Porn sets close
The week's news at a glance.
San Fernando Valley, Calif.
California’s multibillion-dollar porn industry came to a sudden halt this week after two performers—Darren James and Lara Roxx—tested positive for HIV. Panicked actors lined up to be tested, and major video producers temporarily shut down operations. An industry clinic quarantined 47 people who had sex with James or with his on-screen partners after his last negative test, in March. Roxx, 21, had unprotected sex with James in her first adult movie. She said tough safety standards—the industry’s 1,200 regular performers are screened every month—had made her feel safe. “I thought porn people were the cleanest people in the world,” Roxx said. State regulators said they would try to require all porn actors to use condoms.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Will divisions over trans issue derail Keir Starmer's government?
Today's Big Question Rebellion is brewing following the Supreme Court's ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex under equality law
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK
-
Why UK scientists are trying to dim the Sun
In The Spotlight The UK has funded controversial geoengineering techniques that could prove helpful in slowing climate change
By Abby Wilson
-
Gandhi charges: Narendra Modi's 'vendetta' against India's opposition
The Explainer Another episode threatens to spark uproar in the Indian PM's long-running battle against the country's first family
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK