SAN DIEGO — The founder of a California-based porn empire that recruited women with false modeling offers was sentenced Monday to 27 years in federal prison. Michael James Pratt pleaded guilty in June in federal court in San Diego. Federal prosecutors said Pratt and his co-defendants used force, fraud and coercion to recruit hundreds of … Read more
The oil giant said Tuesday that it was acquiring assets from a Chicago company as it looks to start producing graphite, a key battery ingredient, by the end of the decade. Source link
BATON ROUGE, La. — For decades, Kent Broussard had dreamed about joining Louisiana State University’s prestigious marching band. But, as dreams far too often go, it fell to the wayside. That is, until Broussard retired. After years of hard work — including taking up running with a weighted vest, marching through his neighborhood while hauling … Read more
China’s Unitree Robotics is looking at a company valuation of as much as 50 billion yuan ($7 billion) for its planned initial public offering, two people with knowledge of the plans of one of the country’s newest and most high-profile startups said. Unitree’s robots captured the popular imagination globally after the company released videos last … Read more
Catherine Zeta-Jones, the Hollywood icon, recently delighted Bollywood enthusiasts by sharing an Instagram story featuring her watching the Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone starrer ‘Om Shanti Om’. While waiting for Donald Trump at the US Open, she enjoyed the film and even shared a reel of the song ‘Dhoom Ta Na’. Hollywood star Catherine … Read more
The College Football Playoff selection committee members will tell you they don’t rank conferences — they rank teams — but the Big Ten and SEC are leading the way in nonconference wins that will impact the committee’s rankings through Selection Day. According to ESPN Research, the SEC enters Week 3 with a 27-3 nonconference record … Read more
UNITED NATIONS — An initial United Nations assessment of the impact of Afghanistan’s recent deadly earthquake found 5,230 homes destroyed and 672 damaged in 49 villages — but the U.N. hasn’t been able to get to the vast majority of the remote villages. Shannon O’Hara, the coordination chief for the U.N. humanitarian office in Afghanistan, … Read more
The deal, billed as a merger of equals, comes amid a surge in demand for copper, a crucial component in technology, from data centers to electric vehicles. Source link
HONOLULU — A former leprosy settlement in a remote part of Hawaii will reopen this month for the first time since the pandemic, when it closed to shield the few remaining patients, all of whom are over 80, from exposure to COVID-19, officials said Monday. Tours and religious pilgrimages draw visitors to Kalaupapa, an isolated … Read more
Elon Musk’s SpaceX said Monday it will buy wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar for its Starlink satellite network for about $17 billion, a major deal crucial to expanding Starlink’s nascent 5G connectivity business. The companies also agreed to a deal that will enable EchoStar’s Boost Mobile subscribers to access Starlink direct-to-cell service to extend satellite … Read more