A woman who says the former NBA champion hired her to be a personal assistant and artist for his family has filed a lawsuit

Former NBA champion Dennis Rodman is facing a lawsuit for damages from a woman who accused him of slamming a door on her hand and badly injuring her during an incident at his Houston home, after hiring her to be a personal assistant and artist for his family.

A woman who answered a call to a phone number associated with Rodman’s address in the Texas city dismissed plaintiff Taylor A Banks’ allegations as “a money grab”.

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Executives at Texas summit claim clean-energy transition is failing and say world should ‘abandon the fantasy’ of fossil-fuel phaseout

The bosses of the world’s leading oil and gas companies have poured scorn on efforts to move away from fossil fuels, complaining that a “visibly failing” transition to clean energy was being pushed forward at an “unrealistic pace”.

The oil executives, gathered at the industry’s annual Cera Week conference in Houston, Texas, have taken turns this week to denounce calls for a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, despite widespread acknowledgment within the industry, as well as scientists and governments, of the need to radically reduce planet-heating emissions to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis.

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Founded almost 40 years ago, the Fotofest biennial has an ambitious programme of exhibitions, portfolio reviews and artist talks. This year’s central show, curated by Steven Evans, reveals the effects of social, cultural, ecological and political forces on places and communities

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Incident is latest in a week of safety issues for airline, all involving Boeing planes, including a tire falling off and a flaming engine

A United Airlines plane ran off the runway in Houston, Texas, on Friday, the latest incident in a week of safety issues for the airline, all involving Boeing planes, that included a tire falling off, a flaming engine and allegedly “stuck” controls.

The Boeing 737 Max 8, carrying 160 passengers and six crew, was landing at George Bush intercontinental airport on Friday morning when it “left the pavement and entered the grass” while exiting the runway for the gate, airport officials said in an interview.

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Beyoncé’s record-breaking hoedown Texas Hold ‘Em has prompted debate about belonging in country music. Patrons in her Texan hometown have their say on the song

The Shady Acres saloon is a hole-in-the-wall country dive bar about eight miles north-west of Beyoncé’s childhood home in Houston, Texas. On a Wednesday evening, a few pickup trucks are parked out front. Inside there is a wooden bar with dollar bills stapled to the ceiling. Texas beers such as Shiner Bock and Lone Star are on tap and a jukebox near the pool table plays Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Jeannie C Riley’s Harper Valley PTA. Beyoncé’s new song, the cheeky hoedown Texas Hold ’Em – which recently made her the first Black woman to top Billboard’s country music chart and is currently in its second week at UK No 1 – isn’t on the playlist.

Beyoncé has never been shy about voicing her Texas pride, but what some people perceive as her sudden switch to country on her forthcoming album, after the house music history lesson of her 2022 album Renaissance, has prompted debate on her country bona fides. Some country radio stations refused to playlist her new song – though one in Oklahoma had to back down after an online campaign . Some diehard country music lovers are questioning whether her new songs should even be considered country, reactions that overlook the genre’s Black roots – and Beyoncé’s history with the genre, from the song Daddy Lessons, from her 2016 album Lemonade, to the stetsons worn by Destiny’s Child. Last month, her mother, Tina Knowles, stepped in to shed light on the family’s history with rodeo culture, and Dolly Parton congratulated Beyoncé on her success and heralded her excitement about the forthcoming record.

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Two off-duty officers at Joel Osteen’s megachurch shot a woman who fired a rifle and claimed to have a bomb, police said

A woman with a rifle was killed by two off-duty police officers – and a child was wounded – Sunday at a Houston , Texas, megachurch run by prominent evangelical Christian pastor Joel Osteen, the city’s police chief said.

Houston’s channel3now.com cited the city’s police chief, Troy Finner, to report that the woman in question went into Osteen ’s Lakewood church claiming to have a bomb. She began firing a rifle, and a 5-year-old child as well as a man were struck.

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DJ Hayden, who played nine seasons with the Raiders, Lions, Jaguars and Commanders, was in SUV hit by speeding car

A former National Football League player was among six people who were killed in car collision that occurred when a speeding driver ran a red light in downtown Houston on Saturday.

Before his death in Houston during his collegiate alma mater’s homecoming weekend, 33-year-old DJ Hayden played nine seasons in the NFL after the Raiders selected him in the first round of the college draft in 2013.

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Federal effort will focus on marginalized areas in all parts of country and aims to reduce extreme heat and benefit health

Hundreds of communities around the US will share more than $1bn in federal money to help them plant and maintain trees under a federal program that is intended to reduce extreme heat, benefit health and improve access to nature.

The US agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, will announce the $1.13bn in funding for 385 projects at an event on Thursday morning in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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