Has your car been getting pelted with acorns

In a dimly lit Damascus cafe, Sharief Homsi kicked off comedy night with a quip about war-battered Syria's modern-day prince charming: an eligible bachelor with...

Bethenny Frankel has criticised TJ Maxx for allegedly selling fake designer shoes, with the reality TV star condemning the retailer over the “scam”. The former Real Housewives of New York City star, 52, reflected on her purchase of what turned out to be fake Manolo Blahnik heels in a series of videos uploaded to her TikTok and Instagram accounts. In the first video, uploaded last week, Frankel was shopping in TJ Maxx along with her fiancé Paul when she came across a pair of pink heels, which were labelled Manolo Blahnik. In the video, the reality star-turned-influencer could be seen trying on the $869 shoes in the store, before telling viewers: “These are coming home with me”. However, Frankel realised that the shoes were likely fake after a TikToker named Jack Savoie stitched her TikTok and informed her that the heels were knockoffs. In Savoie’s clip, he began: “Wait, Bethenny babe, those are fake Manolos. I swear these Manolos are fake and they’re at TJ Maxx.” In the TikTok, Savoie acknowledged that TJ Maxx sells designer goods, before claiming that the shoes purchased specifically by Frankel are “fake Manolos”. He then shared his reasoning behind the claim, with the TikToker pointing out the off-centre stitching of the shoe’s label, the difference in font from authentic Manolo heels, and the difference in material used for the sole of the shoe. “Trust me, I sold shoes. I used to sell Manolos. I know this,” the TikToker continued, before concluding: “Bethenny, I think you need to go return those shoes. These are fake. As soon as I saw this, I immediately knew that they were fake.” @jack.savoie #stitch with @Bethenny Frankel #greenscreen GURL these are fake manolos!!!! ♬ original sound - Jack Savoie The video prompted a response from Frankel, who described the realisation as a “scandal”. “This is SUCH a scandal. First, they are only $1,000 retail. That’s a scam to begin with. Second! I JUST ordered the real ones online and will compare,” she wrote in the comments under the video. In the comments, the reality star also noted that it was “weird” that the size 40 fit her “perfectly” when she is typically a size 39. On Bergdorf Goodman’s website, the Manolo Blahnik Hangisimu Satin Crystal Buckle Mules retail for $1,095. Over the weekend, Frankel addressed the situation in a follow-up video, where she described it as the “most effed-up thing yet”. “This is the most effed-up thing yet. Okay, follow Jack Savoie. He did a video after I posted … my 70th video about TJ Maxx, promoting them to the tunes of millions of dollars and followers,” Frankel began. The TV personality then held up the shoes she’d purchased from the retailer, while describing all of the issues Savoie had pointed out with the heels. Frankel then expressed her anger as she noted that she’s “bought tonnes of sh** from” TJ Maxx and that the “prices aren’t great”. @bethennyfrankel Thank you @Jack Savoie #fake #counterfeit #tjmaxx #fakeluxury #fakeluxurygoods #truth #unfluenced #influencer ♬ original sound - Bethenny Frankel “I’ve said that before. There will be an $1,800 bag retail and they’ll have it for $1,500. Sometimes I like the item, I’m in there. The psychology is to feel like it’s a treasure hunt, so you’re finding something. And I love the store,” she continued, before noting that “never did [she] think that there could be a fake product”. In the video, Frankel then revealed that she reached out to TJ Maxx and showed the retailer Savoie’s video, and that, in response, the company told her that it “did not purchase this particular shoe”. “It’s something that rarely happens, with a counterfeit return,” Frankel continued, while noting that Savoie is “amazing” for pointing out the flaws with the fake version of the heels. According to Frankel, the store asked her to provide her receipt, which she said she didn’t have because she doesn’t “return things to TJ Maxx for the most part,” and that the company said it would refund her the money she’d paid. “By the way, the shoes are $1,000 at Bergdorf’s and it was weird that a 40 did fit me,” she said. As for her response to the company’s response, she told viewers: “I effectively, without cursing, said to them: ‘Eff that. No. A, I don’t have the receipt and next, you’re going to send me a larger check.’” After reiterating that she’s already purchased an authentic pair of the heels from Bergdorf Goodman for $1,000, Frankel revealed that she would be keeping the counterfeit shoes. “I’m going to wear these fake counterfeit shoes with pride because I own them now, but do not buy luxury goods at TJ Maxx,” she concluded, before noting that the “original retailer is the safest”. In the comments under her video, Frankel’s followers shared their appreciation for her clarification, and for candidly calling out the retailer. “That’s wild, I would never even think to check stuff from there is real,” one person commented, while another said: “Thank you for always sharing and your honesty in calling someone out when needed!” In a statement to Insider, a spokesperson for TJ Maxx said the company “stands behind the merchandise” it sells before noting that it “sincerely regrets” Frankel’s recent experience. “We believe that this may have been an instance of return fraud, in which an individual returned an item to our store that was not purchased at one of our stores. This unfortunately happens in retail from time to time,” the company said, adding that it has reached out to Frankel “directly” to “work to resolve her concerns”. The Independent has contacted TJ Maxx for comment. Read More Bethenny Frankel accuses reality TV of ‘exploiting’ its stars amid SAG-AFTRA strike Bethenny Frankel claims Jonah Hill made her feel ‘like a loser’ amid emotional abuse allegations Bethenny Frankel responds to joke about her in season two of And Just Like That Schoolboy almost dies from swallowing magnets for TikTok challenge Woman shares honest review of New York City apartment TikTok mom slammed after making 5-year-old son run in 104 degree heat

A year after protests pushed Beijing to end its strict “zero-COVID” controls, retired architect Zeng Fanzhi is on the road, displaying stark portraits of life under the policy

By Anant Chandak BENGALURU (Reuters) -Inflation in India was likely to have eased in August from a 15-month high in

New Zealand’s economy contracted for a second consecutive quarter in the first three months of the year, confirming

When it comes to announcing holiday programming, Walmart typically has its Black Friday plans laid

There's much that happened in 2023 best left behind come the new year

Food markets fizz with a very particular kind of energy in the summer months. That’s as true anywhere as at Borough Market where the energy somehow hits me as I’m still walking the stairs up from London Bridge tube, way before I even see the market gates. It’s not just the sun’s moodlift that makes things palpably different in the summer than at any other time of year – it’s the distinctive culmination of the summer vibes that marketgoers bring. Whether seasonal cooks there to stock up on longed-for summer produce; friends on a wander for a day out; or food lovers after a few deliciously easy wins to enjoy on a rug somewhere. Any kind of picnic (garden/beach/park/lounge) can be so easily catered for at a food market. In one swoop you can pick up chilled bottles of interesting wines, beers and softs; breads for ripping into; butter and seasonal young cheeses; charcuterie; salty black olives, and all kinds of fabulous fruits. Tins of preserved fish make for interesting rug-chat over the beautiful boxes. At Borough there’s no shortage of choice of those at The Tinned Fish Market stall. Sometimes there I’ll go for the Cântara small squid stuffed with onion, rice and tomatoes; other times the Pepus mussels in escabeche. Or else it’s the never-fail Ortiz tuna at Brindisa, home to so many foods that are a picnic-maker’s dream. (Fino sherry, truffle crisps, jamon, salted almonds… do I need to go on?) That ease the food markets gift to feeding a gathering translates seamlessly to the ease they offer summer’s everyday cooking and eating. The stalls (almost) struggling to fit in all the magnificent seasonal produce that is so often best enjoyed when hardly anything is being done to it. Courgettes, peppers and aubergines gleam with proud beauty among the glory of all the other summer vegetables and fruits. Pods of garden peas and broad or borlotti beans beg to be bought by the bagful. All of them are a joy to mindlessly and mindfully pop out of the shells when you get home, but the borlottis perhaps most of all as that’s the only way to really be able to admire the purple mottles of the bean before it disappears upon cooking. The best seasonal tomatoes need little more than olive oil and salt to bring out their supreme flavour. Salad options are inexhaustible – go for big sharing bowls of a fattoush or panzanella; or the neat Nicoise bundles featured in Borough Market: The Knowledge. There the classic Nicoise elements of anchovy, mayonnaise, capers and egg are piled aboard little gem boats for ease of eating. Another of my all-time favourite summer salads is in that book too: oregano-poached peaches, halloumi and hazelnuts. Its mix of sweetly salty flavours manages to be simultaneously refreshing and completely beautiful on the plate. The peaches in it becoming the very best version of themselves by being poached with dried oregano and honey. The choice of honey is no accident. In the summer I always make sure to stock up at the market on blossom honeys that will delicately yet effectively infuse so many foods – and drinks – with a floral undernote. Perhaps the lavender honey at From Field and Flower, or the wild thyme at Oliveology. That’s the one I use in the dressing for making The Knowledge’s labneh with watermelon, honey and mint. It’s a recipe that straddles the boundary of sweet and savoury, with watermelon griddled in olive oil, orange and sumac for peak refreshment. My top tip in making this is to always do more labneh than needed in the recipe because it is such a useful thing to be able to reach for in the fridge. All it takes is 900g of really good, thick Greek yoghurt mixed with 1 teaspoon of salt and spooned into a muslin-lined sieve. Let that drain for 6-12 hours (depending how thick you want it – longer equals thicker) and the result is approximately 500g of labneh. Use it for salads, or to spread on toast with perhaps just a few sliced apricots. Summer is mackerel season at the market. A fish that is packed with flavour and goodness, and also incredibly easy to cook. Griddle it, bake it, fry it, or over-fire it. And then, when any kind of cooking seems impossible in the heat, even sit it in vinegar for a while and let its acidity do the “cooking” for you. Try the same thing with the small fresh anchovies that the fishmongers also have in now. They absolutely don’t need to be gutted, but the skilled fishmonger will happily do it for you (and at the same time showcase exceptional filleting knife skills). Whenever I head to the market on a produce-shopping mission it tends to be just that – a mission. I do try to make sure to spend time checking out what is what because the very nature of market shopping is that it is never the same. What the stalls offer week on week is at the mercy of not just the season but whatever choices traders have been made on what to stock that week, that day. Yet, as I beetle around, I am always a bit envious of the market wanderers. It’s a feeling that grows even stronger in the summer when these marketgoers without any agenda of shopping lists to mark off, or a fridge to fill, are enjoying being among all the glorious foods on the day out with friends and family. With nothing to do except admiringly soak it all up while stopping off for the occasional energy-boost by way of an ice-cream or a glass of something coolly bolstering. What a great way to spend a day. The cooks, the picnic-ers, the wanderers. Each as welcome and as catered for in a summertime market. All playing a key role in building the atmosphere that makes these months there so deliciously special. For more information on what you can find at Borough Market, visit: boroughmarket.org.uk Read More Three quick and easy vegan fakeaway recipes The only three recipes you need to seize the summer Budget Bites: Three light recipes that sing of summer What the hell is Scandinavian food? Lighter fish pie: Comfort food you won’t feel guilty for eating How to make Norwegian potato pancakes

Cyber Monday is off to an early start at Walmart. Other than the big time

At today's WWDC event, Apple made jaws drop when it announced that its newest product,

All of Mike Flanagan's Netflix series — from the very creepy Haunting of Hill House