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Southern California sailor sold military secrets to China, DOJ says

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:51 GMT

A Monterey Park man serving in the United States Navy has been arrested and accused of taking bribes in exchange for providing military information to China.Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, was taken into custody by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service on Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.Zhao, who also goes by Thomas Zhao, worked at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, which is where he was arrested, according to the Associated Press.According to prosecutors, he used his security clearance to provide "non-public, sensitive U.S. military information" to a Chinese intelligence officer starting in August 2021 and continuing until at least May of this year.Zhao captured the information in surreptitious recordings and photographs, including "operational plans for a large-scale U.S. military exercise in the Indo-Pacific Region, which detailed the specific location and timing of Naval force movements, amphibious landings, maritime operations and log...

Man trafficked girl, pimped woman, Long Beach police say

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:51 GMT

A girl is safe and her alleged trafficker is facing felony charges after the Long Beach Police Department took the man into custody last month.Calvin Lane of Gardena brought the unidentified girl to Los Angeles to "work as a commercial sex worker," and while she was being trafficked, "she was physically and sexually assaulted," the LBPD said in a news release. The girl was later brought to Long Beach for sex work, and on July 9, police located her at 67th Street and Long Beach Boulevard after receiving a report of a person in distress.Once investigators identified Lane as the girl's trafficker, they located him at his Gardena home and took him into custody."During the arrest, officers discovered an additional adult victim," police said. Lane, who police said is 27 years old but who appears to be listed as 37 in jail records, faces charges of human trafficking of a minor with violence and pimping an adult.He was being held in Men's Central Jail in lieu of $1.1 million bail with a cou...

California's largest wildfire of the year threatening iconic Joshua trees

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:51 GMT

Firefighters aided by rain fought to contain a massive blaze that swept through the California desert into Nevada and is threatening the region's famous spiky Joshua trees.The York Fire that erupted last Friday is California's largest wildfire this year. As of Wednesday night it had burned through nearly 147 square miles (380.4 square kilometers) of land and was 34% contained, fire officials said.Humid monsoonal weather conditions Tuesday afternoon brought brief but heavy rain, especially on the south end of the fire, and kept its spread to a minimum, fire officials said. Wednesday saw the rain easing and temperatures rising but fire officials said crews were able to continue mopping up the blaze and reinforcing containment lines on the fire's edges. The National Weather Service forecast dry, sunny weather with a high of up to 99 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 Celsius) on Thursday.Burned landscape from the York Fire in the Mojave National Preserve on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2...

UCLA Chancellor stepping down after 17-year tenure

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:51 GMT

University of California, Los Angeles Chancellor Gene Block will be stepping down after a 17-year tenure as the head of the university, UCLA announced on Thursday.During his time as chancellor, Block helped steer the Westwood campus through a global pandemic, a financial crisis in 2008, and helped the university expand its enrollment diversity, philanthropy and research, the university said in a news release. UCLA purchases historic Trust Building in downtown Los Angeles “Since I became chancellor 16 years ago, UCLA has been my community and my home, a source of endless inspiration, and an indelible part of who I am,” Block said in a statement. “Serving as the leader of our university has been the greatest honor of my life.”While Block’s tenure has been filled with many accomplishments, such as the opening of UCLA Downtown and UCLA South Bay, there was a major controversy. Last October, James Heaps, a former gynecologist at UCLA, was found guilty on five counts in a sexual abuse c...

A man accused of holding a woman in a cinder block cell had been on law enforcement's radar

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:51 GMT

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A man who is accused of kidnapping a woman and holding her in a cinder block cell that she escaped by punching her way out had been on law enforcement’s radar and is now suspected in other sexual assaults.The woman was kidnapped from Seattle, chained, and driven to a home in Klamath Falls, Oregon, according to the FBI. Negasi Zuberi, 29, is now behind bars in Nevada, waiting to be extradited to Oregon, where he is charged in federal court with interstate kidnapping and transporting an individual across state lines with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.A search of Zuberi’s rental home and garage turned up the woman’s purse and handwritten notes, according to investigators. One was labeled “Operation Take Over” and included entries that read, “Leave phone at home” and “Make sure they don’t have a bunch of ppl (sic) in their life. You don’t want any type of investigation.”Another handwritten document appeared to include a rough sketch for an underground s...

Warner Bros. Discovery reveals strikes saved major money in Q2

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:51 GMT

Executives with Warner Bros. Discovery reported record savings in the second quarter on Thursday's earnings call.The reason for this? The current writers' and actors' strike. On the call, Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels revealed the savings are in the "low $100 million range," according to Variety. Q2 runs from April 1 to June 30. Only members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) were on strike at this point in time. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson makes massive donation to SAG-AFTRA Foundation Wiedenfels explained that the company is hoping for a resolution between the two unions and the studios next month. “While we are hoping for a fast resolution, our modeling assumes a return to work date in early September, should the strikes run through the end of the year, I would expect several $100 million upside to our free cash flow guidance and some incremental downside for adjusted EBITDA,” he said.Members of the Writers Guild of America, WGA picket outside CBS Television Ci...

Two Killed in Fiery Plane Crash at Van Nuys Airport [Van Nuys, CA]

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:51 GMT

Pilot and Passenger Pronounced Dead after Single-Engine Plane Crash in Van NuysVAN NUYS, CA (August 3, 2023) – Wednesday morning, two people lost their lives in a plane crash at Van Nuys Airport.The incident happened on August 2nd, at around 10:30 a.m., near the 16300 block of Waterman Drive.According to reports, a flight instructor and a student were in the plane when the pilot contacted the tower and told them the plane was experiencing power loss. The pilot attempted a landing but lost control and the plane crashed nose-first into the tarmac, before bursting into flames.Before the crash, the pilot was able to communicate to the tower that the plane was about to crash. The tower contacted emergency crews and they were able to arrive very shortly after.Firefighters put out the flames quickly. However, the impact of the collision caused the two occupants to sustain fatal injuries. They were pronounced dead at the scene.The team at Sweet James sends their sincere sympathies to ...

TrainPetDog Review – Don’t Waste Your $$$

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:51 GMT

The first time I stumbled across TrainPetDog, I was both happy and suspicious.Happy because the program seemed to fulfill all my dog-training needs.Suspicious because Google suggested the post-fix SCAM at the end of the search term TrainPetDog.Giving the benefit of the doubt, I visited their website — and guess what I found?Nothing but green flags at first; it’s well maintained, presence of free courses, and they seem very open.Except for ONE key issue — TrainPetDog isn’t very open about how exactly they will achieve competency levels. They would point at an end goal but not disclose how they will do it.However, I understand perfect products (or services) don’t exist. That’s why I looked at what TrainPetDog users had to say. Well, it was a balance between positive and negative comments.So, I went ahead and bought it, and I have been using it for a couple of weeks with my German Shepherd.If you’re planning to buy the TrainPetDog training program, be sure...

Daniela Asaro Romanoff-A Role Model for Women of Today’s Time

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:51 GMT

In recent years, women are rising to prominence in a variety of fields worldwide but their road to the top was not simple and our society has taken a long time to bring about this positive change. After a never-ending scuffle against discrimination, male dominance, cultural and social factors, and fighting for a decade, career-oriented women like Daniela Asaro Romanoff have finally got their rights and earned their place in society.As we witness gender diversity, women who were confined to their homes in the past, now play an integral role just like their male counterparts in contemporary workplaces. Women like Daniela have extraordinary abilities and ideas through which they can contribute to the professional world. Additionally, their positive attitude and response to uncertain circumstances set them apart from their male counterparts.The corporate world can benefit from a women’s feminine touch, empathy, exceptional soft skills, intuition, and optimism. Women like Daniela h...

Remember Paul Reubens with these 8 great performances

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:50:51 GMT

Paul Reubens, who died Sunday at age 70, will always be remembered for his beloved alter ego, the perpetually childlike Pee-wee Herman — a character so popular that it was able to carry a stage show, movies and a TV series.But Reubens also made memorable impressions playing a variety of supporting characters of the big and small screens — like Penguin’s father in “Batman Returns” and the turtleneck-wearing fixer Mr. Vargas in “The Blacklist,” just to name a few out of dozens.Looking for more? Here is a list of Reubens’ greatest hits and how to watch them. (Note that his recurring Emmy-nominated turn on “Murphy Brown” as the network president’s nephew is not included because that series’ original run is not streaming. Start the petition!)‘Pee-wee’s Big Adventure’This film may well be one of the most extravagantly weird comedies of the 1980s — and possibly ever. A breakthrough for both Reubens and director Tim Burton, the film built on Reubens’ live show, which had been captured for a...