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Kia Kokalitcheva / Axios : Y Combinator hires Yelp policy chief Luther Lowe, best known for his public criticism of Google, to lead public policy, as the accelerator embraces politics   —  Best known for his relentless public criticism of Google as a monopoly, longtime Yelp public policy chief Luther Lowe has a new gig: heading up policy efforts for Y Combinator.

"Squad" House Democrats known for criticizing the state of Israel faced massive backlash from conservatives online over their milquetoast statements following Hamas's deadly surprise attack on Israel. Several members of the informal progressive caucus published statements on Saturday condemning the violence and calling for the conflict to de-escalate. Of the "Squad" members, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., has been silent on the attack on Israel. ‘SQUAD’ DEMOCRAT CALLS FOR END OF ISRAEL'S ‘GAZA BLOCKADE’ AS HE CONDEMNS HAMAS TERROR ATTACKS Fox News Digital reached out to Tlaib's office for comment on the deadly surprise terrorist attack on Israel but did not receive a response. Meanwhile, "Squad" queen Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., called for a "ceasefire and de-escalation" after the surprise terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel. "Today is devastating for all those seeking a lasting peace and respect for human rights ...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis lashed out at President Biden on Saturday amid a chaotic scene in the Middle East, accusing the U.S. commander in chief of "sleeping on the job" as Israel attempts to defend itself from Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists. DeSantis' comments, offered to reporters during one of his presidential campaign stops in Iowa, came after Hamas terrorists launched thousands of rockets into Israel early on Saturday morning. "I saw the president's comments with respect to the attacks on Israel. He said that he was up at 7:30 in the morning, but, you know, this was happening late, late last night into the early morning. The president needs to be there answering the call when our top ally in the Middle East is under the gun," DeSantis said . "You can’t be sleeping on the job. You’ve got to get there, you’ve got to do it, and you’ve got to engage," he added. "I think that we need to see leadership here. We need a very clear voice, w...

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy , R-Calif., is standing by his efforts to keep government, even though his actions contributed to eight members of his caucus voting booting him from the job, in light of unprecedented attacks on Israel by Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists. "There is nothing the House can do until they elect a speaker, and I don't know if that happens quickly. The speaker is part of the ‘Gang of 8’ that takes action to be able to have briefing," McCarthy said during a Saturday appearance on "Fox News Live." "But think about this: Why would you ever remove a speaker during a term to raise doubt around the world? The other thing that happens here, too, is that it's driven by only four percent within the Republican Party , driven by one person that's afraid of an ethics complaint," he continued, referencing Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz who introduced a motion to vacate the speakership.  "I don't know what's i...

Anthropic : A research paper details how decomposing groups of neurons in a neural network into interpretable “features” may improve safety by enabling monitoring of LLMs   —  Neural networks are trained on data, not programmed to follow rules.  With each step of training …

New York Democrat Rep. Jamaal Bowman , a member of the group of House progressives known as "The Squad," took to social media Saturday to call for an end to the Gaza blockade and condemn the Iranian-backed Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. "I strongly condemn the horrific attacks by Hamas and am saddened by the loss of precious lives, especially on the holy day of Simchat Torah," Bowman said in a statement , which was shared to social media. "We need a way to end this deadly violence that is killing and traumatizing generations of Israelis and Palestinians alike — including the blockade of Gaza," he added. "I have been to the Gaza border and know that Israelis and Palestinians are constantly living in fear. We must work harder to ensure peace in the region." As new developments are made, Bowman, who made headlines recently after he pulled a fire alarm in Congress amid a vote to keep government open, said he and his team will be monitoring the...

President Biden's dog Commander, a German shepherd that has been removed from the White House due to aggressive behavior, sent a Secret Service agent to a hospital, inside sources claim. Two insiders told The New York Times Saturday the disruption caused by Commander is significantly worse than previously reported. The Times reports Commander at one point bit a Secret Service member so severely the victim bled on the floor and was sent to a hospital for treatment. BIDEN'S DOG, COMMANDER, REMOVED FROM WHITE HOUSE AFTER SERIES OF BITING INCIDENTS The German shepherd sparked calls for its removal after it bit a Secret Service agent on White House grounds last month.  It marked the 11th known incident of Commander biting White House personnel. Conservative legal activist group Judicial Watch previously obtained reports of the 10 previous incidents involving Commander from October 2022 to January 2023. BIDEN'S DOG, COMMANDER, BITES SECRET SERVICE OFFICER IN 11TH RECORD...

The New Jersey attorney general's office opened an investigation to determine whether a fatal 2018 car crash involving the now-wife of Sen. Bob Menendez was handled properly by responding officers, according to multiple news reports. Nadine Menendez, who was known by her birth name Nadine Arslanian at the time, was dating the senator in December 2018 when she fatally struck 49-year-old Richard Koop as he crossed the street.  Law enforcement determined that she was "not at fault," because Koop was jaywalking and had marijuana and alcohol in his system, according to the New York Times and The Record of New Jersey, which published the bodycam and dashcam footage from the incident. In muffled audio from the dashcam, an officer is heard saying, "Dark . . . her breath, ya know?" but police never tested Nadine for drugs or alcohol and let her leave without a summons. DEMOCRAT SEN. MENENDEZ'S WIFE HIT, KILLED PEDESTRIAN DRIVING IN 2018: REPORTS The muffled v...

Matt Binder / Mashable : X appears to be rolling out a new mobile ad format that can't be reported or blocked, lacks an ad label and user profile, and doesn't disclose the advertiser   —  The new ads also don't disclose who the advertiser is or that they are even ads.  —  X, the Elon Musk-owned platform formerly known as Twitter …

Pennsylvania Republicans are criticizing Governor Josh Shapiro over his handling of sexual harassment allegations made against one of his top aides who recently resigned.  Several female Republican lawmakers, led by Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, have questioned why the aide was allowed to remain in his position for months after his accuser came forward.  The Democratic governor on Thursday broke his silence on the scandal involving his former Secretary of Legislative Affairs Mike Vereb, who resigned in September nearly six months after he was accused of harassment by a female subordinate.  "The fact that this is a personnel matter, I can’t comment on any specifics and that’s really designed to be able to protect all parties involved in any matter," Shapiro told reporters Thursday at an appearance in Bethlehem to announce new funding for recreation and conservation projects, according to PennLive.  PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE GREENLIGHTS EARLIER 2024 PRIMARY, BUT...

Tim Craig / DL News : How FTX hacker's $131m ‘laundering’ spree caused DeFi exchange to shut off … Decentralised exchange THORSwap disabled parts of its website interface Thursday after the hacker who swiped $450 million from FTX last year started using the platform to convert stolen Ether to Bitcoin.

The likely candidates for House speaker are crisscrossing their way across the GOP conference Friday to make their case for the top job. Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla., are pitching themselves to lead the House of Representatives, which is run by a highly fractured House GOP majority. Scalise made his case to the pragmatic and business-minded Main Street Caucus late Friday morning, Fox News Digital was told. It’s led by Reps. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., and vice chair Stephanie Bice, R-Okla. HOUSE VOTES TO REMOVE KEVIN MCCARTHY AS SPEAKER IN HISTORIC FIRST Jordan spoke to the group Thursday in a meeting that two lawmakers said went fairly well despite some moderates’ reservations about his conservative credentials. He’s expected to tout those in a Friday afternoon session with the hard-line right House Freedom Caucus , multiple sources told Fox News Digital. Jordan previously chaired the...

Richard Jones, an attorney representing Hunter Biden in his federal gun charge case, filed paperwork Friday to withdraw himself from the matter. The president's son had pleaded not guilty to federal gun charges in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware Tuesday morning after being charged in an indictment stemming from Special Counsel David Weiss' investigation.  "Mr. Biden has been advised of, and consents to, our withdrawal. He also agrees this withdrawal will cause no material adverse effect or prejudice to him and remains completely satisfied with Messrs. [Abbe] Lowell’s and [Bartholomew] Dalton’s continued representation of him," reads the document filed by Jones. "Accordingly, our withdrawal as counsel will have no material adverse effect on Mr. Biden’s interests," Jones added. HUNTER BIDEN PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO FEDERAL GUN CHARGES Jones did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. The president...

Democrat West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin called for a state of emergency at the southern border after the Biden administration resumed construction on the border wall. Manchin said a state of emergency is needed at the southern border on Thursday after President Biden's Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it would resume construction on the border wall started by former President Donald Trump. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the move late Wednesday as the House's speaker fight takes center stage in the media, saying there is an "acute and immediate need" for the wall. MAYORKAS CITES ‘IMMEDIATE NEED’ TO WAIVE REGULATIONS, BUILD BORDER WALL IN TEXAS AS IMMIGRATION SURGES "Far-left Democrats in Washington have to come to grips with the fact that we have to shut down the border," Manchin told Fox News Digital. "Similar to President Trump, the Biden administration should call a national emergency on the border because this crisis ...

Pennsylvania's House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill to move up the state’s 2024 presidential primary election by three weeks, but disagreements have arisen with Republican senators who wanted an even earlier date. The bill narrowly passed, 102-100, with every Democrat voting "yes" and every Republican voting "no." Its future is uncertain in the state Senate, which was scheduled to reconvene Oct. 16. The effort to move up the primary date from April 23 —the date set in law — is driven primarily to avoid a conflict with the Jewish holiday of Passover. PENNSYLVANIA CONSIDERING EARLIER 2024 PRIMARY DATE The bill backed by House Democrats would move up the date by three weeks to April 2, putting it on the same date as presidential primaries in Delaware, New York , Rhode Island and Wisconsin. Senate Republicans have pushed legislation to move up the primary election date by five weeks to March 19. Senate Republicans say that would give voters in ...

South China Morning Post : A look at the impact of Shein and Temu on China's exports; government data shows exports via e-commerce grew 19.9% YoY in H1 2023, while overall exports fell   —  - China's exports via e-commerce are surging, boosted by apps like Shein and Temu  — Newcomers are tapping China's vast …

President Biden, speaking after his administration announced border wall construction in Texas, said at the White House Thursday that he tried to "redirect" the money for the project. "I'll answer one question on the border wall, the border wall where money was appropriated for the border wall. I tried to get them to reappropriate, to redirect that money," Biden said. "They didn't. They wouldn't. And in the meantime, there's nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what it was appropriated. I can't stop that."  When asked by a reporter if he believes a border wall works, Biden said "no." White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt later tweeted that "The funds for ~20 miles of border reinforcements were appropriated in 2019 before [Biden] took office. MAYORKAS CITES ‘IMMEDIATE NEED' TO WAIVE REGULATIONS, BUILD BORDER WALL IN TEXAS AS IMMIGRATION SURGES "He called on Congress to re...

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg : Memo: Amazon is shutting down Amp, its live audio streaming app launched in March 2022 that let users act like DJs by playing music and talking alongside songs   —  The service launched in March 2022 following a frenzy around live-audio services during the pandemic.

As eight Republican rebels voted alongside House Democrats to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from his post as speaker Tuesday afternoon, a majority of the House's most conservative members in the House Freedom Caucus voted to keep him.  While several members in the House Freedom Caucus voted to oust McCarthy, including Bob Good, R-Va.; Ken Buck, R-Colo.; Matt Rosendale, R-Mont.; and Rep. Eli Craine, R-Ariz., a majority of its members voted in favor of keeping McCarthy at the helm of the House GOP.  Caucus members Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.; Chip Roy, R-Texas; Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; Ben Cline, R-Va.; Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.; and Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., among others, voted in favor of keeping McCarthy — despite several members feuding with him over government spending last week. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Boebert said her vote against the motion to vacate wasn't in support of the speaker but "rather the timing of this measure." MATT GAETZ INTRODUCES MOTION TO VAC...

Abner Li / 9to5Google : Google rolls out emoji reactions in Gmail for Android, coming to iOS and the web “over the next few months”; non-Gmail users may get emoji reactions as an email   —  Google is bringing emoji reactions to email, starting with Gmail for Android, to let you “express yourself and quickly respond.”

New York City Judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over  former President Trump's  civil fraud trial, has exclusively donated to Democrats, according to a report. Engoron wields unique authority over Trump's civil fraud case. It is a jury-free bench trial, with Engoron overseeing it and ultimately determining its outcome and penalties. New York Attorney General Letitia James wants a $250 million penalty imposed on Trump's businesses after accusing him of fraudulent practices.  Engoron, meanwhile, has shown support for Democrats with his checkbook in the past. TRUMP CIVIL TRIAL CONTINUES FOR SECOND DAY IN NEW YORK CITY   Engoron has given more than $5,000 to Democrats over the past 25 years, the Daily Wire first reported. The money has primarily gone to local committees; his most recent donation from 2018 went to Manhattan Democrats. The money has also gone to Democrat candidates such as former  New York  Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, forme...

Julia Moskin / New York Times : Blackbird, a restaurant loyalty service using the $FLY native token and founded by Resy and Eater co-founder Ben Leventhal, raised a $24M Series A led by a16z   —  Ben Leventhal says Blackbird will give many independent restaurants the means to identify and reward regulars for the first time.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis brought in $15 million in fundraising the past three months for his Republican presidential campaign. The DeSantis campaign also confirmed to Fox News that it's moving staff from Florida to Iowa, where the Jan. 15 caucuses lead off the GOP presidential nominating calendar. The campaign touted that their haul "shatters expectations" as they announced their July-September third quarter of 2023 fundraising on Wednesday. DeSantis has been trying to change the narrative after a series of setbacks over the summer, which triggered weeks of negative stories spotlighting his campaign’s overspending, staff layoffs, change of leadership and other issues. LATEST FUNDRAISING REPORTS COULD BE DEATH KNELL FOR SOME GOP PRESIDENTIAL LONG-SHOTS "This significant fundraising haul not only provides us with the resources we need in the fight for Iowa and beyond, but it also shuts down the doubters who counted out Ron DeSantis for far too long," campai...

Vice President Kamala Harris will swear in Democratic strategist Laphonza Butler, the late-Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s interim replacement, at 3 p.m. ET Tuesday at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Butler was previously an adviser to both Hillary Clinton and Harris’ presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020, respectively. California Gov. Gavin Newsom tapped Butler, the president of EMILY's List — a Democratic political action committee (PAC) dedicated to electing pro-abortion Democratic women to office — for the vacant interim Senate seat late Sunday evening, just two days after Feinstein’s death. Butler will be the only Black woman serving in the U.S. Senate and the first openly LGBTQ+ lawmaker to represent the Golden State in the upper chamber. NEWSOM NAMES LAPHONZA BUTLER, FORMER KAMALA HARRIS ADVISER, TO FILL FEINSTEIN'S VACANT SENATE SEAT Newsom, facing pressure to appoint someone quickly to keep the Senate’s Democratic majority , previously vowed to select a Black woman. He...

Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer : Researchers find critical now-patched flaws allowing RCE in open-source AI model-serving tool TorchServe and vulnerable instances at tens of thousands of IPs   —  A set of critical vulnerabilities dubbed ‘ShellTorch’ in the open-source TorchServe AI model-serving tool impact tens of thousands …

FIRST ON FOX : Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. , is introducing legislation to allow states to build their own border barriers, as well as prosecute and deport illegal immigrants – just as Texas is battling with the Biden administration over barriers it has set up at the Mexican border. The State Border Defense Act would allow California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to construct barriers on federal lands or water along the southern border. The bill also allows states to prosecute and remove illegal immigrants from the country. The bill expands on legislation introduced last year and empowers the states by allowing them to enforce federal immigration law, effectively nullifying a 2012 Supreme Court case that significantly limited the ability of states to be involved in enforcement. The legislation comes as Texas is battling with the Biden administration over its efforts to build a buoy barrier in the Rio Grande. The Department of Justice said the barrier violated federal law, raised humani...

FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., will vote for a motion to vacate against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Tuesday, he said in a statement to Fox News.  Rosendale told Fox News in a statement that among the reasons for his vote are the fact that McCarthy worked with Democrats on the debt limit deal earlier this year, McCarthy not negotiating with the Senate over the NDAA, and McCarthy pushing a continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown over the weekend.  "Instead of putting pressure on the Senate, Kevin McCarthy sold every American short when he brought forward a clean continuing resolution and suspended the rules of the House to pass a bill to continue Nancy Pelosi’s budget and Joe Biden’s policies," Rosendale said. "Which is why every single Democrat in the House, but one, supported the measure. Now, we are told that Speaker McCarthy has negotiated, in secret, with President Biden to provide additional funding for Ukraine, violating ...

The New York judge presiding over the civil fraud trial of former President Donald Trump was blasted on social media on Monday after cameras caught him smiling for the cameras as the trial got underway. Conservatives on social media immediately reacted with outrage on Monday when New York City Judge Arthur Engoron was briefly shown in the courtroom smiling and taking off his glasses to seemingly pose for cameras that were filming inside the courtroom.  "This New York City judge is a partisan Democrat clown," Article III Project founder and president Mike Davis posted on X , formerly Twitter. "Disgraceful." TRUMP DEFENDS 'PHENOMENAL' FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AHEAD OF 'DISGRACE' OF TRIAL OUT OF 'CORRUPT' NYAG JAMES PROBE "Just smiling and laughing as they turn our country into a third world banana republic," State Freedom Caucus Network Comms Director Greg Price posted on X. "Democracy disappearing right before our eyes…,"...

Minors will be barred from receiving transgender-affirming procedures in Tennessee and Kentucky, a federal appeals court upheld in a ruling Thursday. Judge Jeffrey Sutton's recent decision overturns previous summer rulings, affirming Tennessee’s law implemented in January that restricts puberty blockers, hormone therapy and transgender surgeries for minors. Kentucky has an identical law. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti called it a "big win for democracy" in a statement following the ruling. "Decisions that are not clearly resolved by the Constitution should be resolved by the people through their elected representatives," he said. "I am so proud of our team who stood strong against the overwhelming resources arrayed against Tennessee in this case." OREGON MIDDLE SCHOOL WON'T SAY WHETHER STUDENT FILMED ATTACKING SMALLER GIRL IS TRANSGENDER Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron agreed with Skrmetti in a separate statement. ...