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Fake Ozempic: Several people hospitalized in Austria

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:11:39 GMT

Several people have been hospitalized in Austria after taking a counterfeit version of diabetes drug Ozempic to lose weight, authorities said, after the European Medicines Agency warned last week of the spread of fake Ozempic pens across Europe.The Austrian Federal Crime Office said Monday that individuals taking the counterfeit product could have died without immediate treatment.“The syringes can be obtained legally only by physicians through pharmacies, or by physicians who have a home pharmacy. In this case, the syringes are likely to have been obtained via another route,” the crime agency said in a statement. Criminal organizations have been taking advantage of delivery bottlenecks for Ozempic, a diabetes drug that has become increasingly popular for weight loss. They are selling counterfeit products that contain insulin rather than semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, the Austrian federal health office warned. Stocks of the affected batch may still be...

Jenna Ellis becomes latest Trump lawyer to plead guilty over efforts to overturn Georgia’s election

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:11:39 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Jenna Ellis, an attorney and prominent conservative media figure, reached a deal with prosecutors Tuesday and pleaded guilty to reduced charges over efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia.Ellis, the fourth defendant in the case to enter into a plea deal, was a vocal part of Trump’s reelection campaign in the last presidential cycle and was charged alongside the Republican former president and 17 others with violating the state’s anti-racketeering law.Ellis, 38, pleaded guilty to a count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings. She had been facing charges of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and soliciting the violation of oath by a public officer.The guilty plea from Ellis comes just days after two other defendants, fellow attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, entered guilty pleas. That means three high-profile people responsible for pushing baseless legal challeng...

True or false: Tyson Bagent’s performance in the Chicago Bears’ Week 7 win complicates the QB conversation

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:11:39 GMT

For the first time in more than a year, the Chicago Bears locker room at Soldier Field was filled with postgame joy.Players danced. Coach Matt Eberflus handed out game balls to Tyson Bagent, Jaylon Johnson and D’Onta Foreman. And the Bears reveled in a 30-12 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders to break a 10-game home losing streak.Now they’ll try to keep the good vibes going as they prepare for a “Sunday Night Football” game on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers behind Bagent, who is likely to make another start in place of injured quarterback Justin Fields.Tribune writers Colleen Kane and Dan Wiederer look at what’s next with four true-or-false conversations.Wiederer: True or false? Tyson Bagent’s solid performance Sunday complicated the Bears quarterback conversation.Kane: True. I’m not saying there is a quarterback controversy yet. There isn’t. Eberflus made it clear after the game that Fields will return as the starter when h...

City Girls’ uninhibited rap made them. On their third album, ‘RAW,’ the duo evolves their sound

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:11:39 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — You’d be hard pressed to find a rap duo doing it like City Girls, bringing life-affirming, pretty-girl scam rap to the masses — and since their 2018 debut “Girl Code,” the same release that gave the world “Act Up,” a few months after they were featured on Drake ‘s “In My Feelings” and launched into superstardom.A lot has changed since then. Three years ago, the Miami duo of JT and Yung Miami released their sophomore album, “City on Lock” shortly after it was leaked — this time around, they’ve worked to make sure things move as smoothly as possible with their third full-length album, “RAW,” an acronym for “Real Ass Whores.” It’s City Girls, as fun as ever — with marked growth.“’RAW’ is just being authentic and being ourselves,” says JT, who did most of the speaking in their interview with The Associated Press. Of course, that doesn’t mean the album — true to their spirited party records and moments of real...

Slovakia’s president is ready to swear in a new Cabinet after partner replaces ministry nominee

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:11:39 GMT

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s president is ready to swear in a new Cabinet led by a former populist prime minister after a coalition partner agreed to replace its nominee for environment minister known for not believing in the threat of climate change, the presidential office said on Tuesday.President Zuzana Caputova was set to appoint the new government on Wednesday.Caputova, a Liberal, last week said Rudolf Huliak, who was nominated by the ultranationalist and pro-Russian Slovak National Party, could not ensure the proper functioning of the environment ministry because he opposes the government’s long-term environmental policies and Slovakia’s international obligations.The Slovak National Party announced Tuesday the nomination of Tomas Tabara instead. Tabara is also known for controversial statements about the environment.Huliak was the most controversial of the Cabinet candidates presented to the president by former populist prime minister Robert Fico, whose leftist Smer...

The body of a man who was missing after fishing boat sank off Connecticut is recovered

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:11:39 GMT

WESTPORT, Conn. (AP) — The body of one of two boaters who went missing in the Long Island Sound off Connecticut has been recovered, authorities said.The remains of Juan Gabriel Valle Pineda were recovered at 4:30 p.m. Monday by Bridgeport Fire Department staffers, Westport Police Lt. Eric Woods said.Pineda, 38, of Spring Valley, New York, was one of five people in a small fishing boat that sank near Westport on Sunday. Three of them were rescued.The sunken boat was found earlier Tuesday, Woods said.“Westport Police extend our sympathies to the family of the deceased and are hopeful of recovering the second missing person,” he said.The Associated Press

Pakistani court extends protection from arrest in graft cases to former premier Nawaz Sharif

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:11:39 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Pakistani court has extended protection from arrest to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in graft cases while another withdrew its arrest warrant against him on Tuesday following his return home after four years of self-imposed exile in London. Sharif appeared at the Islamabad High Court and the anti-graft tribunal to appeal his 2018 conviction on corruption and clear his name prior to parliamentary elections due in January. The court extended Sharif’s bail until Thursday, his lawyer Azam Nazeer Tarar said. Hundreds of his supporters gathered outside the court complex building, throwing rose petals on his car as he arrived amid tight security. Sharif stepped down as prime minister in 2017 over corruption charges. In 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the anti-graft tribunal in a corruption case involving purchases of luxury apartments in London. A year later, he complained of chest pains and was granted permission by his then-successor Imran Kh...

Tropical Storm Otis forecast to strengthen to hurricane before landfall near Mexico’s Acapulco

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:11:39 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Tropical Storm Otis strengthened early Tuesday as it approached Mexico’s southern Pacific coast and was forecast to become a hurricane before making landfall near the resort of Acapulco late Tuesday or early Wednesday.The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that Otis was about 175 miles (280 kilometers) south-southeast of Acapulco on Tuesday morning with winds of 65 mph (100 kph). It was moving north-northwest at 8 mph (13 kph).There was a hurricane warning in effect from Lagunas de Chachua to Zihuatenejo.Otis was expected to dump five to 10 inches of rain on the southern state of Guerrero with as much as 15 inches possible in some areas. That raised the possibility of mudslides in Guerrero’s steep mountainous terrain.In the Atlantic, Hurricane Tammy continued moving northeastward over open water with winds of 75 mph (120 kph) after sweeping through the Lesser Antilles over the weekend. Tammy was located about 605 miles (975 kilometers) south-southeast of Bermuda....

At least 50 people are kidnapped over two days in northern Cameroon by unknown gunmen

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:11:39 GMT

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — At least 50 people were kidnapped in two separate incidents over two days in northern Cameroon, local authorities said Tuesday.The kidnappings occurred Sunday and Monday afternoons by an unknown armed group near the border with Chad, the mayor of Touboro town, Celestin Yandal, told The Associated Press.Seven people have been released so far. Abductions in this area happen often, but locals say the scale of these attacks is rare.The first kidnapping took place between Touboro and Koutere towns, where mostly Chadians were taken as well as some people from Cameroon including students and shopkeepers, the mayor said.The second abduction occurred while people were traveling on a bus from Ngaoundere city to Touboro, he said.Cameroon has been plagued by fighting since English-speaking separatists launched a rebellion in the Central African nation in 2017 with the stated goal of breaking away from the area dominated by the French-speaking majority and setting up an ...

Funeral services planned for Philadelphia police officer killed in airport garage shooting

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 12:11:39 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Funeral services are planned Tuesday for a Philadelphia police officer killed in an airport parking garage shooting that also wounded another officer earlier this month.A funeral Mass for Officer Richard Mendez is scheduled to begin at noon Tuesday at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia with family, friends, law enforcement personnel and dignitaries in attendance. Interment is to follow at Forrest Hills Cemetery in northeast Philadelphia.Mendez and Officer Raul Ortiz had just started their shift around 11 p.m. on Oct. 12 when they heard breaking glass and saw several people breaking into a car in the parking lot at Philadelphia International Airport, police said. A confrontation ensued and the two officers and one of the suspects were shot.Mendez, 50, who had been on the force for more than two decades, was shot four times and pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. Ortiz, also a 20-year veteran, was shot once in the arm and has si...