Italy's government convened crisis talks Thursday to investigate the reasons behind a surge in prices for pasta, one of the country's most beloved and culturally important foods.

The Supreme Court upheld a California law that bars the sale of pork produced in other states unless the sow was housed in conditions that allowed her to move freely.

Taylor Swift fans are known for their sleuthing skills to uncover many of the singer's Easter eggs - and recently some believed a book release was on the horizon. But alas, it has been confirmed by Variety that Swift is not the author behind the book by Macmillan imprint Flatiron that everyone's talking about. "Variety can report for certain that this mystery author is not, as rumored, Taylor Swift," the publication said. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter "She is not gearing up to release a memoir almost simultaneously with her next album and smack in the middle of a national stadium tour, which might count as an excessive exercise in synergy even for someone as capable of project-multitasking as a Taylor Swift." Rumours started when there was news of a celebrity releasing a memoir in July, with the identity of the star being kept under wraps and it didn't take long for Swifties to theorise that the mystery author was Swift. From book store speculation, to a lack of book promotion, as well as the July 9 release date, and the book being 544 pages long (5+4+4=13 Swift's lucky number), fans went down the rabbit of hole of looking for evidence or Easter eggs that pointed to this theory. So Swifties were keen to be the first to get their hands on the $45 book that's currently called "4C Untitled Flatiron Nonfiction Summer 2023" and pre-ordered copies in advance despite the lack of official details. As a result, the book has climbed up the top 10 of the Amazon book sales chart, rising as high as No. 2 (it's currently No. 22 at the time of writing). Currently, it is also sitting at No. 4. on the Barnes & Noble website, and No.2 on the booksellers' pre-orders chart. But even if we still don't know who the author is, what can we expect from this mysterious book? A screenshot which some believe may have been a pitch for the book on digital publishing catalog Edelweiss read: “This is not a political book, it is a fun, celebratory title and will skew slightly younger, but is for people of all ages. “This has global appeal and will have massive publicity. I would comp this to Flatiron’s Matthew Perry memoir... and a little bit to Spare by Prince Harry," as per Variety. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

There could be a new celebrity power couple in Hollywood, after reports emerged that Tom Cruise and Shakira are dating. However, some of the language used on social media has raised a few eyebrows – with some suggesting the speculation reads more like transfer rumours than your standard showbiz fare. It comes after reports surfaced that Cruise was “extremely interested in pursuing” the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer after the two were photographed together at the 2023 Formula One Grand Prix in Miami over the weekend. “He is extremely interested in pursuing her. There is chemistry,” a source told Page Six on 9 May. “Shakira needs a soft pillow to fall on, and that could be Tom,” they added, referencing the singer’s split from Gerard Pique. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Football journalist Nooruddean Choudry joked about some of the coverage, and questioned whether the headline had been written by transfer story specialist Fabrizio Romano. The post included a screenshot of a headline that read: “Tom Cruise is ‘extremely interested in pursuing Shakira.” Others replied with football transfer cliches of their own, with one writing: “Cruise eyes Shakira swoop.” “He’s monitoring the situation closely,” another said. “3 year contract, plus the option for one more year! Shakira is ‘excited about the Tom Cruise project’” another joked. One more social media user wrote: “Won’t believe it till she’s holding the shirt.” It comes after Cruise was up in the skies for his coronation concert cameo recently, which looked awfully similar to his MTV Movie & TV award acceptance speech. While airborne and flying his Top Gun Warbird plane, the 60-year-old 'Top Gun' actor invited King Charles III to be his "wingman," in his pre-recorded video message for the new monarch. “Pilot to pilot. Your Majesty, you can be my wingman any time," Cruise said before he saluted and flew off. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A Taylor Swift fan is selling an item for $10,000 - and no it's not a ticket to her highly popular Eras Tour but instead it's an item that has been present at one of the concerts... Contact lenses that have "seen Taylor Swift's Eras Tour" is the item listed for sale on the online marketplace Depop at a jaw dropping price. Those lenses will have seen Swift perform her hits such as 'Anti-Hero,' 'Style,' and 'Shake It Off,' and are listed as "used" but in an "excellent condition." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Photos on the post-show the two contacts in the palm of a hand, to give prospective Swiftie buyers a look to see if they want the used lenses of the lucky concertgoer. The advert has since gone viral after Pop Tingz shared a screenshot of the advert. Since then, both Swifties and Twitter users, in general, have been reacting to the advert, with some finding the post funny and entertaining while others called it "insane," "stupid," and "embarrassing." But since going viral, the Depop user in question has deleted the advert and added to her bio description: "LMAO IT WAS A JOKE." So she wasn't really going to sell the contact lenses at the hefty price, even if someone wanted them. Though some did joke that the stunt has inspired them to list their contacts for sale after seeing their favourite artist live. Elsewhere, a woman has been condemned as a terrible daughter after choosing to miss her own mother’s wedding to attend a concert. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Joe Francis claimed he dated Kourtney Kardashian, and there is speculation that Kim's infamous sex tape was probably released by him

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg surprised people recently after turning up at a jui-jitsu tournament, with footage appearing to show him looking a little unhappy with the result of his bout. The Meta CEO was spotted taking on a fellow competitor in Redwood City in California on Saturday (May 6), and he was eventually pinned after a tussle in the ring. The referee stopped the fight and awarded it to his opponent after believing that Zuckerberg had 'tapped out'. However, the footage suggested Zuckerberg was unhappy with the result and it was changed to a 0-0 draw. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter He did well during the result of the tournament, with the 38-year-old winning gold and silver medals at his first public competition. Now, the referee from the event has spoken and clarified that there was no such “argument”. Referee Lucas Costa, who is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, spoke to bloodyelbow.com and explained what went down. “There was no argument,” said Costa. “It was in Gi and he got choked out. That was the video you saw. I stopped it and he wanted to check with me about why I stopped it. He didn’t know what was happening, which was one of the reasons I stopped it. But he had started to snore and the rule set says that snoring is a version of a verbal tap.” “I was paying a lot of attention,” Costa added. “I was paying even more attention because it was Mark. He got caught in an Ezekiel and I waited, but he didn’t fight back. And I was waiting, but on the third snore I had to stop the fight. He was very polite but he wanted to know how the rules work.” Speaking about the experience of meeting him, Costa said: “Mark’s fight was a surprise… I was impressed though. “He seemed like a normal guy. Looked me in the eye, gave me a firm handshake and an even bigger surprise was that he fights well.” Discussing his fighting style, Costa added: “He goes forward a lot. He attacks more. With very little defence.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Prada SpA sales jumped as the Italian fashion group benefited from shoppers splurging on Prada loafers and Miu

Nicola Lambrianos, from Essex, sings backing vocals in the Lithuanian entry in the contest.

The speculation is true – Logan Paul has possession of the “best UFO footage ever”, or so he claims. It comes after documentary filmmaker James Fox spoke on The Joe Rogan Experience about a video rumoured to have been uncovered by UFO specialist Chuck Clark around 30 years ago. Fox claimed that the clip shows two men in the Nevada desert encountering a UFO, and he believes that if Paul released the footage it could be key to changing people’s perceptions about alien sightings. Now, Paul has stated that he does indeed have a copy of the video. He claimed that he tried to purchase the footage from Clark for $100,000. After the offer was turned down, he then used a hidden camera to record the footage after he was invited to a screening. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter “What do you want from me bro, I’m a sneaky little f***,” Paul said, describing the incident on his Impaulsive podcast Logan Paul Officially Reveals His UFO Footage! | Joe Rogan & James Fox www.youtube.com “I offered him $100,000 for this tape after I had seen it. Let me tell you this, he should have f***ing taken the money because I got the footage anyway. And I’ll tell you why I did it, because it’s a little twisted of me to put on a small button camera and film UFO footage that isn’t mine.” Paul went on to say: “Here’s the thing though, it’s not his either. It’s not. The people who shot it gave it to him and expected he would keep it hidden for himself. It’s not his footage. He is keeping what I thought at the time, important UFO, alien, extraterrestrial proof in his possession and not showing it. Like, why? I think that is doing a disservice to the world. That’s not going to do it for me, you are being selfish.” Paul said he was “waiting for the right moment”, adding: “I would show the footage to [US conspiracy theorist] Bob Lazar to ask him if he’s seen anything like it and in that case maybe… if he can verify the legitimacy of this tape then maybe I would release it.” “You don’t see the aliens… the footage is compelling, not convincing. It’s from 1995, the tape had been worn down, it’s been played probably over 100 times so the quality is not great, and everything about it screams bulls***.” The YouTuber went on to say: “There is one kind of interesting thing about the video that could prove its validity. When you scrub through the footage forward and back kind of fast… the disc hovers so fluidly, it’s like buoyant almost in the air.” “And I’m not sure if that type of movement… was possible in 1995 VFX editing. It looks too good. It’s the one compelling thing about this video where I’m like, maybe that’s something.” “But I just don’t have enough information at the moment to confidently release this video, unless I can prove that it is somewhat legit, and maybe Bob Lazar can help me.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

In 'Celebrity IOU' Season 6, with sledgehammers, power tools, and some serious muscle, the celebrities will tear down and rebuild homes

'Vanderpump Rules' Season 10 finale will open up Tom Sandoval's cheating scandal, how it got revealed to Ariana Madix and how she reacted