked and public buildings set alight. What began with schoolchildren furious about missing teachers, crumbling classrooms and a system they believe is failing them quickly became something much bigger. People of all ages joined demonstrations driven by anger over the cost of living, deteriorating public services and a future that feels increasingly out of reach. With France approaching a presidential election, the unrest exposes a deeper political crisis. But this is not just a French story. Across Europe, established parties are struggling to retain the confidence of increasingly disillusioned electorates. And Britain has experienced its own moments when public anger has spilled into violence. Helen MacNamara, who was inside government during the 2011 riots and has attended countless COBR meetings, examines what happens when governments begin to lose control of the streets, and what France's crisis might tell us about the pressures building closer to home. New episodes of In The Room come out weekly. Listen to the latest on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or watch on YouTube.
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Tommy Robinson voicemail left on Daily Mail journalist’s phone played in court
Audio of a voicemail Tommy Robinson left on a Daily Mail journalist’s phone has been played to jurors at Southwark Crown Court. The 43-year-old, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is on trial for allegedly harassing journalists Jacob Dirnhuber and Andrew Young, causing them fear of violence, in August 2024 after they worked on a story about him while he was on holiday in Cyprus. The voicemail, released by the Metropolitan Police and played in court on Tuesday (20 October), was left on Ted Verity’s phone. It said: “If it’s legitimate journalism then expect me to come knocking,” adding: “I’ve already located every f****** one of you.” Mr Yaxley-Lennon entered not guilty pleas to two charges of harassment causing fear of violence in July last year.
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‘What are you implying?’: El-Sayed confronts critics head-on as attacks ramp up
Against a backdrop of rising Islamophobia, Michigan Senate hopeful has challenged premise of repeated questions on Muslim Brotherhood, Israel and faith
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Trump says he will have spent $400m to support Republicans in midterms – as it happened
This live blog is now closed.
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Man ordered to pay more than £2,000 for act after getting parking ticket
A man was ordered to pay £2,270 in fines and costs after he threw a parking fine notice on the ground in Cornwall. Stephen Lang, of St Martins Crescent, Camborne, was found guilty of littering at Exchequer Quay car park in Penryn on 20 November 2025. The court heard that the 58-year-old was issued with a penalty charge notice after his vehicle was found parked outside a marked bay. Lang approached the officer and challenged the notice before removing it from the vehicle and throwing it to the ground. The officer picked up the notice and placed it back on the vehicle before Lang removed it again and threw it in her direction. Lang was issued with a £250 Fixed Penalty Notice for littering, which he failed to pay despite a reminder. He was ordered to pay a £250 fine, £1920.90 in costs and a £100 victim surcharge.
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Michael Bloomberg spends $80m on Democrats as Trump moves $400m to Republican candidates
Billionaire ex-mayor of New York City is focusing funds on House races to help Democrats retake majority in midterms
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Albanian police deploy water cannons as protests hit seventh day
Albanian police deployed water cannons as protests continued into their seventh day on Monday (19 October). Officers responded with tear gas after demonstrators hurled rocks at them. Protesters also attacked government buildings and lit fires. Violence has erupted after high school and university students mobilised in a broader anti-government movement calling for prime minister Edi Rama to resign. It comes as thousands of rioters in France were arrested during the weekend’s widespread protests, with justice minister. Violence has also been seen in other parts of Europe, with similar incidents in Belgium and Italy.
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Democrat zings Hegseth when asked if she’ll quit drinking if elected
The Democratic candidate who went viral for her “drunk” and belligerent local TV interview took a shot at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after being asked if she’d quit drinking if she were elected. Jaime West, who is running for a seat on the Fayette County Council in Indiana, appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored, where she claimed she drank only three beers before her now-infamous appearance, during which she warned Republicans, “we have guns too.” When Morgan asked if West would quit drinking if her long-shot bid for the council seat was successful, she replied, “I don't know. Why don't you ask Pete Hegseth, who is drinking whiskey as he's running an illegal war?” Morgan and guest Ben Ferguson pointed out that Hegseth had vowed not to drink during his time in Trump’s cabinet.
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NYC student dies after being drugged and raped and now two men face charges
Two suspects are facing multiple charges in her death and sex assault
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The key moments that have shaped Trump and Zelensky’s rocky relationship
Kyiv has tried desperately to keep the United States on side since Trump returned to office. But the Ukrainian president may now feel the relationship is beyond saving, writes James C. Reynolds
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We asked people taking GLP-1s what happened when their expectations met reality
‘All my clothes are falling off me,’ one GLP-1 user told The Independent
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The Best Adorama Camera Promo Codes and Coupons for October 2026
Upgrade your photography setup for less. Save up to 20% on cameras, lenses, and Apple gear with these verified Adorama promo codes and clearance deals.
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After years of backlash, Apu returns to 'The Simpsons' with a South Asian voice
The Halloween-themed episodes of “The Simpsons” have always been a treat of spooky stand-alone storylines
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Ukraine war live: Trump and Putin could attend China peace summit without Zelensky
The US president thinks somebody else needs to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine
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Video report: Could we see France’s chaotic protests spread to the UK?
France has seen its worst unrest in decades, with thousands arrested and buildings set alight. What began in September as a student protest over school conditions has grown into a nationwide backlash over living costs, drawing at least 800,000 onto the streets. Emmanuel Macron says “we feel anger and shame”, while unrest has spread to Belgium and Italy. So could Britain be next? The Independent political editor David Maddox says the Met Police’s experience of mass protests makes similar scenes unlikely, though violence cannot be ruled out.
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Bid to revive plea deal for accused 9/11 mastermind rejected by Supreme Court
The Supreme Court's action marks the latest milestone in a military prosecution of the detainees held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that has been beset by two decades of legal gridlock
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‘I lay in pool of blood after being shot at point blank range’
Shot through the stomach and stranded in the Northern Irish countryside with no backup, Blue* was the lucky one. Now, the former undercover operative tells Sam Kiley about what went wrong, how he survived, and the pressure of making split-second decisions
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Search for Amelia Earhart's plane resumes after stormy weather
An expedition to a remote Pacific island hoping to uncover the American aviator's wreckage was on hold for three days.
