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Sexual assault allegation against Russell Brand received by British police in wake of media reports

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:07 GMT

By JILL LAWLESS | Associated PressLONDON — British police said Monday that they had received a sexual assault allegation after media outlets published claims by several women against Russell Brand. Promoters postponed the remaining dates in a string of live gigs by the comedian, who denies the allegations.A talent agency and a publisher also parted company with Brand over the claims, which have left the U.K. entertainment industry facing questions about whether the comedian’s bad behavior went unchallenged because of his fame.Brand, 48, denies allegations of sexual assault made by four women in a Channel 4 television documentary and The Times and Sunday Times newspapers. The accusers, who have not been named, include one who said she was sexually assaulted during a relationship with him when she was 16. Another woman says Brand raped her in Los Angeles in 2012.London’s Metropolitan Police force said that since the allegations were made public it had received “a report of a sexual as...

Opinion: The real reason Hunter Biden is in trouble with the law

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:07 GMT

Hunter Biden was charged Thursday with three felonies related to lying on a 2018 application to buy a gun. But it’s hard not to conclude that his true offense is being the son of a president whom Republicans are hell-bent on vilifying and defeating.The indictment largely relies on Biden’s false claim that he was not using illegal drugs when he applied to purchase the firearm. In fact, he was then in the depths of the cocaine addiction that drove a series of travails that Republicans continue to weaponize against his father.The Justice Department had previously negotiated a plea agreement with Biden that included a gun charge following some five years of investigation by David Weiss, Trump’s U.S. attorney for Delaware, whom President Joe Biden allowed to remain in office in a departure from standard procedure. Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax offenses and enter a pretrial diversion under which the felony gun charge would be dropped if he stays on the straigh...

Child sues California school district over alleged failure to protect him from repeated attacks by students

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:07 GMT

LOS ANGELES — A child is suing the Claremont Unified School District, alleging district and school officials failed to protect him from unruly fellow intermediate school students who bullied and attacked him on campus this spring and forced his mother to withdraw him from the campus for his protection.The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit was brought on the minor’s behalf by his mother and it alleges assault and battery, dangerous condition of public property, negligent supervision and negligent hiring, training and retention. The plaintiff seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.RELATED: $27 million settlement ends lawsuit over 13-year-old Californian student’s bullying deathA CUSD spokeswoman issued a statement regarding the complaint filed Sept. 11, stating that the district is aware of the suit.“The district takes all allegations seriously and is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all our students,” the statement read. “District policy prioritizes th...

Teamsters support California bill requiring a human in self-driving vehicles

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:07 GMT

Teamsters and supporters rallied on Monday, Sept. 18 in Arcadia, supporting a Legislative bill that would require a human operator in self-driving vehicles weighing 10,001 pounds or more.The union says Assembly Bill 316 would prioritize safety on the road and put the preservation of an estimated 200,000 California jobs “before the interests of Big Tech.” Opponents say it would derail the state’s move to deliver safe, lower-cost transportation of goods at a time when the trucking industry is struggling to attract and retain drivers.Smart Trucking, an online career and support organization for truckers, said many drivers are leaving the industry in search of jobs that offer better pay, benefits and working conditions, a trend that has resulted in a shortage of about 60,000 U.S. drivers.Smart Trucking added that drivers often get nothing for the time they spend stuck in traffic jams, construction zones, bad weather or other delays they encounter on the road.SB 316 — which a Teamsters r...

Allowing speed cameras in six California cities, including San Jose and Oakland, is up to Newsom

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:07 GMT

A bill that for the first time in California history would authorize speed cameras on roadways in six selected cities passed both houses in Sacramento last week and is now on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk awaiting his signature.Assembly Bill 645, by principal author Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, represents the eighth attempt to bring speed cameras to California since 2005 and the first to make it all the way to the desk of the governor. Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Oct. 14 to sign the bill into law or veto it.“We need new tools in our toolbox to stop traffic violence and the senseless loss of human life,” Friedman said in a statement. “I am confident the governor will sign AB 645 into law.”While there’s no word from the governor’s office about which way he’s leaning, Friedman said many of the provisions in her bill are included in a report from the California State Transportation Agency’s “Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force.”That report found that studies show roadway systems ...

Suspect in killing of LA County deputy battled mental illness, hallucinations, family says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:07 GMT

The family of a 29-year-old man arrested in the ambush-style killing of Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer offered a troubling portrait of the suspect Monday, saying he was in the throes of mental health crises that included auditory hallucinations.Although Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna called Kevin Cataneo Salazar a “coward” for shooting the deputy while he was stopped at a redlight Saturday near the Palmdale sheriff’s station, Salazar’s family blamed his mental illness for his actions.“I want you to know that my son has schizophrenia and delusional perceptions and the police know this,” his mother, Marle Salazar, wearily told a throng of reporters in Spanish on Monday as they converged on her residence in the 37600 block of Barrinson Street. “They know my son is sick. And if they are going to judge him, then they need to judge him with the condition he has.”Marle Salazar said she wasn’t minimizing Clinkunbroomer’s slaying, but added that if her son is...

Shannon Beador of ‘Real Housewives of Orange County’ arrested on suspicion of DUI, hit-and-run

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:07 GMT

“Real Housewives of Orange County” cast member Shannon Beador was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and hit-and-run in Newport Beach over the weekend, according to police.Beador, 59, was arrested and booked early Sunday, a public information officer for the Newport Beach Police Department told CNN. Alcohol-related DUI and a hit-and-run with property damage are both misdemeanor charges in Beador’s case, according to police.She was released shortly after. City News Service reported she was accused of a collision on residential property. Newport Beach Police Department Sgt. Steve Oberon said the collision occurred Saturday night at Via Oporto and Via Lido.CNN has reached out to Beador’s attorney Michael Fell for comment.“I spent quite a bit of time with Shannon yesterday. She is extremely apologetic and remorseful. We will be awaiting the official information on this case as it becomes available, and Shannon is prepared to accept full responsibility for her actions,” Fell told E...

Walters: Compromise settles dispute over status of fast food franchises

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:07 GMT

In some ways, the most interesting — and perhaps most significant — event of the 2023 legislative session’s closing days was a compromise agreement on state oversight of the fast food industry.Last year, unions pushed through legislation that would have created a new state commission to set wages and working conditions in the industry.Inferentially, the legislation set aside the industry’s franchise system and treated locally outlets of as merely branches of their corporate franchisors.While the wage increases that would have resulted garnered most of the media attention, erosion of the franchise model was most worrisome aspect to the fast food corporations and their franchisees.Immediately, big guns in the industry pledged tens of millions of dollars for a campaign to challenge the legislation via a referendum that qualified to go before voters in 2024.The Legislature’s response was entertaining another bill that would have doubled down on attacking the franchise model by making co...

Setup for World Culture Festival shuts down DC roads

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:07 GMT

World Culture Festival starts next week in D.C. but restrictions on the roads are already in effect.The festival features music, food trucks and yoga, and is expected to generate $29.8 million for D.C., Angie Gates, president and CEO of Events DC said last spring.Setup for the festival started Monday and many roads are impacted through Oct. 5.Parking restrictionsYou can’t legally park on these streets from Sept. 28 at 6 a.m. through Oct. 1 at 11 p.m.:3rd Street from Independence Avenue SW to Constitution Avenue NW7th Street from Independence Avenue SW to Constitution Avenue NWMadison Drive from 14th Street to 3rd Street NWJefferson Drive from 14th Street to 3rd Street SWThis part of 4th Street will be posted as “Emergency No Parking” from Sept. 18 through Oct. 5, 2023 at noon:4th Street from Independence Avenue, SW to Pennsylvania Avenue NWRoad closuresPortions of 4th Street will also be closed to vehicles from Sept. 18 through Oct. 5 at noon:4th Street from Jeffer...

Llegan al país cinco estadounidenses liberados en un intercambio de prisioneros con Irán

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:55:07 GMT

El gobierno de Estados Unidos confirmó que este martes aterrizaron en el país los cinco estadounidenses que estuvieron detenidos en Irán y que fueron liberados como parte de un acuerdo de intercambio de prisioneros del gobierno de Joe Biden con ese país. Varios de los detenidos estuvieron más de 5 años detenidos en Irán. A pesar de su liberación, varios legisladores republicanos criticaron el acuerdo, diciendo que equivalía a un pago de “rescate” y que sólo alentaría a Irán a encarcelar a más extranjeros. Como primer paso en el intercambio de prisioneros, los cinco estadounidenses fueron puestos bajo arresto domiciliario el 10 de agosto y su liberación estaba condicionada a la transferencia de los $6,000 millones en ingresos petroleros congelados de Corea del Sur al banco central de Catar. El uso de los fondos liberados por parte de Irán será supervisado por Catar y restringido a la compra de alimentos, medicinas u otros artículos con fines humanitarios, según lo permitido por ...