Susan Boasi's date Miguel, matched by Juan Manuel Nino, faces backlash from fans who slammed him for his self-centered monologue

Equities were mixed in Asia on Tuesday as traders grow increasingly concerned that US lawmakers remain far apart in their bid to raise the country's...

Harvey Elliott insists he is ready to take his game to the next level as he eyes Euro 2024. The Liverpool midfielder captained England Under-21s for the first time on Monday, leading the Young Lions as they slipped to a late 3-2 defeat to Ukraine in Slovakia. He returns to domestic action this weekend, looking to force his way into the Liverpool line-up for Saturday’s Merseyside derby with Everton. Despite a frustrating lack of starts for the Reds this term, Euro 2024 remains a real goal for Elliott, after England’s 3-1 win over Italy on Tuesday booked their place in Germany, and he is primed to take his chance. He said: “Absolutely, I’ve felt ready for a while now. It’s just about making sure I keep applying myself to be the best possible player and person I can be. “It’s a nice goal to reach and aim towards. The tunnel vision is there, it’s taking it game-by-game, and if the opportunity comes I’ll be the happiest kid in the world. “The Under-21s is my main focus, make sure I’m applying myself and being the best possible person and player for myself. “If you’re not doing that there’s no change. You have to do the basics right, set a good example, and if the opportunity comes it comes. If not, you have to keep working and, hopefully, one day it will come.” Elliott has started just once in the Premier League this term but came off at half time in the 2-2 draw at Brighton just before the international break. Jurgen Klopp’s summer midfield refresh has seen Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Milner, Naby Keita and Fabinho leave Liverpool, with Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch joining. The competition has restricted Elliott to 164 minutes in the Premier League and he is under no illusions about the challenge at Anfield. He said: “I’m just trying to take everything from Hendo and Milner, big characters in the dressing room who have left. I’m not trying to be the next Hendo or Milly but be the best version of myself and the leader I’ve learned to be off them. “I always knew the season was going to be like this. Liverpool, being a world-class team, are always going to attract unbelievable players and that’s exactly what they’ve done. “It’s healthy competition. Not everyone is guaranteed to play, and when you get your chance you have to make sure you take it. The quality is there, it’s about applying it on the pitch. “I feel I can do a job wherever I’m put. The most important thing is putting that red shirt on and playing. I’m working as hard as I can to get into the team. “It’s down to me to make sure I apply myself and not only show the boss but show the world I’m good enough to play wherever I’m put.” The former Fulham youngster also cherishes his relationship with Mo Salah as he learns off the forward. “He’s always helping me out. We have a great relationship when we play. Off the pitch we’re always talking and I’m always trying to learn off him,” said Elliott. “For me to look up to him, he’s the best possible player. As well as play with him, I’m trying to be as good as him, if that’s possible. “He’s a great guy and an unbelievable player. To look up to him and everyone else in the team is great, I’m grateful to be playing with these guys.” Read More This is a special game – Maro Itoje confident England can defeat South Africa Leah Paul helps Ireland seal convincing win over Scotland to level ODI series Premier League looking at club wage caps to aid competition – Steve Parish New Zealand head coach Ian Foster dismisses ‘favourites’ tag against Argentina Marcus Smith ruled out of England’s Rugby World Cup semi-final with concussion Charity urges players to take stance against link between gambling and football

A stargazer who thought he’d made the discovery of a lifetime was brought down to Earth with a bump when a crater apparently left by a meteorite was revealed to be nothing more than a hole dug by beach-goers. Astrophysics enthusiast Dave Kennedy was over the moon when the hole, several feet wide and deep, appeared in north Dublin. He felt sure that a small, black, heavy rock found at the bottom of the hole was an asteroid from outer space, and contacted various astronomy experts in an effort to confirm his theory. He said a scorch mark on one side of the rock showed the angle at which it had fallen. “Only a month ago, I was watching a documentary from Nasa on exactly what we’re looking at so when I looked at it and saw how uniform it is, and the vast crater, I knew immediately I was looking at an impact site,” he said. Visitors to the Portmarnock beach gathered to inspect the crater. One said: “We’re down here quite a lot and never seen anything like this before, so it’s pretty spectacular.” However, Mr Kennedy’s optimism was short-lived. Within a day of his appearance on Virgin Media News, a “context note” on X (formerly Twitter) compiled from user information read: “It is in fact not a cosmic event - instead it was dug out the day before by 2 lads with a beach spade.” Footage on social media posted by friends of the young men showed them sitting in the hole, digging it out with children’s spades, and was captioned: “The hole we dug on Saturday”. Although the astronomy enthusiast was widely mocked, he said he would still have the rock analysed in the hope it wasn’t a “completely fruitless discovery”, Virgin Media News reported. Research on the chances of asteroids hitting Earth has focused on much larger rocks. Astronomers say Earth probably will not be struck by an object 1km wide (0.6 miles) for at least 1,000 years – but they have not ruled out smaller meteorites landing before then. Read More 4.6 billion-year-old meteorite sheds light on early solar system – study Best beach stays in the UK and Ireland for a peaceful break in 2023 Ukraine war: Kyiv ‘is pushing Russia back’, UK’s most senior military officer says War-blinded Ukrainian soldier cries with joy at new love at his wedding Ukraine ‘holds initiative’ in counteroffensive against Russia, says UK military chief

WASHINGTON Sales of new U.S. single-family homes surged in September, boosted by a chronic shortage of previously owned

A user said, 'Why would you want to ruin a perfectly good couch like that ?? I would have loved it in my house'

The list of digital tokens deemed as unregistered securities by the Securities and Exchange Commission now spans over

Tina Knowles said, 'I could not be more proud of my beautiful granddaughter, she worked so hard, she is a true talent'

Aliens and UFOs were the topic du jour in Washington DC as the House Subcommittee on National Defense met to hear testimony from three men — two Navy pilots and one former intelligence officer — who are warning that the skies may not be as safe as Americans previously thought. While the hearing was not specifically probing whether or not aliens have visited Earth — instead being ostensibly focused on the alleged prevalence of unidentified aerial objects over US skies — the discussion of extraterrestrials and "non-human biologics" no less permeated the discussion. The three men who sat before the subcommittee were David Grusch, a former intelligence officer in the Air Force and National Geospatial Intelligence Agency; former Navy pilot Ryan Graves, who claims to have encountered UAPs during missions; and David Fravor, another Navy pilot, who recorded the infamous "Tic Tac" UAP video in 2004. The witnesses agreed that the US is lacking in a proper reporting system for UAP sightings, with Mr Graves noting that both military and commercial pilots who claim to have encountered the craft feel as though they cannot report the sightings without suffering stigma and potential career retaliation. The witnesses Mr Graves was most concerned with the dearth of reporting options for pilots who encounter the supposed craft. He had his own experience in 2014, when a squadron under his command encountered "dark grey or black cubes ... inside of a clear sphere, where the apex or tips of the cubs were touching the inside of that sphere" approximately 10 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. He said his pilots described the craft performing impossible aerial maneuvers that he said would kill a human and were far beyond the capability of any known technology. Mr Graves further stated that such encounters were "not rare, or isolated" and that there was no official means of reporting such encounters. "If everyone could see the sensor and video data I witnessed, our national conversation would change," Mr Graves said in his opening statement. "I urge us to put aside stigma and address the security and safety issue this topic represents. If UAP are foreign drones, it is an urgent national security problem. If it is something else, it is an issue for science. In either case, unidentified objects are a concern for flight safety. The American people deserve to know what is happening in our skies. It is long overdue." Mr Fravor offered an account of his 2004 incident off the coast of San Diego, during which he said he encountered a "smooth" white object he likened to a tic tac mint or a propane tank. He said he spotted it hovering over the water before it rapidly ascended, accelerated, and disappeared. He noted that there was white water beneath the craft — suggesting something may have been under the water — and that the white water was gone after it disappeared. "I think what we experienced was, like I said, well beyond the material science and the capabilities that we had at the time, that we have currently or that we're going to have in the next 10 to 20 years," Mr Fravor said. The "Tic Tac video" was featured in a 2017 New York Times article discussing UAPs written by the same individuals who first reported on Mr Grusch's whistleblower claims. Both pilots agreed that the UAPs they encountered represented national security threats to the United States. Mr Grusch, who spent 14 years working as an intelligence officer, offered the most fantastic of the claims during the hearing, but provided the least evidence of any of the witnesses. He said he decided to blow the whistle on the US government after learning from another individual that the US has retrieved wreckage from UAPs and is currently reverse-engineering the technology. “I was informed in the course of my official duties of a multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse engineering program to which I was denied access,” he said. He further claimed that a UAP the size of a football field has been concealed somewhere, and that "non-human biologics" were found piloting some of the crashed UAPs. Mr Grusch has made clear that he was not a personal witness to any of what he claims, but is repeating what he was told by individuals he deems as credible. The Pentagon has denied his claims of a coverup. Sue Gough, a Defense Department spokesperson, said investigators have not found “any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently.” The statement did not address the recovery of craft not suspected of being extraterrestrial in nature. During the hearing, Congressman Tim Burchett asked Mr Grusch if he was aware of anyone who had been harmed in the interest of the US government maintaining secrecy about the alleged crashed UAPs. "Do you have any personal knowledge of people who have been harmed or injured in efforts to cover-up or conceal these extra-terrestrial technologies," he asked. “Yes. Personally,” he replied. Mr Burchett then asked, "has anyone been murdered?" Mr Grusch hesitated for a moment. "I have to be careful asking [sic] that question," he said, citing a current investigation into whether or not he was the subject of retaliatory action for whistleblowing. "I directed people with that knowledge to the appropriate authorities." He further went on to claim that he was aware of planned retaliation efforts against him by his former superiors in the US government, and that he was aware of unsanctioned "IRAD" programs in which government contractors were overcharging American government buyers and using the excess profit to funnel into DOD research programs. Lines for the hearing stretched far down the hall, with UFO enthusiasts mixing alongisde the media in hopes of witnessing "disclosure" — the long-awaited acknowledgment by the US government that we are not alone in the universe. However, they were left with only a tease of information; each time Mr Grusch was asked to provide specific information — details about the IRAD programs, the locations of supposed crashed UAPs, specifics about the "non-human" entities allegedly found with the wreckage — he assured the Congressional leaders that he knew the answers, but could not provide them publicly. He said he could provide specific information only in a closed session or in a secure environment, citing confidentiality concerns. Congressional questions The bipartisan subcommittee expressed appreciation for the witnesses' testimonies and broadly operated from the position that the government was withholding information concerning the true nature of UAPs — whether they are controlled by foreign adversaries, aliens, or something else entirely — and several members assured the witnesses they would be protected for possible retaliation. While Mr Graves and Mr Fravor said they did not experience blowback for their reports, Mr Grusch claimed he had, prompting Congressman Jamie Raskin to ask for details about his experiences. He said he was aware of "active planned reprisal" coming from "leadership at my previous organisation," and said he referred to the retaliation as "administrative terrorism." Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez centred her questioning on Mr Grusch's claims concerning independent research and development — IRAD — programs funneling money from American government buyers into "unsanctioned" DOD programs. Earlier in his testimony, Mr Grusch told Congressman Jared Moskowitz he was aware of IRADs funding "unsanctioned" development of "advanced technology." Ms Ocasio-Cortez said she had seen IRAD programs and regulations requiring agencies initiating research to notify oversight bodies abused, and asked "if you were me, where would you look" to find evidence for the claims that government contract money was being siphoned to unrelated research and development. Mr Grush said he would be happy to provide the details "in a closed environment" and said he could tell her "specifically." Congresswoman Nancy Mace zeroed in on what many of the attendees were likely hoping to hear addressed; the existence of aliens. “Do you believe our government has made contact with intelligence extraterrestrials,” she asked. Mr Grusch said it was “something I can’t discuss in a public setting,” resulting in a curious eyebrow raise from longtime UFO researcher, reporter, and occasional Coast to Coast AM guest host George Knapp, who was seated behind Mr Grusch. Ms Mace continued, asking “if you believe we have crashed craft ... do we have the bodies of the pilots who piloted [these] craft?” “As I’ve stated publicly already in my NewsNation interview, biologics came with some of these recoveries, yeah.” She then asked if they were “human or non-human biologics?” “Non-human, and that was the assessment of people with direct knowledge on the program I talked to, [who] are still on the program,” he said. Ms Mace then asked if any evidence — photo, video, eyewitnesses — of such creatures existed. “The specific documentation I would have to talk to you in a SCIF about,” he replied. Congressman Glenn Grothman, who chaired the subcommittee, said he anticipated legislation would come out of continued, closed-door discussions with the witnesses. "Several of us are going to look forward to getting some answers in a more confidential setting," he said. "I assume some legislation will come out of this." Read More Congressman asks UFO whistleblower if anyone has been ‘murdered’ to maintain alleged coverup Tom DeLonge left Blink-182 for an alien adventure. Now back on tour, his UFO mission is taking off in Congress Republican lawmaker claims US is ‘hiding evidence’ of UFOs which ‘defy physics as we know it’ Watch: Congress holds hearing on UFOs What to expect from the House committee hearing looking into UFOs Biden looks to provide relief from extreme heat as record temperatures persist

As Simon Pegg talks about his pal Tom Cruise, he also reveals his battle with alcoholism which started during 'The Mission: Impossible III' shooting

Authorities in China have installed lasers on highways to stop drivers from falling asleep at the wheel. The addition of the anti-sleep lasers was made in a bid to improve road safety and a clip of how they work has gone viral online. It was popularised on X/Twitter by a user going by Science girl, who is known for sharing clips of some new and innovative initiatives. The video has been viewed 56 million times and shows some extremely bright laser lights shining out from an overhead sign, slowly flashing and changing colours above drivers. It is the aim to catch the attention of sleepy drivers and stop them from drifting off, reducing the risk of an accident occurring. Sciene girl wrote: “A video captured on the Qingdao–Yinchuan Expressway displays vibrant laser lights hovering above the vehicles. “Mr. Li, the person behind the camera, reported that these laser lights designed to combat fatigue quickly revitalized him and reduced his exhaustion during a prolonged nighttime.” But internet users were divided over whether the lasers would actually be effective. One person argued: “1) This would distract me. 2) This would put me to sleep when I got used to it.” Others joked that the lights were so bright that even if woke you up, it would also effect your ability to see properly. Another wrote: “Who’s genius idea is it to blind the drivers? Congrats, those who aren’t sleepy are now disoriented.” How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel 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

Britain's treasury has revealed that Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and lying-in-state last year cost the UK government an estimated 162 million pounds ($201 million)