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Authorities in New York say they’ve made largest-ever seizure of knock-off goods — more than $1B

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:47 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal authorities in New York announced on Wednesday the largest-ever seizure of counterfeit goods, consisting of handbags, shoes and other luxury merchandise valued at more than $1 billion.Two people were charged with trafficking the knock-offs from a New York City storage unit and other locations from January through October, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Photographs released by prosecutors showed shelves stacked with counterfeit wallets and bags in one location and handbags hanging from hooks from floor to ceiling in another. “The seizures announced today consist of merchandise with over a billion dollars in estimated retail value, the largest-ever seizure of counterfeit goods in U.S. history,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. The two men charged could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. The Associated Press

Man falls from moving big rig on L.A. area freeway

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:47 GMT

Editor's note: This article was changed to correct the location where the incident occurred.A bizarre and dangerous incident was captured on cell phone video in Orange County when a man fell from the back of a big rig Wednesday morning.The video obtained by Traffic News Los Angeles shows a man clinging to the rear of the tractor-trailer as it traveled southbound on the 57 Freeway just before the 91 interchange.The man tries to carefully step off the bumper of the moving vehicle only to tumble and fall onto his chest, the video shows.Video obtained by Traffic News Los Angeles shows a man clinging to the rear of the tractor-trailer as it traveled along the 57 Freeway. Nov. 15, 2023. (TNLA)The truck driver may have been aware of the man's presence since they appeared to be driving slowly compared to other vehicles.Officials with the California Highway Patrol told KTLA that they did not have any information about a person falling from a moving semi-truck, but did receive calls at around...

Today in History: November 16, Oklahoma becomes 46th state

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:47 GMT

Today in History Today is Thursday, Nov. 16, the 320th day of 2023. There are 45 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Nov. 16, 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state of the union. On this date: In 1914, the newly created Federal Reserve Banks opened in 12 cities. In 1933, the United States and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations. In 1960, Academy Award-winning actor Clark Gable died in Los Angeles at age 59.In 1961, House Speaker Samuel T. Rayburn died in Bonham, Texas, having served as speaker since 1940 except for two terms. In 1982, an agreement was announced in the 57th day of a strike by National Football League players. In 1989, six Jesuit priests, a housekeeper and her daughter were slain by army troops at the University of Central America Jose Simeon Canas in El Salvador. In 1991, former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards won a landslide victory in his bid to return to office, defeating State Rep. David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader. In 2001...

A vehicle crashed into a barricade near the Israeli Embassy in Tokyo, and reports say police arrested the driver

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:47 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — A vehicle crashed into a barricade near the Israeli Embassy in Tokyo, and reports say police arrested the driver.Source

Colorado case using ‘insurrection’ argument to bar Trump from the ballot goes to the judge

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:47 GMT

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado judge on Wednesday heard closing arguments on whether former President Donald Trump is barred from the ballot by a provision of the U.S. Constitution that forbids those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office.The hearing came on the heels of two losses elsewhere for advocates who are trying to remove Trump from the ballot under Section Three of the 14th Amendment, which bars from office those who swore an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” against it. The measure has only been used a handful of times since the period after the Civil War, when it was intended to stop former Confederates from swamping government positions.Last week, the Minnesota Supreme Court dodged the question of whether the provision applies to Trump, who is so far dominating the Republican presidential primary. It dismissed a lawsuit to toss him off that state’s primary ballot by saying that political parties can allow whomever they wan...

Biden, Xi met for hours and agreed to ‘pick up the phone’ for any urgent concerns: ‘That’s progress’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:47 GMT

WOODSIDE, Calif. (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping emerged Wednesday from their first face-to-face meeting in a year vowing to stabilize their fraught relationship and showcasing modest agreements to combat illegal fentanyl and re-establish military communications. But there were still deep differences on economic competition and global security threats. The most assuring takeaway from the meeting for Biden was that if either man had a concern, “we should pick up the phone and call one another and we’ll take the call. That’s important progress,” he said in a news conference following the talks. The two leaders spent four hours together at a bucolic Northern California estate — in meetings, a working lunch and a garden stroll — intent on showing the world that while they are global economic competitors they’re not locked in a winner-take-all faceoff.“Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed,” Xi told Biden.The U.S. president t...

Booker scores 31 in return from injury, Suns roll past Timberwolves 133-115

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:47 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Devin Booker scored 31 points in his return from a calf injury, Kevin Durant also scored 31 and the Phoenix Suns cruised past the Minnesota Timberwolves 133-115 on Wednesday night.The Timberwolves had their seven-game winning streak snapped. Booker returned after missing five games with a strained right calf. It was expected to be the first game of the season that all three Suns stars — Durant, Booker and Bradley Beal — played together, but Beal was a late scratch with a sore back.The combo of Booker and Durant provided plenty of production on Wednesday. Booker shot 12 of 22 from the field, adding five assists and four rebounds. Durant made 11 of 15 shots.Phoenix dominated the game for the majority of the night, taking a six-point lead after one quarter, a 22-point lead at halftime and a 28-point advantage into the final quarter. Eric Gordon scored 15 for the Suns, Grayson Allen added 14 and Drew Eubanks had 13, including a dunk over Karl Anthony-Towns.Anthony-Towns l...

Rams QB Matthew Stafford on track to return after missing one start with thumb injury

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:47 GMT

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — If not for the black support tape on his right thumb, there would have been no indication Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was less than three weeks removed from injuring it.Stafford took snaps and threw the ball without any apparent difficulty in practice Wednesday, giving him more confidence he will be able to play against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.It is a scenario Stafford didn’t believe was possible when he came out of the 43-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 29 after hitting his thumb three different times, the last of which happened when he caught a 2-point conversion early in the third quarter.“I tried to grab (a football) and it didn’t have any strength and was pretty worried about it,” Stafford said. “Then went back in and did some tests and I thought it was going to be quite a bit worse than it was. So just happy that it’s not as bad as I thought.”Throwing in a steady rain gave Stafford another way to measure how much prog...

Tyrese Hunter scores 18 points, powers No. 19 Texas past Rice 80-64

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:47 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Tyrese Hunter scored 18 points, and No. 19 Texas defeated Rice 80-64 Wednesday night, extending its season-opening winning streak to three games.Hunter shot 3 for 5 from 3-point distance and the Longhorns (3-0) hit 10 of 22 (45.5%) overall.Kadin Shedrick scored 15 points, and Max Abmas added 13 and Dillon Mitchell finished with a game-best 13 rebounds for Texas.Rice (1-2), which made 22 3-pointers with 40% accuracy in its first two games, was slowed by the Longhorns’ defense and hit just 4 of 22 (18.2%) shots from long distance.Anthony Selden led Rice with 17 points. Travis Evee scored 11 and Max Fiedler was limited to seven points, less than half his average.Texas broke loose with a flurry of 3-pointers early in the second half, just as it did in its last win, against Delaware State on Friday.Brock Cunningham made the first 3-pointer after a steal, putting Texas ahead by 15 points. Cunningham finished with three steals. Abmas followed the Cunningham 3 wit...

Kyle Bradish places fourth in AL Cy Young voting, an Orioles starter’s highest finish since 1999

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:47:47 GMT

Kyle Bradish opened the 2023 season as the No. 4 starter in the Orioles’ five-man rotation. He ended it viewed as the No. 4 starter in the entire American League.In his second major league season, Bradish placed fourth in voting for the AL Cy Young Award, which annually recognizes the circuit’s top pitcher. New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, the AL’s only qualified starter who allowed a lower batting average than Bradish, received all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America to win his first career Cy Young Award, the BBWAA announced Wednesday, with San Diego Padres left-hander Blake Snell winning in the National League.Bradish, a 27-year-old right-hander, is the first Orioles starter to appear on multiple BBWAA ballots since Hall of Famer Mike Mussina finished second in 1999. With a single third-place vote in 2007, Erik Bedard tied for fifth, while closer Zack Britton also came in fourth in 2016. An Oriole hasn’t won the aw...