Author: INDEPENDENT

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USAn elderly man has become the first person ever recorded to have died from the Alaskapox virus.Alaska’s health department said in a bulletin on Friday that the unnamed man died back in January.He reportedly lived alone in a forested area of the state’s Kenai Peninsula and cared for a stray cat at his home.The cat regularly scratched the man and hunted small animals, the health department said.However, a swab was taken from the cat and tested…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter The return of the Champions League, plus Europa play-off games, means midweek alterations and weekend rotations once again become a factor for Fantasy Premier League managers to take into account as we move into a fractured period of fixtures.Some teams have double gameweeks across the next ten days or so, including Premier League leaders Liverpool – but the following week, GW 26, will see four clubs without any fixtures – again the Reds are one of them.Here…

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 emails How much choice is too much?Apparently for Coca-Cola, it’s about 400 different types of drinks.That’s why the beverage company recently decided to discontinue half of them, shedding brands like Tab, Zico coconut water, Diet Coke Fiesty Cherry and Odwalla juices but still leaving about 200 others to choose from.It’s a move that other businesses are making as well, reducing the variety of offerings from mayonnaise to cereals to cars and instead focusing on what…

Officers saw missing 5-year-old in Sept 2019’: Police chief on Harmony Montgomery caseThe latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USAdam Montgomery’s estranged wife has taken the stand at his trial over the murder of his five-year-old daughter Harmony. Mr Montgomery’s trial is under way in New Hampshire, more than four years after Harmony was last seen alive in late 2019.Authorities failed to search for the missing child – who was known to protective services – for more than two years after she went…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter As the players return for the Champions League knockouts this week, there’s a question being discussed by their bosses that is more engaging than who might win the competition. The latter, after all, feels even more predictable than last season.That is why club executives have recently been talking about the potential fallout of December’s European Super League decision and exploring one potential consequence. If someone went to Uefa and came up with a competition that raised half…

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USLakewood Church, home to famed pastor Joel Osteen’s congregation, draws more than 45,000 worshippers through its doors each week. It’s one of the United States’ largest Christian churches, seating around 16,000 congregants in its auditorium at any given time.Now, it’s also a crime scene after it became the sight of a terrifying shooting over the weekend.On Sunday 11 February, worshippers were preparing to go into its Spanish-speaking service when police said a woman with a young…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter A continental champion, a national hero.Sebastien Haller’s right boot got the vital flick at the perfect time and ten minutes later, Ivory Coast had completed the most remarkable and improbable of tournament turnarounds, winning the Africa Cup of Nations on home soil after beating Nigeria 2-1.It marked the most momentous on-pitch moment of the 29-year-old striker’s career thus far and took him to double figures in international goals. And yet, Haller’s late winner, his moment of African…

Donald Trump says he would encourage Russia to attack Nato allies who pay too littleSign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailDonald Trump has been rebuked by President Joe Biden after proclaiming during a campaign rally in South Carolina that he would “encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to any country that is “delinquent” in meeting its financial commitments to Nato.President Biden was incensed by the remarks, commenting: “Serving as commander-in-chief is the ultimate responsibility and one that should weigh heavily on…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter Erling Haaland is fit and scoring again. That is ominous. Kevin De Bruyne is fit and assisting again. That is ominous. John Stones, the tactical key to last season’s treble, was on the pitch at the same time as both De Bruyne and Haaland since the Champions League final again on Saturday. That is ominous. Manchester City went top of the table, albeit only for two-and-a-half hours. They have won 10 consecutive games in all competitions and…

A Ukrainian soldier fires a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher at Russian positions near the frontline (General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine )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 emailsRussian soldiers are using Elon Musk’s Starlink terminals to connect to satellite internet service on the frontlines in Ukraine, Kyiv’s intelligence service has claimed.Ukraine’s GUR intelligence unit said on Telegram on Sunday that they had evidence that Russian forces were using the terminals in Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine.The report came days after a…