A TikTok video has gone unexpectedly viral after it shocked viewers by exposing the reality of the financial hardships of people who work as drivers for food-delivery companies. The clip was uploaded by user Riley Elliot back in 2021 (although he clarified that his legal name is Riley Todd until he’s married). According to a subsequent video, he only had 9 followers at the time – all of whom were his close friends. But his video clearly resonated. It’s been widely viewed on TikTok, amassing hundreds of thousands of likes and comments, and Elliot’s account has blown up – he now has more than 17,000 followers. In the video, Elliot is sitting in a vehicle, clearly distressed after having completed a food delivery job. He says: “Y’all I wish that people who order UberEats or Doordash understood what it’s like to be a driver.” Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter In tears, he goes on to explain that he was only paid $2.50 for the 45-minute job, and had to pay $3 for parking as the customer wouldn’t come outside to meet him. He added that the customer gave him only a $1.50 tip. “I gotta prove three times rent for income in two weeks and I can’t. It doesn’t matter that I’m working multiple jobs, that I barely sleep, that I can barely afford to feed myself. I’m about to be homeless for the third time since May and it’s all because people don’t tip their delivery drivers. Like, how hard is it to throw us five bucks?” In the on-screen caption, he added: “I’m out here risking my life in a pandemic and no one cares.” Elliot's sudden increase in popularity helped him turn his life around and is now reportedly in a much better place. A successful GoFundMe page, that is still active for Elliot has raised more than $20,000 for him. Elliot's clip was also shared on Twitter, where it has been viewed 3.4 million times. The responses largely echoed the comments on the TikTok video, with people sympathising with Elliot while also debating whether blaming the customers for a lack of tips is the solution, as opposed to holding the delivery companies accountable. In a video posted later the same day, Elliot explained that he had received an overwhelming amount of support, as well as donations which allowed him to move into a new home. @elliot_wanders THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! #ubereatsdriver #fyp #tipyourdeliverydriver #payitforward #tiktokchangedmylife He also addressed comments that referenced expensive items visible in his video, explaining that his income has drastically changed since the start of the pandemic – as has been the case for so many Americans. In a later follow-up, Elliot acknowledged that the blaming customers entirely was not helpful, and that he believed that food-delivery companies that rely on gig workers should bear more responsibility to ensure drivers are paid fairly. He added that this is a broader issue too, highlighting the tip-based culture which exists in the service industry in America. While Elliot appears to be in a much better financial situation now thanks to the viral success of his video, it’s important to remember that there are thousands of others in similar situations who aren’t going viral and may well still be struggling. Just something to bear in mind next time we order pizza... 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 former Formula 1 driver believes as many as “seven or eight” other men would be able to win a world title if they had use of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. The Dutchman is cruising towards a third successive Drivers’ Championship crown, leading the standings by 125 points at the summer break. The 25-year-old has won the last eight races and Red Bull are yet to be beaten at a Grand Prix this season. And while praising Verstappen, Juan Pablo Montoya believes that the Red Bull vehicle’s superiority over the rest of the cars on the grid would allow plenty of his rivals to become world champions were they to swap with him. “Well right now, he’s doing a very good job,,” Montoya, who won seven times in six seasons in F1 at the start of the century, told Semana of Verstappen’s dominance. “He looks just as invincible as when [Lewis] Hamilton was winning everything, that’s the reality. “Max is a very good driver, but so far in the best car. Max’s speed right now is no better than Max’s speed two years ago, it’s probably the same. The car is much faster. “If you take Max out of that car, there are about seven or eight drivers who could be world champions in that car. If he were not there, Checo [Sergio Perez], Hamilton, [Carlos] Sainz, [Charles] Leclerc, he would be world champion. “It is the timing of motorsport, not only one as a driver, but also the machine one has. The luck of which car is fast. The Red Bull with these rules is the best car; suddenly, if the rules change, it could be no longer. “It is the balance between the better you are, the more chance you have of being in a good team. The best drivers are in the best cars. “Lando Norris, for example, is a very good driver and the McLaren has improved a lot this year, but Lando in Red Bull would probably be world champion.” The F1 season is set to resume on the weekend of 27 August at Verstappen’s home Grand Prix in the Netherlands. No team has ever completed a clean sweep of race victories across a full campaign. There are ten stops left on the calendar, with the concluding event in Abu Dhabi on the final weekend of November. Read More F1 2023 mid-season awards: Best driver, worst race and biggest surprise How Max Verstappen and record-breaking Red Bull compare to Formula One greats F1 2023 season race schedule: When is the Dutch Grand Prix? F1 2023 calendar: All 23 Grand Prix this year F1 2023 mid-season awards: Best driver, worst race and biggest surprise Continued struggles will leave Mercedes frustrated and confused – Martin Brundle

Morgan Stanley cut its rating on Chinese stocks to equal weight Wednesday, saying investors should capitalize on a

Rishi Sunak has sparked fury on social media following his remarks on transgender people at the Conservative Party conference on October 4. During his speech, the prime minister weighed in on sex education and transgender rights. "It shouldn’t be controversial for parents to know what their children are being taught in school about relationships, patients should know when hospitals are talking about men or women," he said. "And we shouldn’t get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be. They can’t, a man is a man and a woman is a woman. That’s just common sense." His comments follow a conference in which multiple Cabinet members have used their own speeches to mention transgender issues, with Health Secretary Steve Barclay announcing a ban on trans women from female NHS wards and Home Secretary Suella Braverman saying she would forbid sex offenders from changing gender. Sunak's speech has since prompted X/Twitter users to hit back at his "disgraceful" remarks: A day before Sunak's speech, Braverman attacked "gender ideology" and a "privileged woke minority", prompting heckling that saw Conservative London Assembly member Andrew Boff removed from the conference centre. Boff told the PA news agency after his removal: "This Home Secretary was basically vilifying gay people and trans people by this attack on LGBT ideology, or gender ideology. It is fictitious, it is ridiculous. "It is a signal to people who don’t like people who are LGBT+ people." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter 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.

By Karen Brettell NEW YORK The dollar bounced off two-week lows on Friday as investors awaited inflation data

Alison Goldfrapp says she and her Goldfrapp bandmate Will Gregory are too busy to make new music together.

WASHINGTON U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat and frequent merger critic, joined three other lawmakers on Tuesday to

Jadyn Ott rushed for 145 yards and a touchdown, California’s defense made a pivotal interception then forced a turnover on downs to stop Arizona State’s final drive, the Golden Bears beat the Sun Devils 24-21 at Memorial Coliseum on Saturday

Marine’s 2021 FA Cup run was so far detached from reality that their manager, Neil Young, remembers every kick like a vivid dream. He can still see the last penalty of the shootout which shocked League Two Colchester United on their own patch in the first round, “one of my greatest memories in football”. He can still picture Niall Cummins’ dramatic 120th-minute winner against Havant & Waterlooville in the second round which sparked “bedlam,” even in an empty stadium in lockdown. That result was their ninth knockout win of the competition and it put Marine AFC, a volunteer-led club playing in the Northern Premier League Division One North West, into the hat for the third round with some of the biggest teams in the world. It was only the second time an eighth-tier side had ever reached that stage of the FA Cup. On the face of it, the third-round draw is a ludicrous enterprise. Here was a team made up of plumbers, teachers, factory workers and a car salesman, paid a total weekly wage of £750, with the possibility of being competitively matched against some of the best footballers on the planet. “When you get to the third round, let’s be honest, it’s likely that you’re not going to go any further,” Young tells the Independent. “You are hoping for one of the big teams. “I go back to when I was growing up, the third round was always the one you were waiting for. I was a Liverpool fan and you were always wondering who you were gonna get. Now I was looking at it from the other side.” The possibilities were remote. The chances of drawing one of the so-called big six was around nine per cent. The chances of drawing the team on top of the Premier League and the manager he most wanted to pit his wits against, Jose Mourinho? Only 1.6 per cent. But after such a rare run into the cup’s deepest waters, Marine were desperate to get lucky. The draw itself was made in a studio, but the BBC’s programme was hosted by Mark Chapman at Marine’s ground, immediately after their televised second-round win over Havant & Waterlooville. “It was outside, and it was absolutely bloody freezing,” remembers Young. The manager was stood with his captain, Cummins, and the BBC production team, watching the draw on what turned out to be a slightly delayed picture on a giant TV screen. He watched as Robbie Savage fished out No 58, Marine, followed by No 39, Tottenham Hotspur. “Once the ball got drawn out, we heard a massive cheer go up,” Young says. “We didn’t just hear it from our directors in the stand below us - our ground’s got houses on top of it and you could hear the cheering from the houses. I could actually hear the cheer before the name came up on the bottom of the screen. “It was a surreal moment. And as soon as that draw was made, the phone never stopped ringing.” Young was live on Sky Sports News 15 minutes later, and hopped between radio shows all night. It was relentless, and Young was forced to take a week off work – he works for a local train operator – to cope with the buildup. Liverpool invited him to watch Spurs at Anfield the week before the tie and offered up their footage of Spurs and detailed analytics. He had hoped for an away trip, but on reflection: “You’re thinking, away at Tottenham, for example, it could be a bloody cricket score with the size of the pitch and everything.” The game itself is another crystal clear memory. The gap between the two clubs was 161 places, the biggest in FA Cup history, but Mourinho took the game seriously and named a strong side. International stars like Dele Alli, Joe Hart, Toby Alderweireld, Lucas Moura and Gareth Bale all graced Marine’s Rossett Park. Before kick-off, Mourinho sought out Marine’s one Portuguese player, a reserve goalkeeper, and gifted him a signed Spurs shirt with his name printed on the back. “He also got me a shirt with my name on the back which he signed for me, which is framed in my house,” says Young. “He came out of his way before the game to talk with me, we spent half an hour on the pitch making general conversation. He was a really nice guy, humble, not what people see on the telly. He assumed we’d only played two or three games to get there and was amazed it was our 10th game, he could not believe it. “He said, ‘I hope you know if you beat us today, I’ll be back here tomorrow morning looking for a job’.” Spurs were too good, of course, winning 5-0. Yet Marine hit the woodwork at 0-0 and fans still ask Young what might have been had that shot found the net. “I tell them we would have lost 5-1 instead,” he laughs. Young has great respect and appreciation for the way Tottenham approached the tie. “It was freezing, there were no supporters, but they sent a real strong team and then they brought Bale on. We were chasing after them for most of the game but what an experience for our players. And it’s changed our football club.” Tottenham fans bought “virtual” away tickets to raise £300,000 for Marine, and Spurs later treated Marine’s players and staff to a trip to north London to watch their FA Cup third-round tie the following season. Marine’s old facilities essentially made it a part-time social club; now they have two restaurants open all day, every day, generating life-giving revenue for the club. So does the new 4G pitch which is used by local teams and schools. The average gate has jumped from around 200 before the Cup tie to around 1,300 now, and buses full of travelling supporters follow the team on the road. The magic of the FA Cup is a well-worn cliché but there is little else in sport quite like the third round, little that can replicate the sheer otherworldly possibility of that draw. That moment, stood in the bitter cold as cheers rang out from the houses and Tottenham Hotspur flashed up on the screen, will live with Young forever. “It was a special moment in my life. I played a bit myself non-league, and then I got a bad injury and took the decision to pack it in at a very early age and go into the management side. My career started on Sunday mornings at Birkenhead. Things progressed and for that to all come together, in the third-round draw of the FA Cup against Tottenham Hotspur, to be playing against a guy who’s won everything and one of the best that’s ever done it in Jose Mourinho… it was unbelievable.” Read More When is the FA Cup third round draw? What time is the Euro 2024 draw and what are the pots? Uefa announces changes to Women’s Champions League and second European competition When is the FA Cup third round draw? What time is the Euro 2024 draw and what are the pots? Uefa announces changes to Women’s Champions League and second European competition

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has posted a single emoji as speculation about his future at the club remains up in the air. The Spanish shot-stopper has been at The Red Devils since 2011 and has gone on to become one of the top players in his position in the world winning numerous trophies and individual awards with United, as well as keeping the most clean sheets in a Premier League twice in that time. However, the 32-year-old has come under fierce scrutiny from fans and pundits during this time with many holding him responsible for numerous goals and dropped points. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter There were thoughts that De Gea could be leaving Old Trafford this summer as his contract expires on June 30th but The Athletic have reported that he has signed a new contract with the club but at a wage cut of £375,000 per week. However, the club then backed out of this deal and are now contemplating offering him an even lower salary with reported interest for the player coming from Saudi Arabia. De Gea has now appeared to make an allusion to the situation by posting a single yawning emoji on Twitter with no context to what it was about. The post has sparked a mixed reaction from supporters of the famous club with many feeling the player deserved more respect for the loyalty that he showed to the team. De Gea has played more than 500 games for United and won their Player of the Year award four times. 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.

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 15, 2023--

If the Pittsburgh Steelers replace Matt Canada, one insider thinks Mike Tomlin could bring in a big name.