Shocking moment paraglider flies into power lines in North Dakota
Footage captured by a passer-by on 7 July shows the paraglider colliding with the wires, setting off a loud spark and bang before the adventurer becomes submerged in the Red River as the witness shouts 'oh no'.
Later footage shows emergency service workers attending the scene where they rescued the man.
According to local news reporters, the paraglider was uninjured.
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BBC News
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Woman killed and man injured in crash near Inverness Airport
A woman has died and a man has been critically injured in a crash between a car and a van near Inverness Airport. A red Vauxhall Insignia car and a white Ford Transit Tipper van collided on the A96 Inverness to Nairn road a mile east of the airport roundabout at about 15:30 on passenger of the car, a 65-year-old woman, died at the scene. The 69-year-old driver of the car was taken to Raigmore Hospital, where his condition is described as critical. The driver of the van was road was closed while an investigation was carried out and reopened at about 23: Kate Finlayson appealed for witnesses or drivers with dash cam footage to contact police. She added: "Our thoughts are very much with the family and friends of the woman who has died, and we are carrying out inquiries to establish the full circumstances."
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28 minutes ago
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Exxon plastic waste suit faces first major hurdle
July 23 (Reuters) - Plastic waste is ubiquitous – from empty water bottles to grocery bags, the detritus litters beaches, parks and roadways. The question for a federal judge in San Francisco now is whether Exxon Mobil can be held liable for such pollution, or if a novel suit claiming the company has created a public and private nuisance should be dismissed. A coalition of four environmental groups last year sued Exxon, opens new tab, a leading producer of polymers used to make single-use plastics, alleging the company wrongly led consumers in California to believe that plastic was easily and safely disposed of, when in reality, less than 5% of it is recycled in the United States. A spokesperson for Exxon, which has denied wrongdoing, did not respond to requests for comment, and the company's outside counsel from O'Melveny & Myers declined comment for this column. Exxon in court papers, opens new tab said the plaintiffs' theory that consumers purchased more plastic based on statements by Exxon was 'to put it mildly, a real stretch.' During an hour-long oral argument last week over Exxon's motion to dismiss, Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg pushed lawyers on both sides to lay out the parameters of nuisance law, while also hinting he might allow the claim to move forward – but more on that later. Nuisance, a centuries-old legal doctrine with its roots in English common law, applies when a defendant's conduct interferes with a public or private right to the enjoyment of life or property. Classic examples include blocking a public road or a factory that emits noxious odors. In recent years, nuisance claims have also been successfully invoked by state and local governments in litigation against opioid makers for their role in the epidemic of addiction and overdose deaths, netting close to $50 billion in payouts. Lead paint manufacturers also settled nuisance claims in California in 2019, agreeing to pay $305 million without admitting wrongdoing. Unlike personal injury claims, nuisance cases do not seek damages to compensate plaintiffs for an injury. Instead, they seek to make the party responsible for the nuisance pay to abate, or fix, the condition. The defense bar has called public nuisance a "super tort, opens new tab," complaining that such claims offer a way to sidestep the more rigorous requirements to prevail in a product liability lawsuit. Here, the Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation, Heal the Bay, and San Francisco Baykeeper, which also allege violations of California's unfair competition law, want abatement, injunctive relief, compensatory damages and attorneys' fees, noting in a press release, opens new tab that California taxpayers shell out an estimated $420 million each year to clean up and prevent plastic pollution. Their case was brought in tandem with a similar action by California Attorney General Rob Bonta. The AG's higher-profile suit, opens new tab remains bogged down in a fight over venue after Seeborg remanded it to San Francisco Superior Court. Exxon has appealed that decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where the dispute remains pending. In the meantime, the suit by the environmental groups has proceeded in federal court, where Seeborg must now decide if it can survive the motion to dismiss. 'What is the nuisance?' he asked plaintiffs lawyer Tyson Redenbarger, a partner at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy. 'Is it that these items are plastic (and) plastics cause pollution? Or is it that people acquire it thinking it's more recyclable than it is?' 'It's a very broad claim,' Seeborg added. 'My problem is, is it so broad that I can't really get my hands around?' Redenbarger countered that the nuisance standard itself is 'quite broad,' arguing that Exxon's 'years-long campaign to tell the public that plastic can be safely disposed of' led consumers to buy more of it, and that unrecycled plastic waste winds up in waterways or leaks chemicals into landfills. Redenbarger and spokespeople for the environmental coalition did not respond to requests for comment. Last year, New York Attorney General Letitia James came up short in a similar suit accusing PepsiCo of polluting the environment with single-use plastic packaging. In dismissing the case, a New York state court judge ruled it would run "contrary to every norm of established jurisprudence" to punish PepsiCo, because it was people, not the company, who ignored laws prohibiting littering. But Seeborg, who was appointed to the bench in 2009 by President Barack Obama, offered some indication he might not be so quick to toss the environmental groups' case – at least not at this stage of the litigation. When Exxon lawyer Dawn Sestito, a partner at O'Melveny, argued that unlike in the lead paint case — where companies allegedly touted the paint for interior use while knowing it was toxic — it's hard here "to imagine that talking about plastics as recyclable could be considered a promotion for hazardous use,' she said. Moreover, government entities also convey the message that plastic is recyclable, she said. Seeborg responded that the plaintiffs' "accusation is that you knew it wasn't, and you're in the business of polymer production,' he said. 'You may quite possibly prevail in terms of undermining the nuisance claim, but we're at the posture right now of just whether or not it can even go forward.' He added, 'This case isn't about whether going into the marketplace and saying 'Let's all recycle' is actionable. They're claiming something very different.' A few minutes later, when Sestito took aim at what she flagged as a basic disconnect in the plaintiffs' case – how is it, she said, that stating 'a product or plastics could be recyclable results in more plastic ending up in oceans or beaches or becoming pollution?' – Seeborg again shut her down. 'I don't want to beat the same drum over and over again, but is that something that would need to be explained at this stage of the litigation?' he said. 'It ultimately may need to be explained, but the question really is, have they articulated a legal theory that can advance, if they proved everything.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
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Epstein's brother hints at Ghislaine Maxwell's knowledge
Jeffrey Epstein's brother has accused the White House of a 'cover up' after Donald Trump's Justice Department said it would speak to Ghislaine Maxwell in jail. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche revealed on Tuesday he expects to meet with Maxwell in the coming days to see if she has 'information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims.' Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted of trafficking of minors on behalf of Epstein. The move to speak to her is part of an ongoing Justice Department effort to cast itself as transparent in the Epstein case, which has been shrouded in conspiracy theories. It follows a fierce backlash from parts of Trump's base over an earlier refusal by the administration to release additional records in the investigation. Attorney General Pam Bondi has faced mounting pressure from Trump's supporters to release all materials related to Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. A lawyer for Maxwell said she would cooperate with the Justice Department. 'I can confirm that we are in discussions with the government and that Ghislaine will always testify truthfully,' her lawyer David Oscar Markus said. 'We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case.' But Mark Epstein (pictured right), brother of the disgraced late financier, claimed it was the latest effort to distract attention from unpublished evidence and the circumstances surrounding the death of his brother. Two weeks ago, a months-long review conducted by the Justice Department and FBI concluded that Epstein died by suicide. Mark Epstein maintains his brother was killed. He said: 'They'll talk to her (Maxwell) and ask her what her favorite color is. So they can say they talked to her. It depends what the conversation is about. Maybe she'll be afraid to speak, afraid they'll hold it against her and turn down her appeal.' Mark Epstein said he knew Maxwell in the 1990s but had not spoken to her for several decades. But he believed she would have information about interactions between Epstein and Trump. 'She could certainly verify that Trump was in Jeffrey's office many times,' he said. He claimed a White House statement on Monday that Trump had 'never been' to his brother's office was 'the biggest crap I've ever heard. I would speak to Jeffrey and he'd say he was with Trump. I know people in his office saw him there,' he said. The White House referred a request for comment to the Justice Department. The Justice Department did not comment beyond Blanche's earlier statement. Blanche said: 'This Department of Justice does not shy away from uncomfortable truths, nor from the responsibility to pursue justice wherever the facts may lead.' He said in the recent Justice Department and FBI review 'no evidence was uncovered that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.' Blanche added: 'President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislane Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say. I anticipate meeting with Ms. Maxwell in the coming days. Until now, no administration on behalf of the Department had inquired about her willingness to meet with the government. That changes now.' Speaking in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump addressed the DOJ plan to speak to Maxwell, saying he was not aware of it but it seemed 'appropriate to do.' He said: 'I don't know anything about it. I don't really follow that too much. It's sort of a witch hunt.' Trump has long said he was 'not a fan' of Jeffrey Epstein, that he had a 'falling out' with him around 20 years ago and never spoke to him again. Last week, the president sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal after it published a story about Trump's alleged friendship with Epstein. Meanwhile, some of the president's supporters have continued to pursue conspiracy theories that Epstein had a list of high-profile clients. The Justice Department and FBI review concluded there was no such 'client list.' Trump has urged his supporters not to be taken in by what he called a Democrat 'scam' and 'hoax' which was actually 'pretty boring stuff.' Some of Trump's most staunch supporters in recent weeks have called on Bondi to resign, after she backtracked on a promise she made earlier this year. She had said her department would release additional materials including 'a lot of names' and 'a lot of flight logs' in connection with Epstein's clients. Since then, at Trump's direction, Bondi and Blanche have asked a federal court for permission to unseal grand jury transcripts in the cases of both Epstein and Maxwell. However, legal experts have said that those transcripts will not likely contain the types of materials being sought by Trump's supporters. A source who spoke with the Daily Mail said that Maxwell would be 'more than happy' to testify before Congress. 'No-one from the government has ever asked her to share what she knows,' the source said. 'She remains the only person to be jailed in connection to Epstein and she would welcome the chance to tell the American public the truth.'
