Author: INDEPENDENT

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 major beauty brand is enticing all its UK employees to earn a cut of any sales they drive on TikTok Shop in a bid to cash in on the rapid rise of the influencer-led beauty market.MAC Cosmetics is kitting out shops with mini studios for its makeup artists to host live shopping shows when it launches on TikTok Shop on April 2.It says it is the first…

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 emailsHousehold energy bills could jump by £332 a year in July as recent sharp increases in wholesale prices are set to feed through into Ofgem’s price cap, according to the latest forecasts.Analysts Cornwall Insight said forecasts for the watchdog’s price cap from July to September had surged to £1,973 a year for a typical dual fuel households – an increase of £332 or 20% on April’s cap.This marks…

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 American actor Rachel Zegler has lauded her balcony performance in the musical Evita as “amazing” and “innovative”. The 24-year-old made her West End debut in Sir Tim Rice and Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s production in 2025, captivating large outdoor audiences as she sang the show’s most popular number, “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina”, from an external balcony.”I thought it was the most amazing, innovative thing that’s ever happened.…

On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchBritain is to “step up” defensive support for Gulf states after Iran attacked energy sites across the region in a “serious escalation” of the war that could push up inflation and interest rates. The price of Brent crude climbed as high as $119 a barrel and European gas prices briefly surged by 35 per cent after Iran pounded Qatar’s Ras Laffan energy hub and other Middle Eastern oil and gas infrastructure with missiles.Interest rates were held 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 emailsEnergy firms have been warned not to rip off businesses as the Middle East crisis forces prices up.Regulator Ofgem and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband have written to business suppliers to demand “maximum flexibility” in contracts for small firms.Mr Miliband said pricing needs to be “fair, transparent and fully justifiable”.The letter to business suppliers from Mr Miliband and Ofgem’s interim CEO Tim Jarvis calls for a “fair and supportive…

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 emailsPetrol prices are now 10p higher than before the Iran war escalated, and diesel costs have shot up by 20p a litre, according to new figures.The RAC said prices at the pump were “really starting to hurt drivers” as they continue to rise amid the conflict in the Middle East.The average price of unleaded petrol at UK forecourts was 142.3p a litre on Tuesday, up 7.1% since February…

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 emailsMore than a fifth of people (21%) witnessed violence or abuse against retail workers in the last year, according to a survey.Incidents included racial and sexual abuse, physical assault and threats with weapons while shopping, the poll by Opinium for the British Retail Consortium (BRC) found.However, the figure was a slight improvement on the previous year, when 23% of customers witnessed such incidents.The survey also found that nearly…

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 emailsNail salons are next in line for Starbucks-style expansion after decades of being overlooked by investors, the boss of the UK’s largest luxury chain has said, after clinching a £130 million valuation.Townhouse, which runs 40 luxury nail salons in the UK, said it was targeting hundreds of new franchised sites after securing backing from the US private equity firm behind the Burger King and Tim Horton chains in…

Legally Blonde star Amber Davies has opened up on a “tough 48 hours” and cleared up reports she is taking a break from the West End show.The actor, 29, cleared up any rumours of a “feud” between her and her co-star Hannah Lowther after the 28-year-old stepped in for her in Milton Keynes.”I’m not leaving [the show], I’m not taking a break & there is no feud… I’m simply just finishing off a set of antibiotics for a chest infection that’s been lingering for over a month,” Davies wrote on Instagram.”What we love and choose to do as a career…

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 Rebecca Lucy Taylor – aka the pop star Self Esteem – recently woke up with two cold sores on her face. And that was just the start of it. “I felt very disturbed emotionally on Thursday,” she tells me, sipping a cup of tea. “I’m out of my depth and my comfort zone.” To blame? The unlikeliest theatrical collaboration of the year: Taylor is starring in a…