Singer R. Kelly charged with sexual abuse, local media say, citing court records

Prosecutors in Chicago charged Grammy-winning singer R. Kelly on Friday with multiple counts of sexual abuse, local media reported.

Citing court records, the Chicago Sun-Times said Kelly was charged in Cook County, Illinois, with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse. An attorney for the singer did not immediately return a call or email seeking comment.

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Philadelphia sues seven big banks, alleges municipal bond collusion

The city of Philadelphia has filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing seven major banks of conspiring to inflate interest rates for a type of bond used by cities, towns and other public entities, costing them potentially billions of dollars.

In a complaint filed on Wednesday night, Philadelphia accused Bank of America Corp, Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Royal Bank of Canada and Wells Fargo & Co of secretly manipulating rates for tax-exempt bonds known as VRDOs, or variable-rate demand obligations.

The city, which said it issued more than $1.6 billion of the bonds, said the banks colluded to collect hundreds of millions of dollars in fees they did not earn, reducing critical funding for public services and violating federal antitrust laws.

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Imerys Talc America files for bankruptcy under weight of talc litigation

Imerys Talc America, the U.S. unit of French group Imerys SA and a supplier to healthcare conglomerate Johnson & Johnson Inc, on Wednesday said it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to rising costs in the litigation over cosmetic talc.

“After carefully evaluating all possible options, we determined that pursuing Chapter 11 protection is the best course of action to address our historic talc-related liabilities and position the filing companies for continued growth,” Imerys Talc America said in a statement.

Imerys’ U.S. unit faces thousands of consumer lawsuits alleging that its talc causes cancer. The company supplied cosmetic talc to J&J for Johnson’s Baby Powder and other talc-based products.

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U.S. appeals court to revisit open carrying of guns

A federal appeals court has decided to reconsider its recent decision that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the right to openly carry guns in self-defense.

In an order on Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it will revisit whether Hawaii acted lawfully in denying the plaintiff George Young a permit to openly carry a loaded gun in public.

Circuit Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain wrote for a 2-1 majority last July 24 that “we do not take lightly the problem of gun violence, which the State of Hawaii has understandably sought to fight,” but that the state nevertheless violated Young’s rights.

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Trump asks U.S. Congress to prohibit late-term abortion

U.S. President Donald Trump called for curbs on late-term abortion in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, citing controversies over the issue in New York and Virginia.

Using emotive language, Trump waded into what has long been a divisive issue in American politics, even though the procedure was legalized in a Supreme Court ruling more than 40 years ago.

“To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb,” Trump said.

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