Max Verstappen equalled Alain Prost’s tally of 51 victories with an emphatic triumph at the Mexican Grand Prix – as Sergio Perez’s home race came to a sorry end after just 14 seconds. Verstappen’s remarkable winning sequence, which now includes a record 16 in one season, continued in the breathless Mexico City air following two pulsating starts after Kevin Magnussen’s high-speed crash resulted in a reg flag at the midway stage of Sunday’s 71-lap race. Verstappen mastered both getaways to draw alongside four-time world champion Prost, with only Lewis Hamilton (103 wins), Michael Schumacher (91) and Sebastian Vettel (53) ahead of the all-conquering Dutchman in Formula One folklore. Hamilton impressed to finish runner-up, ahead of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Lando Norris drove from 17th to fifth, passing George Russell with four laps remaining on a strong afternoon for the Brit, in an event that Perez will want to forget. As Verstappen sliced through the middle of pole-sitter Leclerc, and his Ferrari team-mate Sainz on the 830 metre charge to the opening bend, 130,000 Mexican hearts sank when an over-eager Perez crashed into Leclerc. Perez, who started fifth, ran line astern with Leclerc and Verstappen as the trio stamped on the brakes from 200mph for the opening bend – and Perez, occupying the racing line, sensed his opportunity for glory. But his banzai move was badly misjudged. The 33-year-old turned into Leclerc, and was sent airborne before landing back on four wheels and spinning into the run-off area. Perez limped back to the pits but the damage sustained to his machine left his race in tatters. Perez banged his steering wheel with both hands in frustration. Children were left seeking comfort from their parents in the grandstands. Perez’s Red Bull mechanics attempted a quick fix to get their man back on track. But after a handful of laps they conceded defeat. Perez departed his Red Bull cockpit to watch team-mate Verstappen gallop to victory. Question marks hang over Perez’s future at Red Bull. He has one year to run on his deal, but the paddock is awash with rumours that he could be replaced next year. Daniel Ricciardo is mooted as a possible candidate, and Perez’s first-corner disaster – coupled with the Australian out-performing his modest AlphaTauri machinery to take the chequered flag in seventh in just his fourth comeback race, will do little to dampen the speculation. Perez last won a race in Azerbaijan on April 30, and his failure to finish at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez leaves his second place in the championship under threat from Hamilton. Indeed, the seven-time world champion reduced the gap from 39 points to 20 with his strong display. For Verstappen, this was his 32nd victory – remarkably the same tally double world champion Fernando Alonso has managed throughout his entire career – from his last 41 appearances, dating back to his controversial triumph over Hamilton in Abu Dhabi in 2021. Hamilton, who has not won a race during that period, crossed the line a close second to Verstappen in America a week ago before he was disqualified for running his Mercedes too close to the floor. He started sixth here, swiftly promoted one position after Perez’s crash. On lap 11 he blasted past Ricciardo for fourth. Verstappen gave up his lead on lap 19 after he stopped for new rubber, with Hamilton in five laps later. Then on lap 34, the race was suspended. Magnussen lost control of his Haas at 130mph through Turn 8. The Dane ended up in the wall following a suspected rear suspension failure. He swiftly emerged from his cockpit before his mangled machine caught fire. The safety car was deployed but with significant damage to the tyre barrier, repairs were required, and the race was halted, leading to a 22-minute delay. “That’s a joke,” complained Verstappen. “A red flag for what?” The drivers lined up on the grid for the second standing start of the afternoon with Hamilton the sole man in the top five on the quicker, medium rubber. But it was Verstappen who produced another scintillating getaway to leave the others trailing in his wake. He set about building his gap, with Hamilton intent on taking Leclerc for second, and on lap 40, he did just that following a bold and gutsy move. On the fastest straight of the year, Hamilton jinked to Leclerc’s right, dropping two tyres on to the turf and kicking up dirt at 225mph, before holding his nerve under braking for the first corner to make the move stick. The British driver nursed his tyres to finish runner-up to Verstappen, 13.8 sec back. Prost was 38 when he claimed his 51st and final win 30 years ago. Verstappen turned 26 only last month, with Vettel’s 53 triumphs now on his radar before the close of the year with races in Brazil and Las Vegas to follow ahead of the final round in Abu Dhabi on November 26. Read More Charles Leclerc secures pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix Charles Leclerc leads Ferrari front row at Mexican Grand Prix Essex boy with Italian twang – History-maker Ollie Bearman impresses in Mexico Max Verstappen sets fastest time in Mexican Grand Prix practice Max Verstappen urges fans to show him respect ahead of feisty Mexican Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton claims many more cars were illegal at United States Grand Prix

Erik Karlsson scored twice, Evgeni Malkin also scored and Tristan Jarry recorded a shutout in his return from injury, as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-0 on Saturday

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Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, revealed its latest AI product containing quite a few familiar faces, but people are unimpressed. On Wednesday at Meta's Connect conference, Zuckerberg unveiled Meta's new AI assistant at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California. The digital assistant has drawn comparisons to ChatGPT, where the program generates in-depth and detailed answers to text queries. What makes it different from other AI assistants, however, is that the assistants have faces of celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Kendall Jenner, and Mr. Beast. The various celebrities partnered with Meta to introduce its "cast of characters". For example, Billie - portrayed by Kendall Jenner - is described as your "No-BS, ride-or-die companion". Roy Choi, a Korean-American chef, plays Max, a "seasoned sous chef for culinary tips and tricks". Each character has also been given their own profile on Instagram and Facebook. Zuckerberg posted the announcement in a video to his Instagram and Facebook profiles, involving him and his family displaying their poor acting skills, as well as Kendall Jenner, Tom Brady, Charli D'Amelio, Snoop Dogg, and Dwayne Wade as their AI assistant characters. But whilst Zuckerberg seemed impressed with the new product, most viewers did not share the same sentiments. Host of Corporate Gossip podcast Becca Platsky posted her reaction to the announcement video, calling it the "cringiest AI of all time". "There's something this product gets so wrong about the way people interact with influencers," Platsky says. "And one thing is influencer snark. That drives a lot of engagement to real life influencers, but nobody's gonna snark on a robot!" She also said, "I'm also not sure how many people are going to want to give Kendall Jenner more money for doing less work." Comments under Platsky's TikTok overwhelmingly agreed. Some called it "embarrassing" whilst another user said it felt "like an SNL skit." "I feel like they think we care about celebrities more than we actually do," commented another user. The criticism didn't stop there though, with many commenting under Zuckerberg's announcement letting him now their thoughts. One user called it "depressing" and said "adding more AI to talk to on [an] everyday basis, this is just loneliness amplified." Another gave Zuckerberg the advice to "fire everyone in your staff that failed to tell you how monumentally stupid this video is." Adding, "who the hell needs to chat to AI friends that look like celebrities?" Sign up to 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.

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Justice Department investigators have interviewed Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson as part of their investigation into Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Ms Benson’s meeting with prosecutors working for special counsel Jack Smith took place last month and lasted for “several hours”, a source told CNN. Michigan was one of the crucial battleground states targetted by the former president and his allies as he tried to overturn Joe Biden’s legal victory, which is now the subject of a DoJ probe. Her interview with Mr Smith’s team took place after her office was subpoenaed and provided a tranche of documents to the special prosecutor that included communications between the state’s election officials and Mr Trump’s former lawyers and members of his campaign. In one email a Michigan election official reported receiving a voicemail from a person claiming to be a lawyer working for Rudy Giuliani, who was then Mr Trump’s personal attorney. “While the City Clerk of Rochester Hills, Michigan, I received voicemails in December 2020 specifically requesting access to the election equipment,” the email read, reported CNN. The official also included an audio file of a call that came in from a “lawyer with Rudy Giuliani’s team,” according to the news network. In January, to mark the second anniversary of the January 6 insurrection, Ms Benson was among 12 people to receive the Presidential Citizens Medal from Joe Biden. The president said that the medals how “courage and selflessness” around the events of the riot at the US Capitol, which were intended to prevent the certification of Mr Biden’s election victory. “This extraordinary recognition gives me hope that we will emerge out of this time with a democracy that is stronger, healthier, and more robust than ever before. That is what I fight for, have hope for, and what I have confidence that all of us working together can achieve,” Ms Benson said in a statement at the time. Read More A former Trump supporter who got caught up in a January 6 conspiracy theory sues Fox News Trump slams DOJ for scrapping E Jean Carroll suit immunity as DeSantis balks at being his VP - latest Capitol riot suspect arrested near Obama’s home will remain in jail until trial

Shane Jenkins' actions during the siege, including hurling makeshift weapons at police officers, were considered both violent and destructive

By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON Former U.S. President Donald Trump has become the most high-profile person to ever