The European Union has presented an initial set of ideas to modernise the World Trade Organization (WTO) in a move aimed at making “international trade rules fit for the challenges of a global economy”.

The EU competition watchdog is mulling a probe into the way Amazon uses data from its third-party sellers on the back of concerns it could be using it to boost its own retail sales.

The US Department of Labour (DoL) has added Burma and Turkey to the list of foreign-made apparel and footwear that it has reason to believe are produced by either child or forced labour in violation of international standards. 

SANTA ANA – More than a dozen “potential credible victims” have contacted prosecutors in the days since a well-known Newport Beach surgeon and his girlfriend were charged with drugging and raping two women, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas announced Friday.

Grant William Robicheaux, 38, and Cerissa Laura Riley, 31, are accused of sexually assaulting one woman in April 2016 and a second one in October 2016, each time meeting the victim in a Newport Beach restaurant or bar and bringing her back to Robicheaux’s apartment, prosecutors said.

In a news conference on Friday, Rackauckas said his office has now received more than 50 phone calls in connection to the case, including leads pointing toward another dozen-plus potential victims.

Rackauckas said one of the allegations dates back more than a decade, and some may have occurred out of state. The district attorney also said investigators now believe that Robicheaux may have met some possible victims on dating or social-media websites, not just at bars, restaurants or events.

“Once you get past the point of consent or you are unconscious, these people have no right to have sexual contact with you,” Rackauckas said of his message to potential victims. “There is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Attorneys for the couple have denied that any non-consensual sex occured. Robicheaux, a Newport Beach resident, is an orthopedic surgeon who has appeared on the Bravo television show “Online Dating Rituals of the American Male,” while Riley, a Brea resident, was once an educator.

Rackauckas, when first announcing the charges on Tuesday, noted that investigators have found thousands of images and videos of apparently intoxicated women believed to have been filmed by Robicheaux and Riley and learned the pair had traveled in recent years to large festivals across the country, leading prosecutors to suspect there could be other potential victims.

It wasn’t clear how many of the people who have contacted prosecutors are alleging sexual assault by the couple rather than just Robicheaux. Neither Robicheaux nor Riley have  been criminally charged in connection to the other potential victims, and prosecutors have not outlined a time line for when a decision will be made whether or not to file more charges.

“This is going to still take more work because we have to get more and better statements from them, we have to compare their statements to evidence in the case,” Rackauckas said. “It’s really important to keep this message out, and to let other women know if they have been victimized by this couple or this doctor to come forward.”

Newport Beach police first learned of the alleged sexual assaults in 2016. The first woman contacted police the day after her alleged encounter at Robicheaux’s apartment, while prosecutors say the second woke up at his apartment while being sexually assaulted and screamed for help, resulting in a neighbor calling 911.

According to the Newport Beach Police Department, officers didn’t initially have enough evidence in 2016 to make an arrest, but detectives kept looking into the incidents and in January carried out a search warrant at Robicheaux’s apartment that prosecutors say led to the discovery of a large quantities of drugs such as ecstasy and cocaine and illegal weapons.

Outside the DA’s Office in Santa Ana, following the news conference, Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who is running against incumbent Rackauckas, alleged that the DA’s Office “sat on” the case by failing to either charge the pair or put the call out for potential victims after the search warrant was carried out in January.

“The District Attorney’s Office has known about this for almost a year,” Spitzer said. “They had cash, drugs and guns, and they didn’t make an arrest or notify the public.”

DA officials have said they received the case from the Newport Beach Police Department on Sept. 6. The couple was arrested on Sept. 12, and each has been released on $100,000 bond.

Restaurants and other food businesses closed by health inspectors in Orange County from Sept. 14 to 21, 2018:

Paracel Seafood, 15583 Brookhurst St., Westminster

• Closed: Sept. 20 (report)
• Reason: Rodent infestation
• Reopened: Sept. 20 (report)

El Rancho Market, 1095 N. Glassell St., Orange

• Closed: Sept. 20 (report)
• Reason: Cockroach infestation

Gourmet Caterers, 2217 S. Grand Ave., Santa Ana

• Closed: Sept. 20 (report)
• Reason: Rodent infestation
• Reopened: Sept. 20 (report)

H.B. Liquor Liquor, 6937 Warner Ave., Huntington Beach

• Closed: Sept. 20 (report)
• Reason: Rodent infestation

Costa Rica Restaurant, 2500 W. Lincoln Ave., Suite 4-5, Anaheim

• Closed: Sept. 20 (report)
• Reason: Rodent infestation
• Reopened: Sept. 21

Barbeques Galore, 13274 Jamboree Road, Irvine

• Closed: Sept. 19 (report)
• Reason: Insufficient hot water/plumbing in disrepair, permit downgraded to prepackaged food only

Godavari, 24416 Muirlands Blvd., Lake Forest

• Closed: Sept. 19 (report)
• Reason: Cockroach infestation

Mariscos Puerto Nuevo, 1515 E. First St., Santa Ana

• Closed: Sept. 19 (report)
• Reason: Rodent infestation
• Reopened: Sept. 20 (report)

Top One Buffet & Grill, 104 W. Orangethorpe Ave., Fullerton

• Closed: Sept. 18 (report)
• Reason: Rodent infestation
• Reopened: Sept. 19 (report)

Happy Dragon, 516 N. Euclid St., Anaheim

• Closed: Sept. 19 (report)
• Reason: Cockroach infestation
• Reopened: Sept. 20 (report)

Subway, 410 E. Chapman Ave., Suite A, Fullerton

• Closed: Sept. 18 (report)
• Reason: Rodent infestation
• Reopened: Sept. 18 (report)

Jagerhaus, 2525 E. Ball Road, Anaheim

• Closed: Sept. 18 (report)
• Reason: Cockroach infestation
• Reopened: Sept. 19 (report)

The Oyster Bar at ARTIC, 2626 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim

• Closed: Sept. 18 (report)
• Reason: Rodent infestation
• Reopened: Sept. 19 (report)

Bomburger, 200 Main St., Suite 114, Huntington Beach

• Closed: Sept. 18 (report)
• Reason: Cockroach infestation
• Reopened: Sept. 19 (report)

Glory Days Beachside Grill, 620 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Seal Beach

• Closed: Sept. 17 (report)
• Reason: Rodent infestation
• Reopened: Sept. 17 (report)

Asia Cafeteria, 715 N. Harbor Blvd., Suite 106, Santa Ana

• Closed: Sept. 17 (report)
• Reason: Sewage overflow
• Reopened: Sept. 17

Panaderia La Union, 9037 Cerritos Ave., Anaheim

• Closed: Sept. 17 (report)
• Reason: Rodent infestation
• Reopened: Sept. 19 (report)

The Pizza Press at the Village at Orange, 1500 E. Village Way, Suite 2197, Orange

• Closed: Sept. 17 (report)
• Reason: Plumbing in disrepair
• Reopened: Sept. 17 (report)

Pizza Hut, 715 N. Harbor Blvd., Suite 104, Santa Ana

• Closed: Sept. 17
• Reason: Sewage overflow
• Reopened: Sept. 17

Avio Dutch Club, 1557 W. Katella Ave., Anaheim

• Closed: Sept. 14 (report)
• Reason: Rodent infestation
• Reopened: Sept. 17

Updates since last week:

Quan Moi at 15440 Brookhurst St., Westminster, closed Sept. 14 because of a rodent infestation, reopened Sept. 14 (report).

This list is published online every Friday with closures from the previous seven days. Restaurant status updates are published in the following week’s list. Links to inspection reports provided when available. Source: OC Health Care Agency database.

The first Lakers’ Pride Night is coming to Staples Center this preseason.

The franchise will host Pride Night on Oct. 4, in a preseason game against the Sacramento Kings. The event celebrating “diversity, inclusion and unity” with the LGBTQ community will feature a number of prominent guests, including Jason Collins, the first openly gay NBA player, and Violet Palmer, the first openly gay NBA referee.

Collins will be receiving the “Laces of Unity” award in recognition for his work within the NBA and sport for LGBTQ acceptance and inclusion. Palmer will be the Lakers’ honorary team captain.

The evening also features a performance by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, and a pregame exhibition by LAMBDA, an L.A.-based gay men’s basketball league.

Fans in attendance will receive a Pride Night-themed shirt.

By JILL COLVIN and ERIC TUCKER

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON  — President Donald Trump on Friday delayed his own order to declassify and release documents from the FBI’s Russia investigation, saying the Justice Department and U.S. allies have raised security concerns about their disclosure.

The announcement, in a pair of tweets, represented a highly unusual walk-back for a president who has pressed for the release of classified information that he believes will expose “really bad things” at the FBI and discredit special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign. The order threatened to fuel further tension between Trump and a law enforcement community he routinely maligns as biased against him and determined to undermine his presidency.

The president on Monday had called for the declassification of highly sensitive records from the Russia probe, including a portion of a secret warrant application to monitor the communications of Carter Page, a Trump campaign adviser whom the FBI suspected of being a Russian agent. The Justice Department said it had begun complying with the order, though officials had previously strenuously objected to the release of classified information they said could jeopardize the investigation and compromise secret sources.

On Friday, Trump said that instead of moving forward immediately, the department’s inspector general had been asked to review these documents on an “expedited basis.” He tweeted that he believes the office, which is already reviewing FBI actions in the early stages of the Russia probe, will move quickly.

The president also noted: “In the end I can always declassify if it proves necessary. Speed is very important to me – and everyone!” Trump added.

Trump signaled a slowdown in an interview with Fox News on Thursday, when he said that several close allies had called to raise concerns about his decision to order the release of unredacted documents, which also include text messages of several FBI and Justice Department officials — including former FBI Director James Comey and ex-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, both fired by the president — whom the president has for months personally attacked.

“And we do have to respect their wishes,” he said in the interview. “But it’ll come out.”

On Friday, he said, Justice Department officials had warned him that the declassification of documents “may have a perceived negative impact on the Russia probe.”

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about why the president was suddenly concerned about actions that “may have a perceived negative impact on the Russia probe.” Trump and his allies have spent months now trying to discredit the Russia probe and undermine its future findings.

Monday’s order to declassify documents wasn’t the first time that Trump had sought to publicize classified FBI records.

He made a similar move in February when the White House, over the objections of the FBI, cleared the way for the Republican-led House intelligence committee to release a partisan memo summarizing details from the Page warrant. Democrats later countered with their own memo.

A spokesman for the inspector general did not immediately return a message seeking comment Friday.

___

Associated Press writer Chad Day in Washington contributed to this report.

HUNTINGTON BEACH – After months of conflict between Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates and his would-be opponent Jerald Friedman, an Orange County Superior Court decision Friday, Sept. 21, makes the incumbent the only candidate on the November ballot.

One day before the candidate filing deadline of Aug. 10, Friedman lodged a lawsuit with the California Supreme Court arguing that the city should not have disqualified his application.

Huntington Beach requires its city attorney to hold a degree from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association. Friedman graduated from the University of West Los Angeles, which is accredited by the State Bar of California but not the ABA.

In his lawsuit, Friedman claimed that the ABA prerequisite is “arbitrary, capricious, oppressive and punitive” – noting that larger California cities with elected city attorneys demand no such requirement.

The lawsuit asserted that because ABA-accredited schools tend to charge higher tuition, the city’s stipulation discriminates by screening “implicitly on the basis of socioeconomic class.”

The state Supreme Court kicked the suit to lower courts, where Judge Robert J. Moss denied Friedman’s request to appear on the ballot.

“In cities with elected city attorneys, the city lacks the ability to vet candidates for the position, thus a requirement above and beyond State Bar admission is both reasonable and desirable,” Moss wrote in his decision.

Moss also suggested that Friedman should have filed his complaint earlier, observing that its hearing “is occurring after the deadline for the publication of official election materials.”

Expressing disappointment with the ruling, Friedman said, “It’s individuals, not schools, that run for office – and it’s the individual’s merit, not the school’s reputation, that decides what kind of an attorney they are.”

Gates and Friedman have gone toe-to-toe since April, when Gates filed a lawsuit against resident Daniel Horgan to stop his petition for a gun-control ballot initiative. As Horgan’s attorney, Friedman accused the city of violating his client’s free-speech rights. The city later dropped the suit after Horgan gave up on his petition, but a judge declined to award Friedman attorney fees.

Gates predicted that Friday’s court decision puts to rest the two men’s showdown: “This should be the end of the road for Friedman’s legal challenges against the city.”

The Etro woman is known for her wanderlust. For spring, she sojourned through the Pacific Coast region, starting in fun-in-the-sun, sports-minded California, continuing on through “postcard perfect” Hawaii and finishing in history-and-denim-rich Japan. It was a busy trip.
Backstage before her show, called “Pacific Zen,” Veronica Etro said she sought to imbue her intrepid traveler with “this balance between the mindfulness, the spiritual and the more physical thing, as if she’s balancing the two.”
“The more physical thing” — got it. These days, fashion hearts sports, and Etro punctuated her interest there by casting two real-life surfer girls: world top-10 ranked Victoria Vergara and Maribel Koucke — both gorgeous; Vergara a brand ambassador for Reef. But telegraphing spiritually via clothes? Fashion convention swings if not toward full-on monasticism, then at least visual calm, which on this journey was in short supply.
Much else was going on in a lineup in which specific points of inspiration blurred; Etro noted that a rendering of a Hawaiian tropical sunset might look like a Japanese landscape, or Matisse-inspired cutouts could in fact be Asian calligraphy. These motifs worked in concert with ikats, florals, bandana prints and the house paisleys, all in a broad-based palette infused with more bold

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Now in her third year, Los Angeles-based designer Neha Kapur has settled into her aesthetic at Hensely, which offers wearable and elegant day-to-evening pieces for sophisticated women who aren’t looking for logos, trends or loud colors.
Her spring 2019 collection, which she wisely edited down to the pieces that retailers such as Moda Operandi continue to buy each season, was loosely titled “Master Class,” referring to the sartorial lessons given by Seventies goddesses such as Diana Ross and Bianca Jagger.
“I took some after-hours inspiration from them,” Kapur said of the gold lamé, metallic taffeta and other shiny fabrications that were new for her this season and worked back to her previous holiday collection. She worked a palette of metallics and neutrals that are meant to be worn across all seasons, for many years.
The collection hewed close to its loosely tailored tomboy aesthetic such as the double-breasted blazer, the trench-with-a-twist and the wide-leg trouser, with some more feminine silhouettes such as a silk wrap-front gown, a one-shouldered column, a strapless sequined minidress, and a draped keyhole top mixed in.
Kapur wisely leaves room in her silhouettes to allow for layering jersey T-shirts underneath and hiding imperfections because by now she knows her customers well.

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