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Britney Spears has told an LA court that she wants her father charged with conservatorship abuse.

Addressing the court for the second time in less than a month, Spears demanded once again that Jamie Spears be removed from the legal agreement that has controlled most of her life for more than 13 years.

Giving evidence once again by phone, as supporters of the #FreeBritney movement protested outside the hearing, the star initially said she wanted the courtroom cleared, before changing her mind and saying she would speak publicly.

A protest in support of pop star Britney Spears on the day of a conservatorship case hearing at Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles
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#FreeBritney campaigners were once again outside the court in LA during the hearing
Fans and supporters of pop star Britney Spears protest at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington during a #FreeBritney rally on 14 July, as a court hearing on her conservatorship is held in LA. Pic: AP
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While a separate protest also took place in Washington. Pic: AP

She listed a series of grievances, including that her hair vitamins and coffee had been taken from her. “Ma’am, that’s not abuse, that’s just f****** cruelty,” she tearfully told Judge Brenda Penny. “Excuse my language but it’s the truth.”

After taking a short break to compose herself, Spears called for her father be removed from the complex legal arrangement and be charged with “conservatorship abuse”.

The singer said she wants the conservatorship terminated without the need for a medical assessment, but made it clear her top priority was ousting her father from his role while allowing co-conservator Jodi Montgomery to remain in the meantime.

“My dad needs to be removed today and I will be happy with Jodi helping me,” the star said.

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It comes following Spears’ explosive first testimony in open court in June, during which she got to have her say publicly for the first time.

At that hearing, the star told the court it was her “wish and dream for all of this to end”, and claimed she wants to be able to get married and have a baby, but that the conservatorship won’t allow it.

Much has happened in the three weeks since Spears’ first testimony, with the star’s long-term manager Larry Rudolph reportedly resigning and her court-appointed lawyer, Samuel Ingham III, also saying he intended to step down. The Bessemer Trust, a financial management company that was hired in 2020 to oversee Spears’s estate alongside her father, also pulled out of the arrangement, saying there had been “changed circumstances”.

The latest hearing took place inside a packed court in downtown Los Angeles, with around 60 masked journalists and fans in attendance.

Mathew S Rosengart, the high-powered Hollywood lawyer Spears wants to represent her, was also in attendance, and told the court his law firm was more than capable of handling a complex case.

His arrival is expected to signal a more aggressive approach to ending the conservatorship.

Speaking outside court, #FreeBritney supporter Derrin Stull, 25, said that now Spears has had her say publicly and there is “visibility”, action has to be taken.

“Well, I think Britney is just such a light in the world, she’s done so much for society, for music as a person, and it’s really sad that she was allowed to live in this type of situation for 13 years. So I think it’s really important that everyone support her.

“Now that there’s the visibility, there’s no excuse. So that’s really of the utmost importance that we just make sure that everyone knows that this is happening, that this is going on and it’s not right.”

Fellow supporter Christina Goswick, 40, said: “Like she said [at the previous hearing], I believe she’s traumatised. She can’t sleep. If you look at her, she looks tired. She just wants her life back and I understand that completely.”

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Joseph Emerson: Attempted murder charges dropped against pilot who ‘tried to cut plane’s engines’

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Joseph Emerson: Attempted murder charges dropped against pilot who 'tried to cut plane's engines'

A former Alaska Airlines pilot accused of trying to cut the engines of a Horizon Air flight will not face charges of attempted murder.

Joseph Emerson has been indicted on 84 endangerment charges – for each person on the plane – and one charge of endangering an aircraft.

He previously pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges filed by state prosecutors and to a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew.

Prosecutors have accused Emerson, 44, of trying to cut the engines on the 22 October flight from Everett, Washington state, to San Francisco while riding in the extra seat in the cockpit.

The FBI said in an affidavit that after a brief struggle, he left the cockpit and attendants put him in wrist restraints and seated him in the back of the aircraft which was diverted to Portland.

According to charging documents, Emerson told Port of Portland police he had been struggling with depression, that a friend had recently died and that he had taken psychedelic mushrooms about 48 hours before he attempted to cut the engines.

He also said he had not slept in more than 40 hours.

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Emerson’s defence lawyers welcomed the grand jury’s decision.

They said: “The attempted murder charges were never appropriate in this case because Captain Emerson never intended to hurt another person or put anyone at risk – he just wanted to return home to his wife and children.

“Simply put: Captain Emerson thought he was in a dream.”

Emerson remains in custody in Multnomah County, Oregon.

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Panera Bread’s caffeinated Charged Lemonade drinks blamed for two deaths in US

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Panera Bread’s caffeinated Charged Lemonade drinks blamed for two deaths in US

A highly caffeinated drink sold by US bakery chain Panera Bread has been blamed for two deaths after a second lawsuit was filed on Monday.

Dennis Brown is said to have drunk three Charged Lemonades from a Panera Bread on 9 October before suffering a fatal cardiac arrest on his way home in Florida, according to Sky News’ partner network NBC News.

The 46-year-old did not normally consume energy drinks because he had high blood pressure, according to lawsuit filed this week.

It adds that it is unclear whether Mr Brown, who had had a developmental delay and a mild intellectual disability, knew how much caffeine and sugar was in the drink because it was available in self-serve dispensers “offered side-by-side with all of the store’s non-caffeinated and/or less caffeinated drinks.”

Mr Brown’s cause of death was cardiac arrest due to hypertensive disease, according to a death certificate seen by NBC News.

‘Dangerous’

Panera advertises the beverage as “plant-based an clean with as much caffeine as our dark roast coffee.”

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The complaints refer to it as a “dangerous energy drink” and argue that Panera fails to appropriately warn consumers about its caffeine contents.

A large cup, the lawsuits allege, contains 390mg of caffeine – more than the caffeine content of standard cans of Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined.

In a statement provided to NBC News, Panera expressed its “deep sympathy for Mr Brown’s family” and said it stood by the safety of its products.

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“Based on our investigation we believe his unfortunate passing was not caused by one of the company’s products,” it added.

“We view this lawsuit, which was filed by the same law firm as a previous claim, to be equally without merit. Panera stands firmly by the safety of our products.”

The first legal complaint referred to Sarah Katz, who died on 10 September last year after going into cardiac arrest.

The lawsuit filed in October alleges the 21-year-old, who had a heart condition called long QT syndrome type 1, bought a Charged Lemonade from a Panera Bread store in Philadelphia hours before her death.

She did this, it claims, despite the fact she avoided energy drinks at the recommendation of her doctors.

Her roommate and close friend, Victoria Rose Conroy, told NBC News: “She [Ms Katz] was very, very vigilant about what she needed to do to keep herself safe.

“I guarantee if Sarah had known how much caffeine this was, she never would have touched it with a 10-foot pole.”

A Panera spokesperson at the time said: “We were very saddened to learn this morning about the tragic passing of Sarah Katz, and our hearts go out to her family.

“At Panera, we strongly believe in transparency around our ingredients. We will work quickly to thoroughly investigate this matter.”

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Texas woman asks court to let her have an abortion

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Texas woman asks court to let her have an abortion

A Texas woman who is 20-weeks pregnant and whose foetus has been diagnosed with a fatal condition has asked a court to allow her to have an abortion.

Texas is one of 13 states that bans abortion at nearly all stages of pregnancy.

Kate Cox recently learned her unborn child is at a high risk of a genetic abnormality called trisomy 18, which typically does not result in a viable pregnancy.

The 31-year-old mother-of-two has started legal proceedings in Austin seeking a temporary restraining order allowing a doctor to perform an abortion without being prosecuted.

Doctors have told Ms Cox her baby is likely to be stillborn or live for a week at most, according to court papers.

The documents also say because she has already had two previous caesarean sections, she would need to have a third one if she continues the pregnancy, which could jeopardise her ability to have more children.

“Yet because of Texas’s abortion bans, Ms Cox’s physicians have informed her that their ‘hands are tied’ and she will have to wait until her baby dies inside her or carry the pregnancy to term, at which point she will be forced to have a third C-section, only to watch her baby suffer until death,” the court papers said.

“Kate Cox needs an abortion, and she needs it now.”

The legal action is believed to be the first time a woman has sought a court order authorising an abortion since the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v Wade 1973 ruling which legalised abortion nationwide.

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Although Texas allows exceptions, doctors and women have argued in court this year that the state’s law is so restrictive and vaguely worded that physicians are afraid of providing abortions for fear they could face potential criminal charges.

Ms Cox has urged the court to rule “expeditiously”.

“It is not a matter of if I will have to say goodbye to my baby, but when,” she said in a statement.

“I’m trying to do what is best for my baby and myself, but the state of Texas is making us both suffer.”

In July, several Texas women gave emotional testimony about carrying babies they knew would not survive and doctors unable to offer abortions despite their spiralling conditions.

A judge later ruled the abortion ban in Texas was too restrictive for women with pregnancy complications – but that decision was swiftly put on hold after the state appealed against it.

Molly Duane, Ms Cox’s lawyer who is also a legal representative for the Center for Reproductive Rights, said: “How many people are going through the exact same thing as Kate is right now but are not in a position to file a lawsuit?

“I think that gives you a sense of the scale of the problem that we’re dealing with.”

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