'Mona Montrage was a member of a criminal conspiracy that specifically targeted older Americans through romance scams'

A Russian pilot fired two missiles towards an RAF surveillance plane after mistakenly believing he had permission to fire. Following the incident last September, Russia claimed it had been caused by a “technical malfunction” with the UK’s Ministry of Defence publicly accepting their explanation. However, intercepted communications reveal that one of the Russian pilots believed he had been given permission to target the aircraft following an ambiguous command from a Russian ground station. The two Russian SU-27 fighter jets had encountered the RAF plane, which was carrying a crew of up to 30 people, as it was flying a surveillance mission over the Black Sea in international airspace on 29 September. Three Western defence sources with knowledge of the incident have told the BBC that the two Russian pilots received words to the effect of “you have the target”. This prompted one of the pilots to release an air-to-air missile, which successfully launched but failed to strike its target. A row then broke out between the two Russian pilots, as the second did not believe they had been given permission to fire. However, a second missile was released but simply fell from the wing - suggesting the launch was aborted or the weapon malfunctioned. As the Rivet Joint is loaded with sensors to intercept communications, the RAF crew would have been able to listen in to the incident which could have resulted in their own deaths. After the Russian Ministry of Defence called it a “technical malfunction”, the UK government confirmed the incident had taken place. In a statement to MPs on 20 October, the former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace described it as a “potentially dangerous engagement”. However, he added: "We do not consider this incident to constitute a deliberate escalation on the part of the Russians, and our analysis concurs that it was due to a malfunction." An intelligence leak, published online by US airman Jack Teixera, revealed that the US miliary spoke of the incident as a “near shoot-down”. “The incident was far more serious than originally portrayed and could have amounted to an act of war,” the New York Times reported. The MoD has now told the BBC that “this incident is a stark reminder of the potential consequences of Putin’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine.” Read More South Korea expresses 'concern and regret' over military cooperation talks between Kim and Putin What is a Storm Shadow cruise missile? Weapons, spy satellites and nuclear ambitions: what we learned from Putin’s summit with Kim Jong-un in Russia The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

Aaron Boone has been getting into some heated arguments in 2023 with umpires, but one ump figured out how to make him completely silent.

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Taylor Swift has released her long-awaited re-recording of her 2014 hit album '1989.' The new release is Swift's fourth re-recorded album, following on from 'Fearless (Taylor's Version),' 'Red (Taylor's Version), and 'Speak Now (Taylor's Version). Swift's purpose in re-recording her back catalogue is so that she can own the copyright to all of the new recordings. This '1989' era marked a swift shift in music genre from country to pop for the singer, a risk that ultimately paid off as '1989' propelled Swift further into mainstream stardom and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2015. From the feel-good 'Shake It Off' to the anthemic tracks of 'Blank Space,' 'Out of the Woods' and 'Style' to the heartful and cathartic notes of 'This Love' and 'Clean,' Swift explores every avenue of pop. A journey that continues with the five 'From the Vault' tracks with 'Slut!', 'Say Don't Go,' 'Now That We Don't Talk,' 'Suburban Legends,' and 'Is It Over Now?' Now, indy100 is here to listen to '1989 (Taylor's Version) along with you, with commentary on every song as well as fun facts about the album. Welcome to New York October 27, 14:12 Taylor Swift performs at New Year's Eve 2015 at Times Square on December 31, 2014 in New York City. The opening track 'Welcome To New York' gave listeners a glimpse into Swift’s new pop sound with the electronic pop synths kicking things off. Not only does it reflect a change in music genre but also Swift’s literal move from Nashville to New York almost a decade ago as she shared how she fell in love with the city. "I approached moving there with such wide-eyed optimism and sort of saw it [New York] as a place of endless potential and possibilities,” Swift told Good Morning America about the song at the time. “You can kind of hear that reflected in this music and this first song especially." While the lyrics “And you can want who you want/ Boys and boys and girls and girls,” have been interpreted as Swift supporting the LGBT+ community, before she was vocal about her political views. The re-recorded version stays true to the original track with little tweaks to the production as Swift sings with a mature voice.

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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is hosting his fellow South American leaders Tuesday for a "retreat" aimed at strengthening ties in a region where left-wing...

The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money case has said that he may delay the trial because of the former president’s packed court schedule. The trial is currently scheduled for early 2024, but New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan cancelled a hearing set for this week and wrote in a short letter to Trump lawyer Todd Blanche that “In light of the many recent developments involving Mr. Trump and his rapidly evolving trial schedule, I do not believe it would be fruitful for us to conference this case on September 15 to discuss scheduling”. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington DC has scheduled Mr Trump’s case connected to the January 6, 2021 insurrection for 4 March 2024 – the day before Mr Trump is believed to be set to take a strong grip on the Republican presidential nomination on Super Tuesday. The 4 March date is also just weeks before the original schedule for the hush money trial. Previously this summer, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg suggested in a radio interview that he was open to making space for federal prosecutors in his own trial schedule. The office of Mr Bragg was the first to charge Mr Trump – with 34 counts of falsifying business records linked to the hush money payments to adult actor Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election. The judge has said that the prosecutors and defence team may discuss any alterations to the trial schedule on 15 February 2024, when they’re set to meet for the judge’s ruling on Mr Trump’s possible pre-trial motions, according to The Messenger. “We will have a much better sense at that time whether there are any actual conflicts and if so, what the best adjourn date might be for trial,” Justice Merchan wrote. Read More US election 2024 polls: Biden and Trump tied across most polling raises alarms for Democrats Trump lashes out at Biden over prisoner swap deal with Iran after demanding Jan 6 judge recuse herself - live Trump accuses Biden of taking ‘kickback’ in $6bn Iran deal