Page 7 - Los Angeles

Los Angeles looks ahead for next Olympics, hopes to turn a profit

LA28 has an estimated budget of nearly $7 billion to cover costs including the opening and closing ceremonies

Harvey Weinstein's lawyers argue he was denied fair trial in LA rape case

Harvey Weinstein's lawyers argue in an appeal that he did not get a fair trial when he was convicted of rape and sexual assault in Los Angeles in 2022 and sentenced to 16 years in prison. The brief filed Friday with California's Second District Court of Appeal comes six weeks after his similar landmark #MeToo conviction and 23-year prison sentence in New York were overturned by the state's highest court. The California appeal argues the trial judge wrongly excluded evidence that the Italian model and actor he was convicted of raping had a sexual relationship with the director of a film festival that had brought both Weinstein and the woman to Los Angeles at the time of the alleged attack. Weinstein's lawyers argued that the judge deprived him of "his constitutional rights to present a defence and led to a miscarriage of justice. The attorneys say the judge was wrong to allow jurors to know about Weinstein's previous, now-vacated conviction in New York, and that the jury was unfairl

From London to LA, Iranians overseas cheer & fear, after president's death

Among Iranian communities from London to Los Angeles, few tears are being shed over the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a weekend helicopter crash. But there are not always loud cheers, either. While some hope the demise of a powerful figure in Iran's authoritarian Islamic government may bring change, others fear it could result in more repression. It's a better world without him, said Maryam Namazie, a UK-based women's rights campaigner. He is one of the pillars of the Islamic regime of Iran. He has been there since its inception. But, she added: Raisi, however much of a pillar he was, is expendable. There are many others to take his place. Inside Iran, authorities are keeping a tight lid on reaction to the crash that killed Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and six others. The government declared five days of mourning, encouraging people into the streets in displays of public grief and support. Prosecutors have warned Iranians against any public ...

15 suffer injuries in tram accident at LA's Universal Studios theme park

More than a dozen people suffered minor injuries when a tram used for tours crashed into a railing at Universal Studios Hollywood near Los Angeles, authorities and the company said. Los Angeles County Fire Department units responded shortly after 9 p.m. Saturday to the theme park in Universal City, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) northwest of downtown LA, the agency said in a social media post. A Universal Studios Hollywood spokesperson confirmed in an email to The Associated Press that there were multiple minor injuries but didn't provide details on the accident. The fire department said 15 people were transported to hospitals with minor injuries. Sheriff's Lt. Maria Abal said the four-car tram used for movie studio backlot tours might have experienced an issue with its brakes. The California Highway Patrol will lead the investigation, the fire department said. The tram circuit, called the World-Famous Studio Tour, offers a glimpse behind the scenes of Universal movies including

Thieves steal $30 mn in cash in one of the biggest heists in Los Angeles

Thieves got away with $30 million in cash from a money storage facility in Los Angeles by breaking into the building on Easter Sunday and cracking the safe. Now detectives are seeking to unravel the brazen cash heist, reportedly one of the largest on record in Los Angeles. Police Cmdr Elaine Morales told The Los Angeles Times, which broke the news of the crime, that the thieves were able to breach the building, as well as the safe where the money was stored. The operators of the business did not discover the massive theft until they opened the vault. Media reports identified the facility as a location of GardaWorld, a global cash management and security company, in Sylmar. The Canada-based company, which also operates fleets of armoured cars, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. LAPD Officer David Cuellar, a department spokesperson, confirmed that officers received a call for service at 4:30 am Sunday at a business on the street where ...

United Airlines plane makes safe emergency landing in LA after losing tyre

A United Airlines jetliner bound for Japan made a safe landing in Los Angeles on Thursday after losing a tyre while taking off from San Francisco. Video shows the plane losing one of the six tyres on its left-side main landing gear assembly seconds after takeoff. The tyre landed in an employee parking lot at San Francisco International Airport, where it smashed into a car and shattered its back window before breaking through a fence and coming to stop in a neighbouring lot. No one was injured, airport spokesman Doug Yakel said in a statement. Fire engines stood by at Los Angeles International Airport but weren't needed, as the Boeing 777 made an uneventful landing and stopped about two-thirds of the way down a runway. Airport spokesman Dae Levine said the plane landed safely. It was then towed away. The flight carried 235 passengers and a crew of 14, United said. The airline said that the plane, built in 2002, was designed to land safely with missing or damaged tyres. The passenge

Billions awarded in Indian brothers' Los Angeles real estate court feud

The trial, over allegations that Haresh breached a long-standing partnership with his siblings, continues with a punitive damages hearing Monday that could add to the award

Elon Musk backs lawsuit against Walt Disney over 'Mandalorian' firing

Carano's lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles claims Disney and Lucasfilm Ltd. violated California law in terminating her from the Star Wars spinoff in Feb 2021 due to her political views

Los Angeles sees more than 300 mudslides during storm, no deaths reported

One of the wettest storms in Southern California history began to ease up on Tuesday after bombarding Los Angeles with nearly half of its seasonal rainfall in just two days. Although the rain was tapering off, the threat of potentially deadly landslides persisted. The slow-moving storm that parked itself over the region on Monday and dumped a record amount of rain on sections of the nation's second-largest city could linger into Wednesday, the National Weather Service said. Scattered showers and possible thunderstorms were expected to bring light to moderate rain to the region, but some places could get brief yet fierce downpours that could dump up ton an inch (roughly 2.5 centimeters) of rain in an hour. Crews have responded to 307 mudslides and five buildings have been deemed uninhabitable since the atmospheric river-fuelled storm moved into the region over the weekend, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said at a news conference on Tuesday. Despite the torrents of rain, ...

Record-setting storm dumps rain on LA, flash flood alerts still in effect

A storm of historic proportions dumped a record amount of rain over parts of Los Angeles on Monday, sending mud and boulders down hillsides dotted with multimillion-dollar homes while people living in homeless encampments in many parts of the city scrambled for safety. About 710,000 people statewide were without power Monday evening. The storm was the second one fueled by an atmospheric river to hit the state over the span of days. Virtually all of Southern California was under flash flood advisories and watches, including the Los Angeles area, where between 5 and 10 inches (12.7 to 25.4 centimeters) of rain had fallen and more was expected, according to the National Weather Service. At the downtown measuring station, 6.7 inches of rain had fallen by Monday afternoon, nearly half the yearly average of 14.25 inches. It was already the third-wettest two-day period since 1877, the service said. So far officials have attributed three deaths to the storm that first hit Northern Californ

Grammy Awards 2024: Shankar Mahadevan, Zakir Hussain win for best album

Grammy Awards 2024: The 66th Annual Grammy Awards 2024 are being held in Los Angeles

Los Angeles Times fires 20% employees, largest in its 142-year-old history

Paper's owner Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong, defended the move, saying the organisation first needed to make progress towards building higher readership to make up for the heavy financial losses

Critics Choice Awards 2024: Oppenheimer leads with 8 awards, Barbie wins 6

The prestigious Critics Choice Awards 2024 is happening in Los Angeles on Sunday (Monday in India) and the winners are being declared. Oppenheimer was the biggest winner at the Critics Choice Awards

Hunter Biden expected to plead not guilty in hearing on federal tax charges

President Joe Biden's son will head back to court on Thursday for arraignment in Los Angeles on federal tax charges filed after the collapse of a plea deal that could have spared him the spectacle of a criminal trial during the 2024 campaign. Hunter Biden is expected to plead not guilty to nine felony and misdemeanor tax offenses. The charges stem from what federal prosecutors say was a four-year scheme to skip out on paying the USD 1.4 million he owed to the IRS and instead use the money to fund an extravagant lifestyle that by his own admission included drugs and alcohol. The court appearance will also include a discussion over future court dates and filing deadlines. Meanwhile, Hunter Biden has also been charged in Delaware with lying in October 2018 on a federal form for gun purchasers when he swore he wasn't using or addicted to illegal drugs. He was addicted to crack cocaine at the time. He's also accused of possessing the gun illegally and has pleaded not guilty in that ...

3 killed, several wounded in separate shootings on new year in Los Angeles

A woman was killed and four people were wounded in a Los Angeles County shooting shortly after the arrival of the new year, police said. Officers from the Hawthorne Police Department responded to a shooting report around 12:30 am on Monday, KABC-TV reported. The Hawthorne police said a male victim who suffered gunshot wounds was transported to a hospital from the scene near a shopping mall on Crenshaw Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue, KABC reported. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said four other victims arrived at area hospitals by other means. An adult female victim was later pronounced dead. One of the others was listed in critical condition and three were listed as stable, KABC reported. There were no immediate arrests in the shooting, which was being investigated by the sheriff's department. Hawthorne is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area in southwestern Los Angeles County. Authorities said they were also investigating a separate shooting early on Monday at

Pro-Palestinian protesters block airport access roads in NY, Los Angeles

Pro-Palestinian protesters briefly blocked entrance roads to airports in New York and Los Angeles on Wednesday, forcing some travellers to set off on foot to bypass the jammed roadway. As US airlines contended with a rush of holiday travel, the demonstrations snarled traffic on the outskirts of New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport. In New York, activists locked arms and held banners demanding an end to the Israel-Hamas war and expanded rights for Palestinians, bringing traffic to a standstill on the expressway leading up to the airport for about 20 minutes. Video posted to social media showed passengers, some carrying suitcases, leaving vehicles behind and stepping over barriers onto the highway median. One woman could be heard saying that she was sorry for what's going on in another country, but she had to get to work, using an obscenity. Twenty-six people were arrested on the roadway, said Steve Burns, a spokesperson for the Port

Cricket among five sports included in Los Angeles Olympics 2028 programme

Cricket was on Monday officially included in the programme for the 2028 Los Angles, marking the sport's return to the Summer Games after 123 years. Besides cricket, which will be played in T20 format, the other sports approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during its 141st session, were squash, baseball/softball, lacrosse and flag football. "The proposal from the Organising Committee of the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 (@LA28) to include five new sports in the programme has been accepted by the IOC Session. "Baseball/softball, cricket (T20), flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash will be in the programme at LA28," posted the IOC on X, formerly Twitter. The proposal to include the five sports recommended by LA28 Organising Committee was opposed by only two of the 99 IOC members, who participated in voting. IOC president Thomas Bach made the announcement of cricket's inclusion along with other sport after the recommendation of the Executive Board was put to vote

Cricket may return to Olympics for LA 2028 games, IOC to decide on Sunday

International Olympic Committee, the panel responsible for organising the games is expected to make an official announcement soon, the committee is also expected to add squash and lacrosse

LA Mayor urges India to open consulate in America's 2nd-largest city

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and the Indian-American community have urged the Indian government to open a consulate in the second-largest US city and the entertainment capital of the world. Currently, there are five Indian consulates in the US in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston and Atlanta. During the historic State Visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June, it was announced that India would open two new consulates in the US, one of which would be in Seattle. A group of Indian American organisations and the Los Angeles (LA) Mayor are urging that the second consulate should be opened in their city. I ask that you consider the City of Los Angeles for a new Indian Consulate. It would be my honour to work with you to open and provide continued support for this important platform for engagement and exchange, Bass wrote in a recent letter to India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu. Tourism between India and Los Angeles is another source of mutual benefit, and Lo

Thousands of LA city workers walk off job for 24 hrs over unfair practices

Thousands of Los Angeles city employees, including sanitation workers, lifeguards and traffic officers, walked off the job Tuesday for a 24-hour strike alleging unfair labour practices. Picket lines went up before dawn at Los Angeles International Airport and other locations and a rally was planned for later in the day at City Hall. SEIU Local 721 said airport custodians, heavy duty mechanics and engineers are among the more than 11,000 LA city workers who are striking. The union said its members voted to authorise the walkout because the city has failed to bargain in good faith and also engaged in labour practices that restricted employee and union rights. City workers are vital to the function of services for millions of Angelenos every day and to our local economy," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement Monday. "They deserve fair contracts and we have been bargaining in good faith with SEIU 721 since January. The city will always be available to make progress 24 hours