Author: Press Room

California Attorney General Rob Bonta received some more opposition this week when two of the biggest Hollywood unions, the Director’s Guild of America (DGA) and IATSE, urged him to settle his lawsuit against Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Both the DGA and IATSE urged Bonta to drop his suit in an open letter addressed to both Bonta and Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison on Wednesday. “While we have been consistent in our view that mergers, such as this one, historically offer few benefits to workers, we are also particularly concerned about the negative impact a delay in the decision regarding…

The AH-64 Apache sparked a large wildfire and prompted evacuations after coming down near Fort Hood in Texas Two pilots have been killed after a US Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter crashed in a field in central Texas and burst into flames, sparking a large wildfire and prompting evacuations in the surrounding area.The helicopter, based at the Fort Hood military installation, went down near Salado at around 1:35 PM local time on Wednesday, according to the US Army and the Bell County Sheriff’s Office. Both crew members aboard were confirmed dead.“It crashed into a field, and you could tell it…

Trump administration reforms have ended efforts to turn the State Department into a DEI sales force. Biden-era guidelines that ordered diplomats to push a diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility policies agenda on foreign governments have been scrapped, according to Fox News. “Under the Trump Administration, America’s diplomats are tasked with advocating for our national interests on the world stage — not demonstrating adherence to woke political dogmas,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said. “The State Department is implementing sweeping reforms to the Foreign Service to prioritize merit, refocus training on tangible diplomatic skills, and prepare our nation’s diplomats to deliver…

Video game streaming giant Twitch has introduced a setting that allows users to opt out of Amazon using their channel content to train generative AI models, more than two years after a company executive publicly confirmed the practice. Ars Technica reports that Twitch announced the AI opt out option on Wednesday through an updated support page. The streaming platform, which Amazon acquired in 2014, confirmed that user content may be used to train what it calls Amazon’s “generative AI content models” unless users take action to opt out. The support page specifies the types of content covered by the policy.…

A massive international salvage operation was underway on Thursday to contain the oil spill from a tanker called the Caroline Bezengi, which ran aground off the coast of Oman on June 30. The Omani military is supporting a wide range of international experts who are attempting to stabilize the stricken vessel before its cargo contaminates a nearby nature preserve. The Caroline Bezengi was carrying 800,000 barrels of sanctioned Russian oil to India when it ran aground under murky circumstances. The tanker is a 24-year-old vessel under sanctions from Europe, Canada, and Ukraine for transporting oil above the price caps imposed…

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) added his voice to local politicians and Democrat State Representative James Talarico (D-Austin), nominee in the 2026 U.S. Senate election in Texas, in opposing border security enhancements in the Big Bend National Park. In a letter addressed to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin dated August 7, Cornyn echoed constituents’ belief that dangerous terrain in the region acts as a “natural barrier that limits large-scale movements.” In the letter, Cornyn urges Secretary Mullin to consider meeting with stakeholders to reconsider proposed border security infrastructure projects in the region and pause construction until concerns have been addressed. Cornyn’s intervention…

In a sign of momentum for efforts to punt government funding talks beyond the midterms, House Rules Chair Virginia Foxx predicted Thursday that a Senate-approved stopgap spending measure could pass in the House. “I think it will pass on suspension,” the North Carolina Republican told reporters as she presided over a pro forma session of the House. She was referring to an expedited procedure typically reserved for noncontroversial bills that require a two-thirds majority vote to secure passage — a workaround for House GOP leaders who might not be able to bring the measure up under a party-line procedural rule.…

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license/ Author: formulanone The bathrooms at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport will be getting a makeover. According to project documents, Islamic “Wudu” foot-washing stations will be installed in the facility’s bathrooms at a cost of $300,000. According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the project “consists of adding Ablution stations to existing concourse level restrooms in Terminal D, one Men’s ablution station in existing men’s restroom and one Women’s ablution station in the existing women’s restroom,” and is privately funded. The Dallas airport is now installing dedicated Islamic “Wudu”…

Dating app Bumble is eliminating its rule requiring women to send the first message to a match, the key differentiator between it and many other online dating platforms. According to a survey, more than two-thirds of women on the platform prefer for men to send the first message. NBC News reports that Bumble announced this week that men will now be able to start conversations with women on the app, ending a feature that has defined the platform since its 2014 launch. The change took effect immediately, according to a company news release. Bumble also extended the window users have…

North Carolina Democrat Senate candidate Roy Cooper signed an executive order creating the “task force for racial equity in criminal justice” in June 2020 and appointed then-Attorney General Josh Stein and state Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls as co-chairs. The 166-page report lists 125 recommendations aimed at weakening public safety. “North Carolina can reimagine public safety,” the authors wrote in a letter to Cooper, adding their recommendations “provide a framework for meaningful change, but this report is not the first nor final word on what can and should be done to address racial equity in our criminal justice system.” In…