Category Archives: Los Angeles

An ‘unbelievable deal’? The $200m mansion reportedly bought by Beyoncé and Jay Z

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40,000 sq ft manor overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu is thought to be California’s most expensive home ever

With its steep green cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Malibu is a top contender in America’s ultra-luxury real estate market. Its rise in the rankings of the favorite spots of the super-rich was solidified again in past weeks, with reports that Beyoncé and Jay-Z purchased a 40,000 sq ft oceanfront mansion in the coastal enclave.

TMZ first reported that the star couple had snapped up a modernist mansion designed by the celebrity Japanese architect Tadao Ando. With a sale tag of $200m, the acquisition appears to break the record for the most expensive home in California.

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Litter of kittens provides hope for Los Angeles mountain lions after dreadful year

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Biologists found the three-week-old all-female litter in between the Santa Monica and Santa Susana mountain ranges

After a devastating year for Los Angeles mountain lions, researchers have made a hopeful discovery in the southern California hills: an all-female litter of kittens.

Biologists found the three cubs last week in what the National Park Service described as a “dense patch of poison oak nestled among large boulders” in between the Santa Monica and Santa Susana mountain ranges. The kittens, just over three weeks old and known as P-113, P-114 and P-115, are healthy, the NPS said in a statement.

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Dodgers re-invite drag nuns to Pride Night after cutting them

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Baseball team apologizes to Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence after removing group from event amid conservative opposition

The Los Angeles Dodgers announced that the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a well-known San Francisco order of queer and trans “nuns” that has existed since the 1970s, are once again welcome at the team’s annual Pride Night.

Last week, the baseball team rescinded the group’s invitation after a Republican senator from Florida wrote a letter accusing the sisters, a group which came to prominence during the Aids crisis, of being anti-Christian activists. The group, which does charitable and protest work in addition to its street drag show performances, was set to receive an award during a ceremony before a 16 June game against the San Francisco Giants.

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LA Pride pulls out of Dodgers’ Pride Night after drag nun group is disinvited

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The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a non-profit order of queer and trans ‘nuns’, were left out after objection from conservatives

LA Pride has pulled out of an annual Pride Night hosted by the Dodgers after the team disinvited a non-profit drag group from the event.

Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Dodgers rescinded an invitation to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a well-known San Francisco order of queer and trans ‘nuns’ that has existed since the 1970s, amid opposition from conservative Catholics. The group, which does does charitable and protest work in addition to its street drag show performances, was set to receive an award during a ceremony before a 16 June game against the San Francisco Giants.

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US airline ‘sincerely apologizes’ to family over Puerto Rico passport error

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Spirit Airlines agent refused to let Puerto Rican family board plane from Los Angeles, even though passport is not required

Spirit Airlines refused to allow a Puerto Rican family to board a flight from Los Angeles to Puerto Rico because they did not have a passport for their two-year old child.

Speaking to CBS, Marivi Roman Torres, who was traveling with her husband, Luís, and son, Alejandro, said the problem occurred at the ticket counter.

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Dancers at Los Angeles club become US’s only unionized strippers

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Unanimous vote by 17 dancers marks the first time Actors Equity association represents strip club workers

After months of late-night picketing in North Hollywood, the dancers of the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar have become the only unionized strippers in the US.

Their victory was finalized with a unanimous vote by 17 dancers in favor of unionization on Thursday morning , and marks the first time that the Actors Equity association, a century-old union for stage actors, singers and dancers, will represent strip club workers, the union said.

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Hollywood film and TV writers begin rare strike: ‘The dream should pay a living wage’

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Writers Guild of America calls first work stoppage in 15 years as industry grapples with streaming boom

Hollywood productions have ground to a halt after thousands of film and television writers went on strike following the breakdown of last-minute pay talks with major studios.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) called its first stoppage in 15 years after failing to reach an agreement on higher pay, pitting its 11,500 screenwriters against old-guard companies, such as Universal, Paramount and Walt Disney, as well as tech newcomers, such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple.

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UN human rights experts begin US tour focusing on racial justice and policing

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Panel established in response to George Floyd killing will visit Washington DC, Atlanta, LA, Chicago, Minneapolis and New York

A team of United Nations experts has arrived in the US on a tour that will focus on racial justice, law enforcement and policing.

On Monday, the Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement, an independent panel appointed by the UN human rights council, began its two-week visit to the US.

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Puppy flung from pickup in high-speed Los Angeles police chase survives

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Eight-week-old beige pup with one blue and one brown eye tossed out of moving vehicle in designer bag ‘miraculously’ OK

A puppy that was thrown out of a moving pickup truck in Los Angeles during a high-speed police chase “miraculously” survived, according to authorities.

In a statement released on Saturday, the Los Angeles police department announced that on 7 April, at about 12.10pm in a south-east part of the city, officers started a car chase in pursuit of a suspect who was wanted in connection to an attempted murder and carjacking which occurred on 26 March.

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Coolio died from fentanyl overdose, manager says

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Grammy-winning rapper was found dead six months ago at friend’s home in Los Angeles

Grammy-winning rapper Coolio died from a fentanyl overdose, his manager said on Thursday, six months after the musician was found dead at a friend’s home in Los Angeles at the age 59.

Born Artis Leon Ivey Jr, Coolio was best known for his 1995 single Gangsta’s Paradise, from an album of the same name.

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Half a million kids out of class as LA school workers strike for better pay

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Strike joined by teachers over better wages and increased staffing closes nation’s second-largest school system

Tens of thousands of workers in the Los Angeles unified school district, accompanied by teachers, walked off the job on Tuesday over stalled contract talks for higher pay and better working conditions, shutting down the nation’s second-largest school system.

The strike, which is expected to last three days, upended the lives of more than 500,000 students and their families from schools in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas, as bus drivers, cafeteria workers and teachers demanded more support at a time when educators in the city and elsewhere are struggling to afford to live where they work.

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Massachusetts man arrested for stabbing United Airlines flight attendant

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Francisco Severo Torres also attempted to open the aircraft’s emergency door and was taken into custody after the plane landed

A man on a plane flying from from Los Angeles to Boston has been arrested after stabbing a flight attendant and attempting to open the aircraft’s emergency door, the justice department has announced.

The Massachusetts man, Francisco Severo Torres, 33, was arrested at Boston Logan international airport after United Airlines flight 2609 landed and he was charged with interference with flight crew members and attendants and using a dangerous weapon.

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‘Strongest snowstorm in years’ leaves Californians delighted and frozen

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The Hollywood sign was dusted in white as arctic air blew across the state, triggering blizzard warnings for the first time since 1989

Swaths of the Golden State were doused in white this week as a historic storm cast much of the US in a bitter chill – and forecasters say there’s more frosty weather in store.

The snowstorm hovering over the southern part of California could end up becoming one for the record books as typically balmy areas brace for a barrage of more blizzard conditions and blustery winds. Across the state this week, the snowline has already crept far downslope from its winter territory atop high-elevation peaks, dusting foothills and valleys closer to the coast, and even some beaches.

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Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 16 additional years for LA rape conviction

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Disgraced producer was previously convicted of rape and sexual assault in New York and is serving a 23-year term

Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 16 additional years in prison on Thursday, three months after being convicted of rape and sexual assault in Los Angeles.

The disgraced film producer, whose pattern of predatory behavior galvanized the #MeToo movement, was previously convicted of rape and sexual assault in New York in 2020 and is currently serving a 23-year prison term. The new sentence nearly doubles the 70-year-old producer’s remaining prison time.

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Los Angeles Jewish community shaken after two alleged antisemitic shootings

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Suspect Jamie Tran was arrested in nearby Riverside county after two men were wounded in separate shootings last week

Los Angeles was left reeling after alleged antisemitic hate incidents in which two Jewish men were shot and wounded as they left synagogues in the city last week.

Law enforcement say that over the course of two days Jaime Tran, 28, shot two men who were wearing black coats and head coverings identifying their faith. Both men survived the shootings. Tran, who had a “history of antisemitic and threatening conduct”, allegedly targeted the victims in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood because they were Jewish. He has been charged with federal hate crimes.

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Catholic bishop David O’Connell shot dead near Los Angeles

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Killing in Hacienda Heights being investigated as homicide, LA county sheriff’s department says

A Catholic bishop in southern California who was hailed as a “peacemaker” was shot and killed on Saturday blocks away from a church, stunning the Los Angeles religious community.

Detectives were investigating the death of Bishop David O’Connell as a homicide, the Los Angeles county sheriff’s department said.

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Celebrities and scientists mourn mountain lion P-22 at sold-out memorial

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City’s most famous feline was euthanized last year after being hit by vehicle, but his legacy lives on with a highway wildlife crossing

On a sunny Saturday in Los Angeles, a packed outdoor crowd of 6,000 people at the Greek Theater cried, sang and swayed together as they bid adieu to one of the city’s most treasured residents: a mountain lion known as P-22.

In a city more synonymous with billboards than biodiversity, an ageing bachelor puma made tracks into people’s hearts. When he was euthanized at the end of 2022 after being hit by a car, it stung.

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Monterey Park shooting suspect, 72, found dead of self-inflicted gunshot

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Motive for attack remains unclear as police identify gunman who killed at least 10 people at LA-area dance studio

The suspect in a deadly mass shooting at a Southern California dance studio on Saturday night died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Sunday morning.

The motive for the attack, which left 10 people dead and at least 10 injured, is still under investigation, law enforcement officials said at a press briefing on Sunday evening.

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Monterey Park shooting: suspect dead of self-inflicted gunshot wound, police say – as it happened

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Suspect in shooting at southern California dance studio identified as 72-year-old man

“It is important that we be there for them and to provide the support they need in a time of healing,” Henry Lo, mayor of Monterey Park, said of the victims and their families at Sunday morning’s press conference.

In addition to 10 fatalities, 10 other victims were injured in the shooting and their current conditions vary from “stable” to “critical,” police said.

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