Newsletter: Today: New Light on U.S. ‘Shadow Wars.’ The Film Academy’s Chosen Ones.
I’m Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I don’t want you to miss today.
TOP STORIES
New Light on U.S. ‘Shadow Wars’
The U.S. isn’t officially at war in Yemen, Pakistan, Libya and Somalia, but the American military and CIA carry out drone attacks there targeting militants that sometimes kill civilians too. The number of them is a subject of dispute: Sources say President Obama will reveal that such strikes have killed about 100 civilians since 2009. Human rights groups put the figure much higher. Meet one Yemeni man who says he was handed a plastic bag with $100,000 in cash after his brother-in-law and a nephew were killed.
The Film Academy’s Chosen Ones
Tears of joy. We can’t vouch for everyone, but that was a common reaction among the 683 actors, directors and other movie pros who were invited to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. After enduring the #OscarsSoWhite uproar, the academy selected a class of 2016 that is 46% female and 41% people of color. Overall, though, it moves the needle only a few percentage points for both groups. Check out the full list and how The Times’ own suggestions for members stacked up.
Britain, Nation of Immigrants
If you want to understand the recent anti-immigrant sentiment the “Brexit” campaign stirred up in Britain, it helps to look back at 2004. That’s when the EU admitted Poland, the Czech Republic and six other countries, but only Britain, Ireland and Sweden threw the doors open to their immigrants. Michael Hiltzik explains how the resulting spike, particularly of low-skilled workers, changed the immigration conversation in Britain.
He Survived Iraq and Aurora. Now, She Wants to Serve Again.
Don Lader served two tours in Iraq with the Marines and survived the mass shooting in a theater in Aurora, Colo., in 2012. These days, Don is now Ellie. And after hearing about the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, she knew it was time to put on a military uniform again. “I knew I was needed after 9/11,” she wrote on Facebook. “I know I’m needed now.” But first, the military must accept openly transgender people.
Not Every Bureaucrat Is Faceless
As city administrative officer, Miguel Santana is L.A.’s chief bureaucrat, a position normally associated with neutrality. Instead, he’s become a leading voice pushing for new taxes to support his 47-point, $1.8-billion plan to tackle homelessness. Read on to see why an experience at Whittier College in the late 1980s eventually led him to come off the sidelines.
CALIFORNIA
-- The death toll from a series of brush fires in Southern California has risen to four.
-- Lee Wesley Gibson, believed to be the oldest surviving Pullman porter, has died at age 106.
-- L.A.’s Police Commission has found an LAPD officer violated policy in killing a man who zapped his partner with a Taser.
-- A student who wore a chicken costume at high school pep rally was attacked, suffering brain damage. Now, he’s been awarded $10.5 million.
NATION-WORLD
-- Turkey’s tourism and recreation industry struggles after months of terror attacks.
-- President Obama goes on a “rant” about Donald Trump; Trump says Mike Tyson won’t speak at the GOP convention; and more from the day in politics.
-- The Obama administration has forgiven $171 million owed by former Corinthian Colleges students.
-- U.S.-backed Syrian rebels launched their first attack against Islamic State and lost.
-- Here are the top 10 things most likely to kill you in the U.S., according to the CDC.
HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS
-- Is Roseanne Barr fit to be president of the United States? Well, if you ask her…
-- In defense of Garrison Keillor: The NPR host’s popular and polarizing “A Prairie Home Companion” ends this weekend in Hollywood.
-- Remembering Scotty Moore, the late guitarist who propelled Elvis Presley’s great Sun Sessions.
-- L.A.’s original punk Alice Bag is back, and she has a lot to say on her first solo album.
-- Will podcasts make NPR relevant to millennials?
BUSINESS
-- Reports of debit cards not working have prompted two senators to question Green Dot, Master Card and Walmart.
-- Airbnb’s legal argument in San Francisco: Don’t hold us accountable for the actions of our hosts.
SPORTS
-- The Clippers are preparing to pursue Kevin Durant as NBA free agency starts tonight.
-- Manny Pacquiao has an Oct. 15 fight date in Las Vegas, but can he keep it?
OPINION
-- Erwin Chemerinsky: The conservative era of the Supreme Court is over.
-- Big fish in a small pond: There’s no room for bass in Gov. Jerry Brown’s delta tunnel plan.
WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING
-- What if society wasn’t built around the idea of “work”? (The Atlantic)
-- The deathly dioramas created by “the mother of forensic science.” (National Geographic)
-- Frustrated with the Ticketmaster settlement? You’re not alone. (Buffalo News)
ONLY IN L.A.
The movie palaces on Broadway once were the bright lights in the big city of downtown L.A. Now, beyond the occasional screening, some are ready for their close-up again: as retail stores. An Urban Outfitters has moved into the Rialto, and the Olympic will host COS, a higher-end brand of H&M, next year. Here’s how the Broadway Theater District is being transformed again.
Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.
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