Connect with us

News

TikTok Influencer ‘Mahek Bukhari’ And Mother Sentenced To Life For Double Murder Linked To Sex Tape Threat

Mahek Bukhari

(CTN NEWS) – A self-absorbed TikTok influencer has been sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 31 years and eight months, for her involvement in the murder of two men who perished in a fiery collision after their vehicle was forcibly driven off the road during a high-speed pursuit near Leicester.

Mahek Bukhari, aged 24, sent an air-kiss to her father as she received her prison sentence, alongside her mother, Ansreen Bukhari, who was handed a minimum sentence of 26 years and nine months for the double homicide.

During a three-month trial at Leicester Crown Court, it was revealed that both individuals were part of a group that enticed the victims to a Tesco car park in February of the previous year, subsequently engaging in a high-speed chase with speeds reaching up to 100mph.

Saqib Hussain and Mohammed Hashim Ijazuddin, both 21 and hailing from Banbury in Oxfordshire, tragically lost their lives when their vehicle was forced off the road, collided with a tree, and burst into flames.

Sentencing of Co-Defendants in Tragic Case: Terms and Judge’s Remarks

Co-defendants Rekhan Karwan, aged 29, and Raees Jamal, aged 23, were likewise sentenced to life imprisonment, with minimum terms of 26 years and 10 months and 31 years, respectively, for their roles in the two counts of murder.

Natasha Akhtar, aged 23, was sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison, while Ameer Jamal, aged 28, and Sanaf Gulamustafa, aged 23, received sentences of 14 years and eight months and 14 years and nine months, respectively, for their involvement in two counts of manslaughter.

In delivering the sentence on Friday afternoon, Judge Timothy Spencer KC noted that Mahek Bukhari’s preoccupation with her online notoriety as an influencer had rendered her “completely self-centered.”

“TikTok and Instagram lie at the heart of this case,” he stated. “This is why, Mahek, you abandoned your university education.

Had you not made that choice, you would now be a recent graduate with a promising future ahead. Instead, you find yourself confined to prison during what should have been the prime years of your life.”

He remarked that Ansreen Bukhari’s fascination with the perceived allure of the influencer world had a profound impact on her.

He noted, “A world vastly different from the life you had led until then, as a mother and homemaker in Stoke-on-Trent.” This shift led her into an affair with Hussain.

Key Revelations During the Trial and Tragic Events Leading to the Fatal Crash

During the trial, it was revealed that Hussain reacted strongly when Ansreen attempted to end their relationship, threatening to expose explicit photos to her husband unless she repaid him the £3,000 he claimed to have spent on her.

In the early hours of February 11th last year, Mahek arranged to meet Hussain at a car park in Leicester, ostensibly to provide him with the money.

She arrived with a group of eight individuals, many of whom were wearing face coverings, and at least one was carrying a weapon.

When Hussain and his close friend Ijazuddin, who had offered him a ride, arrived at the car park, they swiftly departed the scene. They were pursued at high speed by the group, resulting in the fatal crash.

In a 999 call made by Hussain just moments before his demise, he urgently reported, “There are individuals following me.

They’re wearing balaclavas. They’re attempting to ram me off the road. They’re trying to kill me – I’m going to die.”

Judge Spencer characterized this call as “one of the most poignant and distressing pieces of evidence ever presented in a criminal court.”

He emphasized that Ijazuddin was entirely innocent and had been unwittingly drawn into a deadly situation created by everyone in the dock.

Statements and Arguments in Court for the Case Involving Ijazuddin’s Tragic Death

In a statement read aloud in court, Ijazuddin’s father, Sikandar Hayat, expressed, “My heart has been torn out, and none of us will ever be the same.

All we have left are memories of our beloved son. They left him and his friend to burn in a hellish inferno.”

Sajad Hussain, the father of the deceased Hussain, stated, “My son brought light into the lives of everyone who knew him,” and he lamented that his family had been torn apart by his son’s death.

In defense of Ansreen Bukhari, Patrick Upward KC contended that she was not acquainted with four of the other defendants and asserted that “although plans had clearly been made, Ansreen was not preparing to take part in them.”

He further noted, “She will have to spend the rest of her life living in the shadow of her shame.”

Christopher Millington KC, representing Mahek Bukhari, argued that decisions were impulsive and intentions were formed during the car journey, asserting that “the evidence does not establish an intention to kill.”

Judge Spencer remarked that none of the defendants sought help after the crash, and their primary concern was to “evade responsibility.” He concluded, “So, while some express remorse, it is meager and belated and rings hollow.”

RELATED CTN NEWS:

India Successfully Launches ‘Aditya-L1’: How Will ISRO’s New Endeavor Unravel Sun Mysteries?

Thailand’s King Commutes Thaksin Shinawatra’s Prison Sentence to One Year

U.S. Unemployment Benefit Applications Dip Amid Resilient Economy And Rising Interest Rates

News

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.

According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.

Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.

google

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.

Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.

Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.

To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.

Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.

On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.

In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.

Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

google

Pixa Bay

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.

TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.

When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.

And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.

Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.

A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.

google

Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.

But today, it feels more like reality.

Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.

Could we remember Google in the same way that we remember Yahoo or Ask Jeeves in decades? These next few years could be significant.

SOURCE | CNN

Continue Reading

News

2024 | Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

trump

Washington — Trump Media,  The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not hear an appeal from social media platform X about a search warrant acquired by prosecutors in the election meddling case against former President Donald Trump.

The justices did not explain their rationale, and there were no recorded dissents.

The firm, which was known as Twitter before being purchased by billionaire Elon Musk, claims a nondisclosure order that prevented it from informing Trump about the warrant obtained by special counsel Jack Smith’s team violated its First Amendment rights.

The business also claims Trump should have had an opportunity to exercise executive privilege. If not reined in, the government may employ similar tactics to intercept additional privileged communications, their lawyers contended.

trump

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

Two neutral electronic privacy groups also joined in, urging the high court to hear the case on First Amendment grounds.

Prosecutors, however, claim that the corporation never shown that Trump utilized the account for official purposes, therefore executive privilege is not a problem. A lower court also determined that informing Trump could have compromised the current probe.

trump

Trump utilized his Twitter account in the weeks preceding up to his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to spread false assertions about the election, which prosecutors claim were intended to create doubt in the democratic process.

The indictment describes how Trump used his Twitter account to encourage his followers to travel to Washington on Jan. 6, pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification, and falsely claiming that the Capitol crowd, which battered police officers and destroyed glass, was peaceful.

musk trump

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

That case is now moving forward following the Supreme Court’s verdict in July, which granted Trump full immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president.

The warrant arrived at Twitter amid quick changes implemented by Musk, who bought the company in 2022 and has since cut off most of its workforce, including those dedicated to combating disinformation and hate speech.

He also welcomed back a vast list of previously banned users, including Trump, and endorsed him for the 2024 presidential election.

SOURCE | AP

Continue Reading

News

The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

Supreme Court

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.

The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.

Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.

This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.

In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.

The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.

This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.

The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.

In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.

According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.

Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.

The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.

For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.

Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.

As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.

As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.

The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.

SOURCE: AP

SEE ALSO:

Could Last-Minute Surprises Derail Kamala Harris’ Campaign? “Nostradamus” Explains the US Poll.

Scientists Awarded MicroRNA The Nobel Prize in Medicine.

US Inflation will Comfort a Fed Focused on Labor Markets.

Continue Reading

Trending