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The discovery of a black market Chinese biolab operating in California, and the subsequent investigation into it, has exposed a tangled web of shell companies obscuring ownership and loopholes that caused delays in cleanup and informing the public. The public found out in March about a secret biolab operating in a warehouse in Reedley, California, about 25 miles southeast of Fresno. But the warehouse and its biological hazards were discovered months earlier, on Dec. 19, 2022, by Jesalyn Harper, a code enforcement officer with the City of Reedley Fire Department. Responding to an anonymous tip about the supposedly vacant warehouse,...

A man armed with a hunting knife stabbed a woman to death Saturday inside a public library in Massachusetts, authorities said. When police arrived, they found that an elderly man also had been stabbed, Boston's Fox 25 reported. *snip* During the attack, the young woman suffered injuries to her head and upper torso, Ryan said. As she struggled toward the door, onlookers reportedly tried to help her escape. A 77-year-old man who tried to help the woman was also injured in the attack, suffering a non-life-threatening stab wound to an arm, Ryan said.

A Canadian scientist has been arrested for smuggling 22 vials stolen from Canada's National Microbiology Lab, used in Ebola and HIV research, into the United States, Canadian and US officials said Wednesday. Konan Michel Yao, 42, "was taken into custody" while crossing from Manitoba into North Dakota A Public Health Agency of Canada spokeswoman [said] Yao "was working on vaccines for the Ebola virus and HIV, among other things." The Ivory Coast-born scientist is said to have studied at Laval University in Quebec and briefly worked at the University of Manitoba's plant sciences department.

BEIJING – On his way out of the game, Yao Ming thrust his fist through the air, and soon made that long, wobbly walk to the Chinese bench. The end of a brilliant and historic night for basketball, the end of responsibility for Yao. His work is done. Let him rest. “The game was a treasure,” Yao said, “and it will be a treasure for the rest of my life.” Here was a surreal sight on Sunday night in these Olympic Games. Here was the embodiment of Yao Ming’s legacy: His heart, his determination, his immensity. He made possible a...

Houston Rockets All-Star Yao Ming is the new global spokesman for McDonald's, which let Kobe Bryant's contract expire after he was accused of rape. Yao's multiyear sponsorship deal was announced today at a McDonald's outlet inside the Los Angeles Convention Center. Yao is in town to play in Sunday's NBA All-Star game. Bryant's three-year deal with the fast-food company expired Dec. 31. The Los Angeles Lakers guard has lost other sponsors since being charged with sexual assault. "We had a long, mutually beneficial partnership with Kobe," said Larry Light, McDonald's global chief marketing officer. "His contract expired and we mutually...

BEIJING - Basketball star Yao Ming is suing Coca-Cola's Chinese subsidiary in an effort to stop it from using his picture on commemorative bottles sold in his hometown of Shanghai. According to Yao's Web site, he's seeking compensation of only 1 yuan (12 cents) for "spiritual and economic losses" and also wants Coca-Cola China to apologize in the Chinese media. The lawsuit was filed Friday in Shanghai, where a court will decide this week whether to accept it, the Houston center's agent, Erik Zhang, said Monday. "The only purpose of this lawsuit is to protect Yao Ming's legal rights, his...

Friday, January 10 Shaq says mock accent was used jokingly Associated Press LOS ANGELES -- The Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal said he was joking, not being a racist, when he used a mock Chinese accent while talking about Houston center Yao Ming. O'Neal A columnist for AsianWeek complained in his newspaper that O'Neal made several derogatory comments recently about Yao, with the Lakers' center saying, "Tell Yao Ming, 'ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh.''' "I said it jokingly, so this guy was just trying to stir something up that's not there. He's just somebody who doesn't have a sense of humor, like I do. I don't...

LA Lakers(18-20) Time: 9:30 PM ETVenue: Compaq Center  National TV: Houston(22-15) LA LAKERS STATISTICS SCORING G FG% FT% PPG K. Bryant 38 .451 .820 27.9 S. O'Neal 26 .562 .598 25.9 ASSISTS G TO STL APG K. Bryant 38 3.8 2.2 7.0 R. Fox 32 2.0 1.0 3.4 REBOUNDS G OFF BLK RPG S. O'Neal 26 3.5 2.2 10.5 K. Bryant 38 1.6 0.9 7.6 INJURIES Condition Jannero Pargo G Knee COMPLETE STATISTICS HOUSTON STATISTICS SCORING G FG% FT% PPG S. Francis 37 .437 .785 22.9 C. Mobley 29 .428 .861 18.2 ASSISTS G TO STL APG S. Francis 37 3.9...

Vintage poster in Yao photo provides history lesson By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle China's past raged threateningly from the framed poster, rifles at the ready, angry anti-American slogans almost screaming their call to arms. China's future, wearing a Nike basketball T-shirt, perhaps appropriately waved goodbye. Yao Ming might not have even noticed the poster above a doorway in the CNN-Beijing offices Wednesday night, the night the Rockets made him the first pick of the NBA draft. But there he was, pictured across the top of the sports page of Thursday's Chronicle facing the Cultural Revolution emotions that had...