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Taiwan’s leader, in US, stresses security for her island

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — In a highly sensitive U.S. visit, Taiwan’s president is delivering a message that keeping her self-ruled island strong will help ensure the world’s safety — even as her travel is carefully calibrated to try to contain what furious Chinese officials warn could be a strong response.Taiwan is billing President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to New York as simply a “transit,” but she kept a full agenda of events Wednesday and Thursday before flying to Central America. Most provocatively in the eyes of Beijing, her trip is expected to include a meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy next week. In a sign of the sensitivity of her visit, little about Tsai’s full itinerary has been made public, and her events Thursday were closed to the news media. The visit — while important for Taiwan in demonstrating its overseas support — is fraught for both Taiwan and the U.S. because China views Taiwan as its territory and treats any dealings between U.S. and Taiwanese officials as a ch...

Trump, indicted in Stormy Daniels case, claims innocence, ‘political persecution’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump, the only U.S. president ever to be impeached twice, made even more ignoble history Thursday as he became the first former commander-in-chief ever to be indicted by a grand jury on criminal charges.In typical Trump style, he wasted no time trying to turn it to his advantage.“This is Political Persecution and Election interference at the highest level in history,” Trump declared in a statement after multiple media reports, citing anonymous sources, broke the news of the indictment. The charges flow from the Stormy Daniels affair in which so-called “hush money” payments were made during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of extramarital sexual encounters. The indictment remains sealed, but the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation was focused on payments that were made to Daniels, a porn star, as well as to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.Trump described the indictment as “unthinkable”...

UK agrees to join Pacific trade pact in post-Brexit deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. has agreed to join an Asia-Pacific trade pact that includes Japan, Mexico and Australia — the biggest new trade deal Britain has struck since leaving the European Union three years ago.The British government said Friday that it had clinched an agreement after almost two years of negotiations to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP.The government said membership would reduce tariffs on British dairy products and other goods and remove red tape for services, boosting the U.K. economy by 1.8 billion pounds ($2.2 billion) “in the long run.”Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the deal “demonstrates the real economic benefits of our post-Brexit freedoms.”“Joining the CPTPP trade bloc puts the U.K. at the center of a dynamic and growing group of Pacific economies, as the first new nation and first European country to join,” Sunak said.The deal comes as the U.K. pursues an “Indo-Pacific tilt” in its economic and foreign ...

Rush for diabetes and weight-loss drug Ozempic puts cross-border sales in spotlight

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

VANCOUVER — The B.C. government’s bid to restrict the sale of diabetes drug Ozempic to prevent non-Canadian residents draining supplies was the right move and a long time coming, says Brett Skinner, founder and CEO of the Canadian Health Policy Institute. Nearly two decades ago, Skinner warned that policymakers in Canada had to wise up to the market realities for pharmaceuticals and realize large-scale demand from Americans for cheaper Canadian drugs threatened the country’s limited supplies. In the case of Ozempic, its popularity has soared in recent years thanks to a ubiquitous advertising campaign coupled with celebrity-driven social media chatter about its effectiveness as a means of losing weight, a so-called “off label” use for the drug. B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said on Tuesday he wants a federal clampdown on sales to non-residents after it was discovered that Americans were being sent thousands of doses of Ozempic in the mail from B.C., the majority prescribed by a sin...

What Chicagoland, Illinois politicians are saying about Trump's indictment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

CHICAGO — Politicians and elected officials from Chicagoland and Illinois are responding after former President Donald Trump was indicted in New York.A Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict Donald Trump on charges involving payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter, the first-ever criminal case against a former U.S. president and a jolt to Trump’s bid to retake the White House in 2024. READ MORE: Trump indicted in Stormy Daniels hush-money case The indictment, confirmed Thursday by Joe Tacopina, a lawyer for Trump, and other people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to discuss sealed criminal charges, is an extraordinary development after years of investigations into his business, political and personal dealings. Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly attacked the investigation as politically motivated, was expected to surrender to authorities next week, according to a person fam...

Illinois Senate approves proposal to protect child social media stars

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) -- Illinois is one step closer to becoming the first state to regulate child social media influencers.The Senate passed a proposal to create trust accounts for children influencers if their parents have monetized content featuring them. It would also allow the minor to request social media companies to delete all of the content with them once they turn 18. ORIGINAL: Illinois senators create bill to protect kid influencers Sen. Dave Koehler (D-Peoria), the Senate sponsor of the bill, says it solves a new child labor issue. "This new digital era has allowed children to find ways to make money online from the content they make,” Koehler said. “The problem is that many parents take this opportunity to pocket the money themselves, and encourage their children to make more content for their benefit." In addition, the bill would require parents to report details such as their child's hours, how much money they made, and how much they deposited into their child's ...

NYPD cops ordered to patrol in uniform, prepare for mobilization after Trump indictment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

NEW YORK (WPIX) – Top brass at the NYPD issued a memo on Thursday instructing all officers to wear their uniforms and prepare for mobilization following the Manhattan grand jury indictment of former President Donald Trump.The internal NYPD memo, obtained by Nexstar's WPIX, stated that officers of all ranks should perform their duties in uniform and be prepared for mobilization beginning Friday morning. Trump indicted in Stormy Daniels hush money case The NYPD and other law enforcement agencies have been on heightened alert since last week in anticipation of the looming grand jury decision in the Manhattan district attorney's case. Last Friday, a powdery substance and a threatening letter were found inside a mailroom at DA Alvin Bragg's offices. The NYPD and environmental protection officials isolated and removed the suspicious letter, and testing “determined there was no dangerous substance,” Bragg spokesperson Danielle Filson said.Bragg also acknowledged in a memo to staff that t...

Schumer on indictment: Trump 'is subject to the same laws as every American'

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday called for calm heads to prevail after the Manhattan District Attorney's office indicted former President Trump in relation to hush money payments made to an adult film actress Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign. "Mr. Trump is subject to the same laws as every American. He will be able to avail himself of the legal system and a jury, not politics, to determine his fate according to the facts and the law," Schumer said in a statement on Thursday night.  "There should be no outside political influence, intimidation or interference in the case.," Schumer continued. "I encourage both Mr. Trump’s critics and supporters to let the process proceed peacefully and according to the law.”The indictment makes Trump the first ex-president to be hit with criminal charges in U.S. history. Many Democrats hailed the indictment. Others have spoken in the same vein as Schumer and are calling for the legal process to play out. T...

WGN 75: From the archives: Comiskey Park's Opening Day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

It’s Opening Day for the Chicago White Sox. They’re in Houston and will host San Francisco in the home opener next week.As part of our celebration of WGN’s 75th anniversary, Mike Lowe has been going through the archives and found some rare footage from Opening Day at Comiskey Park from 60 years ago.Parking cost just $1 in 1963 and the Sox opened the season with the Kansas City Athletics on April 16.Before fans filled the seats, workers were drilling the armrests, painting the railings, numbering the seats and hosing down the bullpen. Up Next: WGN Sports brought Michael Jordan and the ’90s Bulls to Chicago — and beyond In 1963, the Sox went 94-68 and finished second in American League. The Yankees won the pennant that year, but lost to the Dodgers in the World Series. 

Why charges against Trump don't prevent him from running for president

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:30:57 GMT

Donald Trump became the first president on Thursday to face criminal charges – an indictment that comes several months after the former president announced he’s running for reelection. Trump’s indictment comes in response to an investigation launched by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) regarding possible involvement in a hush money payment that was made during his 2016 campaign to an adult film actress. Details about the exact criminal charges remain unknown publicly at this point. The indictment has raised numerous questions over Trump's run for office, but legal scholars explain that Trump is still legally able to continue his White House bid while he faces criminal charges.Saikrishna Prakash, a law professor at the University of Virginia’s School of Law, explains that the Constitution does not offer any disqualifications for candidates seeking the presidency if they’re either indicted or in jail.“There is no disqualification that says that if you are ind...