Los Angeles - The African Mirror

Jul

2023

Six dead in private jet crash outside Los Angeles

ALL six people aboard a small jet died when the aircraft crashed and burned in a field near an airport near Los Angeles, local and federal authorities said. The aircraft, a Cessna C550 business jet, was travelling from Las Vegas and crashed near French Valley Airport in Riverside County, about 85 miles (137 km) south of Los Angeles, at around 4:15 a.m. the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The passengers and pilot who died were all adults, Elliott Simpson, an aviation investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, said at a news briefing. The privately-owned plane crashed 500…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Ten dead in shooting near Los Angeles during Lunar New Year festivities

WORLD

JONATHAN ALLEN A man fatally shot 10 people and injured at least 10 others at a ballroom dance venue during a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration late on Saturday near Los Angeles before fleeing the scene, police said. The shooter, who was still at large nearly 11 hours after the attack in the city of Monterey Park, was believed to be an Asian man between 30 and 50 years old based on descriptions from eyewitnesses, law enforcement officials said. "We need to get this person off the street as soon as possible," Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna told reporters…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Porn actor Ron Jeremy found mentally incompetent to stand trial for rape

WORLD

PORN star Ron Jeremy was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial in Los Angeles on rape and other sex charges involving 21 women, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said. Jeremy, 69, pleaded not guilty in August 2021 to more than 30 counts of sexual assault, including 12 of rape, in the Los Angeles area over a 23-year period. He has been in prison since his arrest in June 2020. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Harris said in a hearing that he had determined, based on reports from prosecutors and Jeremy's defence, that the…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Their goal is making me feel like I’m crazy,’ tearful Britney Spears tells court

WORLD

LISA RICHWINE SINGER Britney Spears has won the right to choose her own lawyer to help her end a 13-year-long conservatorship and tearfully pleaded for the court to oust her father immediately from the role of controlling her business affairs. Her father, Jamie Spears, has been a major figure in the conservatorship since he set it up in 2008 when his daughter had a mental health breakdown. He is currently the sole person in charge of her $60 million estate. "You're allowing my dad to ruin my life," Spears told the Los Angeles judge by phone. "I have to get…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Vanessa Bryant blasts Nike for leaked Mambas

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER NIKE has landed themselves in hot water with Vanessa Bryant. Bryant called out Nike on an Instagram post for leaking images of a pair of basketball shoes she worked on with the athletic wear giant, in honour of her and Kobe’s daughter Gianna, to the public without her consent. In her post, she also added the leaked image of the shoe which was sent to her by an anonymous person in the same post as the message. The leaked shoes were to be called the “Mambacita” sneaker, which was Gianna’s nickname, as she trained with her father…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

“My Octopus Teacher” wins Africa’s only Oscar at historic night

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

SOUTH Africa's first ever Netflix original documentary, "My Octopus Teacher", has won an Oscar. The film, directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed, won in a strongly contested category at the 93rd Academy Awards held in Los Angeles today. In her acceptance speech, Ehrlich said: In many ways this really is a tiny personal story that played out in a seaforust at the very tip of Africa, but on a more universal level I hope that it provided a glimpse of a different type of relationship between human beings and the natural world." "Nomadland", the story of van dwellers in…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Want to create 5 million green jobs? Invest in public transport in cities

AFRICITIES

LIN TAYLOR IN a world reeling from the impact of COVID-19, investing in public transport could create 4.6 million jobs by 2030 and cut transport emissions, mayors in some 100 cities said on Tuesday. A "green and just recovery" with investment in buses and trains, particularly electric vehicles, would also reduce car use and air pollution, and protect vulnerable residents, said C40, a network of cities pushing for climate action. "The road to recovery is paved with investments in our infrastructure," said C40's Cities Climate Leadership Group chairman and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, in a statement. "Public transportation is…