The best and worst players from Barcelona's pre-season friendly against Real Madrid

A strong performance from the health services division of CVS on top of cost-cutting pushed third quarter profits and revenue above expectations

Tristan Tate has promised to extend help to the cancer patient's family

By Padraic Halpin and Max A. Cherney LEIXLIP, Ireland (Reuters) -Chipmaker Intel said on Friday it had begun high-volume production

CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 30, 2023--

UPDATE: Sep. 30, 2023, 3:00 a.m. EDT This story has been updated with the latest

Representatives of Conor McGregor have denied allegations the former UFC champion sexually assaulted a woman at a basketball match last week. The Irish mixed martial arts star has been accused of the assault in a bathroom at game four of the NBA Finals in Miami on June 9. A statement from McGregor’s lawyer Barbara Llanes said: “The allegations are false. Mr McGregor will not be intimidated.” The NBA and Miami Heat said they were investigating the allegations that Mr McGregor assaulted a woman in a bathroom after the match. A statement from the Miami Heat, who were facing the Denver Nuggets in the finals, said: “We are aware of the allegations and are conducting a full investigation. Pending the outcome of the investigation, we will withhold further comment.” UFC said it would “allow the legal process to play out” before making any additional comments. In a statement, the mixed martial arts organisation said: “The organisation is aware of the recent allegations regarding Conor McGregor and will continue to gather additional details regarding the incident.” The complainant’s lawyer said her client had provided Miami police with the clothes she was wearing at the time. The incident is alleged to have happened on the same night Mr McGregor injured a mascot in a promotional stunt. A Heat employee inside the costume of the team’s mascot Burnie required medical attention after two punches from the fighter during a stoppage during the third quarter. The team said he received pain medication and was recovering. Mr McGregor, who was booed by many in the crowd, was at the match to perform the promotional piece for a pain-relief spray and hit the mascot with left hook, punching him again after he had hit the floor. He then tried to apply the spray while Heat staff dragged the mascot off the court. Mr McGregor has not fought since injuring his left leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021. His last win came in January 2020.

David Sacks, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, will host Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Tesla CEO Elon Musk in an audio chat on Twitter Spaces on Wednesday (24 May) where Mr DeSantis is expected to announce his campaign for 2024 president. Mr Sacks, 50, is a longtime friend of Mr Musk and supporter of Mr DeSantis. Though Mr Sacks’ name is not as prominent as other tech-industry giants, the entrepreneur has a long history of leading and investing in major companies like PayPal, Yammer, Facebook, Airbnb and more. In more recent years, Mr Sacks has become a major donor to political campaigns for individual Republicans like JD Vance and Mr DeSantis. What experience does Mr Sacks have? Mr Sacks – who was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1972 and moved to Tennessee with his family as a child – was the Chief Operations Officer (COO) and head of product for PayPal from 1999 until 2002. He has been dubbed part of the “Paypal Mafia”, a group of former PayPal employees who went on to have successful tech companies- like Mr Musk. In 2008, he founded Yammer which became one of the fastest-growing software-as-a-service companies to exist. In 2012, Yammer was acquired by Microsft for $1.2 bn. Mr Sacks co-founded the venture capital firm Craft Ventures in 2017, where he remains a partner. He also has the podcast All-In alongside fellow entrepreneurs Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis and David Friedberg. Last year, Mr Sacks was widely reported to be helping out his longtime friend, Mr Musk, behind-the-scenes when his fellow South African-born friend acquired Twitter. What does Mr Sacks believe in? Like Mr Musk, Mr Sacks says he is a proponent of free speech. In a blog post on Medium in 2021, Mr Sacks criticised big tech social media platforms for permanently banning politicians. His belief in free-speech was echoed more recently in an interview with conservative personality Benny Johnson. Mr Sacks accused the media of not allowing anti-vaccine activists and Democratic presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr to speak freely and questioned critics’ justification of saying Mr Kennedy was spreading misinformation. The entrepreneur also expressed support for Tucker Carlson after he was unexpectedly fired from Fox News. Mr Sacks has also been an outspoken critic of US policy towards Ukraine following the Russian invasion that began in February 2022. In a piece for The American Conservative last year, Mr Sacks proposed a peaceful end to the war which included holding referendums on the future of Donbas and Crimea, both of which were illegally occupied by Russian forces in 2014. On Twitter, Mr Sacks is vocal in criticising the US for its involvement in the Ukraine-Russia conflict and has repeatedly clashed with critics of Vladimir Putin, including former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul. In October Mr Musk retweeted an article Mr Sacks wrote for Newsweek in which he argued that continued military support for Ukraine could lead to “Woke War III”. The article itself was a response to the backlash Mr Musk received over a Twitter poll suggesting a peace deal which would strongly favour Russian interests. In his Newsweek article, Mr Sacks wrote: “There will be no peaceful resolution to this conflict that America doesn’t at least have a hand in negotiating, and we should be leading the effort. Instead, we’ve been deferring to the Ukrainians and their maximalist demands, upping the sanctions on Russia as Putin ups his rhetoric against the West.” While he has been criticised for his outspoken views despite lacking a foreign policy background, he has argued that his lack of expertise is actually an advantage: “Not being a member of the MIC [military industrial complex] is clearly an advantage in understanding the conflict.” What political candidates has Mr Sacks supported? Since the 1990s, Mr Sacks has supported both Republican and Democratic candidates according to OpenSecrets. His largest donations have gone toward the PAC supporting GOP Ohio Senator JD Vance, the conservative Purple Good Government PAC, Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom and the Republican National Committee. Over the last two years, Mr Sacks has expressed vocal support for Mr DeSantis on Fox News and Twitter as well as donated to his political campaign. Read More Ron DeSantis to launch 2024 presidential bid on Twitter with Elon Musk Can the chaos from Silicon Valley Bank's fall be contained? Casey DeSantis gives cheeky response to reports husband is launching 2024 campaign The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

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Pristina-born British pop star Rita Ora arrived in Kosovo on Sunday to celebrate her birthday, paying respect to her homeland from where the...

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 13, 2023--