"I woke up a bit sad and it really hit me" Frankie Dettori told AFP hours away from his final ever rides in France, signing off in their flagship meeting featuring European racing's most prestigious...

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sánchez are pledging $100 million dollars to recovery efforts in Maui, Sánchez announced Friday on her Instagram account.

Elon Musk’s X is planning to charge users in New Zealand and the Philippines joining via the platform’s web application $1 per year as part of its programme to reduce bot activity. The subscription is part of X’s “Not A Bot” programme, which attempts to “bolster our already significant efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity”, the company noted in a help centre post on its website on Tuesday. As part of the pilot programme, new users signing up via the website in the two countries will also be required to verify their account with a phone number, the unsigned post said. It remained unclear why the subscription programme is being rolled out only in these two countries, and exclusively for new users joining via the X website, and not the mobile app. However, Not a Bot’s terms and conditions suggested that people may also subscribe to the programme from X’s iOS and Android apps, while the main help centre post only specified web. X did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment. “As of October 17th, 2023 we’ve started testing “Not A Bot”, a new subscription method for new users in two countries,” the company posted. “This will evaluate a potentially powerful measure to help us combat bots and spammers on X, while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount. Within this test, existing users are not affected,” it said. New users from the two countries who opt to subscribe with $1 will for the web version of the platform will be able to post content, like posts, reply, repost and quote other accounts’ posts, as well as bookmark posts, X noted. However, those who opt out of this subscription in the web application “will only be able to take ‘read only’ actions, such as: Read posts, Watch videos, and Follow accounts,” the company stated. “This new programme aims to defend against bots and spammers who attempt to manipulate the platform and disrupt the experience of other X users. We look forward to sharing more about the results soon,” it added. The latest programme is also in addition of X’s premium $8 subscription option. Commenting on a post on X about the new programme, Mr Musk called it “the only way to fight bots without blocking real users.” “Correct, read for free, but $1/year to write. This won’t stop bots completely, but it will be 1000X harder to manipulate the platform,” the multibillionaire said. X’s latest decision is in line with the Tesla titan’s aim to curb bot activity on the platform since before his takeover of then-Twitter in November last year. He has also held from the beginning that charging users would curb bot activity on the social media platform even though it has been found that only a small fraction of users subscribe to its $8 premium service. But the multibillionaire has continued to hold that a subscription fee would make it harder for bots to create accounts since each bot would need a new credit card to register on the platform. “It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots,” Mr Musk said last month. “Because a bot costs a fraction of a penny – call it a tenth of a penny – but even if it has to pay a few dollars or something, the effective cost of bots is very high,” he added. Read More EU to investigate X’s handling of disinformation over Hamas attack on Israel EU asks Elon Musk to ‘walk the talk’ on X/Twitter disinformation over Hamas attack How Elon Musk’s Twitter became a haven for fake news and misinformation Viral hate and misinformation amid Israel-Hamas crisis renew fears of real-world violence Instagram Threads adds edit button and voice notes as it attempts to take over from Twitter EU opens investigation into X’s handling of disinformation over Hamas attack on Israel

Western-backed maritime forces in the Middle East have warned shippers traveling through the strategic Strait of Hormuz to stay as far away from Iranian territorial waters as possible to avoid being seized

The full scope of Hurricane Idalia's destruction is still coming into focus, but experts say one thing is clear: It could have been more like the damage wrought by Hurricane Ian had it hit anywhere else on the Florida coast.

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag does not see Saudi Arabia’s eye-catching spending as a problem for the Premier League as England remains the go-to place for top players. The football landscape has been disrupted by the ambitious Saudi Pro League since world star Cristiano Ronaldo’s winter move to Al Nassr made ripples. The Saudi splurge shows no signs of abating, with Al Hilal making a world-record £259million bid for Paris St Germain star Kylian Mbappe. ... I don't see it in this moment as a problem for the Premier League because the Premier League is the league where the big players want to play Erik ten Hag Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said Saudi Arabia has changed the market after Riyad Mahrez joined Al Ahli, but United boss Ten Hag does not see it as a problem for the Premier League. “I think in Europe it has an effect because there is some money over there and it will attract players,” the Dutchman told the PA news agency. “But I don’t see it in this moment as a problem for the Premier League because the Premier League is the league where the big players want to play. “That is not in competition with a league like America or Saudi Arabia.” Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante completed moves to Al Ittihad, with Roberto Firmino, Edouard Mendy and Mahrez switching to Al Ahli this summer. Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has joined Steven Gerrard’s Al Ettifaq, with Ruben Neves and Kalidou Koulibaly leaving the Premier League for Al Hilal.

The Environmental Protection Agency and US Army on Tuesday released a new rule that slashes federally protected water by more than half, following a Supreme Court decision in May that rolled back protections for US wetlands.

One of the highest ranking leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has died

WASHINGTON White House economic adviser Lael Brainard said on Friday that a government shutdown that could start this

SYDNEY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 30, 2023--

Chadwick Boseman may be gone, but he is not forgotten.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is digging in on his refusal to take up Senate legislation designed to keep the federal government fully running beyond midnight Saturday