The world's most popular car brands are a data "privacy nightmare," collecting and selling personal information in an age when driving is going increasingly...

JERUSALEM All partners in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition approved on Tuesday a proposed expansion of the

LUXEMBOURG & TEL AVIV, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 20, 2023--

Embattled Republican Representative George Santos compared Congress to the movie “Mean Girls” as he faces multiple federal charges and a potential expulsion vote in the House of Representatives. Mr Santos spoke on the Macrodosing podcast and was asked what Congress was like. “Have you ever watched ‘Mean Girls’?” Mr Santos asked the interviewer. “That’s Congress in a nutshell. There is a mean girl there.” Mr Santos compared himself to Cady Heron, the main protagonist in the movie portrayed by Lindsay Lohan. “I don’t come from a political background,” Mr Santos said, despite the fact he ran for Congress in 2020 and lost before he mounted his successful campaign in the Long Island district in 2022. Since then, multiple news outlets reported stories about the fact Mr Santos fabricated numerous aspects of his career, from his claim that he worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, to his falsehood about being of Jewish heritage, to his running a fake charity. Last week, the Justice Department announced 13 criminal charges against Mr Santos, leading to Mr Santos turning himself in and facing arrest. Specifically, the DOJ charged him with unemployment fraud and making false statements to Congress. He has since faced calls to resign even among New York Republicans and members of the House Republican Conference. Representative Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California, filed a resolution to force an expulsion vote for Mr Santos, though it is unlikely to pass, given an expulsion requires two-thirds of the House to pass. Republicans hold a narrow majority in the House, which means they need all the GOP support they can get. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called on the House Ethics Committee to take up the expulsion resolution and has said he would not support Mr Santos for re-election despite previously saying he would stand by the freshman Republican. “You got to have a process,” Mr McCarthy said in a news conference. “So I'm going to ask that Ethics look at this.” Read More House lawmakers could decide whether to expel George Santos. He says Democrats want to ‘play judge and jury’ George Santos expulsion coming before House as Democrats force vote

A Democratic lawmaker lost his cool with Matt Gaetz on the House floor on Thursday night, screaming that the far-right Republican is “exhausting”. Rep Steven Horsford, of Nevada, singled out Mr Gaetz while giving an impassioned speech in defence of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the military and calling out shocking racially-charged comments made by multiple members of the Republican party in recent days. On Thursday, House Republicans introduced an amendment to a military spending bill pushing to ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs from the Department of Defense (DOD). Mr Horsford slammed the move warning it would hamper efforts to improve diversity in the military. “This amendment does nothing to address the recruitment shortfalls that our services are facing and instead it will only make it more difficult to recruit Americans of diverse backgrounds representing the true makeup of our nation,” he said. At this point, he turned and addressed Mr Gaetz directly, his voice rising. “What are you so afraid of? Why do you keep bringing these divisive issues to the body of this floor?” he asked, before shouting: “You are out of order! You are exhausting, Mr Gaetz!” Mr Gaetz – who is currently the focus of a revived House Ethics Committee investigation into his alleged misconduct – complained about Mr Horsford’s actions. “Mr Speaker, the childish antics that we just observed indicate that we’ve got a lot of work to do, both in this House and the military, not to have radical racial ideology governing our discourse and governing the policy choices that we make in these bills,” he said. During the heated debate, Mr Horsford, who is Black, also condemned comments made by Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville – who has repeatedly defended white nationalists – and Republican Rep Eli Crane – who used the term “coloured people” earlier on the House floor. “Just this week, the sponsor of this amendment called Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the military a, quote, ‘failed experiment.’ He has called it ‘cancerous’,” said Mr Horsford. “Just this week a senator from Alabama stated that it was his opinion that White nationalists are not necessarily racist and refused to denounce white nationalists serving in the military.” He continued: “Just an hour ago, on this very floor, one of the members on the other side of this body said his amendment, quote, ‘had nothing to do whether coloured people or Black people can serve.’” Mr Horsford said such comments by lawmakers “show exactly why we need diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives” in place. Mr Crane faced an instant backlash on Thursday night when he defended the bill amendment by using the offensive term for people of colour. “My amendment has nothing to do with whether or not coloured people or Black people or anybody can serve. It has nothing to do with any of that stuff,” Mr Crane said. The comment was widely condemned and ultimately struck from the record. Meanwhile, for the past couple of months, Mr Tuberville – who has been blocking the confirmation of senior military officials in protest of the DOD’s abortion policy – has repeatedly refused to condemn white nationalists as racist. “I call them Americans,” he said in May. This week, he then claimed that he can’t possibly be racist because he worked with many people of colour during his time as a football coach. On Tuesday, he finally walked back his defence of white nationalists, now admitting that they “are racists”. Following Thursday’s heated debate, House members voted on the amendment. The Republican-majority House passed the amendment by just one vote of 214 to 213, striking down diversity initiatives in the military. Read More Anger in House as Republican uses ‘racist and repugnant’ term to refer to Black Americans Biden calls out GOP senator’s ‘ridiculous’ block on military promotions: ‘It jeopardises US security’ GOP senator says he can’t be racist because he’s a football coach – after white nationalist comments House Ethics Committee revives ‘misconduct’ probe into rep Matt Gaetz Christopher Wray hits back at Gaetz after Republican presses him on trust in the FBI ‘Rage-baiting’ leftist Twitter account is probably fake, expert says

A former Chicago police officer has been accused of lying about getting his vehicle stolen by an ex-girlfriend to get out of paying 44 traffic tickets. Jeffrey Kriv, 56, is facing felony perjury and forgery charges for the alleged scheme that spanned a decade and saved him $3,665, according to an in-depth joint report by The Chicago Tribune and ProPublica. Cook County prosecutors claim Mr Kriv successfully used the same excuse at least 44 times since 2013. The last time he did, in September 2022, Mr Kriv allegedly told a judge that he had a fight with his then-girlfriend the morning the ticket was issued and she went on to steal his car. Like several times before, Mr Kriv showed the court what he claimed was legitimate documentation, including allegedly forged police reports of the supposed theft. “Well, I had her arrested,” Mr Kriv said, according to court transcripts reviewed by the Tribune and ProPublica. “They charged her with a misdemeanour trespassing to a vehicle ... She got, like, three months’ supervision or something like that. It’s kind of a, I don’t want to say the system’s like a joke, but it didn’t really do anything.” The investigative report also uncovered several complaints filed against Mr Kriv from the time he joined the Chicago Police Department in 1996 until his retirement on 17 January of this year. Despite having 20 suspensions totalling 170 days throughout his time in the force, department officials never attempted to fire Mr Kriv until five days before his retirement. The city first became aware of Mr Kriv’s alleged forgery crimes after a tip was sent to the Office of Inspector General last year. The information alleged that Mr Kriv used the same alibi when contesting dozens of tickets in the last decade, which ranged from speeding, running a red light and parking where it was not allowed. Tim Grace, an attorney for Mr Kriv, downplayed the accusations, saying his client’s character has been misconstrued. “Many of the facts you compose are incomplete or not true,” Mr Grace told the Tribune and ProPublica in a statement, noting upwards of 100 recognitions Mr Kriv has reportedly been awarded. “Officer Kriv has served his city with honour for over 25-plus years.” According to the Citizen Police Data Project, Mr Kriv had 76 allegations and 39 use of force reports, more than 99 per cent of other officers. Records show that Mr Kriv had a long disciplinary history during the 27 nearly years he served. According to those reports, Mr Kriv reportedly used a flashlight to break the window of a man’s car during a traffic stop, punched another man who was handcuffed in the back of his car and described a woman as “white trash” in an incident report. Mr Kriv was suspended for 20 days in 2005 for threatening sanitation workers to ticket their cars after a city Streets and Sanitation Department employee rightfully towed his personal vehicle. The next year, he was suspended for 90 days for leaving the scene of a vehicle fire to visit a waitress at a strip club. He went back to work after just 45 days. A woman also told the Tribune and ProPublica that Mr Kriv punched her in the face after arresting her for a domestic fight. The charges against the woman were dismissed and she was paid $100,000 in a settlement after suing Mr Kriv and the city. “I had to have surgery. I had to have plastic implanted under my eye because of this,” the woman told the publications. “My face is not symmetrical anymore. He really messed me up on the outside. And inside it was a really traumatic experience.” Mr Kriv was ordered released on his own recognizance in January. He last appeared in court in March. The Independent has reached out to his attorney. Read More DeSantis defines ‘woke’ after Trump claimed ‘half the people can’t’ At least 15 people killed in Senegal as opposition leader's supporters clash with police Trump news — live: Classified documents grand jury slated to meet as Trump claims trouble in New York case

Tucker Carlson is back and proving precisely why he doesn’t belong on mainstream news. Fans will, of course, view that as a compliment, but it’s not intended as such. His new Twitter show, the first episode of which aired on Tuesday night (UK time), managed to pack a staggering amount of conspiracy and dangerous conjecture into 10 minutes and 27 seconds. Addressing his 7.9 million followers on the platform from the inside of some sort of log cabin, he launched into a jaw-dropping monologue, covering topics from the destruction of a massive dam in southern Ukraine to an alleged alien coverup by the US government. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The launch of ‘Tucker on Twitter’ comes just weeks after Fox News “parted ways” with its top-rated host. He has clearly kept hold of his loyal fanbase, with episode one of his new low-budget series racking up 44.9 million views in less than 10 hours. And yet, Carlson has made it clear that Twitter shouldn’t get too comfortable: proclaiming that he’ll ditch the platform in an instant if anyone dares call him out on his wild and problematic comments. “We’re told there are no gatekeepers here,” he said about Elon Musk’s social media stage. “If that turns out to be false, we’ll leave.” However, he added: “In the meantime, we are grateful to be here. We will be back with much more very soon.” If the first instalment is anything to go by, we should be concerned by this promise of “much more”. He began his tirade by accusing Ukraine of blowing up the Nova Kakhovka dam, and describing President Zelensky as looking like a “sweaty and rat-like a comedian-turned-oligarch”. He then claimed that the US government is essentially strong-arming its citizens into backing Ukraine against Russia, suggesting that the overriding message is: “Shut up and support Ukraine or else you are in trouble.” He went on to describe Americans as “the least informed people in the world” before accusing the media of “ignoring the stories that matter.” “What's happened to the hundreds of billions of US dollars we've sent to Ukraine? No clue,” he went on. “Who organised those BLM riots three years ago? No one's gotten to the bottom of that. “What exactly happened on 9/11? Well, it's still classified. How did Jeffrey Epstein make all that money? How did he die? How about JFK? And so, endlessly, on. “Not only are the media not interested in any of this, they are actively hostile to anybody who is in journalism. Curiosity is the gravest crime." He went on: “Yesterday, for example, a former Air Force officer who worked for years in military intelligence came forward as a whistleblower to reveal that the US government has physical evidence of crashed non-human made aircraft, as well as the bodies of the pilots who flew those aircraft. “The Pentagon has spent decades studying these otherworldly remains in order to build more technologically advanced weapons systems. OK? That's what the former Intel officer revealed, and it was clear he was telling the truth. “In other words, UFOs are actually real and apparently so is extraterrestrial life. Now, we know in a normal country this news would qualify as a bombshell, the story of the millennium, but in our country it doesn't.” He ended his diatribe by insisting that “most” people in the US live “manipulated by lies and silenced by taboos”. “It is unhealthy and it's dehumanising, and we're tired of it,” he stressed. So what is the antidote to all this state-sponsored “secrecy”? Why, to tune into ‘Tucker on Twitter’, of course. Plenty of people will, inevitably, and Musk himself has promoted the series’ release. Retweeting the episode, he wrote jovially: “Would be great to have shows from all parts of the political spectrum on this platform!” All we can say is, more sanity, please. 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.

Elon Musk said X is looking to charge users a “small monthly payment” to tackle bots on the social network. X, previously known as Twitter, underwent a number of changes soon after Mr Musk, the multibillionaire owner of X Corp, bought it. The platform is now “moving to having a small, monthly payment for use of the X system” to combat “vast armies of bots”, Mr Musk said during a livestreamed conversation with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. However, the Tesla and SpaceX boss did not reveal how much the new plan would cost X users or what additional features subscribers would get. During the interaction with Mr Netanyahu, the Tesla titan said X currently has 550 million “monthly users” who generate 100-200 million posts per day, adding that the new change to include a “small amount of money” would be necessary to deal with the problem posed by bots. It is unclear whether the multibillionaire’s figure of 550 million monthly users includes bots and also doesn’t allow comparison with the metric the company has used to estimate its user base, called the “average monetizable daily active users” or mDAUs. But the Tesla chief said a subscription fee would make it more difficult for bots to create accounts as each bot would need a new credit card to register on the platform. “It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots,” Mr Musk said. “Because a bot costs a fraction of a penny – call it a tenth of a penny – but even if it has to pay a few dollars or something, the effective cost of bots is very high,” he explained. The platform has historically struggled to curb the activity of bots, with the company’s former security chief Peiter Zatko telling the US Congress last year that Twitter does not even know how many automated accounts are on the site. Mr Musk even cited bots as a reason to back out of buying the social platform before he went on to complete the deal. He has also previously discussed putting all of Twitter behind a paywall. Now the Tesla boss says the rebranded X plans to introduce a new “lower tier pricing” than the $8 monthly fee it currently charges subscribers of its premium Blue service. The conversation between Mr Musk and the Israeli prime minister also touched on topics like AI regulation as well as hate speech and antisemitism on X. Mr Musk claimed during the discussion that he’s “against antisemitism” and “anything that promotes hate and conflict”. “I’m sort of against attacking any group, you know. Doesn’t matter who it is,” the Tesla chief said. Online safety experts have warned about the social media platform under “free speech absolutist” Mr Musk offering “amnesty” to accounts previously suspended for hate speech and instigating violence. Under the Tesla titan, the platform restored the account of former US president Donald Trump who was banned following the 2021 Capitol riots, as well as the profiles of Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and neo-Nazi website founder Andrew Anglin. Read More The ex factor: the very complex love life of Elon Musk Netanyahu visits Elon Musk in California with plans to talk about artificial intelligence Turkey's President Erdogan and Elon Musk discuss establishing a Tesla car factory in Turkey Elon Musk’s X finally agrees to try and settle Twitter’s mass layoffs lawsuit Musk the messiah (or a very naughty boy?) Elon Musk warns of ‘civilisational risk’ posed by AI at historic gathering

Officials say an Air India flight from New Delhi to San Francisco has landed in Russia after it developed an engine problem

The complete head-to-head record between Liverpool and Newcastle.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Commission started an investigation on Wednesday to into whether to impose tariffs to protect the European

Residents in the northern Mexican state of Sonora are battling a new train line that threatens to displace their homes and cut up the local ecosystem