Author: INDEPENDENT

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planetGet our free Climate emailGet our free Climate emailOil prices fell sharply and Asian stock markets surged to record highs as hopes grew that the US and Iran were nearing a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, though optimism was tempered by continuing military tensions in the waterway.Brent crude fell 7.8 per cent to $101.27 a barrel on Wednesday – down from more than $115 earlier in the week – after US president Donald Trump said the strait could be “open to all” if Iran…

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture emailGet the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Broadway’s biggest night is giving the cold shoulder to some of the biggest names that have made up its star-studded season.After shows starring celebrities like Daniel Radcliffe and Megan Thee Stallion dominated the theater discourse all year, the 2026 Tony Awards nominations announced Tuesday that some major Hollywood darlings were left out of the cut for the 79th competition.Adrien Brody, who starred in prison drama The Fear…

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planetGet our free Climate emailGet our free Climate emailOil prices fell and Asian stock markets surged to record highs on Wednesday after Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran were making “great progress” toward a final agreement and announced a brief pause in US operations escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude tumbled 1.2 per cent to $108.51 a barrel, still well above its roughly $70 price before the war began, but lower than the highs of recent weeks. Wall Street had already set records…

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture emailGet the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter The Pulitzer Prize for fiction has been awarded to Daniel Kraus, an author known for fantasy, horror, and young adult novels, for his World War I narrative, Angel Down, notably told in a single, continuous sentence. Bess Wohl’s Liberation, exploring 1970s feminist consciousness-raising groups, secured the drama prize.Kraus, 50, boasts a diverse career, including collaborations with filmmakers George Romero and Guillermo del Toro. The Pulitzer committee lauded…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsEconomic growth is expected to continue across the island of Ireland this year but at a slower pace because of a fuel crisis triggered by the war in Iran.The EY Economic Eye forecast, published on Tuesday, analysed the economies in Ireland and Northern Ireland amid turbulence prompted by the attack from US President Donald Trump’s administration and Israel on Iran.Consultancy firm EY is forecasting Ireland’s inflation rate at…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsOil prices held steady after US president Donald Trump said the US would help ships leave the Strait of Hormuz, starting on Monday. Iran has rejected the plan, but Mr Trump also said talks with Iran could lead to positive outcomes. A statement from the US Central Command said support would include guided-missile destroyers, over 100 land- and sea-based aircraft and 15,000 service members. A report from Axios…

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture emailGet the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Posh pissed English woman – that’s me, smoking,” says Sarah Parish, taking a drag on an imaginary cigarette. The laugh she emits moments later, throaty and faintly lascivious, sounds like a car engine turning over.The archetypal role she’s talking about, in films and TV, is in the likes of Christmas staple The Holiday (2006), as the sozzled Daily Telegraph editor to Kate Winslet’s lovesick columnist; patchy romcom…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsScotland’s First Minister is “very concerned” by reports that oil giant BP is considering leaving the North Sea.Bloomberg reported the firm had begun an internal review of its North Sea operations, though no final decision had been made.Speaking to the Press Association on Saturday during a campaign stop in Glasgow, John Swinney put the blame squarely on the UK Government and its windfall tax on oil and gas.“I’ve…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsA tree surgeon said he thought he “was going to die” when he suffered a powerful electric shock from an overhead line while clearing hedges in Wiltshire.Joshua Pocknell was working just after midnight on the A3102 near Royal Wootton Bassett when the mobile lighting tower he was pushing touched an 11,000 volt overhead powerline.The 26-year-old was seriously injured and taken to hospital, where he spent the next five…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsThe triple lock should be scrapped, Sir Tony Blair’s think tank has said in a proposal for the biggest overhaul of the state pension since it was introduced in 1948.The former PM’s Tony Blair Institute has issued a new report calling for the state pension to be replaced with a “Lifespan Fund” that it claims is “built for longer and more fluid lives”.It argues the state pension is…