A representative for the actor has described her as being in an ‘extreme critical condition’ following the incident on Friday
Anne Heche has not regained consciousness since shortly after she crashed her car in Los Angeles on Friday.
Initial reports about the actor’s condition said she was “stable” and firefighters said she had spoken to rescuers as she was pulled from the wreckage.
Continue reading...Singer had been sued by writers of 3LW’s 2000 song Playas Gon’ Play for alleged plagiarism, and the case is due to return to court
Taylor Swift has defended herself as the sole writer of her 2014 hit Shake It Off in response to a lawsuit claiming that she plagiarised lyrics from the 2000 song Playas Gon’ Play by girl group 3LW.
“The lyrics to Shake It Off were written entirely by me,” Swift stated in a sworn declaration filed on Monday. “Until learning about Plaintiffs’ claim in 2017, I had never heard the song Playas Gon’ Play and had never heard of that song or the group 3LW.”
Continue reading...Bill makes concessions to the fossil fuel industry as frontline community groups call on Biden to declare climate emergency
The landmark climate legislation passed by the Senate after months of wrangling and weakening by fossil-fuel friendly Democrats will lead to more harm than good, according to frontline community groups who are calling on Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency.
If signed into law, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) would allocate $369bn to reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions and invest in renewable energy sources – a historic amount that scientists estimate will lead to net reductions of 40% by 2030, compared with 2005 levels.
Continue reading...Moscow blames Ukraine war sanctions for preventing mutual inspection of its nuclear arms under New Start treaty
Russia has suspended an arrangement that allowed US and Russian inspectors to visit each other’s nuclear weapons sites under the 2010 New Start treaty, in a new blow to arms control.
Mutual inspections had been suspended as a health precaution since the start of the Covid pandemic, but a foreign ministry statement on Monday added another reason Russia is unwilling to restart them. It argued that US sanctions imposed because of the invasion of Ukraine stopped Russian inspectors travelling to the US.
Continue reading...On Joe Biden’s visit to flood-ravaged eastern Kentucky today he is not just viewing the effects through the lens of a disaster needing federal assistance but also through the lens of the climate crisis that is making events like this more intense, more common and more deadly, in America and around the world.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the issue in her media briefing aboard Air Force One en route to Lexington with the US president and first lady Jill Biden a little earlier.
Continue reading...Travis and Greg McMichael were also sentenced earlier this year to life without parole in a Georgia state court for the murder
The white father and son convicted of murder in Ahmaud Arbery’s fatal shooting after they chased him through a Georgia neighborhood were sentenced Monday to life in prison for committing a federal hate crime.
Travis McMichael, 36, and Greg McMichael, 66, received their sentences from US district court judge Lisa Godbey Wood in the port city of Brunswick. The punishment is largely symbolic – the McMichaels were sentenced earlier this year to life without parole in a Georgia state court for 25-year-old Arbery’s murder.
Continue reading...Revival of agreement awaits ‘political decisions’ in Tehran and Washington after negotiators in Vienna agree text
The European Union has submitted a “final text” at talks to salvage the 2015 deal aimed at reining in Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The revival of the agreement now awaits “political decisions” in Tehran and Washington after negotiators in Vienna agreed the text thrashed out between Iranian and European representatives over the past five days was the final text and could not be amended further.
Continue reading...Axios, whose founders launched site in 2016, to be taken over by legacy publisher that owns US regional newspapers
For $525m, Axios – publisher of punchy, notated news briefs – is set to be acquired by Cox Enterprises, a legacy publisher that owns a series of US regional newspapers.
The cash deal, announced Monday, is expected to close in the next few weeks and marks a significant moment in the growth of the news outlet, which was founded in 2016 by the same journalists who launched Politico in 2007.
Continue reading...Bernie Sanders calls climate measures a ‘very modest step forward’ and Republicans denounce the bill altogether
Democrats celebrated the much-delayed Senate passage of their healthcare and climate spending package, expressing hope that the bill’s approval could improve their prospects in the crucial midterm elections this November.
The bill, formally known as the Inflation Reduction Act, passed the Senate on Sunday in a party-line vote of 51-50, with Vice-President Kamala Harris breaking the tie in the evenly divided chamber.
Continue reading...US treasury says popular cryptocurrency service reportedly laundered more than $7bn worth of virtual currency
The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash, a popular cryptocurrency service that allows users to mask their transactions, accusing it of helping hackers, including from North Korea, to launder proceeds from their cybercrimes.
A senior treasury department official said Tornado Cash, one of the largest virtual currency “mixers” identified as problematic by the treasury, has reportedly laundered more than $7bn worth of virtual currency since it was created in 2019.
Continue reading...Images published ahead of new book on 45th presidency offer possible evidence of violations of Presidential Records Act
Claims that Donald Trump periodically blocked up White House and other drains with wads of paper appear to be borne out in photographs leaked ahead of the publication of a new account of the 45th presidency.
On Monday, Axios published photos of folded-up paper, marked with Trump’s telltale handwriting, using his favored pen, a Sharpie, submerged at the bottom of various toilet bowls.
Continue reading...Anti-submarine attack and sea raid exercises begin, as Beijing maintains pressure on Taiwan’s defences
China carried out fresh military drills around Taiwan on Monday, including anti-submarine attack and sea raid operations, a day after its major live-fire exercises targeting the territory were supposed to end.
Beijing’s defence ministry also defended its shelving of military talks with the US in protest against Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei last week, which have raised concerns about potential accidents escalating into conflict.
Continue reading...Inflation Reduction Act will reduce planet-heating emissions and lower prescription drug costs – and give Biden a crucial victory
Senate Democrats passed their climate and healthcare spending package on Sunday, sending the legislation to the House and bringing Joe Biden one step closer to a significant legislative victory ahead of crucial midterm elections in November.
If signed into law, the bill, formally known as the Inflation Reduction Act, would allocate $369bn to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and investing in renewable energy sources. Experts have estimated the climate provisions of the bill will reduce America’s planet-heating emissions by about 40% by 2030, compared with 2005 levels.
Continue reading...Inflation Reduction Act could put US within striking distance of Biden’s goal of halving emissions by 2030, analysis suggests
The US is, following decades of political rancor and fossil fuel industry obfuscation, almost certain to make its first significant attempt to tackle the climate crisis. Experts say it will help rewire the American economy and act as an important step in averting disastrous global heating.
Independent analysis of the proposed legislation, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, shows it should slash America’s planet-heating emissions by about 40% by the end of the decade, compared with 2005 levels.
Continue reading...Police in New Mexico have warned that deaths of local Muslim men, including one last year, may be linked
Three Muslim men have been killed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in a span of just 10 days, stoking fear in one of America’s smallest Muslim communities as police have warned the deaths may be linked.
The killings also followed the November 2021 killing of Mohammad Ahmadi, another Muslim man, which local advocates and law enforcement officials believe could also be linked to the more recent attacks.
Continue reading...City council in small community of Vincent votes to terminate police chief, assistant and then whole department
The small city of Vincent in Alabama has voted to disband its police force after the revelation of racist text messages exchanged between two of its officers.
In the exchange, which recently surfaced on social media, one user named “752” asked: “What do y’all call a pregnant slave?” To this, one person who is not identifiable through the text, responded with question marks.
Continue reading...Fans and friends express support for Hollywood star who drove her car into house, which was left ‘uninhabitable’
Actor Anne Heche was “stable” in hospital amid a wave of support from fans and fellow stars following an accident in which she drove her car into a Los Angeles home, causing severe burn injuries to herself as well as damaging the house which has become “uninhabitable”.
As of Saturday, the Los Angeles police department (LAPD) said it was investigating the incident but had not determined its cause. The Los Angeles fire department (LAFD) said in a statement it took 59 firefighters to extinguish the fire.
Continue reading...Fourth set of skeletal remains, as yet unidentified, discovered at Swim Beach in Nevada as lake hits lowest level in 80 years
A fourth set of human remains has been found at the shrinking reservoir of Lake Mead as the drought gripping the western US continues to blaze and sends its water levels plunging.
The fourth set of skeletal remains was found on Saturday at Swim Beach in Nevada, and are now being assessed by the local Clark county coroner. The identity of the body is unknown, nor the manner of death.
Continue reading...Warships shadow each other in final hours of exercises as White House calls Beijing’s actions ‘irresponsible’
China has wrapped up its unprecedented four days of drills that showcased Beijing’s growing military prowess and determination to challenge what it called “any attempt to separate Taiwan from China”, after the controversial visit to the island democracy last week by the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
A Chinese state television commentator said the Chinese military would now conduct “regular” drills on the Taiwan side of the line, saying the “historic task” of China’s “reunification” could be realised.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed
Taiwan’s Premier Su Tseng-chang says China has “arrogantly” used military actions to disrupt regional peace and stability, according to a Reuters report.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei on Sunday, Su also called on Beijing to not flex its military muscles, and condemned “foreign enemies” he said were attempting to sap the morale of the Taiwanese people through cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns.
Continue reading...