Described as a mysterious and enigmatic figure, Lady Tiana was portrayed as a woman of immense beauty and charm, but with a dark and foreboding presence. The comedian weaved a tale of how unsuspecting individuals who encountered Lady Tiana found themselves drawn into a web of terror and despair. As the story unfolded, it became clear that Lady Tiana was not just a fictional creation, but a symbol of the fears and anxieties that lurked beneath the surface of society's perceptions of female safety.
The news of the fire spread rapidly, causing a stir in the tech industry and among Alibaba's vast network of users and partners. Questions arose about the extent of the damage, the possible impact on critical data systems, and most importantly, the safety of the individuals present at the site. In response to these concerns, officials from Alibaba swiftly issued a statement confirming that all personnel were safely evacuated, escaping unharmed from the blazing inferno.
Furthermore, the WTT Singapore Grand Slam 2025 will serve as a platform to promote inclusivity, diversity, and gender equality in sports. As a pioneering event in the world of tennis, it aims to celebrate the talents and contributions of athletes from all backgrounds and nationalities, fostering a spirit of unity and camaraderie among participants and fans alike.Unlike scores of people who scrambled for the blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy to lose weight in recent years, Danielle Griffin had no trouble getting them. The 38-year-old information technology worker from New Mexico had a prescription. Her pharmacy had the drugs in stock. And her health insurance covered all but $25 to $50 of the monthly cost. For Griffin, the hardest part of using the new drugs wasn't access. It was finding out that the much-hyped medications didn't really work for her. ''I have been on Wegovy for a year and a half and have only lost 13 pounds,'' said Griffin, who watches her diet, drinks plenty of water and exercises regularly. ''I've done everything right with no success. It's discouraging.'' In clinical trials, most participants taking Wegovy or Mounjaro to treat obesity lost an average of 15% to 22% of their body weight — up to 50 pounds or more in many cases. But roughly 10% to 15% of patients in those trials were ''nonresponders'' who lost less than 5% of their body weight. Now that millions of people have used the drugs, several obesity experts told The Associated Press that perhaps 20% of patients — as many as 1 in 5 — may not respond well to the medications. It's a little-known consequence of the obesity drug boom, according to doctors who caution eager patients not to expect one-size-fits-all results. ''It's all about explaining that different people have different responses,'' said Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity expert at Massachusetts General Hospital The drugs are known as GLP-1 receptor agonists because they mimic a hormone in the body known as glucagon-like peptide 1. Genetics, hormones and variability in how the brain regulates energy can all influence weight — and a person's response to the drugs, Stanford said. Medical conditions such as sleep apnea can prevent weight loss, as can certain common medications, such as antidepressants, steroids and contraceptives. ''This is a disease that stems from the brain,'' said Stanford. ''The dysfunction may not be the same'' from patient to patient. Despite such cautions, patients are often upset when they start getting the weekly injections but the numbers on the scale barely budge. ''It can be devastating,'' said Dr. Katherine Saunders, an obesity expert at Weill Cornell Medicine and co-founder of the obesity treatment company FlyteHealth. ''With such high expectations, there's so much room for disappointment.'' That was the case for Griffin, who has battled obesity since childhood and hoped to shed 70 pounds using Wegovy. The drug helped reduce her appetite and lowered her risk of diabetes, but she saw little change in weight. ''It's an emotional roller coaster,'' she said. ''You want it to work like it does for everybody else.'' The medications are typically prescribed along with eating behavior and lifestyle changes. It's usually clear within weeks whether someone will respond to the drugs, said Dr. Jody Dushay, an endocrine specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Weight loss typically begins right away and continues as the dosage increases. For some patients, that just doesn't happen. For others, side effects such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea force them to halt the medications, Dushay said. In such situations, patients who were counting on the new drugs to pare pounds may think they're out of options. ''I tell them: It's not game over,'' Dushay said. Trying a different version of the new class of drugs may help. Griffin, who didn't respond well to Wegovy, has started using Zepbound, which targets an additional hormone pathway in the body. After three months of using the drug, she has lost 7 pounds. ''I'm hoping it's slow and steady,'' she said. Other people respond well to older drugs, the experts said. Changing diet, exercise, sleep and stress habits can also have profound effects. Figuring out what works typically requires a doctor trained to treat obesity, Saunders noted. ''Obesity is such a complex disease that really needs to be treated very comprehensively,'' she said. ''If what we're prescribing doesn't work, we always have a backup plan.'' ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Title: Wright: Chelsea Needs to Strengthen Defensively, Ramsdale is the Perfect Choice
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump was on the verge of backing a 16-week federal abortion ban earlier this year when aides staged an intervention. According to on his selection as its Trump’s aides first raised concerns in mid-March that the abortion cutoff being pushed by some allies would be stricter than existing law in numerous states. It was seen as a potential political liability amid ongoing fallout over the overturning of Roe v. Wade by a conservative majority on the Supreme Court that includes three justices nominated by Trump in his first term. Trump political director James Blair went to work assembling a slide deck — eventually titled “How a national abortion ban will cost Trump the election” — that argued a 16-week ban would hurt the Republican candidate in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, the magazine reported. “After flipping through Blair’s presentation” on a flight to a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in April, Trump dropped the idea, according to the report. “So we leave it to the states, right?” Trump was quoted as saying. He soon released a video articulating that position. At the time, Trump’s campaign the 16-week ban, calling it “fake news” and saying Trump planned to “negotiate a deal” on abortion if elected to the White House. Here are other highlights from the story and the president-elect’s 65-minute interview with the magazine: Jan. 6 pardons could start in the ‘first nine minutes’ Trump reaffirmed his plans to pardon most of those convicted for their actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. “It’s going to start in the first hour,” he said of the pardons. “Maybe the first nine minutes.” Trump said he would look at individuals on a “case-by-case” basis, but that “a vast majority of them should not be in jail.” More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes stemming from the riot that left more than 100 police officers injured and sent lawmakers running into hiding as they . More than 1,000 defendants have pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial of charges, including misdemeanor trespassing offenses, assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy. Trump is open to holding detained migrants in camps Trump insisted he has the authority to use the military to assist with his promised , even though, as his interviewers noted, the prohibits the use of the military in domestic law enforcement. “It doesn’t stop the military if it’s an invasion of our country, and I consider it an invasion of our country,” he said. “I’ll only do what the law allows, but I will go up to the maximum level of what the law allows. And I think in many cases, the sheriffs and law enforcement is going to need help.” Trump did not deny that camps would be needed to hold detained migrants as they are processed for deportation. “Whatever it takes to get them out. I don’t care,” he said. “I hope we’re not going to need too many because I want to get them out and I don’t want them sitting in camp for the next 20 years.” Trump told Time he does not plan to restore to deter border crossings, but he did not rule it out. The practice led to thousands of children being separated from their parents and was condemned around the globe as inhumane. “I don’t believe we’ll have to because we will send the whole family back,” he said. “I would much rather deport them together, yes, than separate.” Musk prioritizes the country over his business interests, Trump insists Trump dismissed the idea that Elon Musk will face conflicts of interest as he takes the helm of the , an advisory group that Trump has selected him to lead. The panel is supposed to find waste and cut regulations, including many that could affect Musk’s , which include electric cars, rockets and telecommunications. “I don’t think so,” Trump said. “I think that Elon puts the country long before his company. ... He considers this to be his most important project.” Trump acknowledges the difficulty of lowering grocery prices Trump lowered expectations about his ability to drive down “I’d like to bring them down. It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard. But I think that they will,” he said. Trump plans ‘virtual closure’ of the Education Department said he is planning “a virtual closure” of the “Department of Education in Washington.” “You’re going to need some people just to make sure they’re teaching English in the schools,” he said. “But we want to move education back to the states.” Yet Trump has proposed exerting enormous influence over schools. He has threatened to cut funding for schools with vaccine mandates while forcing them to “teach students to love their country” and promote “the nuclear family,” including “the roles of mothers and fathers” and the “things that make men and women different and unique.” Trump offers conflicting answers on future of abortion pills Asked to clarify whether he was committed to preventing the Food and Drug Administration from stripping access to , Trump replied, “It’s always been my commitment.” But Trump has offered numerous conflicting stances on the issue, including to Time. Earlier in the interview, he was asked whether he would promise that his FDA would not do anything to limit access to medication abortion or abortion pills. “We’re going to take a look at all of that,” he said, before calling the prospect “very unlikely.” “Look, I’ve stated it very clearly and I just stated it again very clearly. I think it would be highly unlikely. I can’t imagine, but with, you know, we’re looking at everything, but highly unlikely. I guess I could say probably as close to ruling it out as possible, but I don’t want to. I don’t want to do anything now.” Trump says US support for Ukraine will be leverage for a deal with Russia Pressed on whether he would abandon in its efforts , Trump said he would use U.S. support for Kyiv as leverage against Moscow in negotiating an end to the war. “I want to reach an agreement,” he said, “and the only way you’re going to reach an agreement is not to abandon.” Does he trust Netanyahu? ‘I don’t trust anybody’ would not commit to supporting a two-state solution, with a Palestinian state alongside Israel, as he had previously. “I support whatever solution we can do to get peace,” he said. “There are other ideas other than two state, but I support whatever, whatever is necessary to get not just peace, a lasting peace. It can’t go on where every five years you end up in tragedy. There are other alternatives.” Asked whether he trusted , he told Time: “I don’t trust anybody.” War with Iran? ‘Anything can happen,’ he says Trump would not rule out the possibility of war with Iran during his second term. “Anything can happen. It’s a very volatile situation,” he said. Trump mum on conversations with Putin Asked if he has spoken to since the Nov. 5 election, Trump continued to play coy: “I can’t tell you. It’s just inappropriate.” Trump insists he had the votes to confirm Gaetz as attorney general Trump insisted that his bid to install ”wasn’t blocked. I had the votes (in the Senate) if I needed them, but I had to work very hard.” When the scope of resistance to the former Republican congressman from Florida became clear, Trump said, “I talked to him, and I said, ‘You know, Matt, I don’t think this is worth the fight.’” Gaetz pulled out amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations, and Trump tapped former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi for the Cabinet post. Trump is open to changes for childhood vaccines Trump, who has named anti-vaccine activist to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, did not rule out the possibility of eliminating some childhood vaccinations even though they have been proved safe in extensive studies and real world use in hundreds of millions of people over decades and are considered among the most effective public health measures in modern history. Pressed on whether “getting rid of some vaccinations” — neither Trump nor the interviewers specified which ones — might be part of the plan to improve the health of the country, Trump responded: “It could if I think it’s dangerous, if I think they are not beneficial, but I don’t think it’s going to be very controversial in the end.” Trump weighs in on family political dynasty “I think there could be, yeah,” Trump said of the prospect of others in his family continuing in his footsteps. He pointed to , who served as co-chair of the Republican National Committee and is now being talked about as a potential replacement for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whom Trump has chosen for secretary of state. Melania Trump will return to the White House, he says Trump said the former and soon-to-be first lady Melania Trump will be joining him at the White House during second term and will “be active, when she needs to be.” “Oh yes,” he said. “She’s very beloved by the people, Melania. And they like the fact that she’s not out there in your face all the time for many reasons.”JEFFERSON CITY — Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday named his pick for St. Louis County’s prosecuting attorney, another maneuver in the standoff between the state and county chiefs. Parson, a Republican, picked county assistant prosecuting attorney Melissa Price Smith, a Democrat, to complete the term of current top prosecutor Wesley Bell after he resigns next month to take his newly elected seat in Congress. “I am so grateful for this appointment, and I want to thank Gov. Parson for putting his faith in me,” Price Smith told the Post-Dispatch Thursday afternoon. “I so look forward to continuing the work I’ve been doing in partnership with law enforcement.” She would be the first woman to serve as county prosecuting attorney. The governor’s announcement comes just days after St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, a Democrat, announced his own replacement for Bell, who plans to step down Jan. 2. Price Smith, 56, has worked as a St. Louis County prosecutor since 2008, according to the Post-Dispatch’s public pay database . She leads the sexual assault and child abuse team. Parson and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, both Republicans, sued Page and the county late last month, asking a judge to stop the county executive from naming the county’s next top law enforcement official. Bailey argued the governor has the power to appoint prosecuting attorneys under the Missouri Constitution. St. Louis County lawyers disagreed. They argued the county charter allows Page to nominate a replacement. Missouri counties with their own charters, including St. Louis County, have such power under the state Constitution, the attorneys said. St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann, a Republican, appointed Joseph McCulloch as prosecuting attorney last year after Tim Lohmar resigned. “The (St. Louis County) charter clearly states that the county executive is authorized to appoint the prosecuting attorney when a vacancy occurs,” said Page spokesman Doug Moore in a statement Thursday. “We are confident the courts will agree.” Last week, Page named former federal prosecutor Cort VanOstran, a Democrat, as his pick to fill the remainder of Bell’s term, which ends in January 2027. Price Smith said Thursday she applied and interviewed for the job with Page’s and Parson’s offices, both. “I am confident the law is on the governor’s side, and I’m confident the courts will make the right decision,” Price Smith said. Parson said St. Louis County needs an experienced prosecutor “who demands and upholds law and order.” “Melissa is committed to the rule of law, and we are confident that she will deliver, as demonstrated by her distinguished career putting criminals behind bars, including child abusers, perpetrators of sexual assault and violent offenders,” Parson said in a statement. Price Smith is the daughter of Margie and Herschel Price , a St. Louis businessman and Playboy Club owner. Margie Price was working as a Playboy bunny at a club on Lindell Boulevard when she met her husband in the 1960s. She later owned and operated a club on South Lindbergh Boulevard that closed in the mid-80s. Price Smith grew up in Creve Coeur, attended a strict ballet school, and said her parents raised her and her sister to be “very strong and independent.” She earned a bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. In her 20s, Price Smith put her ballet skills to work in Las Vegas as a dancer with her twin sister in the Siegfried and Roy show. Back at home, they became cheerleaders for the St. Louis Cardinals’ Team Fredbird. But Price Smith said she wanted to “make a difference.” She decided to go to law school, and earned her degree from St. Louis University. Price Smith’s first job was at the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office under former Circuit Attorney Dee Joyce-Hayes. She then practiced civil litigation for seven years before going to work for St. Louis County. Until earlier this year, Smith’s sister, Teresa Price Bomkamp, was also an assistant prosecuting attorney in St. Louis County. Prior to Bomkamp retiring, the sisters worked together on sexual and child abuse crimes. Price Smith said the first thing she would do as prosecuting attorney is an internal audit to find ways to “make our trial teams more effective with the resources we have.” She wants to make sure police know they have a partner in the prosecuting attorney’s office. And she also wants to focus on recruitment and retention. She supports higher pay, but wants to recruit people “who want to do this kind of work.” “The people in this office never went into prosecution to make a lot of money,” Price Smith said. Price Smith made $110,000 last year as a senior attorney in Bell’s office. A hearing in Bailey’s case has been set for 9 a.m. Dec. 18 in St. Louis County Circuit Court. Joe Holleman of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.Big Win for JMM-Congress, BJP's 'Infiltrator' Bogey That Failed: 5 Key Takeaways
As her fan base expands and her influence spreads, Wu Liufang remains dedicated to staying true to herself and her values. She uses her platform not only to entertain but also to educate, inspire, and empower others to embrace their uniqueness and pursue their dreams.
Eating Pasta to Spread Joy: Barilla Is Giving Back by Bringing Connection to Those Who Need It Most