In a letter to Alex Spiro, who represents Mike Tyson, Melvin Townsend's attorney demanded a settlement of $450K in exchange for Townsend not filing a lawsuit

The March on Washington of 1963 is remembered most for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech

The Earth will be torn apart by a nuclear disaster before the year is out, according to a legendary mystic credited with predicting many of the biggest events in history. Baba Vanga, a blind Bulgarian woman is said to have foreseen 9/11, the Covid pandemic and the death of Princess Diana, among other era-defining moments. And despite the fact she’s been dead for some 27 years, her loyal disciples still follow her prophesies with great devotion. They claim that many of her predictions came true long after her death, and there are still more to come. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Indeed, the rest of 2023 is set to be busy on the catastrophe front, according to Vanga’s followers as reported by The New York Post. Not only will a major nuclear power plant explosion take place at some point over the coming months – causing toxic clouds to settle over Asia – by the Earth will be hit by a devastating solar storm and suffer a potentially apocalyptic shift in its orbit around the sun. Other forecasts for the year allegedly include a bioweapons attack launched by an unnamed superpower, the emergence of a new religion based on artificial intelligence, and the end of natural pregnancies. According to her fans, she foretold that all babies would be grown in laboratories and parents would be able to select their physical traits. To be fair, that sounds eerily plausible when you consider one biotechnologist has already begun planning a “human factory” – though, admittedly, not before the end of the year. The issue with all of this is that Vanga’s predictions are cryptic and impossible to verify, as Sky History notes. And yet, there is a reason why a poor, blind woman from rural Bulgaria has been branded the “Nostradamus of the Balkans” and become a global icon. Legend has it that she was blinded in a dust storm at the age of 12 after which she announced that she had been endowed with the gifts of prophesy and healing. Her reputation soon spread beyond the local area and soon everyone from tsars to peasants would make the pilgrimage to her home in the Kozhuh mountains to seek her counsel. She was unable to write, however, so everything she said was documented by those around her, meaning there are no first-hand accounts of her visions on paper. Still, she is understood to have proclaimed in 1989 that “American brethren will fall after being attacked by steel birds […] innocent blood will be gushing” – which many people have taken to be an omen for the September 11 attacks. She also said that America’s 44th President would be Black, which was fulfilled by Barack Obama in 2009. And whilst her claim that Europe would “cease to exist” by 2017 hasn’t come to pass geographically, some have read this as a reference to the 2016 Brexit vote. She also predicted that the US’s 45th president would be faced with a crisis which would “bring the country down.” Given that the 45th president was Donald Trump, we’ll let you be the judge of whether or not there’s any truth to that one. Countless Bulgarian and Soviet scientists studied and tested Vanga throughout her life, ultimately concluding that she had an 85 per cent success rate with her predictions, Sky History reports. She even allegedly foresaw her own death on 11 August 1996 at the age of 85. All we can do now is hope that her doomsday visions for the rest of this year fall into that 15 per cent margin of error... 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.

The Philippine economy expanded much slower than expected in the second quarter as inflation remains above target and

The twitchiness on the Ferrari pit wall was palpable. With five laps to go at the end of Sunday’s thrilling Singapore Grand Prix, less than two seconds separated race leader Carlos Sainz in first to Lewis Hamilton in fourth. McLaren’s Lando Norris in second was closing in, within the critical one-second DRS range. The warning from Sainz’s race engineer Riccardo Adami was quick: “Lando, 0.8 (seconds) behind with DRS.” But the Spaniard was a step ahead, deploying a meticulous balancing act which ultimately secured his second Formula 1 victory. “Yeah, it’s on purpose,” he replied. At which point it all made sense. For a team chasing its first victory in over a year, often maligned for their clangers in the strategy department, all it took was a clear sense of thought and direction from the driver in the cockpit. Sainz was not overly concerned with Norris’ pace behind him. On the contrary, the double threat posed by Mercedes’ George Russell and Hamilton, lapping over a second-a-lap quicker on fresh tyres in third and fourth, was the main focus of his thinking. What a fine balancing act it was. Keep Norris close enough behind him – one-second – to give him a crucial speed boost on the straights to defend from Russell, but not so close that Norris himself could make a move for the top spot. In the end, it was a masterstroke which worked to perfection. “I knew more or less my pace versus Lando and how difficult it is to overtake here,” Sainz explained afterwards. “I knew he was on a hard and if George and Lewis were going to overtake, I would be dead meat also. So I needed him to hold on for as long as possible. “A couple of laps I was 1.2 or 1.3 seconds ahead of Lando so I slowed down a bit to give him DRS into turn seven, which was just enough for him to hold onto them and keep my race under control. Not easy, because you are putting yourself under risk and you cannot do any mistakes, but it was my strategy and it worked.” Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur, beaming after securing his first win at the helm of the Scuderia, confirmed the ploy was Sainz’s idea. “He knew he was more at risk with Mercedes than with Norris,” the Frenchman said. “With Norris we had the same tyres and almost the same pace from the lap one. We were not really at risk with Norris except if we lost the tyres, so it was a clever move from Carlos to keep Norris into the DRS.” It was fitting that Norris was the beneficiary, too. Sainz and the Brit were team-mates at McLaren for two years and are still close friends. Norris admitted that the DRS-boost was “very generous” and despite finishing 0.812 seconds behind first place, was delighted with a ninth career podium. Still, that first win continues to elude him. As for Russell? The desire, bordering on desperation, to win in the end was his undoing. A light tip with the wall derailed his Mercedes on the final lap, slamming into the wall. It was a harsh, dramatic conclusion to the 62-lap, high-humidity race for the Brit, with Hamilton instead taking the final podium spot. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff insisted post-race that it would be an “arm round the shoulder” approach rather than any in-depth post-mortem. Quite right too, given Russell’s bold approach almost gave him a brilliant come-from-behind victory. But more so than Russell’s mistake and Sainz’s mastery, what Sunday really showed us – quite depressingly in a way – is what this season could have looked like. With Red Bull startlingly out of the picture – impacted by a lack of tyre grip and car balance on a notorious outlier of a circuit on the F1 calendar – the ensuing battle between Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes was enthralling to watch. The battle behind the No 1 team has been tight all year. Only this time, it was for first place. The Marina Bay Street Circuit spelled the end of Max Verstappen’s win streak and talk of an unprecedented perfect season for Red Bull. The flying Dutchman, who finished fifth after starting in 11th, can now not clinch his third world title in Japan this weekend, with his crowning moment likely to come a fortnight later in Qatar. Yet a return to a typical circuit at Suzuka will likely see Christian Horner’s team return to the top. Ferrari’s pace uptake in the last two races, having taken pole in Monza two weeks ago too, has undoubtedly created a sense of intrigue, a spark of something different in a season of Red Bull domination. Moving forward, though, there is plenty to learn and maintain for Ferrari after Sainz’s supreme Sunday drive. No more should chaos reign in the strategy department. No more should “Plans A-F” be bawled out over team radio, confusing drivers and spectators alike. No more should Sainz and Charles Leclerc sit idly by while choices on the pit wall dampen their aspirations. Sometimes it’s best to keep things simple – and leave the in-race decisions to the men behind the wheel. The team’s hunt for chief strategists was easier than they thought. Read More Carlos Sainz holds on for thrilling victory in Singapore as Red Bull winning run ends George Russell despondent after last-lap crash in Singapore Max Verstappen makes prediction for Japan after his winning run ends F1 Singapore Grand Prix LIVE: Race updates and times at Marina Bay Lance Stroll cleared to race in Singapore after high-speed qualifying crash F1 Juniors broadcast an admirable idea – but all kids want to be is grown up

Disney and Charter Communications announced on Monday that the companies struck an agreement to end a closely watched carriage dispute, a move that will restore access to channels like ESPN and ABC to the nation's second largest cable television provider's nearly 15 million subscribers.

A Newcastle United supporter is in hospital in Milan after being stabbed on Monday night. Newcastle fans have flocked to Italy to watch their club play against AC Milan in the San Siro on Tuesday, in what will be their first Champions League match for 20 years. Eddie McKay, 58, was with his son and a friend when they were attacked by a group of men wearing hoodies at around midnight near the centre of the city, before police intervened. He was stabbed in the back and arms after he fell while trying to run away. Photos showed a shirtless man with a Newcastle United tattoo lying on the street in a pool of blood, being treated by medics before being taken away in an ambulance. Police have confirmed that Mr McKay was taken to a city hospital. His condition has been described as “stable” with non-life-threatening injuries. His daughter, Rachel McKay, told Sky Sports News: “My dad is stable and in a bit of shock. He’s gutted he’s missing the match but just wants every other Newcastle fan out here to be aware and be safe. “He has just had two knee replacements so he fell when he was being chased and that is when he was attacked. My brother is OK but is in shock after seeing that happen to our dad. I’m flying out there later. We haven’t slept all night.” A Newcastle statement said: “We are deeply concerned by reports that a supporter was seriously assaulted in Milan on Monday evening and we are liaising with local authorities to understand the circumstances. Our thoughts are with the supporter and their family and we hope for a full and speedy recovery.” Newcastle have a 4,000-seat allocation for the game at the iconic 76,000-capacity San Siro, although it is thought many more fans have travelled to Italy without tickets. The incident took place in the Navigli area of the city, where fans gathered throughout the evening. The Newcastle squad’s flight was meanwhile delayed by adverse weather on Monday, with manager Eddie Howe insisting the situation had not affected his team’s preparations for the match. Read More UEFA Champions League 2023/24 schedule - every game in the group stage The defiant message behind Newcastle’s complicated Champions League return Is Milan vs Newcastle on TV? Kick-off time, channel and how to watch

China says 239 people died from COVID-19 in June in a significant uptick months after it lifted most containment measures

The Los Angeles Times says it is cutting 74 jobs due to economic challenges as the newspaper strives to transform itself into a digital media organization

Ireland may be tantalisingly close to a Rugby World Cup quarter-final spot but their final Pool B game with Scotland is effectively a knockout match, defence...

An American missionary who spent six years in captivity in Africa says he was beaten, locked in chains and pressured repeatedly to convert to Islam

Two recent police shootings involving the Baltimore Police Department's specialized units focused on getting illegal guns off the street have raised questions about how the squads are operating