Latest news with #Footnotes'

Hindustan Times
31-07-2025
- Hindustan Times
Viral TikTok video shows truck driver's tense standoff in North Carolina, probe announced
A now-deleted TikTok video showing a tense exchange between a truck driver and landfill workers in Haywood County has sparked nationwide criticism and concern, reports Kion 546. Shared by @noturningback_98 under the handle 'BossedUpp Ent,' the clip quickly led to millions of views before being removed on Wednesday, July 30. The footage captures the African-American driver's perspective during what he called a hostile encounter, though the events leading up to or following the interaction remain unclear. Screengrab from the viral video.(X/@MalcontentmentT) Trucker claims landfill workers flipped his vehicle The 'TBD dump', as shared by TikTok user @noturningback_98, is operated by Two Banks Development, which took over the former Pactiv-Evergreen paper mill site. In a caption accompanying the now-removed video, the trucker claimed, 'While I was dumping my load, he claims that he found his phone outside of the truck on the ground, so he decides to come back up to the top of the landfill with him and his friends and guns and start to run after my truck and attack me, opening my door [...] In the mix of me trying to pull off, they run and go get two bulldozers and flipped my trailer and tipped my truck over." The truck driver also mentioned that one of the individuals involved in the confrontation identified himself as a sheriff. To which, Haywood County officials confirmed to WLOS that the man in the video "has been a part-time deputy with [the] Haywood County Sheriff's Office since 2019." Also Read: TikTok will go dark in US without Chinese approval of sale deal, says Howard Lutnick More details on the truck incident at the private landfill The video that has sparked nationwide attention also shows a landfill worker slamming the truck door on the driver's puppy. While WLOS has not verified all of the trucker's claims, Two Banks Development responded, stating the incident involved a contracted driver who violated site policies and engaged in aggressive behavior on site. The video being circulated omits critical elements. Law enforcement was called immediately." Also Read: TikTok launches crowd-sourced debunking tool 'Footnotes' in US The Haywood County Sheriff's Office confirmed it responded, noting allegations of simple assault, property damage, and assault by pointing a gun. No charges have been filed yet. Meanwhile, the county clarified it does not operate the site and said its staff and contractors have since received threats. 'We encourage the public to seek accurate information,' it urged. FAQs 1. What is the 'TBD landfill' in the viral video? It is a privately owned site run by Two Banks Development, not affiliated with Haywood County or its contractors. 2. What does the trucker claim happened? He alleges landfill workers chased him, flipped his trailer, and slammed his truck door on his puppy. 3. Has anyone been charged? The Haywood County Sheriff's Office has filed an incident report, but the investigation is ongoing and no charges have been filed yet.


The Hindu
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Performance artist MR Vishnuprasad's ‘Footnotes' explores climate change and its impact on Kochi's coastal regions
MR Vishnuprasad sits atop a column, at the central gallery space at Durbar Hall, while his audience gathers around him in a semicircle. He is set to present 'Footnotes', a performance based on tidal flooding in Kochi. There are no props in sight, other than a visual of a graph projected on the wall behind him, and no fanfare. How is a performance artist going to tackle a complex environmental issue in a gallery setting? As Vishnuprasad begins his narration, the questions begin to dissolve. He opens the piece by recounting a recurring nightmare — of everyday household objects floating about him. Broaching the issue gently, he builds a steady narrative around tidal flooding, bringing fact, data and real voices to the fore. 'It is the daily reality of people living in Kochi's coastal areas — how they deal with the quiet terror of the rising waters that refuse to leave their homes and how their lives now are defined by these tidal surges,' says Vishnuprasad, whose inquiry into climate change — climate injustices and ecological grief led him to the project. He visited the regions in Kochi plagued by saline water intrusion to understand and experience it first hand. No longer a seasonal phenomenon, tidal flooding has forced several families in Kochi's coastal belt, including Vypin, Edavanakkad, Enikkara, Edakochi, and Thanthonithuruth, to abandon their homes. Though local collectives such as the Edakochi Janakeeya Samithi have been fighting for the cause, their plight continues. Vishnuprasad gathered video footage of flooded homes from the archives of the Edakochi Janakeeya Samithi, and collaborating with video artist Akarsh Karunakaran, combined the footage with poetry, narrative text and live speech by residents of Edakochi to create his 'lecture performance'. 'I wanted real voices to be represented. It is their reality,' he adds. 'Footnotes' has been conceived as a lecture performance, a relatively new form of performance art combining elements of a traditional lecture with that of performance art. The piece offers space for the scientific and the artistic worlds to meet, where fact blends with creative expression. Vishnuprasad's own journey has been through these seemingly disparate worlds. With a masters in Environmental Science, and a background studying hydro geology, Vishnuprasad has worked with several organisations including the Centre for Environment Education. A poet and writer as well, he later took to the arts, especially intrigued by the spontaneity and thrill of performance art. He earned a PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies from JNU, Delhi and since then, has been exploring the various possibilities of the genre. After his debut Malayalam novel Matthias published earlier this year, Vishnuprasad is working on his next. 'Footnotes' will be an ongoing project, says Vishnuprasad, where he would continue his engagement with the issue. 'It is not just a documentation, but a response to the changing realities.'