The Independent

The papers were first flagged by Yves Moreau, an engineering professor at KU Leuven in Belgium, who spent years investigating how Chinese researchers collect genetic data from vulnerable populations.

At 9 a.m. in Coney Island on the Fourth of July, a crowd was already snaking around the block of Nathan’s Famous original restaurant.They were, of course, waiting for the annual hot dog eating contest — a frenzied, ketchup-stained tradition where competitive eaters from around the world battle it out …

Nothing screams Fourth of July more than fireworks, American flags — and hot dogs.Every year, people crowd around the original Nathan’s restaurant on New York’s Coney Island boardwalk to watch competitive eaters scarf down as many hot dogs as they can in just 10 minutes. And I, for one, am …

“If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax,” screamed an enormous Greenpeace banner covering the historic paving stones in Venice’s St Mark’s Square earlier this week. The sign is one of many which have dominated La Serenissima’s heritage buildings (and been quickly taken down by …

“If you can rent Venice for your wedding, you can pay more tax,” screamed an enormous Greenpeace banner covering the historic paving stones in Venice’s St Mark’s Square earlier this week. The sign is one of many that have dominated La Serenissima’s heritage buildings (and been quickly taken down by …

Come Tuesday, Venetians will have a new spectacle on the horizon. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is sailing into the city on his $500 million superyacht to marry his fiancée, former journalist Lauren Sanchez, in what is expected to be a spectacular display of wealth and pomp. Over three days (from …

After hearing Pedro Pascal claim there is “no good Mexican food” in New York City, one restaurant was determined to fight back. On Sunday (June 15), Orchard Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan was essentially blocked off as a crowd of people gathered in the rain to witness …

Bermuda: home of brightly-coloured shorts, salmon-coloured sand and one seriously mysterious triangle.

A London-based couple has shared their unconventional path to parenthood, celebrating the "Colombian fairy godmothers" who helped them have three children through surrogacy.Shaun Thomas, a 36-year-old pharmacist, and his partner, 40-year-old banker Paul Brennan, found the UK surrogacy process daunting and expensive. Determined to start a family during the pandemic, …

From the age of nine, Valentina Milanova endured excruciating periods, fearing for years that she could be dying or afflicted by a mysterious disease.Growing up in Bulgaria with limited menstrual education, the now 30-year-old London resident and CEO of Daye, faced years of misdiagnosis and debilitating pain. Prescribed the contraceptive …

Tired of the endless cycle of renting, a 27-year-old photographer has taken a radical step towards affordable living. Nicole Keefe, from Newcastle, has swapped her 18th rented home for a converted van, where she now lives with her dog for just £650 a month.Keefe's childhood was marked by constant relocation …

A social media cook who supersizes snacks has revealed the one food he can’t enlarge: a grape.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stopped the sale of copycat versions of Ozempic and Wegovy, the Type 2 diabetes drugs used for weight loss.In 2022, the FDA announced there was a shortage of the brand-name medications, which allowed compounding pharmacies to make generic semaglutide, the main …

The 25-year-old beauty architect who’s famously painted the faces of almost every Kardashian since he was 16, reveals his beauty secrets

London woman Jess Roberts has transformed her personal experience with pregnancy loss into a venture aimed at breaking the stigma surrounding miscarriage.

On Thursday evening, the Metropolitan Police arrested six women at a meeting of Youth Demand in a Quaker meeting house in central London. I was one of those women.I am not a member of the climate and pro-Palestine group or any other activist groups. I am a 25-year-old student journalist. …

As someone painfully oblivious to the world of college sports, my first March Madness bracket at age 18 was chosen with little thought.I mostly just copied whatever my friends in the sports analytics department were doing and steered clear of any Syracuse University enemies advancing just out of spite. Despite …

Oh, Kanye West. It seems that nearly every week, the once-genius rapper seems more focused on being in the news for everything else but music. Last night, for an interview with DJ Akademiks, he wore a swastika necklace before changing into more formal wear – a black-coloured klan robe, that …

A woman with several brain aneurysms which could rupture at any time has said she can’t stop thinking: “Am I going to die today?”

The culture seems to be shifting after decades of real fur being taboo to the point of being banned across much of the fashion industry...

Chelsea are well on their way to a first-ever invincible Women's Super League season, now unbeaten in 15 matches, and show no sign of slowing as they continue to invest record sums in their squad. The £900,000 reportedly spent to bring in Naomi Girma from San Diego Wave made her …

In an ever-more connected world, finding somewhere that still feels “off the beaten track” is a bit like finding that pot at the end of the rainbow. So when I heard about the Ha Giang loop – a 300-mile motorbike journey through the mountains of northern Vietnam...

Right in the centre of Edinburgh, at the foot of Calton Hill and a stone’s throw from Princes Street. Waverley Station is a five-minute walk away, where mainline LNER trains connect to London in a little over four hours. The hotel also benefits from the new tram extension down to …

Virtual private networks, better known as VPNs, aren’t new technology. The first VPN protocol – a set of rules that determines how programs ‘talk’ to each other – was developed in the late 1990s. Once a niche product for the privacy-conscious, VPNs are hard to ignore these days. They’re now …

Athena is 11th in line to the throne, but the first Royal Beta Baby

Kaia Gerber and Austin Butler have ended their relationship after more than three years together.According to a TMZ report, the couple called it quits near the end of 2024. The outlet noted Butler, 33, was noticeably absent from the Gerber family’s recent vacation in Mexico. A source from People confirmed …

Brooke Shields and her daughter Rowan Henchy have added another permanent piece to their collection of matching tattoos, celebrating their close bond with a meaningful new design.The mother-daughter duo began 2025 by visiting East Side Ink, a New York City tattoo parlor, where they had matching tattoos inked on their …

Bad Bunny’s latest album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, has fans speculating about its inspiration, including whether it’s tied to Kendall Jenner. However, the Puerto Rican superstar has a broader message in mind.In an interview with Time published on January 5, the “Titi Me Pregunto” rapper – whose real name is …

Are Ariana Grande's freshly-cut bangs and sudden penchant for Givenchy an indication that she’s vying for a role as Hollywood icon Audrey Hepburn?