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Authorities break up multi-state ‘high-end’ brothel network that had locations in Massachusetts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:01 GMT

Three men accused of operating “sophisticated high-end brothels” in parts of Massachusetts and eastern Virginia were taken into custody following a federal investigation, authorities said.The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced the brothel network’s breakup on Wednesday, which officials believe had clients who included “elected officials, high tech and pharmaceutical executives, doctors, military officers, government contractors that possess security clearances, professors, attorneys, scientists and accountants, among others.”“Pick a profession – they’re probably represented in this case,” Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy said during a news conference Wednesday.Arrested were Han Lee, 41, of Cambridge, Mass., Junmyung Lee, 30, of Dedham, Mass., and James Lee, 68, of Torrance, Calif.Citing charging documents, the US Attorney’s Office said that since at least July 2020, the s...

Chicago basketball report: Bulls at the bottom of the stats rankings — while both Illini men and women are ranked to start season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:01 GMT

Folks, we’ve officially entered peak basketball season.College basketball is back. The Chicago Bulls are already battling to get back to .500. And the NBA In-Season tournament is drawing attention and ire from fans.Every Wednesday throughout the season, Tribune writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead — for the Bulls, Sky and local basketball.Bulls snap losing skid with blowoutThe Bulls have struggled to secure wins in the opening weeks of the NBA season, falling into a skid that included a loss in their first NBA In-Season Tournament outing against the Brooklyn Nets last Friday.They momentarily snapped out of that rut with a convincing win over the Utah Jazz on Monday, converting 30 points out of turnovers to sail to a 130-113 win. But that result came against a floundering 2-6 Jazz team, providing little insight into how the Bulls can compete against stronger opposition in the East.The Bulls rank in the bottom third of league stati...

Colorado funeral home owner, wife, arrested on charges linked to the handling of at least 189 bodies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:01 GMT

By JESSE BEDAYN and MEAD GRUVER (Associated Press)DENVER (AP) — The owner of a Colorado funeral home and his wife were arrested Wednesday after the decaying remains of at least 189 people were recently found at his facility. Jon and Carrie Hallford were arrested in Wagoner, Oklahoma, on suspicion of four felonies — abuse of a corpse, theft, money laundering and forgery — District Attorney Michael Allen said in a news release after at least some of the aggrieved families were told.Jon Hallford was being held at the Muskogee County, Oklahoma, jail, but his wife wasn’t listed as being there, according to a man who answered a call to the jail but refused to give his name. Jon Hallford doesn’t have an attorney listed in the jail’s records, and neither he nor his wife could immediately be reached for comment. Neither has a personal phone number listed, and the funeral home’s number no longer works.Jon Hallford owns Return to Nature Funeral Home in...

Ivanka Trump testifies she wasn’t involved in documents central to her father’s civil fraud trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:01 GMT

By JENNIFER PELTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — Ivanka Trump testified Wednesday that she had no role in her father’s personal financial statements, echoing her adult brothers about documents central to the civil fraud trial that could reshape Donald Trump’s family business. The former president’s elder daughter, who has been in his inner circle in both business and politics, rounds out a major stretch in the trial. Her father took the stand on Monday, and her brothers Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. testified last week.Unlike her father and brothers, Ivanka Trump is no longer a defendant in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit. It alleges that Donald Trump’s asset values were fraudulently pumped up for years on annual “statements of financial condition” that helped him get loans and insurance. “I wasn’t involved in his statement of financial condition,” Ivanka Trump, a former exec...

FDA approves new version of diabetes drug Mounjaro for weight loss

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:01 GMT

A new version of the popular diabetes treatment Mounjaro can be sold as a weight-loss drug, U.S. regulators announced Wednesday.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, or tirzepatide. The drug helped dieters lose about a quarter of their body weight, or 60 pounds (27 kilograms), in a recent study.Zepbound is the latest diabetes drug approved for weight loss, joining Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, a high-dose version of its diabetes treatment Ozempic. The F DA approved Lilly’s drug for people who are considered obese, with a body mass index of 30 or higher, or those who are overweight with a related health condition, like high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes. The drug should be paired with a healthy diet and regular exercise, the FDA said. In the U.S., at least 100 million adults and about 15 million children are considered obese.The drug tirzepatide in Zepbound and Mounjaro and semaglutide in Wegovy and Ozempic work by mimicking ho...

Toronto man charged after traffic stop leads to Niagara police seizing $20,000 in fentanyl

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:01 GMT

A Toronto man is facing drug-related charges after Niagara police located over 100 grams of fentanyl in his vehicle during a traffic stop.Officers were on patrol in the King Street and Third Street area in Welland, Ont. just before 11 p.m. on Tuesday when they noticed the driver of a 2018 Hyundai Elantra. Niagara police said a traffic stop was conducted, resulting in the driver exiting their vehicle and becoming argumentative with an officer. It’s alleged the driver couldn’t produce proper photo identification and only verbally provided his name when prompted.Investigators said the man’s verbal name did not match the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) database, and he was arrested at the scene. Police searched the suspect’s vehicle, which resulted in the recovery of 103.2 grams of suspected fentanyl. Officers also noted that a photo ID belonging to the driver was recovered, confirming the name previously provided was false.On Wednesday, the man was identified a...

Commercial fishing groups sue 13 US tire makers over rubber preservative that’s deadly to salmon

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:01 GMT

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — The 13 largest U.S. tire manufacturers are facing a lawsuit from a pair of California commercial fishing organizations that could force the companies to stop using a chemical added to almost every tire because it kills migrating salmon.Also found in footwear, synthetic turf and playground equipment, the rubber preservative 6PPD has been used in tires for 60 years. As tires wear, tiny particles of rubber are left behind on roads and parking lots, breaking down into a byproduct, 6PPD-quinone, that is deadly to salmon, steelhead trout and other aquatic wildlife when rains wash it into rivers.“This is the biggest environmental disaster that the world doesn’t quite know about yet,” said Elizabeth Forsyth, an attorney with the environmental law firm Earthjustice, which is representing the fishing groups. “It’s causing devastating impacts to threatened and endangered species.”The Institute for Fisheries Resources and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s As...

Missouri Supreme Court hears case on latest effort to block Planned Parenthood funding

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:01 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Attorney General’s Office defended the Republican-led Legislature’s latest attempt in a years-long struggle to block taxpayer dollars from going to Planned Parenthood during arguments before the state Supreme Court on Wednesday.Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office had appealed after a lower court judge found it was unconstitutional for lawmakers in 2022 to specify that Planned Parenthood would get zero dollars for providing family planning services to Medicaid patients despite reimbursing other health care providers for similar treatments.Solicitor General Josh Divine told Supreme Court judges that creating a state budget is a core power granted to lawmakers. Divine said if the high court rules in favor of Planned Parenthood in this case, it will “wreck the appropriation process that has been used for decades.”Chuck Hatfield, Planned Parenthood’s lawyer, told judges that’s “not so.” He said the case ...

No, Dior didn’t replace Bella Hadid with an Israeli model over her comments on the Israel-Hamas war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:01 GMT

Social media users are sharing a baseless claim that Dior has dropped Bella Hadid due to the supermodel’s recent comments on the latest Israel-Hamas war. Here are the facts:CLAIM: Dior has ended its partnership with Bella Hadid because she posted a message of support for Palestinians, and the brand replaced her in a new ad campaign with Israeli model May Tager.AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Hadid’s contract with the luxury fashion house ended in March 2022, long before the latest conflict, a person close to the matter told The Associated Press. And while Tager is one of several models appearing in Dior’s 2023 holiday campaign, she was also in the 2022 version — and both ads more prominently featured actor Anya Taylor-Joy.THE FACTS: Hadid, whose father is Palestinian, has repeatedly made public remarks criticizing the Israeli government and supporting Palestinians in the years since she was named a brand ambassador for Dior’s makeup in 2016.After the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas...

3 charged with running sex ring that catered to elected officials, other wealthy clients

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:50:01 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — Three people have been arrested on allegations that they ran a sophisticated commercial sex ring in Massachusetts and Virginia that catered to well-connected clients such as elected officials and military officers, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. Prosecutors allege the individuals used two websites and a network of brothels in Massachusetts and eastern Virginia to make hundreds of thousands of dollars. Clients often paid a monthly fee to be part of the “illicit club,” Acting Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Josh Levy told reporters. “This commercial sex ring was built on secrecy and exclusivity, catering to a wealthy and well-connected clientele, and business was booming, until today,” Levy said. Authorities believe potentially hundreds of people bought sex services through the ring, including doctors, lawyers, accountants, elected officials, military officers, government contractors, professors and executives at tech companies, Levy said. “They are the men who...