Elon Musk bans Twitter accounts that impersonate others - as comedian falls victim to new rule - Sky News

Elon Musk says Twitter will permanently suspend any account that impersonates another - unless it clearly states it is a "parody".

The social media platform's new owner issued the warning after some celebrities changed their Twitter display names - not their account names - to "Elon Musk" in reaction to the billionaire's decision to offer verified accounts to all users for $8 month.

Comedian Kathy Griffin had her account suspended on Sunday for switching her display name to Musk's.

Actor Valerie Bertinelli did the same before switching it back to her real name. But first, she posted a series of tweets in support of Democratic candidates.

Comedian Sarah Silverman also appeared to have her account locked as she shared a screenshot of her Twitter page with the display name "Sarah K Silverman".

Musk said Twitter previously issued a warning before suspension, but as the social media giant is rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning as well as "no exceptions."

"This will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue," Musk said, adding any name change at all will cause temporary loss of verified checkmark.

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On Saturday Twitter updated its app in Apple's App Store to begin charging $8 for sought-after blue check verification marks, in Musk's first major revision of the social media platform.

Tesla Inc boss Musk, who also will serve as chief executive of Twitter, last month said the social media platform will be forming a content moderation council with "widely diverse viewpoints".

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"No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes," he added.

On the topic of banned accounts, Musk last week said they will not be allowed back onto Twitter until the social media platform has "a clear process for doing so."

Creating such a process would take at least a few more weeks, Musk had tweeted, giving more clarity about the potential return of Twitter's most famous banned user, former US President Donald Trump.

Read more:
Elon Musk blames activists for revenue fall as he closes all Twitter offices and layoffs begin
Nine celebrities who might quit site for good after Elon Musk's takeover

The new timeline implies Trump will not return in time for the midterm elections on 8 November.

Earlier on Sunday, the New York Times reported Twitter is delaying the rollout of verification check marks to subscribers
of its new service until after Tuesday's midterm elections.

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2022-11-07 05:34:26Z
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US midterms: Trump and Biden fire up voters as election looms - BBC

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By Max Matza

BBC News, Washington

President Joe Biden and ex-President Donald Trump held duelling rallies as the election to reshape Congress entered its final campaign day.

Mr Biden and Mr Trump made their last-minute pleas to voters in New York and Florida respectively.

Momentum has shifted recently towards Republicans, who are trying to wrestle both chambers from Democratic control.

They are favourites to win control of the House of Representatives but the Senate is a toss-up, polling suggests.

Winning one chamber would severely hinder President Biden's legislative agenda.

With the campaign in its final day on Monday, his party is braced for losses even in parts of the country where Democrats usually do well.

He spoke at a rally in New York on Sunday to support Governor Kathy Hochul, who is fending off an unexpectedly stiff challenge from Trump-backed Republican candidate Lee Zeldin.

She has received last-minute help from some Democratic star names - former President Bill Clinton, Vice-President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

• Five reasons why these elections matter
• Why the economy will decide who wins

In his speech, Mr Biden called the election "an inflection point" that will determine the next 20 years. He told voters at Sarah Lawrence College that they are choosing between two "fundamentally different visions of America".

Meanwhile his predecessor in the White House, Mr Trump, was in Miami where he spoke for over an hour, hammering Democrats for leading the country towards "communism".

"Democrats want to turn America into communist Cuba or socialist Venezuela," Mr Trump told the audience members.

"To every Hispanic American in Florida and across the land, we welcome you with open open open arms to our [Republican] party," he continued.

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Mr Trump also continued to hint that he may run for president again in 2024, telling voters to "stay tuned" for his rally on Monday in Ohio.

Polls suggest that Democrats are likely to lose their majority in the House of Representatives.

Control of the Senate will probably rely on the results of extremely tight races in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada.

• A simple guide to the midterms
• Fact-checking misleading claims
• Democrats elevated this Republican. Will it backfire?
• Watch: Will Gen Z vote this time?

Over 40 million votes have already been cast during the early-voting period so far, experts say, overtaking the total number of early votes in 2018.

Mail-in ballots normally take longer to tally than votes taken in person, leading to a high likelihood that several races will be too close to call on Tuesday night.

Several key battleground states, like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, ban election officials from beginning the count until election day.

What's happening on Monday?

• Mr Biden will appear at a rally in Maryland, a state normally considered a Democratic stronghold
• Mr Trump is holding an evening rally in Ohio for JD Vance, an author and former Trump critic
• First Lady Jill Biden is headed to Virginia to support incumbent Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton
• Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, considered to be a possible Trump White House rival in 2024, is in Miami

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2022-11-07 01:41:02Z
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Russian-occupied Kherson loses power after alleged ‘sabotage’ - Al Jazeera English

The Russian-installed administration of Kherson blamed the outage on Ukraine, accusing it of attacking the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam.

The Russian-installed administration in Ukraine’s Kherson region has said that Kherson city lost water and power supplies after what it called an act of “sabotage”.

In a statement on Telegram, the Russian-installed administration of Kherson said a “terrorist attack” damaged three power lines in the region.

It said that the attack had been carried out by Ukraine, though it provided no evidence.

The outages are a “result of an attack organised by the Ukrainian side on the Berislav-Kakhovka highway that saw three concrete poles of high-voltage power lines damaged,” it said.

It is the first time that Kherson – which fell to Russian forces within days of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February – has seen such a power cut.

Kherson is one of four regions that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last month.

Russian state-owned news agency TASS quoted Kherson’s Moscow-appointed governor Vladimir Saldo as saying that there were plans for the city’s power supply to be restored by the end of the day.

Energy specialists were working to “quickly” resolve the issue, the Russian-backed authorities said as they called on people to “remain calm”.

TASS separately cited emergency services in the region as saying that 10 settlements, including Kherson city, which had a pre-war population of 280,000, had been left without electricity.

Russian officials have in recent weeks repeatedly warned civilians to leave Kherson, amid what they say are preparations for a Ukrainian offensive against the city, the only regional capital that Russia has captured since invading Ukraine on February 24.

News of the outage followed reports that the Kakhovka dam in the Russian-controlled region of Kherson was “damaged” by a Ukrainian strike.

“Today at 10:00 (08:00 GMT) there was a hit of six HIMARS rockets. Air defence units shot down five missiles, one hit a lock of the Kakhovka dam, which was damaged,” Russian news agencies quoted local emergency services as saying.

The RIA Novosti news agency quoted a local Moscow-backed official saying the damage was not “critical”.

Flooding threat

The Kakhovka hydroelectric dam in southern Ukraine was captured by Moscow’s forces at the start of their offensive. It supplies Russian-annexed Crimea with water.

Both warring sides have been trading accusations over the Russian-held dam for weeks, Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett said.

“Ukrainians have been saying that the Russians have mined it and intended to blow it, while Russia said that Ukrainian forces were planning to fire a missile at it,” Fawcett said, reporting from Kyiv.

But if the dam was to be breached, Fawcett said, it would be a major catastrophe for both sides, “so there are still a lot of doubts as to whether either one would really want to do it”.

The dam holds back 19 million cubic metres of water and it is located at a short distance from Kherson, Fawcett said.

Ukraine has been warning in recent weeks that Moscow’s forces intended to blow up the strategic facility to cause flooding.

Russian strikes over the past month have destroyed around a third of Ukraine’s power stations and the government has urged Ukrainians to conserve electricity as much as possible.

But until now, Ukraine had only rarely struck Russian-held civilian energy infrastructure in territory annexed by Moscow, preferring to target Russian army supply lines.

Saldo said the dam’s destruction would lead to flooding of the left bank of the Dnieper River.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last month that Russian forces had mined the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant with the intent of blowing it up.

Its destruction could cause flash flooding for hundreds of thousands of people, he warned.

He said cutting water supplies to the south could also impact the cooling systems of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest.

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2022-11-06 19:39:26Z
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One dead and dozens hurt as tornadoes strike Texas and Oklahoma - Sky News

At least one person has been killed and dozens were injured after tornadoes tore through parts of Oklahoma and Texas, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

Search and rescue teams have been sent to the worst-hit areas with people trapped in ruined buildings.

Storms have also caused flash flooding in some parts.

Image: Residents face a major clean-up. Pic: AP

Two towns to bear the brunt of the tornadoes were Powderly in Texas and Idabel in Oklahoma which both lie close to the border between the two states.

Idabel is located in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, in the southeastern corner of the state, where the authorities confirmed one fatality.

The town saw a church, medical centre and school torn apart.

'Total destruction'

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Steven Carter, an emergency management coordinator for McCurtain County, said: "There was total destruction on the south and east sides of Idabel."

Emergency workers equipped with generators have been sent to the area to search for missing residents.

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Governor Kevin Stitt tweeted: "Praying for Oklahomans impacted by today's tornadoes."

Keli Cain, of the state's emergency management office, said at least three other counties were also hit by storms, causing flooding.

The National Weather Service said tornadoes were also reported in Texas and Arkansas and a storm system was heading towards Louisiana.

In Texas, authorities in Lamar County said at least 50 homes were wrecked and 10 people were treated at one hospital, including two with critical injuries.

No deaths have currently been reported.

Image: Roofs were torn off buildings. Pic: AP

'Heartbreaking to see'

County official Judge Brandon Bell declared a disaster in the area, paving the way for federal assistance and funding.

He said at least two dozen people were injured across the county.

After touching down, a tornado travelled north through the communities of Hopewell, Caviness, Beaver Creek and Powderly, the county sheriff's office said.

Randi Johnson, chief of the Powderly volunteer fire department, said: "It's going to take a long time to get this cleaned up, but the community came together.

"It's really heartbreaking to see."

Image: The scenes of destruction have been described as 'heartbreaking'. Pic: AP

The town is about 45 miles west of Idabel and some 119 miles northeast of Dallas.

Meanwhile, at least five tornadoes have been confirmed along the Mississippi and Alabama coastline.

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2022-11-05 12:09:49Z
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Ukraine war: Putin endorses evacuations from occupied Kherson - BBC

Reuters

By James FitzGerald

BBC News

Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly approved the evacuation of civilians from parts of Russian-occupied Kherson in southern Ukraine.

Kyiv's forces have been steadily advancing on the strategic port city.

Mr Putin said people living in dangerous areas should leave as "the civilian population should not suffer".

At least 70,000 people are reported to have been moved already from Kherson - the only major city gained by Moscow since its troops invaded in February.

Civilians at risk from shelling and attacks should be "removed", Mr Putin said, during the Unity Day holiday in Moscow's Red Square.

Kyiv accuses Russia of forcibly deporting Ukrainian civilians - which is considered a war crime - although Moscow denies this.

Russia's intensive missile and drone strikes on civilian infrastructure across Ukraine have caused heavy casualties and damage, and forced Kyiv to impose frequent electricity blackouts.

Mr Putin's comments followed reports on Thursday that Russian soldiers, too, had been leaving Kherson - in what would mark a major withdrawal.

A Kremlin-installed official in the region, Kirill Stremousov, told Russian media that Moscow was "likely" to pull its troops from the area.

Ukrainian officials remained cautious, warning that the reported move could be a trap to lure their soldiers into dangerous areas.

• At the front line of Ukraine's struggle for Kherson
• Why we know so little about the battle for Kherson
• The cost of occupation in Kherson

Kherson was captured soon after Russia attacked its neighbour on 24 February, but recently Ukrainian forces have steadily recaptured territory on the city's outskirts.

Civilians were first urged to leave Kherson in the middle of last month, as the Russian army switched the city to defensive mode.

Military commanders later said they had completed an operation to evacuate the city's residents, ahead of an expected battle there.

Russia claims the Kherson region and three other Ukrainian regions as its own territory, though it does not fully control any of them. It hastily arranged local "referendums" to justify the claim - a move condemned internationally.

Russia also annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014.

During Friday's speech in Red Square, Mr Putin also said some 318,000 military recruits had signed up for duty during a mobilisation, now complete - exceeding his target of 300,000.

Of these, Mr Putin said 49,000 were already involved in active fighting - a figure not independently verified by the BBC.

Meanwhile, a Russian private military company, the Wagner Group, has opened its first official headquarters, in St Petersburg.

Its fighters are reported to be active in the Russian campaign in Ukraine, and it has recruited prisoners to fight there, in exchange for their sentences being commuted in Russia.

Reuters

Wagner soldiers have repeatedly been accused of human rights violations, including in Syria, Libya and other conflicts.

Mr Putin has now amended the Russian law on calling up reservists to include men convicted of serious crimes who recently left prison.

The change means that convicted murderers and drug dealers who have recently been released could be conscripted to fight in Ukraine.

Former prisoners convicted of sex crimes against children or terrorism are still excluded from serving.

In his latest comments on the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attacked the "absolutely insane stubbornness of the owners of today's Russia".

He said his enemy was uninterested in peace talks, but was instead sending "people to the meat grinder" - both mobilised troops and mercenary fighters.

Referring to the week's "fiercest fighting", Mr Zelensky singled out the eastern towns of Bakhmut and Soledar.

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2022-11-05 02:31:12Z
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Putin endorses evacuation of Ukraine’s Kherson region - Al Jazeera English

Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly endorsed the evacuation of civilians from parts of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, amid conflicting reports of a curfew being imposed in the Russian-controlled area.

“Now, of course, those who live in Kherson should be removed from the zone of the most dangerous actions, because the civilian population should not suffer,” Putin told pro-Kremlin activists on Friday as he marked Russia’s Day of Unity.

Russia could be preparing to abandon its military foothold on the west bank of the Dnieper River, including Kherson’s regional capital, in what would be one of the biggest Russian retreats of the war.

Kherson, a city with a population of about 284,000 people before the conflict, is the only big city Russia has captured intact since its invasion in February. The surrounding province controls land access to Russian-occupied Crimea and securing it was one of the few successes of an otherwise disastrous Russian campaign.

Ukraine said the evacuations include the forced relocation of civilians, a war crime, which Moscow denies.

Ukraine has been wary of blatant signs of a Russian defeat, including pictures circulating on the internet showing Russia’s flag no longer flying atop the main administration building in Kherson city, saying these signs could be a trap.

Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-installed occupation administration in Kherson, said on Thursday that Russia was likely to pull its troops from the west bank.

In later remarks, he was more equivocal, saying he hoped there would be no retreat but “we have to take some very difficult decisions”.

Stremousov on Friday also said a 24-hour curfew had been imposed on the city to defend it from a likely Ukrainian offensive, but backtracked shortly after.

“In the city of Kherson there are absolutely no restrictions that would limit the life of the city,” Stremousov said on Telegram after an earlier message announcing a curfew on the same channel was edited out.

Russian authorities claimed to have formally annexed Kherson along with three other provinces on September 30, despite Moscow not having full control on the ground.

Ukraine’s defence minister last week said the counteroffensive against Russian forces in Kherson was proving more difficult than it was in the northeast because of wet weather and the terrain.

Kyiv has been pleading for greater military assistance from Western allies to advance past Russian fortified positions towards Kherson city.

The United States on Friday announced the refurbishment of T-72 tanks and HAWK surface-to-air missiles as part of a roughly $400m security assistance package for Ukraine.

The T-72s fall short of more modern tanks such as the German Leopard or US Abrams that have been sought by Kyiv.

The “tanks are coming from the Czech Republic defence industry, and the United States is paying for 45 of those to be refurbished, and the government of the Netherlands is matching our commitment” for a total of 90 T-72s, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists.

The Soviet-era tanks will be equipped with “advanced optics, communications and armour packages,” with some ready by the end of December and others to be delivered in 2023, she said.

Singh cited factors including ease of use and cost as reasons for not providing more modern equipment.

The package also funds the refurbishment of HAWK missiles from US inventories, an important asset as Ukraine seeks to counter Russian drone and missile strikes targeting its cities and energy infrastructure.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that the Group of Seven (G7) countries was focusing more of its security support on helping Ukraine defend against Russia’s attacks on its energy grid.

“The G7 agreed to create a new coordination group to help prepare, restore and defend Ukraine’s energy grid, the very grid that President Putin has brutalised,” Blinken said after a two-day G7 meeting in the western German town of Muenster.

He accused Russia of trying to “freeze [Ukrainians] into submission”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said four million people across Ukraine were being affected by rolling power cuts.

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2022-11-04 20:23:06Z
1639770046

Russian ambassador has 'evidence' UK special forces involved in attack on Black Sea fleet - Sky News

Russia's ambassador to the UK has claimed Britain played a role in an attack on its warships - warning the country is "too deep" in the Ukraine war.

In an interview with Sky's Mark Austin, top diplomat Andrei Kelin claimed he had proof that UK special forces were involved in a Ukrainian drone assault on Russia's Black Sea fleet in Crimea and had handed 'evidence' to the British ambassador.

Asked to provide evidence of Russia's claims, Mr Kelin said: "We perfectly know about [the] participation of British specialists in [the] training, preparation and execution of violence against the Russian infrastructure and the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. We know that it has been done."

Image: Russia's ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin

Putin 'weakened' after 'catastrophic error' - latest updates

Pressed to give evidence to the public on Moscow's accusation the attack on the Russian fleet in the Black Sea was carried out under the guidance and leadership of British Navy specialists, Mr Kelin said it had been handed to the British ambassador and added that "it will become public pretty soon," perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow.

He added: "It is dangerous because it escalates the situation. It can bring us up to the line of I would say no return, return is always possible. But anyway, we should avoid escalation.

"And this is a warning actually that Britain is too deep in this conflict. It means the situation is becoming more and more dangerous."

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Claims designed to distract from military failures, UK says

The UK government has said such claims are false and are designed to distract from Russia's military failures in Ukraine.

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A spokesperson said: "In recent days, Russia has made a range of allegations against the UK, clearly designed to distract attention from Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine; Russia's losses on the battlefield and its bombing of civilian populations and energy infrastructure without any regard for international law and the loss of innocent life.

"We do not plan to give a running commentary on these allegations; it is no secret that the United Kingdom has taken a public lead in our support to Ukraine - this has been enduring since Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014."

Moscow has cast Britain as a particularly insidious Western foil to Russia. President Vladimir Putin has said the UK is plotting to destroy Russia and carve up its vast natural resources.

Image: A Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launched during nuclear exercises

Ambassador denies Moscow would use nuclear weapons

Speaking after Russia accused the West of "encouraging provocations with weapons of mass destruction", Mr Kelin denied Moscow would use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Mr Kelin said: "The nuclear war cannot be won and it should never be fought. And we stick strongly to this statement."

Image: A Russian Tu-95MS strategic bomber landing during exercises held by the country's strategic nuclear forces

Asked if Moscow could use a tactical nuclear weapon in the conflict, Mr Kelin replied: "No. The world has every assurance that Russia is not going to use [a] tactical nuclear weapon in [the] Ukrainian conflict."

Russia's claims are designed to distract from its very real challenges on the frontline

Deborah Haynes

Security and Defence Editor

@haynesdeborah

Russia seems to have developed an unhealthy obsession with the UK over Ukraine.

The Kremlin has made various allegations about British special forces being linked to attacks against Russian targets in Ukraine and a set of blasts along a gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea.

Andrei Kelin, the Russian ambassador to London, even told Sky News' Mark Austin his country has evidence that proves "British specialists" were involved in drone attacks against Russia's Black Sea Fleet in Crimea over the weekend.

The UK has previously dismissed such allegations as absurd. At the same time, it makes no secret of being one of the strongest supporters of Ukraine.

Britain's willingness to send ever-more lethal weapons to help the Ukrainian military as well as a decision to establish a UK-based training programme to turn Ukrainian recruits into soldiers means it is - in a very overt way - bolstering Ukraine's ability to push Russia's invaders back.

London's proactive approach also was instrumental in prompting other European allies to join the effort as well as giving encouragement to the United States.

Moscow's attempts to accuse the UK of more direct military action could be designed to put pressure on the new British government to reduce its level of support – something that would potentially have a knock-on effect against western military aid more broadly.

What seems certain, is that Russia's claims are designed to create a distraction away from its very real challenges on the frontline in Ukraine as well as its decision to target civilian infrastructure with merciless barrages of missiles.

Moscow has been ramping up its nuclear rhetoric since it invaded Ukraine, most recently by accusing Kyiv of planning to use a "dirty bomb," though it did not offer evidence. Kyiv has denied it has any such plan.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it feared the five declared nuclear powers were teetering "on the brink of a direct armed conflict".

It added: "We are strongly convinced that in the current complicated and turbulent situation, caused by irresponsible and impudent actions aimed at undermining our national security, the most immediate task is to avoid any military clash of nuclear powers."

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2022-11-03 20:20:00Z
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