The founder of Afghanistan’s National Institute of Music likened the move to "cultural genocide".

Fans are calling Lana del Rey a "prophet" after Doja Cat, Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello, and Cardi B have all found themselves in controversy in recent weeks. Back in 2020, the 'Video Games' singer posted to Instagram a letter titled 'question for the culture' where she expressed resentment towards the music industry's standards for women saying there was no place for her and her music in the industry. Whilst making her point she mentioned the artists Doja Cat, Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello, Cardi B, Kehlani, Nicki Minaj and Beyonce, saying they get praised for writing songs about "being sexy, wearing no clothes, f***ing, cheating etc" whilst del Ray gets accused of "glamorising abuse" in her songs. Her post was widely criticised at the time, accusing the singer of being racist for bringing down other female artists, the majority of them being women of colour. But over two years later, the 38-year-old is back in conversations for her post as her fans claim she's a "prophet" after many of the musicians she mentioned in 2020 have found themselves in the middle of controversy. Doja Cat has faced backlash for being rude to fans, as well as dating a Twitch streamer who has had allegations of harassment. Ariana Grande has been accused of cheating on her husband, who had recently welcomed a baby with his wife. Cardi B also was in the middle of a debate after she threw her microphone at a fan who threw a drink at her whilst she was performing. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Del Ray's apparent ability to predict the downfall of these artists has many shocked at the accuracy: Kehlani, Nicki Minaj, and Beyoncé are the three artists seemingly left on the list, so only time will tell if Del Ray truly is a prophet. 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.

With Margot Robbie glowing her way down the pink carpets for Barbie, there's one question on everyone's minds: What is the secret behind her incredible skin? Well, it'll set you back a cool $1,600 (£1,242). While she's previously confessed to loving budget buys including Johnson's makeup wipes and nipple balm as lip balm (yes, really), some of Robbie's other favourite skincare must-haves include La Prairie's Caviar Luxe face cream (£450), and ZIIP Beauty's GX Series Nano Current, coming in at £425. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

A Georgia resident who was likely infected while swimming in a freshwater lake or pond has died from a rare brain eating amoeba infection, the Georgia Department of Public Health said.

The Biden administration is launching a beta website for its new income-driven student loan repayment plan today, officials told CNN, allowing borrowers to begin submitting applications for the program as federal student loan payments are set to resume in October.

Deadly heatwaves are baking the US. Scientists just reported that July will be the hottest month on record. And now, after years of skepticism and denial in the GOP ranks, a small number of Republicans are urging their party to get proactive on the climate crisis.

Pop star Rita Ora says her third album is her most personal yet because it's simply a diary that has been 'turned into songs'

All five answers to the questions below have something in common. Can you figure it out?

How rule changes and financial independence is helping unmarried women to keep their babies.

Most of the members taking part in the working group developing new standards for teaching African American history in Florida reportedly didn’t agree to the parts of the controversial measure which has drawn strong rebukes. Three members of the group have told NBC News that this includes the policy that middle school students should be taught that enslaved people developed “skills” that they were able to use for their “personal benefit”. The members, who chose to remain anonymous, told the network that most of the working group didn’t want the inclusion of language stating that high school students should be taught about violence carried out “by African Americans” during lessons about issues such as the race massacres in Ocoee and Tulsa. “Most of us did not want that language,” one of the members told NBC, noting that two out of the group’s 13 members pushed for the inclusion of those two items. The work group’s standards were unanimously approved by the Florida Board of Education on 19 July. They are now set to be instituted in teaching kindergarten through 12th grade. The standards have been slammed as propaganda and pushing a sanitized version of US history. Critics argue that the standards are attempting to conceal the horrors of slavery, such as rape, murder, and forced labour in an attempt to make it seem like an apprenticeship. “These extremist, so-called leaders should model what we know to be the correct and right approach if we really are invested in the well-being of our children,” Vice President Kamala Harris said last week. “They dare to push propaganda to our children. This is the United States of America. We’re not supposed to do that.” The members of the working group who spoke to NBC News told the network that only two members wanted the inclusion of the controversial language. Those members, William Allen and Frances Presley Rice, said in a joint statement last week that the new standards set guidance for “comprehensive and rigorous instruction on African American history”. “The intent of this particular benchmark clarification is to show that some slaves developed highly specialized trades from which they benefitted,” they said. “This is factual and well documented.” The members said that Dr Allen pushed for including that slaves benefitted from the skills that they learned and that Dr Presley Rice argued for the inclusion of “violence perpetrated against and by African Americans”. “People were very vocal,” one group member said, questioning “how there could be a benefit to slavery”. “However, Dr Allen is focusing on the few slaves who actually did learn something and keeps alluding to Frederick Douglass,” one work group member told NBC. “What he is saying is not accurate for most of the slaves.” The three group members said separately that Dr Allen is “persuasive” and “knowledgeable” and that the working group ended up deferring to him. Two of the members said the issue was tabled to be discussed at a later time and didn’t remember that it ever came up for a vote. One member said the language was “problematic” and that the group “could have done a better job” if given more time. Dr Presley Rice told NBC: “I recommend highly that you get in touch with the communications department at the Department of Education, and all your questions will be answered.” The Independent has reached out to the department for comment. The changes were put in place to satisfy a new law signed by Florida Governor and Republican Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, who has distanced himself from the process of creating the new standards even as he defended them. “You should talk to them about it,” he said about the group last week. “I didn’t do it. I wasn’t involved in it.” “What they’re doing is, they’re probably going to show some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life.” “Any attempt to reduce slaves to just victims of oppression fails to recognize their strength, courage and resiliency during a difficult time in American history,” Dr Allen and Dr Presely Rice said in their statement. “Florida students deserve to learn how slaves took advantage of whatever circumstances they were in to benefit themselves and the community of African descendants,” they added. Dr Presley Rice wrote on 22 July on Facebook that “It saddens me to observe how falsehoods are being perpetuated now by some people with questionable intent, using cherry-picked language, taken out of context, to undermine the fact-based Academic Standards crafted by the Workgroup I was a part of, due to my decades-long quest to have the full, unvarnished history told about African Americans”. Dr Allen previously told NBC that the group “deliberated between February and the end of April to review the curriculum standards and to propose new benchmarks and standards”. “I think we may have had, over the course of the period from February to April, three or four meetings,” he added. Mr DeSantis said last week that the new curriculum “is rooted in whatever is factual”. “They listed everything out,” he added. “And if you have any questions about it, just ask the Department of Education. You can talk about those folks but I mean, these were scholars who put that together. It was not anything that was done politically.” The president of the Florida Education Association, Andrew Spar, told NBC last week that “Right now we are working to bring people together to get these standards changed or overturned”. “We are concerned about the conflict that teachers have — we are required to be honest and ethical in our dealings and we are required to teach the standards. What do we do if the standards are not honest and ethical?” he asked. Read More Historically Black fraternity drops Florida for convention because of DeSantis policies DeSantis car crash revealed misuse of government vehicles for 2024 campaign, report claims Water is refreshing in the heat, right? In parts of Florida this past week, not so much CLIMATE GLIMPSE: Here's what you need to see and know today Historically Black fraternity drops Florida for convention because of DeSantis policies Seven in 10 US adults believe in angels, new poll shows

Here's a hot take on the summer of 2023: The climate you grew up in is gone, replaced by something new and changing, but also inalterably different -- where the Atlantic Ocean can reach hot-tub temperature, heat is a recurring public health concern and people will have to adapt their way of living.

It's that time of year again: the thick of summer when sharks have caught America's attention.