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Today โ€” 11 May 2025Main stream

New York's Chinatown noticing impact of Trump's tariffs

9 May 2025 at 19:44

In the heart of New York's Chinatown, Christina Seid has been running her family business, an ice cream shop, for nearly half a century. She strives to keep the price of a scoop affordable but faces challenges due to various costs. While the ice cream in the cup uses local ingredients, the cups themselves have a long journey before reaching her store.

Our cup manufacturer they are based in California, but then they are printed in Taiwan, Seid said.

Its not just the cups. Its the merchandise, the utensils and the boxes for her ice cream cakes. All of these items, Seid says, are likely impacted by President Donald Trumps tariffs on China. Her distributors are already adjusting.

Theyre trying to keep the prices low, but at the same time, because weve done business with them for a long time, we also have to be understanding, because if they have big price increases, we expect it to be passed down to us. We cant be unreasonable, Seid said.

President Trump has varied his stance on tariffs, except with China. When tariffs for every other country were reduced to 10%, China saw its rate increase from 34% to 145%.

Some in the immigrant community of Chinatown have noticed.

I feel targeted, said Jen, a Chinatown business owner.

Jen has run a store selling Chinese merchandise for six years. She said through a translator that shes increased prices on some goods but not on other, more popular items that she wants her customers to be able to afford. For those goods, shes absorbing the cost.

Shes still ordering the things that she has to, but whatever she can stop ordering for now, she has because, like, whatever can be paused, shes paused, the translator said.

The impact is visible in stores like M.D. Alis, where at least 60% of his products come from China, and some distributors quickly increased his pricing by as much as 30%.

I already raised the price because theyre gonna charge me more. Of course, Im gonna charge more for my customer, Ali said.

He says hes still losing money because he hasnt yet increased the prices for his customers as much as theyve been increased for him.

I am an owner, but Im thinking like I am a customer too. I dont feel like Im the owner. If I feel like Im a customer, thats why I charge a little less for them, Ali said.

Those in New York's Chinatown are hoping the trade war is settled before more businesses and customers are impacted.

Before yesterdayMain stream

Jury selection to start Monday in Sean 'Diddy' Combs' federal trial

2 May 2025 at 23:21

Sean Combs will enter a Manhattan federal courtroom Monday as jury selection begins in his criminal trial.

The five count indictment overlaps with some of the dozens of accusations and lawsuits alleging Combs raped, abused, drugged and violently assaulted both men and women, as well as children as young as 10 years old, over the course of decades. Those civil lawsuits have not been litigated yet.

There very well may be spillover, and a lot of it, but there'll be separate proceedings, explained New York Criminal Defense attorney Jeremy Saland. What you say in one is going to be admissible in another, and that story is going to be out.

The Combs indictment was unsealed September 17th of last year on federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. Its being heard in a federal court rather than a state court at least in part because some of the allegations take place across state lines.

The original 14-page indictment paints a dramatic picture of Combs "striking, punching, dragging, throwing objects at, and kicking" women. Prosecutors allege he drugged women, kept explicit videos of them, and threatened them. The government says he even monitored victims' medical records, controlled what they wore and where they lived. They allege his "abuse was, at times, verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual," including manipulating women to participate in highly orchestrated sex performances with male sex workers.

Prosecutors have amended the case multiple times, first in January without adding new charges but included new details alleging he transported two more female victims across state and international lines and that he dangled someone over an apartment balcony.

Then on March 6th, prosecutors filed a second superseding indictment without new charges to include allegations of forced labor. Prosecutors say Combs forced his employees to work long hours and threatened to punish those who didn't help him.

You're allowing potentially for new people in a new time frame, so that's bringing in more evidence that could be used, and it what it'll do for the prosecution, potentially, is bolster or lift up that the charges, Saland explained.

Finally, prosecutors added charges in early April alleging more sex trafficking and transportation across state lines to engage in prostitution.

RELATED STORY | Sean 'Diddy' Combs pleads not guilty ahead of May sex trafficking trial

At an April pre-trial hearing, Combs lead attorney Marc Agnifilo suggested he may argue Combs was engaged in a swinger sexual siutation with the women. Agnifilo suggested the common sexual behavior was consenual.

The severity of these allegations will undoubtedly make jury selection complex.

"One of the issues they're going to deal with is not just his celebrity and not just everything that's surrounding it, but here, the other component is going to be that sexual abuse and people's personal experiences with that, that's something that is going to be very important, said Saland.

Judge Arun Subramanian said Thursday counsel will be working privately in some capacity with potential jurors because of the highly personal nature of this case. Potential jurors will be questioned both privately about whether they have a specific connection to sexual abuse and publicly as selection typically goes.

While the witness list is still not public, the now infamous hotel footage with Cassie Ventura may be used in the trial, and Ventura could be called to the stand. here are also a handful of celebrities who could be called as well.

Combs rejected a plea deal in the same hearing and has pled not guilty to all five criminal charges. He has been denied bail on multiple occasions.

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