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Willis Reed, leader on Knicks’ 2 title teams, dies at 80

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Willis Reed, who dramatically emerged from the locker room minutes before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals to spark the New York Knicks to their first championship and create one of sports’ most enduring examples of playing through pain, died Tuesday. He was 80.Reed’s death was announced by the National Basketball Retired Players Association, which confirmed it through his family. The cause was not released, but Reed had been in poor health recently and was unable to travel to New York when the Knicks honored the 50th anniversary of their 1973 NBA championship team during their game against New Orleans on Feb. 25.Nicknamed “The Captain,” Reed was the undersized center and emotional leader on the Knicks’ two NBA championship teams, with a soft shooting touch from the outside and a toughness to tussle with the era’s superstar big men on the inside.His accomplishments — seven All-Star selections, two NBA Finals MVP awards among them — would have warranted Hall of Fam...

‘Heartbreaking but always inspiring’: Lisa LaFlamme’s docu-series looks at women’s rights in Africa

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

In partnership with Journalists for Human Rights, veteran Canadian journalist Lisa LaFlamme is out with a new docu-series that examines gender-based violence and discrimination against women in Africa.The award-winning broadcaster, and Rachel Pulfer, executive director of Journalists for Human Rights, appeared on Breakfast Television on Tuesday to talk about the four mini-documentaries highlighting the fight for women’s rights in Kenya and Tunisia, particularly in media, politics, and in their personal lives.The series was launched on the Canadian organization’s YouTube channel on March 17.One of the episodes delves into a morning show in Kenya and the challenges the women faced being in the newsroom.“How has journalism changed lives? How does it promote democracy, promote human rights, and protect human rights? This was an opportunity to see from the ground up what the relationship between journalism and civil society is,” LaFlamme explained.She also said it...

Tanzanian officials confirm 5 dead from Marburg disease

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Tanzania’s health ministry on Tuesday confirmed that five people have died and three others are being treated for the Ebola-like Marburg disease.Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu said the cases were identified in the western region of Kagera and the government had managed to control its spread to other regions.Like Ebola, the Marburg virus originates in bats and spreads between people via close contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, or surfaces, like contaminated bed sheets. Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal in up to 88% of people.Marburg outbreaks and individual cases have in the past been recorded in Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Ghana, according to the World Health Organization.Kenya and Uganda are on high alert due to the recent cases in Tanzania.WHO representative Zabulon Yoti, who spoke during the Tanzania health ministry press briefing, praised the government for what he called its swift response and transparency.The acting ...

Lawyer: 29-year-old who posed as teen student was lonely

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — A 29-year-old woman accused of using false documents to enroll as a New Jersey high school student and attend some classes over a four-day period did so because she was lonely and longed to return to her days with friends in school, her lawyer said. The woman pleaded not guilty Monday to a charge of providing a false government document. Her lawyer said she knows she made a mistake and has applied to enter a pretrial intervention program that eventually could lead to the charge being dismissed. She’s due back in court in May.The woman is a South Korean citizen who came to the United States by herself when she was 16 to attend a private boarding school, the lawyer said. She later graduated from Rutgers University in 2019.The lawyer said his client had no nefarious intentions when she enrolled at New Brunswick High School in January. She was just seeking to return to “a place of safety and welcoming and an environment that she looks back on fondly,R...

Kevin Fox, wrongly charged in daughter's 2004 death, dies in crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

The Wilmington, Illinois man wrongly charged with the murder of his 3-year-old daughter two decades ago has died in a crash in Arkansas. Kevin Fox’s attorney, Kathleen Zellner confirmed his death in a tweet writing: “I just learned that one of our best, most courageous and kindest clients, Kevin Fox was killed in a car crash yesterday,” Zellner wrote.  “Our sympathy goes out to his family and everyone who loved him. RIP. #TruthWins #LoveWins”In 2004, Fox, was a married father of two when his daughter Riley disappeared from the family’s Wilmington home. Her body was later discovered in a nearby creek.Fox was later arrested and under intense interrogation by Will County sheriff’s investigators gave a videotaped confession he later recanted.  He spent eight months in jail before he was exonerated by DNA.In 2010, Scott Wayne Eby - a sex offender already in prison – confessed to raping and drowning Riley.  The Fox family sued Will County authorities and were awarded $...

Over 30 local Herbalife victims to finally receive checks over 2016 ruling

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

CHICAGO — Over 30 people who were supposed to receive money from a 2016 settlement involving Herbalife are finally receiving their checks Tuesday evening.Last month, the group of 31 Illinoisans protested outside of the Thompson Center with the goal of getting the attention of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.Back in 2016, his predecessor Lisa Madigan led a case against Herbalife — saying the $3 million settlement that was reached resolved complaints about false and misleading marketing schemes.In the meantime, none of the 31 victims have received any of the $3 million.According to the group's leader, Pastor Julie Contreras of United Giving Hope, they will receive the money on Tuesday night. Illinois AG urges Hyundai, Kia to take ‘comprehensive action’ over car thefts Checks will range from $140 to $140,000 and she credited WGN with helping to speed the process up.

Gwyneth Paltrow's lawyer calls Utah ski collision story ‘BS’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Gwyneth Paltrow's lawyer called the story of a retired optometrist who is suing her over a 2016 ski collision “utter B.S.” on Tuesday during the trial's opening day in Utah, where the actor-turned-lifestyle influencer appeared in court, and tried to shield herself from photographers' view with a notebook.Paltrow and Terry Sanderson, the man suing her, sat across from each other in a Park City courtroom as their attorneys gave opening arguments detailing the crash. Both described their clients as victims and blamed the other for the 2016 crash at Deer Valley, one of the country's most upscale ski resorts.The two showed little emotion as attorneys questioned their credibility. A somber-looking Paltrow — wearing a beige knit sweater, tweed harem pants and aviator-style reading glasses — wrote in a blue “GP”-initialed notebook throughout the first day of the trial, which is set to last eight days.Sanderson claims that Paltrow was cruising down the slopes so reckle...

What time is the Chicago Mayoral Debate?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

CHICAGO -- With two weeks until Election Day, the Chicago Mayoral runoff winners will meet once again for a debate.The Your Local Election Headquarters: Chicago Mayoral Debate will take place Tuesday at 7 p.m. at WGN's studios on Chicago's North Side.You can watch the entire Chicago Mayoral Debate right here in this article. Vallas, Johnson notch key endorsements ahead of WGN-TV debate WGN News anchors Lourdes Duarte and Tahman Bradley will moderate the debate between candidates Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson.Vallas and Johnson will meet for their third debate since they were announced the runoff winners from the Feb. 28 election.Additional coverage, including reaction and analysis, will follow Tuesday's debate on WGN News at Nine with anchors Ray Cortopassi, Dina Bair and political analyst Paul Lisnek.

Trump lawyer: If he's indicted 'this is an all-out war'

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

(The Hill) -- A lawyer for former President Donald Trump said on Monday that it will be “an all-out war” if Trump is indicted in the Manhattan district attorney’s probe into a 2016 hush-money payment.“They can do what they want,” Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina said of the possible indictment in an interview with former Trump adviser Kimberly Guilfoyle on Monday. “At that point, this is an all-out war.”“He’ll be there loud and proud, and there’s nobody that’s gonna make him cower,” Tacopina told Guilfoyle, who is also the fiancé of the former president's oldest son Donald Trump Jr.The Trump attorney similarly told the New York Daily News on Friday that the former president would not refuse to surrender if he is indicted, emphasizing that “there won’t be a standoff at Mar-a-Lago with Secret Service and the Manhattan DA’s office.” Bomb threat disrupts NY court where Trump case is being heard Tacopina has been making the rounds on TV defending the former president, as...

Van Jones says Bragg may 'step back from the brink' on charging Trump

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

(The Hill) -- CNN political commentator Van Jones said Monday that he would not be surprised if Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg held back on indicting former President Donald Trump — arguing that the prosecutor should wait for the former president to be slapped with more serious charges.“I think that the heat is on this DA, I think he’s going to make a very sober decision and I would not be surprised if he doesn’t step back from the brink,” Jones said on CNN Monday night.That “heat” comes after Trump claimed over the weekend that he would be arrested amid the Manhattan DA's probe into hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Trump and his allies have publicly attacked Bragg, a Democrat, for the possible indictment, saying it would be politically motivated.House Republicans turned their attention to Bragg after the news of Trump’s possible indictment broke, with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) promising to investigate whether any ...