The Los Angeles Post
California & Local U.S. World Business Lifestyle
Today: January 24, 2025
Today: January 24, 2025
The Los Angeles Post

The Los Angeles Post

Staff Writer

Latest From The Los Angeles Post

Political

Events that never happened could influence the 2024 presidential election – a cybersecurity researcher explains situation deepfakes

The volatile mix of deepfakes and political campaigns is a good reason to be on guard. Sean Anthony Eddy Creative/E+ via Getty Images Imagine an October surprise like no other: Only a week before Nov. 5, 2024, a video recording reveals a secret meeting between Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The American and Ukrainian presidents agree to immediately initiate Ukraine into NATO under “the special emergency membership protocol” and prepare for a nuclear weapons strike against Russia. Suddenly, the world is on the cusp of Armageddon. While journalists could point out that no such protocol exists and social media users

Events that never happened could influence the 2024 presidential election – a cybersecurity researcher explains situation deepfakes
World

Northeast starts to dry out after flash flooding claims at least 5 lives in Pennsylvania

An already saturated Northeast began drying out Monday after a second round of heavy rain in a week, including a flash flood in Pennsylvania that claimed at least five lives over the weekend. A 9-month-old boy and his 2-year-old sister remained missing in Upper Makefield Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which is along the Delaware River, after they were swept away late Saturday afternoon while traveling in a vehicle. Fire Chief Tim Brewer said the area got about 6 1/2 to 7 inches of rain (about 18 centimeters) in 45 minutes. The children are part

Northeast starts to dry out after flash flooding claims at least 5 lives in Pennsylvania
Arts

Baa-gain? Iconic sheep sweater worn by Princess Diana could fetch $50,000 at auction

A red sweater adorned with a flock of sheep worn by the young Princess Diana is expected to sell for more than $50,000 at auction. The playfully patterned wool jumper featuring a single black sheep amid a pattern of white ones headlines Sotheby’s online Fashion Icons sale in September. The 19-year-old Lady Diana Spencer was photographed in the garment at a polo match in June 1981, soon after her engagement to Prince Charles, who was then heir to the British throne. Diana was already becoming a style icon —- and one of the world’s most photographed women

Baa-gain? Iconic sheep sweater worn by Princess Diana could fetch $50,000 at auction
Political

GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy lists Senators Cruz, Lee as possible Supreme Court picks

Biotech entrepreneur and Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy on Monday released a list of 16 people he’d nominate to the U.S. Supreme Court or federal appellate courts if he becomes president, making him the first in the party’s field to itemize his possible top judicial appointments. Ramaswamy’s list includes Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah as possible nominees for the nation’s top court, as well as elevating federal judges who struck down President Joe Biden’s airplane mask mandate and the FDA’s two-decade-long approval of the abortion pill. The direction of the Supreme Court was a powerful

GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy lists Senators Cruz, Lee as possible Supreme Court picks
World

After heat wave, wildfires force thousands to flee seaside resorts outside Greek capital

Wildfires outside Athens forced thousands to flee seaside resorts, closed highways and gutted vacation homes Monday, as high winds pushed flames through hillside scrub and pine forests parched by days of extreme heat. Authorities issued evacuation orders for at least six seaside communities as two major wildfires edged closer to summer resort towns and gusts of wind hit 70 kph (45 mph). The army, police special forces and volunteer rescuers freed retirees from their homes, rescued horses from a stable, and helped monks flee a monastery threatened by the flames. Before nightfall, water-dropping planes and helicopters

After heat wave, wildfires force thousands to flee seaside resorts outside Greek capital
Science

Pod of 55 pilot whales die after being stranded on a beach in Scotland

A pod of 55 pilot whales have died after they were found washed ashore on a beach in Scotland in the worst mass whale stranding in the area, marine experts said Monday. Marine rescuers, the coast guard and police were called to Traigh Mhor beach on the Isle of Lewis in northwest Scotland after receiving reports that dozens of the mammals were in difficulty there early Sunday. The British Divers Marine Life Rescue found that only 15 of the whales — a mixture of adults and calves — were still alive, and attempted to refloat two of

Pod of 55 pilot whales die after being stranded on a beach in Scotland
World

Lack of funding forces UN to slash food program in Haiti amid a surge in malnutrition

The U.N.’s World Food Program announced Monday that it is facing a shortage of funds and won’t be able to help 100,000 people in Haiti this month who urgently need assistance. The 25% cut comes as a record 4.9 million people in the country of nearly 11 million need help with finding food, the agency said. “These cuts could not come at a worse time, as Haitians face a multi-layered humanitarian crisis, their lives and livelihoods upended by violence, insecurity, economic turmoil and climate shocks,” said Jean-Martin Bauer, the agency’s director for Haiti. The

Lack of funding forces UN to slash food program in Haiti amid a surge in malnutrition
Health

Second Alzheimer's drug in the pipeline promises to slow worsening but with safety concern

Another experimental Alzheimer’s drug can modestly slow patients’ inevitable worsening — by about four to seven months, researchers reported Monday. Eli Lilly and Co. is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval of donanemab. If cleared, it would be only the second Alzheimer’s treatment convincingly shown to delay the mind-robbing disease — after the recently approved Leqembi from Japanese drugmaker Eisai. “Finally there’s some hope, right, that we can talk about,” Lilly’s Dr. John Sims told reporters Monday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Amsterdam. “We don’t cure the disease,” he said. “Diabetes doesn’t have a cure

Second Alzheimer's drug in the pipeline promises to slow worsening but with safety concern
World

Police investigating the Gilgo Beach killings have searched a Long Island storage facility

Detectives investigating the long-unsolved murders known as the Gilgo Beach killings searched a storage facility in the Long Island community of Amityville over the weekend, police said. Suffolk County police confirmed Monday that detectives executed a search warrant at Omega Self Storage on Sunrise Highway related to the investigation that led to last week’s arrest of architect Rex Heuermann. He was charged Friday with murder in the deaths of three of the 11 victims whose remains were found buried along a remote beach highway. Heuermann, who has lived for decades across a bay from where the

Police investigating the Gilgo Beach killings have searched a Long Island storage facility
Arts

Hollywood plunges into all-out war on the heels of pandemic and a streaming revolution

To get a sense of just how much animosity is flying around Hollywood these days, watch how Ron Perlman responded to a report that the studios aimed to prolong a strike long enough for writers to lose their homes. Perlman, the hulking, gravel-voiced actor of “Hellboy,” leaned into the camera in a since-deleted Instagram live video to vent his anger. “Listen to me, mother-(expletive),” Perlman said. “There’s a lot of ways to lose your house.” Three years after the pandemic brought Hollywood to a standstill, the film and TV industry has again ground to a halt.

Hollywood plunges into all-out war on the heels of pandemic and a streaming revolution
Arts

How the ‘Barbie’ soundtrack came together, according to mastermind Mark Ronson

Mark Ronson is showing off his Barbies. Scattered throughout his studio, the executive producer of the “Barbie” soundtrack — and a musical polymath known for his work with artists like Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga — has a few “leftovers” scattered across the room. One doll is placed in a permanent split, stretched across a Moog synthesizer. Another is styled to look like primatologist Jane Goodall. “I went to Toys R Us and I couldn’t find a single Ken,” he laughs. Fittingly, “that’s the theme of the movie.” Mattel HQ did end up sending over a

How the ‘Barbie’ soundtrack came together, according to mastermind Mark Ronson
World

Microsoft and UK regulators want more time to work on $69 billion Activision deal

Microsoft and British regulators sought more time from a court Monday as the U.S. tech company uses a rare second chance to overcome opposition to its $69 billion bid for video game maker Activision Blizzard. Lawyers for Microsoft and the Competition and Markets Authority tried to persuade a judge to delay an hearing planned after the CMA rejected the deal and Microsoft appealed. The regulator later gave Microsoft more time to make its case for the blockbuster purchase of the Call of Duty game maker to go through. The deal has already won approval in the European

Microsoft and UK regulators want more time to work on $69 billion Activision deal
Arts

Carnegie Hall's National Youth Orchestra turns 10, training over 1,200 for music careers

Teen musicians from the National Youth Orchestra of the USA walked onto the Carnegie Hall stage and acted in unison, much like string sections following their leaders: They pulled out cell phones and took selfies. Carnegie Hall’s initiative to train the next generation turned 10 this year. After arriving July 1 for intensive instruction that began the following day at suburban Purchase College, performers gathered at America’s premier concert hall to play for conductor Andrew Davis in a 2,800-seat auditorium filled with many family members and friends. “I learned how the orchestra itself is a living

Carnegie Hall's National Youth Orchestra turns 10, training over 1,200 for music careers
World

Vanishing whale's decline worse than previously thought, feds say

A review of the status of a vanishing species of whale found that the animal’s population is in worse shape than previously thought, federal ocean regulators said Monday. The North Atlantic right whale numbers less than 350, and it has been declining in population for several years. The federal government declared the whale’s decline an “unusual mortality event,” which means an unexpected and significant die-off, in 2017. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released new data that 114 of the whales have been documented as dead, seriously injured or sub-lethally injured or sick since the start

Vanishing whale's decline worse than previously thought, feds say
World

Store that sold Alex Murdaugh's son beer must pay $15 million to family of teen killed in boat crash

The family of a teen killed in a boat crash, which prosecutors say began the financial downfall of double murderer Alex Murdaugh, has reached a $15 million deal to settle a lawsuit against a convenience store chain that sold Murdaugh’s son alcohol while underage. Sunday’s deal came after a judge refused to allow the Parker’s Kitchen chain to be separated from Murdaugh in a wrongful death trial next month in Hampton County, South Carolina, where Murdaugh was once a powerful and well-known attorney. Murdaugh is serving a life sentence without parole the 2021 killing of his

Store that sold Alex Murdaugh's son beer must pay $15 million to family of teen killed in boat crash
Health

New drug to protect babies and toddlers from RSV gets FDA approval ahead of cold season

U.S. officials on Monday approved the first long-acting drug to protect babies and toddlers against a respiratory virus that sends tens of thousands of American children to the hospital each year. RSV is a cold-like nuisance for most healthy people, but it can be life-threatening in the very young and the elderly. The Food and Drug Administration approved the injection for infants and children up to 2 years old who face increased risk of severe RSV. “Today’s approval addresses the great need for products to help reduce the impact of RSV disease on children, families and the

New drug to protect babies and toddlers from RSV gets FDA approval ahead of cold season
World

Cameron Smith returns claret jug ahead of the British Open and reflects on his long year

The chill Aussie vibe of Cameron Smith gave way to more emotion than he expected Monday while taking part in one of many royal and ancient traditions at the British Open. As the defending champion, he had to return the claret jug. “I was actually holding back some tears. A bit of a moment, I guess, that crept up on me,” Smith said. “It wasn’t hard to hand it back. I wasn’t like, ‘Not letting it go.’ But it was a moment that I guess you don’t think about, and then all of a sudden it’s

Cameron Smith returns claret jug ahead of the British Open and reflects on his long year
World

Mother says man who shot four in 31st mass killing this year needed mental help for nearly a decade

The 40-year-old man who shot four people in the country’s 31st mass killing this year needed mental help for nearly a decade but his family and officials couldn’t force him to get treatment, his mother said. Andre Longmore walked through his neighborhood in the semi-rural suburb of Hampton, Georgia on Saturday and fatally shot four neighbors, all senior citizens. The killings set off a manhunt that ended Sunday with Longmore dead in a shootout in another suburb about 15 miles (25 kilometers) north of Hampton. The shooting wounded a sheriff’s deputy and two police officers, who

Mother says man who shot four in 31st mass killing this year needed mental help for nearly a decade
Arts

Prolific Brazilian pianist João Donato, famed for bossa nova and beyond, dies at 88

Brazilian composer and pianist João Donato, who helped lay the groundwork for bossa nova but throughout his career defied confinement to any single genre, died Monday. He was 88. His death was announced on his verified Instagram account. Local media reported that he had been hospitalized and intubated with pneumonia. Donato was prolific and inventive, collaborating with top artists at home and abroad, including Chet Baker, João Gilberto, Sergio Mendes, Tito Puente, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa and countless others. “Today we lost one of our greatest and most creative composers,” Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula

Prolific Brazilian pianist João Donato, famed for bossa nova and beyond, dies at 88
Arts

Sean 'Diddy' Combs aspires to create new Black Wall Street through online marketplace Empower Global

Sean “Diddy” Combs wants to strengthen the Black dollar: The music mogul is spearheading a new online marketplace called Empower Global that will specifically feature Black-owned businesses. “I want to create our own Black Wall Street,” Combs told The Associated Press about his e-commerce platform, which launched last week. He feels passionate about building substantial wealth in his community similar to the Greenwood community, the thriving Black-owned business district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that was decimated in a two-day attack by a white mob in Oklahoma in 1921. Combs said he’s not looking for financial benefit after

Sean 'Diddy' Combs aspires to create new Black Wall Street through online marketplace Empower Global
World

Braves' Acuña is on pace to set new baseball standard for power-speed dominance

Ronald Acuña Jr. is on pace to do more than just join an elite 40-40 club in baseball history. The Braves outfielder is threatening to obliterate the previous high mark for power-speed combination in a season. Of the four players who have delivered seasons with at least 40 homers and 40 stolen bases, none accomplished the feat with more than 46 steals. Acuña is on pace for 41 homers and 77 steals. He could become the charter member of baseball’s 40-50, 40-60 and 40-70 clubs. “It would mean a lot to me personally just because I feel

Braves' Acuña is on pace to set new baseball standard for power-speed dominance
Political

Watchdog calls for House committee to uninvite RFK Jr. after his comments are blasted as antisemitic

A Democratic watchdog group has called for a U.S. House committee to rescind an invitation to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after the Democratic presidential candidate was filmed falsely suggesting COVID-19 could have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. Kyle Herrig, executive director of the Congressional Integrity Project, sent a letter to Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, asking him to disinvite Kennedy from a hearing scheduled for Thursday after the candidate’s comments at a New York City dinner last week

Watchdog calls for House committee to uninvite RFK Jr. after his comments are blasted as antisemitic
Political

Turning Point Action's student activists were torn between Trump and DeSantis last year. Not anymore

When student activists assembled in Florida last year for Turning Point Action’s annual summit, many were torn, wrestling with whether former President Donald Trump or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was the Republican Party’s best hope for 2024. One year later, there is no more doubt. Attendees at this year’s meeting booed at even the suggestion of a contested GOP primary. Trump, they overwhelmingly said, is their pick. “Trump, for sure. I don’t think anyone else really has a chance,” said Sky Sanchez, 21, a student from Durham, North Carolina, who was volunteering at the

Turning Point Action's student activists were torn between Trump and DeSantis last year. Not anymore
Economy

Actors are demanding that Hollywood catch up with technological changes in a sequel to a 1960 strike

As this picket sign says: lights, cameras, no action. Katie McTiernan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images For the first time since 1960, actors and screenwriters are on strike at the same time. As with many of the other strikes that have rippled across the United States over the past three years, this walkout is over demands for better pay and restrictions on their employers’ use of technology to replace paid work. The actors’ strike began on July 14, 2023, after their union, SAG-AFTRA, voted to end negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the major production

Actors are demanding that Hollywood catch up with technological changes in a sequel to a 1960 strike
Science

Unhealthy air quality lingers across parts of U.S. from drifting Canadian wildfire smoke

For Chicagoans planning a lengthy outdoor run Monday, “today is not necessarily the day for that,” according to Kim Biggs of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Extensive swaths of the northern United States awoke to unhealthy air quality Monday morning or were experiencing it by midafternoon, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow.gov Smoke and Fire map. Fine particle pollution caused by smoke from Canada’s wildfires is causing a red zone air quality index, meaning it is unhealthy for everyone. The particles, known as PM2.5, are tiny enough to get deep into the lungs and cause short-term

Unhealthy air quality lingers across parts of U.S. from drifting Canadian wildfire smoke

Follow