Anger as Tucker Carlson drops lengthy interview with sex trafficking suspect Andrew Tate
Tucker Carlson has once again invited criticism for uploading a two-and-a-half-hour long interview with rape and sex trafficking accused Andrew Tate on Twitter. The former Fox News host, who now uploads a new series he calls Tucker on Twitter, sat down with the controversial social media influencer, who was arrested and charged with rape, human trafficking and leading an organised crime group to sexually exploit women in Romania. The extensive interview, Carlson’s first on his new show that is on its ninth episode, has raked in millions of views hours after it was uploaded. Carlson, who previously defended Mr Tate and called his arrest a “human rights violation”, has sparked outrage by giving a platform to the controversial influencer without proper scrutiny or contextualisation. The right-wing TV personality kicked off the interview by asking viewers to “make up your own mind” about Mr Tate, who has defended himself and denied the charges against him. The former kickboxer and social media influencer, who gained notoriety over the years for peddling misogynistic views, was held in police custody from 29 December until 31 March by Romanian authorities before being put on house arrest. His brother Tristan and two of their associates also face charges. Given the widespread allegations against Mr Tate, the decision to host the British-American has drawn criticism from various quarters, ranging from media personalities and journalists and including conservative commentators as well. DailyBeast reporter Justin Baragona weighed in on the interview, calling Mr Tate “an unapologetic pornographer”. “After lamenting about how young men are now withdrawing into porn, Tucker Carlson then proceeds to sympathetically interview an unapologetic pornographer – for two and a half hours!” he said. “Two and a half hours defending & singing the praises of an accused rapist and human trafficker. So brave,” said Joe Walsh, a former 2020 Republican presidential candidate. American conservative talk radio host Erick Ericson said Mr Tate is charged with rape, human trafficking, and forming an organised crime group to sexually exploit women. “Are you an Andrew Tate right winger or a Sound of Freedom right winger. You can’t really be both,” he said. HuffPost correspondent SV Dáte called out Carlson for “glorifying an accused rapist/human trafficker”. “Not going to waste 2.5 hours of my life on these two, can someone tell me if Tucker asked Tate his opinion of Sound of Freedom,” said The Spectator’s editor-at-large Ben Domenech. Elon Musk also tweeted about the interview, calling it “interesting”. The Twitter chief was called out for his tweet supporting the Fox News anchor by Ahmed Baba, an entrepreneur and journalist who is also a columnist for The Independent. “This is why millions of people are leaving Twitter,” he said, calling out Mr Musk for promoting the interview between Carlson, who he said pushed “white supremacist rhetoric”, while calling Mr Tate a “misogynist influencer”. Read More Andrew Tate denies making money from trafficking women as he appears in Romanian court Clip of Tucker Carlson defending Andrew Tate resurfaces after rape and human trafficking arrest Twitter gets bizarre endorsement from Taliban as militants give verdict on rival Threads Peers demand curbs on harmful algorithms introduced to online safety Bill Andrew Tate loses appeal against house arrest in Romania as human trafficking case continues Education minister ‘would not want Andrew Tate to speak on university campuses’
2023-07-12 17:19
India CEO criticised for picking AI bot over human staff
Suumit Shah, founder of an e-commerce website, said that his firm had laid off 90% of its support staff.
2023-07-12 13:27
Las Vegas SWAT team captures man who held hostage in Caesars Palace hotel room after tense standoff
Las Vegas police have arrested a man who was barricaded inside a Caesars Palace hotel room with a female hostage, ending a standoff that spanned most of the day. “SWAT made entry into the hotel room and has taken the subject into custody,” the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said on Tuesday in a statement on Twitter. “The female who was also in the room is safe and with officers.” Earlier in the day, the man, who claimed he was armed, “forcibly” dragged the woman into his room, according to the LVMPD. The assailant was seen throwing large pieces of room furniture out of a broken window in his 21st-floor room. Police have not announced the identity of those involved in the standoff, or said whether any guns were found at the scene. This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.
2023-07-12 07:26
GOP cries foul over spy charges for Biden ‘whistleblower’
Four days after he claimed a “very credible witness” had emerged to provide the Justice Department with derogatory information about President Joe Biden and his family, House Oversight Committee chair James Comer questioned the timing of charges that the alleged whistleblower was actually spying for the Chinese government and attempting to broker illegal arms sales to Libya. The alleged unregistered foreign agent, Gal Luft, was arrested in February by authorities in Cyprus on arms trafficking charges, but he subsequently disappeared after jumping bail. Mr Luft, who is a citizen of both the United States and Israel, is accused of paying a former adviser to Donald Trump on behalf of principals in China in 2016 without registering as a foreign agent. Prosecutors say that Mr Luft pushed the former government employee, who is not named, to push policies that were favourable to China, and further accuse him of having set up meetings between officials of Iran and a Chinese energy company to discuss oil deals, which would violate US sanctions. Mr Comer, who appeared on Fox News late Monday, insinuated that the charges against the think tank founder were meant to silence him when asked about the timing by host Laura Ingraham. “The timing is always coincidental, according to the Democrats at the Department of Justice,” he said. The Kentucky Republican claimed that Mr Luft was being paid by the same company which entered into a failed business venture with Mr Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and suggested that the speed at which the department moved against Mr Luft is suspicious. “So there are a lot of questions here and it's just amazing. The Department of Justice moves so quickly against some people,” he said, adding that it is ironic that Mr Luft is charged with being an unregistered foreign agent — the same allegation Republicans have levelled against Hunter Biden. The indictment announced on Monday also alleges that Mr Luft “conspired with others and attempted to broker illicit arms transactions with, among others, certain Chinese individuals and entities” by working as a middleman to find both buyers and sellers for “certain weapons and other materials” in violation of the US Arms Control Act. Specifically, prosecutors say he attempted to broker a sale of anti-tank weapons, grenade launchers and mortar rounds to Libya by Chinese companies, and also pushed to arrange for the United Arab Emirates to purchase bombs and rockets, and for Kenya to acquire unmanned aerial vehicles capable of striking targets on the ground. They further alleged that Mr Luft lied to FBI agents during an interview in 2019, when he claims to have provided the bureau with derogatory information on the Biden family. Asked whether the charges that Mr Luft made false statements to FBI agents in any way impacts his credibility as an alleged whistleblower against the president or his son, Mr Comer replied: “Did he lie to the FBI? I don’t know!” He also accused FBI leadership of lying to him “three times this year”. “I have no confidence in the FBI,” he said, adding that his lack of confidence in the country’s premier law enforcement agency was “sad”. One of his Republican colleagues on the House Oversight Committee, South Carolina Nancy Mace, also downplayed the charges in a TV appearance in which she accused the Biden administration of using the prosecution to stop Mr Luft from speaking out. Speaking on Fox Business Network on Tuesday, Ms Mace said Mr Luft “deserves to testify before the Oversight Committee” and accused the department of trying to keep him from doing so. “No one should be surprised here. I don’t trust the DOJ or the FBI, they are trying to silence our witness and this is a way to do that,” she said. She added that it is “obscene” that the government is not charging Hunter Biden with the same crimes despite the fact that Mr Biden has never attempted to broker arms sales or violate US sanctions on Iran. Read More ‘Whistleblower’ who accused Bidens of corruption is charged with arms trafficking and violating Iran sanctions Marjorie Taylor Greene introduces amendment directing Biden to withdraw from Nato Joint Chiefs nominee wins over lawmakers but faces uncertain fate because of senator's hold Biden blames busy schedule for skipping Nato leadership dinner
2023-07-12 07:18
Convicted Colorado pipe bomber will get new trial 30 years later
A convicted Colorado pipe bomber will receive a fresh trial after spending 30 years behind bars for a string of attacks that killed two people. James Genrich, 60, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the bombings which killed Maria Delores Gonzales, 12, and 43-year-old Henry Ruble in Grand Junction in 1991. Genrich was found guilty in 1993 of three counts of use of an explosive or incendiary device to commit a felony, one count of third-degree assault and two counts of first-degree murder -extreme indifference. He was convicted after a prosecution expert – Agent John O’Neil of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – told the jury that marks on the bombs must have been made by the suspect’s tools, ruling out the possibility of any other tools being responsible. Now Judge Richard Gurley of the 21st Judicial District has ruled that advances in forensics and science mean that the expert’s testimony was flawed, reported The Denver Post. In a 30-page order, the judge ruled that the expert could not accurately say that no other tools could have made the marks on the bomb. The judge ruled that the testimony violated Genrich’s constitutional due process and right to a fair trial. “The court finds that the conclusion that the defendant’s tools caused the cuts to the wires from the bombs to the exclusion of every other tool was a crucial piece of evidence in the defendant’s case and without it, the people’s case would have been almost entirely circumstantial,” the judge wrote. Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein says that his office stands by the tool evidence and plans to appeal the ruling. “There was a lot of other evidence in the case other than that, and that’s part of my disagreement with the decision,” he said. “The evidence in the case was very strong and went well beyond the tool-mark evidence.” Genrich was represented in his appeal by the Innocence Project, a non-profit dedicated to overturning convictions of wrongly convicted prisoners. “Mr Genrich is very pleased that the court granted his request for a new trial,” said Tania Brief, a senior staff attorney on his legal team. The judge set a hearing in the case for 28 July and stated that he intends to formally vacate the conviction for first-degree murder at that time. The pipe bombings started in Mesa County in 1989, with an undetonated device found outside a hotel in April of that year. Three bombs would detonate in 1991, killing the two victims and injuring others. Genrich’s home was raided after investigators received a tip, and they found pliers, fuses, a circuit board and a multi-tool. The jury was also told that Genrich lived within walking distance of two of the three bombing locations, and had been seen in the area. Prosecutors also said that he had threatened to kill in the past and had expressed frustration with women. Genrich is currently being held at the state’s Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility in Crowley County. Read More Colorado lawmakers sue colleagues over closed-door meetings Could a ‘fake’ same-sex couple force the Supreme Court to revisit a case targeting LGBT+ rights? Automaker Stellantis signs deal company seeking to mine in Nebraska for rare earths needed in EVs
2023-07-12 06:47
Armed man barricades himself in room at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas as SWAT teams descend
A man who says he is armed has barricaded himself in a room at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, police say, where the individual is holding a female hostage. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said they received a complaint of a domestic disturbance at around 9.15am on Tuesday. When they arrived at the hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, the man refused to come out and told officers he was armed, police said. Vegas police said the man pulled a woman into his room “by force” and that she remains inside. “She is still in the room at this time,” a police spokesman said on Tuesday morning during a press update. “The female has been heard from and is still OK.” The officer added that no shots have been fired and no weapons have been seen. SWAT teams and crisis negotiators have been sent to the hotel on the 3500 block of South Las Vegas Boulevard. Police asked residents to avoid the area and watch out for emergency personnel. “We are actively trying to resolve this situation,” the LVPD said in a tweet. North Carolina real estate broker Alyssa Hellman told The Independent she was at the Caesars Palace pool with her wife when she heard a loud bang at about 1.30pm. She said she looked up to see that a window had been broken on about the 10th floor, and a man inside started throwing furniture out onto the concourse. “We heard a bang and then one of the windows was broken open, and the guy was throwing things out. Lamps, a TV and a minibar. He’s drawn the curtains now,” Ms Hellman said. Ms Hellman said guests were evacuated from the pool area, but staff did not explain what was going on. The couple had retreated to a safe distance and said everyone around them seemed “pretty calm and content”. “We’re tucked back hidden away, closer to the Bellagio,” she said. A video posted to Twitter showed security guards duck for cover as a television fell to the ground behind them. One guest told 8NewsNow that she had been swimming in the pool when a security guard ordered everybody out. The witness said she saw chairs being thrown from a window, which appeared to be completely smashed out. Caesars Entertainment said in a statement: “We are aware of the security incident at Caesars Palace. Our team is cooperating fully with law enforcement officers on scene who are handling the investigation.” Read More Caesars Palace standoff news - live: SWAT teams respond to ‘armed’ man barricaded in Las Vegas hotel room Las Vegas police officer set to go on trial over $165k stolen in 3 casino heists Oklahoma county sheriff and three other officials allegedly caught on tape talking about killing journalists Ex-student sentenced to 16-plus years in prison for 2022 attack on Las Vegas high school teacher
2023-07-12 05:27
Is Bollywood a man’s world?
Researchers try to quantify just how severe the stranglehold of patriarchy on Hindi cinema is.
2023-07-12 05:19
Caesars Palace - live: SWAT standoff with ‘armed hostage-taker’ throwing items from Las Vegas hotel window
A man has barricaded himself inside the famous Caesars Palace hotel and casino in Las Vegas on Tuesday morning, claiming he is armed. Vegas police said the man pulled a woman into his room “by force” and that she remains inside. “She is still in the room at this time,” a police spokesman said on Tuesday during a press update. “The female has been heard from and is still OK.” The officer added that no shots have been fired and no weapons have been seen. SWAT teams and crisis negotiators are on site. A bystander told The Independent a broken window could be seen on the outside of the building, and someone inside was throwing objects out. Read More Armed man barricades himself in room at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas as SWAT teams descend
2023-07-12 04:59
Fox News host says she’s ‘turned on’ by Biden’s alleged bad temper
A Fox News host has claimed that she was “turned on” by reports of Joe Biden’s alleged bad temper and foul mouth. Lisa Kennedy said that she had enjoyed an Axios report that current and former aides were reluctant to meet with the president because of his volatile moods. “Swearing at people, it’s a quirk,” Kennedy said on Monday’s Outnumbered show on the right-wing network. “It kind of turned me on when I heard that the president gets angry and volatile, I’m not gonna lie.” Her stance amused her four co-hosts on the show, which led her to clarify her feelings for the Democratic president. “I’m disappointed by just about every single thing he’s done as president,” she insisted. Mr Biden’s former aides told Axios that they often brought a colleague to meetings to try and blunt the president’s temper. “God dammit, how the f*** don’t you know this?!” He was quoted as yelling on at least one occasion. Another Biden aide said that he also shouted “Don’t f***ing bulls*** me,” at one point and threw another staffer out of a meeting by saying, “Get the f**k out of here.” “There’s no question that the Biden temper is for real. It may not be as volcanic as Bill Clinton’s, but it’s definitely there,” Chris Whipple, author of The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White House, told Axios. Read More Biden privately loses his temper and yells at staffers, report claims Biden blames busy schedule for skipping Nato leadership dinner Why are we so obsessed with world leaders’ heights?
2023-07-12 03:18
White neighbour who fatally shot Black mother in row over children playing pleads not guilty to manslaughter
Susan Lorincz, the white woman accused of fatally shooting her Black neighbour, Ajike “AJ” Owens through the front door of her house, pled not guilty to a manslaughter charge on Tuesday. Last month Ms Lorincz, 58, was charged with manslaughter and assault in Marion County, Florida after shooting Ms Owens, 35, through her front door when Ms Owens knocked on Ms Lorincz’s door. Ms Owens, a mother to four, was trying to confront Ms Lorincz for allegedly calling her children racial slurs, taking their iPad and then throwing skates at her son when Ms Lorincz fired her gun. Authorities said Ms Lorincz and Ms Owens had a longstanding feud regarding Ms Owen’s children playing in an area next to Ms Lorincz’s home. On 2 June, Ms Owens went over to Ms Lorincz’s home to speak with her about the incident involving skate-throwing. Ms Lorincz then fired a bullet from within her home which went through the locked door and struck Ms Owens. The shooting occurred in front of her nine-year-old child. First responders’ attempted to keep Ms Owens alive and rushed her to a nearby hospital, but she did not survive her injuries. More follows Read More A Black mother confronted a neighbour for scolding her son. Then she was shot dead Body camera footage sheds new light on ‘racist’ who shot Black mother of four White woman charged after shooting through her door and killing Black mother in front of her son
2023-07-11 23:54
U.S. prosecutors probe ex-FTX executive Salame for campaign finance violations -WSJ
NEW YORK Former FTX cryptocurrency exchange executive Ryan Salame is under investigation by federal prosecutors for possible violations
2023-07-11 22:53
Who is Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who could take down Trump
Her first day as the chief prosecutor for Fulton County came with news that then-President Donald Trump attempted to pressure Georgia’s top election officials to reverse his loss in the state during the 2020 presidential election. A phone call between Mr Trump and Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger was published by The Washington Post late at night on 3 January, 2021. Hours later, Fani Willis would walk into her first day on the job as Fulton County’s district attorney, an office that is now spearheading a criminal investigation into Mr Trump, with the phone call serving as a central damning piece of evidence against him. For more than two years, her office has been investigating efforts to overturn election results in the state and the baseless allegations of widespread election fraud that fuelled them, adding to a A grand jury seated on 11 July is expected to consider charges against the former president and his allies. She has previously indicated that any potential indictments could follow in August. The closely watched case against the former president could result in racketeering charges similar to those that Ms Willis has made a career out of bringing against dozens of others. An anti-racketeering RICO statute – typically used to prosecute members of the Mafia and break up organised crime – has been used by her office in indictments against more than two dozen people connected to a sprawling Atlanta hip-hop empire, 38 alleged gang members, and 25 educators accused of cheating Atlanta’s public school system. Such charges could also await Mr Trump, leaving Ms Willis in an unprecedented position of deciding whether to charge a former president – who is once again running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 – for a criminal offence. “It doesn’t matter if you’re rich, poor, Black, white, Democrat or Republican,” Ms Willis told CNN last year. “If you violated the law, you’re going to be charged.” ‘Get out of my county’ Ms Willis graduated from Howard University in 1992 and Emory University School of Law in 1996. She began her career in the Fulton County District Attorney’s office in 2001, with roles in nearly every division in the agency, and serving as lead prosecutor in more than 100 jury trials. She is the first Black woman elected to lead the count’s district attorney’s office. Last year, her office charged rappers Young Thug and Gunna and 26 others in a sprawling, 65-count RICO case following an 88-page grand-jury indictment characterising their YSL group as a “criminal street gang” behind 182 instances of gang activity and criminal conspiracies. Her office also led RICO indictments against 12 alleged members of the Bloods gang, including the rapper YFN Lucci, and 26 alleged members of the Drug Rich gang, connected to a gang string of robberies and home invasions across Atlanta. “I have some legal advice: Don’t confess to crimes on rap lyrics if you do not want them used,” she told reporters at a press conference last year. “Or at least get out of my county.” In a controversial case from 2014, she served as the lead prosecutor in a RICO case involving 35 Atlanta public school educators tied to an infamous cheating scandal, ultimately resulting in racketeering convictions against 11 of 12 people accused of manipulating students’ standardised test scores. As the county’s chief prosecutor, she has expanded her office’s gang unit and lobbied for passage of a statewide measure that would impose mandatory minimum sentences for repeat offenders and increase the power of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in an effort to crack down on gang violence. Following RICO charges against alleged members of the Drug Rich gang, accused of a series of high-profile robberies and shootings involving Atlanta’s wealthy, Ms Willis told reporters: “If you thought Fulton was a good county to bring your crime to, to bring your violence to, you are wrong and you are going to suffer consequences.” ‘Imminent’ charges Over the last two years, the Fulton County district attorney’s office has helmed a criminal probe into whether Mr Trump and his allies illegally interfered with the 2020 election in the state, which several recounts have confirmed President Joe Biden won definitively against Mr Trump. In January 2022, Ms Willis convened a special grand jury, a 26-member panel given subpoena power and investigative authority to interview witnesses and ultimately deliver a report, as per state law, that includes charging recommendations. The grand jury does not have authority to issue an indictment. It will ultimately be up to Ms Willis to determine whether to charge Mr Trump and others connected to her case. Her office sent letters to people connected to the so-called “alternate electors” scheme, including Georgia lawmakers and the chair of the Georgia Republican Party, and more than a dozen others who signed “unofficial electoral certificates” to subvert the Electoral College process and pledge the state’s votes for Mr Trump, who lost in Georgia. Central to the investigation is Mr Trump’s call on 2 January, 2021, which he made days before a joint session of Congress convened to certify Mr Biden’s victory, while those faithful to Mr Trump made last-ditch efforts to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject the election’s outcome, or stormed the US Capitol in an antidemocratic show of force that has led to hundreds of federal prosecutions, including more than a dozen on treason-related charges. A list of grand jury witnesses included former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, US Senator Lindsey Graham and former Senator Kelly Loeffler, and five members of Mr Trump’s legal team, including Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis and “fake elector” architect John Eastman, among several others. The grand jury investigation also looked into a phone call on 13 November, 2020 from Senator Graham to Mr Raffensberger, as well as Mr Trump’s own remarks to a rally crowd months after he left the White House in which he appeared to publicly brag that he had asked Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp to “help us out” and re-do the election. In all, the special grand jury heard from roughly 75 witnesses before dissolving in January. As a judge heard arguments on 24 January whether to publicly release the grand jury’s report, Ms Willis said that a decision from her office on whether to bring criminal charges was “imminent”. In a series of Truth Social posts during the hearing, Mr Trump continued to lie about the results of the 2020 election, defended his “perfect” phone call to Georgia officials, and baselessly alleged widespread vote manipulation. Judge Robert McBurney granted a partial release of the special grand jury’s report, which includes its introduction and conclusion and a section in which jury members expressed concerns that some witnesses may have lied under oath. The recommendations to Ms Willis include “a roster of who should (or should not) be indicted, and for what, in relation to the conduct (and aftermath) of the 2020 general election in Georgia.” A partially released report shows that the jury unanimously agreed that “no widespread fraud took place” in Georgia’s election following interviews with election officials, analysis and poll workers. It also includes a recommendation to the Ms Willis’s office to seek indictments for “one or more” witnesses who likely committed perjury, and it will ultimately be up to her office to “seek indictments where she finds sufficient cause”. The publicly released filing does not include witness names, names of people recommended for indictments, or other reccomended charges. Asked on 13 Febrary how she feels about the judge’s decision to publicly release parts of the document, Ms Willis smiled and told reporters: “I’m pleased with it.” This story was first published on 15 February and has been updated with developments Read More ‘I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break’: The Georgia phone call that could bring down Donald Trump The 20 major lawsuits and investigations Trump is facing now that he’s left office Why Donald Trump’s phone call seeking to overturn Georgia election results was so damaging
2023-07-11 21:57