White House, Republicans Reach Deal to Avert US Default
White House and Republican negotiators reached a tentative deal to raise the US debt ceiling and avert a
2023-05-28 09:26
'The Little Mermaid' featuring Halle Bailey is on track for $100M+ weekend and Disney fans are loving it
Halle Bailey’s red hair as Ariel in 'The Little Mermaid' cost a whopping $150,000 to look realistic and natural
2023-05-28 09:23
US debt ceiling: Negotiators agree a deal in principle, McCarthy says
The White House and the Republicans are now said to be ironing out details of a bill to avert a default.
2023-05-28 09:18
Kyiv under new massive Russian drone attack, Vitaliy Klitschko says
Vitaliy Klitschko says one man is killed in Ukraine's capital, and more than 20 drones are shot down.
2023-05-28 08:48
GOP-controlled Texas House impeaches Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, triggering suspension
The Texas House of Representatives has voted to impeach scandal-plagued Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton
2023-05-28 07:54
Texas AG Ken Paxton Impeached by Republican-Led State House
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was impeached in an extraordinary vote by the state’s Republican-dominated House of Representatives,
2023-05-28 07:19
Ken Paxton: Texas House votes to impeach Trump ally
Ken Paxton, Texas' Attorney General, is now suspended from office pending a trial in the state Senate.
2023-05-28 06:57
Biden, McCarthy Speak Saturday Night on Debt Talks
President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are speaking by phone Saturday evening as their negotiators on
2023-05-28 06:47
Erdogan positioned to extend rule in Turkey runoff election
By Ece Toksabay and Daren Butler ANKARA Turks vote on Sunday in a presidential runoff that could see
2023-05-28 06:24
Elon Musk tweets quote by neo-Nazi wrongly attributed to Voltaire
Twitter users on Saturday were quick to point out that a quote shared by CEO Elon Musk had been misattributed to Voltaire – when it had in fact originated with a neo-Nazi. The billionaire tweeted a joke featuring a meme that showed a large hand crushing struggling figures with the accompanying words: “’To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.’ – Voltaire” Underneath that, the meme includes the joking comment: “we need to rise up against children with leukemia.” The very same “Voltaire” quote, however, was the subject of a fact-check piece last year from The Associated Press after Republican Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie shared it in a tweet criticizing Dr Anthony Fauci, also attributing the words to the French philosopher. “Enlightenment-era writer Voltaire did not say this,” AP reported. “The quote, which was paraphrased, comes from a 1993 radio broadcast by Kevin Alfred Strom, who has been identified as a neo-Nazi by organizations that monitor hate groups.” The AP continued: “The original quote from Strom, a self-proclaimed American white nationalist and Holocaust denier, has been used previously online and paraphrased in a variety of ways ... Despite the quote originating more than a hundred years after Voltaire’s death in 1778, it has been repurposed and incorrectly attributed to him dozens of times. In 2019, actor John Cusack tweeted the quote before deleting the post and apologizing.” On Saturday, Musk’s tweet remained for hours without correction or apology as users pointed out the inaccuracy, some with glee and some with scorn. “If only your ability to launch rockets or presidential campaigns was as good as your ability to launch misinformation,” tweeted commentator and author Keith Olbermann. “Voltaire didn’t say that. A neo-Nazi said that. 30 years ago. Good work, Elmo.” Another user, @HistoryUser, shared a Reuters fact-check link and wrote: “This was not said by Voltaire but by Kevin Strom, a neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier. It’s a cool quote and I wish it had been said by a better dude, but it wasn’t, and so people should really stop using it. (And definitely stop saying Voltaire said it!)” The Independent has reached out to Twitter for comment. Read More Elon Musk's brain implant company Neuralink says it has US approval to begin trials in people EU official says Twitter abandons bloc's voluntary pact against disinformation DeSantis signed bill shielding SpaceX and other companies from liability day after Elon Musk 2024 launch Kimberly Guilfoyle threatens DeSantis: ‘You’re going to get hurt, and damaged – badly’ Donald Trump Jr shares doctored Office clip showing Ron DeSantis wearing a woman’s suit
2023-05-28 06:19
Putin ‘planning provocation’ at nuclear plant to disrupt Ukraine counteroffensive, Kyiv says
Russia is plotting a “large-scale provocation” at a nuclear power station it occupies in the south-east of Ukraine to disrupt an imminent counteroffensive, Kyiv’s military intelligence has claimed. A statement from the intelligence directorate of Ukraine’s defence ministry claimed Russian forces will strike the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe. It will then report a radioactive leak in order to trigger an international probe that would pause the hostilities and give them the respite they need to regroup. In order to make that happen, Russia “disrupted the rotation of personnel of the permanent monitoring mission” of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that was scheduled for Saturday, the statement said. It did not offer evidence to back up any of the claims. The IAEA said it did not have any immediate comment on the allegations and Russian officials did not immediately comment on the Ukrainian claims. The White House said it is watching the situation closely and has seen no indication radioactive material has been leaked. It comes as Moscow’s military in Ukraine braces for a looming counteroffensive by Kyiv’s forces, which has not started yet but could begin “tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or in a week”, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, Oleksiy Danilov, told the BBC. He said the government in Kyiv had “no right to make a mistake” on the decision because this is a “historic opportunity” that “we cannot lose”. The Zaporizhzhia station is one of the 10 biggest nuclear plants in the world. It is in the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region in south-eastern Ukraine. The plant’s six reactors have been shut down for months but it still needs power and qualified staff to operate crucial cooling systems and other safety features. Fighting near it repeatedly disrupted power supplies and has fuelled fears of a potential catastrophe like the one at Chernobyl, in northern Ukraine, where a reactor exploded in 1986 and spewed deadly radiation, contaminating a vast area. In other developments on Saturday, Russia reported more attacks on its territory, with drones crashing in its western regions and areas on the border with Ukraine coming under shelling. Two drones attacked an administrative building of an oil company in Russia’s western Pskov region that borders Belarus, Latvia and Estonia, Pskov governor Mikhail Vedernikov reported on Saturday. The building was damaged as the result of an explosion, Mr Vedernikov said. Another drone went down in the Tver region about 90 miles north of Moscow, local authorities said. Russia’s Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine came under multiple rounds of shelling on Saturday, killing one person, according to its governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. In the neighbouring Kursk region, which also borders Ukraine, one person was killed by cross-border mortar fire, its governor Roman Starovoit said. And a 60-year-old man was killed by Russian shelling in the city of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, about 20 miles from the Russian border, Ukraine’s national police said. Meanwhile, Russia’s ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin warned his country was yet to “act very seriously” in the conflict. Mr Kelin told the BBC that Moscow had “enormous resources” and the country was “16 times bigger than Ukraine.” He said: “Sooner or later, of course, this escalation may get a new dimension which we do not need and we do not want. We can make peace tomorrow.” In addition, the British military said on Saturday that Russia’s private military force, Wagner, is withdrawing from areas around the eastern city of Bakhmut that Moscow claims to have captured earlier this month. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin earlier this week announced the pullout, saying Wagner would hand control over the ruined city over to the Russian military. Some were sceptical, however. Mr Prigozhin is known for making unverifiable, headline-grabbing statements on which he later backtracks. But Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a series of tweets on Saturday that Wagner fighters “have likely started to withdraw from some of their positions” around Bakhmut. “The Ukrainian deputy defence minister also corroborated the rotation out of Wagner forces in the outskirts of the town,” it added. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Ukraine-Russia war – latest: Putin ‘plans nuclear radioactive leak to postpone counteroffensive’ Ukraine claims Russia is plotting 'a provocation' at nuclear plant, offers no evidence Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine facade is crumbling – this week proves it The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary
2023-05-28 06:18
Kiner-Falefa's 10th-inning single helps Yankees overcome Tatis HR in 3-2 win over Padres
Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a game-ending single with one out in the 10th inning as the New York Yankees beat the San Diego Padres 3-2
2023-05-28 05:55