Zaporizhzhia residents braved grey skies and driving rain to visit the banks of the Dnipro, not to relax in riverside bars and resorts, but to...

If you’re in the market for new shoes — be it sneakers, heels, clogs, or sandals — you’ll likely find a pair or two that fit your style and budget during this year’s Amazon Prime Day event, which comes to a close tonight. The throes of Amazon dot-com can be a dizzying place, so we sourced some of our fave shoe trends of 2023 that we’re coveting during e-commerce’s biggest week. And, yes, all of the pairs ahead were already on sale but may be on further discount now, so we suggest you add them to cart ASAP (before they sell out).

Remembering the first-ever Miss America Pageant and its evolution over the years

Max Verstappen is eyeing a record-breaking 10th F1 win in a row as the paddock rolls around to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix this weekend. Verstappen, picking up where he left off before the summer break, won his home race in the Netherlands last week to equal Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine consecutive grand prix triumphs. The Dutchman, who now has a mammoth 138-point lead in the championship over team-mate Sergio Perez, is the overwhelming favourite in Italy having also won in Monza last year. Mercedes endured a difficult weekend last time out in Zandvoort but will be buoyed by the news that both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have signed contract extensions until the end of the 2025 season. As for Ferrari, they head into their home race short of form having not won a race since Austria last year but will be hoping for a strong performance in front of the home tifosi crowd. Fernando Alonso, too, will be looking to back up his podium in Zandvoort with another top-three showing at Monza. Follow live updates from the Italian Grand Prix with The Independent Read More Lewis Hamilton shows vital statement of intent with Max Verstappen dig Carlos Sainz fastest in second practice for Italian GP but Lewis Hamilton 17th Max Verstappen shrugs off criticism: ‘They cannot appreciate dominance’

Super Sale Alert: Get 20% off everything in Brooklinen’s best-selling linen collection, now through June 13. No code required.

Mike Pence demanded Friday that every US Republican presidential hopeful back a nationwide abortion ban at 15 weeks or earlier as he sought to outflank Donald Trump on an issue his...

Kate Beckinsale was earlier spotted out and about with Matt Atwater before she flashed her ring at the Chopard event at the Cannes Film Festival

More than 50 MPs, retailers and charities have written to the government urging it to remove the 20% VAT on period pants, the reusable underwear designed to be worn as an alternative to using tampons and sanitary towels. Other period products such as pads, tampons and menstrual cups are exempt from VAT, but consumers currently pay a 20% tax on period pants as they are classified as garments. The letter, signed by 35 MPs and peers, the chief executives of Marks & Spencer and Ocado, the publisher of Hello! magazine and several charities and non-profit organisations, including Breast Cancer Now, the Marine Conservation Society and Forum for the Future, calls on Financial Secretary to the Treasury Victoria Atkins to reclassify the pants as period products in the Chancellor’s autumn statement later this year. The government made a brilliant start by removing VAT from disposable period products but we need them to finish the job and level the playing field so that whatever period product someone chooses to use, it is VAT free Victoria McKenzie-Gould, M&S M&S has also launched the new Say Pants to the Tax campaign with the period underwear brand Wuka, promising to pass on 100% of any cost savings to shoppers if it is successful. A five-pack bundle of period pants at M&S costs £35, but would be £28 without VAT, while a pack of three – currently £20 – would drop to £16. M&S, which said it sells more than 6,000 packs of the pants each week, and Wuka calculated that their customers combined had paid more than £3 million in VAT on period pants. A survey of 268 women aged 18 to 54, conducted last month, found that 23% of respondents cited cost as a reason for not using period pants, with 83% in favour of dropping VAT from the products. Period pants can be washed and worn again for months, which means they can save consumers money and help reduce plastic waste. Wuka estimates that one pair of period pants can save 200 single-use plastic disposables from going to landfill. Victoria McKenzie-Gould, corporate affairs director at M&S, said: “The government made a brilliant start by removing VAT from disposable period products but we need them to finish the job and level the playing field so that whatever period product someone chooses to use, it is VAT free. “Nearly 25% of women cite cost as a barrier to using period pants. If they were classified as they should be – as a period product – the government can make this brilliant alternative to disposable products a more cost-effective option for UK consumers.” In May, the Treasury said it would analyse whether the removal of the “tampon tax” has helped lower prices. Responding to a written question from the Labour MP Ruth Cadbury, the government said a tax reduction was able to “contribute to the conditions for price reductions” and it was “looking into whether this important zero rating is being passed on by retailers to women as intended”. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live How to lower your blood sugar levels, as new research reveals heart disease link Remove VAT from period pants, government urged ‘Long Covid has taken away my ability to eat food or urinate in three years’

After clamping down on food stamps in the debt ceiling deal, House Republicans now want to take a whack at WIC, the food assistance program for low-income women, infants and young children.

Hair and makeup artist Ivana Primorac had no idea what to expect when she accepted a job on the hotly anticipated Barbie movie. “I didn’t know what it was,” she told R29, “nor could I draw on any previous experience in my career.” Primorac designed the makeup for Netflix series The Crown, not to mention films such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. But Barbie, it seems, is in a league entirely of its own. Little did Primorac know then just how big a beauty spectacle it would be.

Only halfway through and the year's already been a whirlwind of both technological advancements and

Discord.io, a service that allowed users to create custom links for their Discord channels, is