Sex assault bill poised for passage
Sex assault bill poised for passage
WASHINGTON (AP) — A comprehensive defense policy bill that aims to deal with the epidemic of sexual assault in the military is on track for Senate passage next week.
Despite Republican anger over Democratic tactics, leading members of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Friday that they expect the Senate to wrap up the popular, bipartisan legislation before the Senate adjourns. A vote is likely on Wednesday.
“It looks good,” said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the panel. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he was hopeful but still expressed frustration with Majority Leader Harry Reid’s decision to wait until November to begin work on a bill the committee had passed in June. “Disgraceful,” McCain said.
The House overwhelmingly passed the legislation, 350-69, on Thursday night, the last roll call vote before the House adjourned for the year.
Toyota to enter settlement talks
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — After a four-year legal battle, Toyota is entering settlement talks on hundreds of lawsuits that allege sudden unintended acceleration problems with its vehicles led to deaths and injuries.
A motion filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana indicated both sides would begin an “intensive settlement process” next month.
The Japanese automaker, which has recalled millions of cars since 2009 over the issue, agreed to the negotiations to make resolving the cases more efficient, spokeswoman Carly Schaffner told AP on Friday.
“We continue to stand behind the safety and quality of our vehicles,” she said.
Lead plaintiffs’ attorneys Elizabeth Cabraser, Todd Walburg and Mark Robinson Jr. did not return calls seeking comment.
The settlement negotiations come less than two months after an Oklahoma jury awarded a total of $3 million in damages to the injured driver of a 2005 Camry and to the family of a passenger who was killed. The ruling was significant because Toyota had won all previous unintended acceleration cases that went to trial.
Man arrested in airport bomb plot
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An avionics technician from Kansas was arrested Friday as he planned to drive a vehicle full of explosives into a terminal at Wichita’s Mid-Continent Regional Airport, authorities said.
Terry Lee Loewen, 58, was charged with one count each of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempting to damage property and attempting to provide support to terrorist group al-Qaida. Authorities said he was trying to support “al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.”
The materials inside the vehicle were “inert” and “at no time was the safety of travelers or members of the public placed in jeopardy,” U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Investigators said Loewen is an avionics technician who lives in Wichita and works at the airport. He had been under investigation for about six months, after he made online statements about wanting to commit “violent jihad” against the U.S. The statements were made in a conversation with an FBI employee unbeknownst to Loewen, Grissom said.
Authorities said they believe Loewen acted alone. No other arrests are expected.
Beyonce releases surprise album
NEW YORK (AP) — Beyonce has released her new album in an unconventional way: She announced and dropped it on the same day.
The singer released “Beyonce” exclusively on iTunes early Friday. She mirrors how Jay Z released “Magna Carta Holy Grail” earlier this year — through a deal with Samsung where he gave the album to 1 million users of Galaxy mobile phones days before its official release.
Beyonce’s fifth effort features 14 songs and 17 videos. Jay Z, Drake and Frank Ocean make guest appearances on the album, while the closing track, “Blue,” features her daughter Blue Ivy. Justin Timberlake co-wrote the songs “Rocket” and “Partition,” and Pharrell, Timbaland, Ryan Tedder, Miguel and Sia also co-wrote tracks.
The album caused a stir on social media websites, with fans posting about the release early Friday morning. Twitter said Beyonce’s album release generated over 1.2 million tweets in 12 hours, with a tweets-per-minute spike of 5,300. The tweets-per-minute count around the album surpassed the record set when the Syfy TV movie “Sharknado” aired in July, Twitter added.
Billboard said Friday that “Beyonce” will likely debut on top of its charts next week.
“Our early numbers are showing that this is likely heading toward a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 albums chart with only three days of the tracking week,” said Bill Werde, the editor of Billboard. Billboard closes the tracking week on Sundays, and typical albums are released on Monday or Tuesday.
On Friday afternoon, the explicit and clean versions of “Beyonce” ranked No. 1 and No. 2 on the iTunes albums chart.
Along with Beyonce and Jay Z, other leaders in pop music have released albums in new ways recently: For her “Red” album last year, Taylor Swift had partnerships with Target, Walgreens and Papa John’s; and Lady Gaga sold 440,000 copies of her “Born This Way” album on Amazon for just 99 cents when it was on sale for two days in 2011, helping the album sell 1.1 million in its debut week.
Werde said Beyonce’s way of releasing the album “speaks to the change in the music business.”
“I think on one hand what it really speaks to is the emerging power that artists have to go direct to fans,” he said. “One of the things that’s most impressive about this Beyonce release is she’s controlling the conversation around it to a certain extent. She’s controlling the initial experience that fans are having, so it’s not about what critics are saying, it’s not about, ‘Here’s what the album means’ and explaining it, it’s about, ‘Hey, I put my art together for you, videos, songs, and you get to have the joy and experience of forming your own opinion on the work as I intended to be presented.’”
Beyonce calls the work a “visual album” and she filmed some of the videos in Paris, New York, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro and Houston, her hometown.
“I didn’t want to release my music the way I’ve done it,” she said in a statement. “I am bored with that. I feel like I am able to speak directly to my fans. There’s so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fans. I felt like I didn’t want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it’s ready and from me to my fans.”
Beyonce’s last album was “4,” released in 2011. It reached platinum success. “Beyonce” will be available in stores “in time for the holidays,” her representative said.
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