| Alyssa Milano’s 'facts are wrong': Andrew Yang refutes activist’s allegations of campaign staffer sexual misconduct Posted: 14 Dec 2019 08:58 AM PST  Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang denied allegations made by actress Alyssa Milano that an unnamed campaign engaged in sexual misconduct, saying the matter had been looked at promptly.
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| Thousands join biggest protest for years in Thai capital Posted: 14 Dec 2019 12:07 AM PST  Several thousand people took part in Thailand's biggest protest since a 2014 coup on Saturday after authorities moved to ban a party that has rallied opposition to the government of former military ruler Prayuth Chan-ocha. The demonstration in Bangkok, called just a day earlier by Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, a 41-year-old billionaire, revived memories of the spasms of street protest that have roiled the Thai capital periodically during the past two decades of political turbulence. "This is just the beginning," Thanathorn told the cheering crowd that spilled across walkways and stairways close to the MBK Centre mall, in the heart of Bangkok's shopping and business district.
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| Italian city evacuated as World War Two-era British bomb is defused Posted: 15 Dec 2019 11:09 AM PST  Italian authorities ordered the biggest peacetime evacuation in the country since World War Two on Sunday to defuse a massive unexploded British bomb that was partially damaged when discovered in the southern city of Brindisi. The historic evacuation displaced some 53,000 residents —more than half — of the coastal city on the Adriatic, due to the high risk that the 440-pound ordnance containing 40 kilograms of dynamite could explode. The chances of detonation were increased after the munition was damaged on November 2 by a bulldozer excavating for a remodel of a cinema.. The bomb is believed to have been dropped on the city in a 1941 air raid, during the period of World War Two when Italy was still allied with Germany and Royal Air Force bombers based in Malta were targeting Naples, Brindisi and Bari in order to disrupt Axis shipping lanes. According to the Italian defence department, it is just one of thousands of unexploded ordnances that still lie dormant and undiscovered throughout Italy. Earlier this month more than 10,000 Turin residents were evacuated for the deactivation of a similar British bomb, as were 4000 residents of the northern city of Bolzano in October. In the month and a half since the unexploded bomb was discovered in Brindisi, city officials put into place a strict evacuation plan with a 1,617 metre "red zone" around the damaged bomb, which was reinforced with an external structure last week. The city's airport, train station, hospitals and prison were shut down as part of the operation on Sunday. By mid-morning the bomb had been successfully defused by a team of more than a dozen Italian army explosives experts, who used a special metal key that was carefully turned with remote-controlled technology, as the mayor and other security officials watched drone footage of the operation from a nearby situation room. The bomb is expected to be set off tomorrow in a remote location outside the city.
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| Strong quake kills 1, collapses building in Philippines Posted: 14 Dec 2019 11:48 PM PST  A strong earthquake jolted the southern Philippines on Sunday, killing at least one person and causing a three-story building to collapse, setting off a search for people feared to have been trapped inside, officials said. The magnitude 6.9 quake struck an area about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) northwest of Padada town in Davao del Sur province at a depth of 30 kilometers (18 miles), according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. A child was killed in a village in Davao del Sur's Matanao town when a wall of her house tumbled down as the ground shook and hit her in the head, officials said.
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| Fox News poll on impeachment contradicts President Trump Posted: 15 Dec 2019 10:20 AM PST  A new Fox News poll on voter support for impeachment contradicted President Trump, who recently boasted major support in favor of "No Impeachment."
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| Operation Plunder: How 1 Hellish Battle Slowed The Allies' Capture Of Nazi Germany Posted: 14 Dec 2019 06:30 PM PST  The battle was utter hell.
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| FBI breaks up 2 illegal streaming sites – including iStreamItAll, with more subscribers than Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu Posted: 15 Dec 2019 04:06 PM PST  Darryl Polo and Luis Villarino, both of Las Vegas, have pleaded guilty to copyright infringement charges for operating iStreamItAll and Jetflix.
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| Decades on, Soviet bombs still killing people in Afghanistan Posted: 15 Dec 2019 10:54 AM PST  Gholam Mahaiuddin sighs softly as he thinks of his 14-year-old son, who was killed in the spring by a bomb dropped last century in the hills of Bamiyan province in central Afghanistan. "We knew the mountain was dangerous," said Mahaiuddin, who found his son's remains after he didn't come home one day. Forty years after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan -- and three decades since the conflict ended -- the war's legacy continues to claim lives across the country.
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| Wisconsin judge's ruling could purge 200,000 from voter rolls Posted: 14 Dec 2019 11:53 AM PST  * Voters must confirm address within 30 days or lose franchise * Trump won Wisconsin by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016A Wisconsin judge's order to boot more than 200,000 people from voter rolls in the battleground state spurred condemnation from Democrats, amid claims of voter suppression.If the decision stands, it could have an impact on the 2020 presidential election. In 2016, Donald Trump won Wisconsin by fewer than 23,000 votes. Subsequent contests have also returned tight margins."I won the race for governor by less than 30,000 votes," tweeted Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat who beat the former Republican presidential hopeful Scott Walker last year."This move pushed by Republicans to remove 200,000 Wisconsinites from the voter rolls is just another attempt at overriding the will of the people and stifling the democratic process."Voting is a fundamental right, and we should be making it easier for folks to vote, not harder. It's time for Republicans to move on from the election we had more than a year ago and start working on the pressing issues facing our state."In October, the Wisconsin Elections Commission mailed a letter to 234,000 voters who it thought might have moved, requesting that they update registration information.As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (Will), a conservative group, then filed suit.The lawsuit said the voters contacted should have 30 days to confirm their addresses. If they did not do so, Will said, their registration status should be changed from "eligible" to "ineligible".Will asked county circuit judge Paul Malloy to grant an injunction that would require election authorities to purge the rolls. In his ruling on Friday, Malloy identified a legal obligation to strip the rolls in 30 days."I don't want to see someone deactivated but I don't write the law," said Malloy, who was appointed in 2002 by the then Republican governor, Scott McCallum, and has since been re-elected. "There's no basis for saying 12 to 24 months is a good time frame. It's not that difficult to do it sooner … If you don't like [it], you have to go back to the legislature."In a statement, the elections commission said it would analyze "the judge's oral decision and [consult] with the six members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission on next steps".Will's president, Rick Esenberg, said: "This case is about whether a state agency can ignore clearly written state law. Today's court order requires the Wisconsin Elections Commission to follow state law, and we look forward to making the case that they must continue to follow state law."Voting authorities and the League of Women Voters indicated they would fight the decision, which Malloy refused to stay pending appeals.According to the Journal Sentinel, the cities of Milwaukee and Madison – Democratic strongholds – are home to 14% of the state's registered voters but received 23% of letters sent out. Fifty-five percent of the mailings, meanwhile, went to areas where Hillary Clinton beat Trump.Eric Holder, US attorney general under Barack Obama, commented on Twitter."Here they go," he said. "Voter purge in Wisconsin that disproportionately targets Democrats, people of color and those who voted for Hillary in 2016. The expected unfairness. Fight this Wisconsin! Fight for a fair election."Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin Democratic congressman, wrote: "At a time when voter suppression [and] purging eligible voters from rolls is rampant nationwide, we should do everything in our power to ensure no one wrongfully loses their voice at the ballot box in Wisconsin or anywhere."Ben Wikler, chair of the state Democratic party, criticized the decision and called for action, writing: "A rightwing lawsuit triggered a 200,000-voter purge in Wisconsin yesterday. But we still have same-day registration in this state. So now our job is to organize harder than they can suppress."
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| Polls show increase in support for Donald Trump's impeachment Posted: 15 Dec 2019 11:37 AM PST  Support for Donald Trump's impeachment has increased over the past month according to the latest opinion polls as Democrats accused Republican senators of violating their oath of office by pledging to work for the president's acquittal. The Democrat-controlled House of Representative is expected to vote to send Mr Trump for trial in the Senate this week accusing the president of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Americans remain deeply divided over whether Mr Trump should be removed from office. However, two polls released on Sunday show that impeachment is gathering support, albeit slowly. A Fox News poll, conducted last week, showed that impeachment and removal from office was backed by 50 per cent of voters - up one point from last month and opposed by 41 per cent, unchanged from November. Meanwhile, a CBS poll showed 42 per cent of voters in favour of removal and 42 per cent opposed. However, a separate survey 46 per cent of voters who took part in last month's poll favoured impeachment, compared with 43 per cent in November. The polls were taken against a backdrop of battle lines being drawn up for the Senate trial, which is expected to begin early next month. Senior Republicans have already signalled that their mind is made up, despite a constitutional obligation to act as impartial jurors. Lindsey Graham says mind is made up on impeachment Credit: Mustafa Abumunes/AFP Speaking on Face the Nation on Sunday Lindsey Graham from South Carolina and a close ally of Donald Trump made little pretence of neutrality, saying his mind was already made up. " I'm not trying to hide the fact that I have disdain for the accusations in the process. So I don't need any witnesses," he said. Last week Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Republican majority in the Senate said he was "coordinating with White House counsel." Their stance drew angry condemnation from senior Democrats including Chuck Schumer, the party leader in the Senate. "If articles of impeachment are sent to the Senate, every single senator will take an oath to render 'impartial justice'. "Making sure the Senate conducts a fair and honest trial that allows all the facts to come out is paramount." Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, said he was disappointed by what he called Republicans' "see-no-evil, hear-no-evil attitude." Adam Schiff defends move to impeach Donald Trump Credit: Jim Lo Scalzo/Rex Having heard a mountain of damning evidence from career government officials, Democrats including Adam Schiff, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, believes there was no alternative to impeachment. Mr Trump's likely acquittal by the Senate would not signal a failure for Democrats, he said on ABC's This Week on Sunday. Jerrold Nadler, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, which drew up the articles of impeachment, defended the decision to send Mr Trump for trial. "This is not a one-off -- impeachment is not a punishment for past behaviour." Jefferson Van Drew reportedly set to defect to Republicans Credit: Mel Evans/AP "He poses a continuing threat to our national security and to the integrity of our elections, to our Democratic system itself," Mr Nadler added. "We cannot permit that to continue." However, a handful of Democrats in Congress are uneasy at the prospect of putting the president on trial including Jefferson Van Drew from New Jersey who is reportedly ready to defect to the Republicans over the issue. He was one of two Democrats who voted against starting impeachment proceedings. His imminent defection was hailed by Mr Trump on Twitter. "Thank you for your honesty, Jeff. All of the Democrats know you are right, but unlike you, they don't have the 'guts' to say so!"
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| China welcomes preliminary deal in trade war it blames on US Posted: 14 Dec 2019 12:27 AM PST  China expressed cautious optimism Saturday about a first-step trade agreement that dials down a trade war it blames the U.S. for starting. Chinese experts and news media joined government officials in saying the deal would reduce uncertainty for companies, at least in the short term. "It at least stabilizes the situation and lays a foundation for the next round of trade talks or canceling additional tariffs in the future," said Tu Xinquan, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.
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| Greta Thunberg apologizes for "against the wall" comment Posted: 14 Dec 2019 11:33 PM PST  Thunberg says she was translating a Swedish saying into English and was not calling for violence.
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| Is Congress Set to Open U.S. Banks to Drug Cartels? Posted: 15 Dec 2019 12:04 AM PST  Should we let them?
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| Kentucky governor pardons killer whose family donated to his campaign days before leaving office Posted: 14 Dec 2019 05:27 AM PST  The outgoing Republican governor of Kentucky has sparked outrage after he pardoned a convicted killer whose family had hosted a fundraiser for the politician and given him money.Matt Bevin, who was defeated in his bid for re-election in November, has issued over 400 pardons in his final days in office.
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| Zimbabwe vice president's wife arrested for suspected fraud, money laundering Posted: 15 Dec 2019 05:29 AM PST ![Zimbabwe vice president's wife arrested for suspected fraud, money laundering]( "Zimbabwe vice president's wife arrested for suspected fraud, money laundering") Zimbabwean authorities arrested the wife of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga on charges of money laundering, fraud and violating exchange control regulations, the country's anti Corruption Commission (ZACC) said on Sunday. Marry Mubaiwa was arrested on Saturday evening and will likely appear in court on Monday, ZACC spokesman John Makamure said. Appointed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa this year, ZACC is under pressure to show that it can tackle high-level graft, which watchdog Transparency International estimates is costing the country $1 billion annually.
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| A California Starbucks reportedly denied police officers service, in the latest of several alleged anti-cop acts at the coffee chain this year Posted: 14 Dec 2019 07:57 AM PST  In July, police officers were asked to leave an Arizona Starbucks. In November, a Starbucks employee was fired after writing "PIG" on a cop's order.
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| Blowback from U.K. election burns Warren, Sanders Posted: 13 Dec 2019 06:10 PM PST  Centrists warn Corbyn defeat highlights the dangers of a progressive nominee.
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| Mexico: 50 bodies among remains at farm outside Guadalajara Posted: 15 Dec 2019 02:31 PM PST ![Mexico: 50 bodies among remains at farm outside Guadalajara]( "Mexico: 50 bodies among remains at farm outside Guadalajara") Human remains discovered last month at a farm outside the city of Guadalajara have been confirmed as belonging to at least 50 people, authorities in Mexico's west-central state of Jalisco reported. Jalisco state prosecutors said recovery work at the farm in Tlajomulco de Zuniga, which began Nov. 22 after the initial discovery, concluded Friday as experts determined there was no more evidence to be gathered from the scene. The state is home to Jalisco New Generation, one of Mexico's bloodiest and most ruthless drug cartels.
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| Malema re-elected as head of SAfrican radical left Posted: 15 Dec 2019 01:55 AM PST  The controversial head of South Africa's far left Economic Freedom Fighters, Julius Malema, was re-elected unopposed as at a party congress in Johannesburg. "For the position of president, it is Mister Julius Malema, may he please come forward," vote organiser Terry Tselane of the Institute of Election Management Services in Africa announced to some 3,000 delegates late on Saturday.
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| Delivering the goods: Drones and robots are making their way to your door Posted: 15 Dec 2019 02:47 AM PST  With companies offering free shipping to gain a competitive edge, radical new technologies are being tested to cut the cost of the supply chain's expensive "last mile"
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| Mortal Enemy? How Does the People's Liberation Army View the United States? Posted: 14 Dec 2019 04:30 PM PST  Enemy or adversary?
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| Justin Trudeau moves forward with ban on LGBT+ conversion therapy across Canada Posted: 14 Dec 2019 10:18 AM PST  LGBT+ conversion therapy could soon be banned across Canada after Justin Trudeau made this one of the priorities for his new government.In a letter to the country's justice secretary on Friday, the prime minister stated that banning the controversial practice of attempting to forcibly change people's gender or sexuality must be a "top priority".
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| Anger erupts at U.N. climate summit as major economies resist bold action Posted: 14 Dec 2019 02:28 AM PST  Major economies resisted calls for bolder climate commitments as a U.N. summit in Madrid limped toward a delayed conclusion on Saturday, dimming hopes that nations will act in time to stop rising temperatures devastating people and the natural world. With the two-week gathering spilling into the weekend, campaigners and many delegates slammed Chile, presiding over the talks, for drafting a summit text that they said risked throwing the 2015 Paris Agreement to tackle global warming into reverse. "At a time when scientists are queuing up to warn about terrifying consequences if emissions keep rising, and school children are taking to the streets in their millions, what we have here in Madrid is a betrayal of people across the world," said Mohamed Adow, director of Power Shift Africa, a climate and energy think-tank in Nairobi.
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| A 29-year-old mayor is giving his city's poorest residents $500 per month. He thinks his policy could work on a national scale. Posted: 15 Dec 2019 05:19 AM PST  Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs doesn't support a basic income program that has strings attached. That's why he is critical of Andrew Yang's plan.
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| Zambia Says Ambassador Should Leave After Defending Gay Couple Posted: 15 Dec 2019 10:16 AM PST  (Bloomberg) -- Zambia's President Edgar Lungu said he wanted the U.S. Ambassador to leave the country after the diplomat criticized the African nation for sentencing a gay couple to 15 years of imprisonment for having a consensual relationship."We have complained officially to the American government, and we are waiting for their response because we don't want such people in our midst," Lungu said Sunday in comments broadcast on state-owned ZNBC TV. "We want him gone."U.S. Ambassador Daniel Foote said last month that he was "personally horrified" after the high court sentenced the two men and called on the government to reconsider laws that punish minority groups.Read More: From Nov. 30, U.S. Rebukes Zambia for Jailing Two Men for HomosexualityTo contact the reporter on this story: Taonga Clifford Mitimingi in Lusaka at tmitimingi@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Sebastian Tong at stong41@bloomberg.net, Nathan CrooksFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Tapper Grills Rand Paul on Ukraine: You Really Think Trump’s ‘Concerned About Rooting Out Corruption?’ Posted: 15 Dec 2019 10:17 AM PST  CNN anchor Jake Tapper's Sunday interview with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) quickly grew contentious and heated as the State of the Union host repeatedly confronted the conservative senator on his belief that President Donald Trump is actually concerned about corruption.The Kentucky lawmaker, who is one of the president's most vocal defenders in the Senate, told Tapper on Sunday morning that he'd already made up his mind to acquit Trump on impeachment despite the fact that the Senate trial hasn't even begun yet, calling it a "partisan exercise."The CNN host, meanwhile, noted that it didn't sound like the Senate impeachment oath that Paul will take "will mean very much" since the senator has already come to a conclusion. This prompted Paul to insist that this impeachment was only about a disagreement in foreign policy and that the president was seriously worried about corruption in Ukraine."So you're saying that you think that President Trump was actually doing this because he was combating corruption?" Tapper wondered aloud, causing the GOP senator to bring up allegations about Ukrainian gas company Burisma and Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter, who sat on the company's board.Tapper immediately pushed back, pointing out that a number of Trump's associates have recently been convicted of federal crimes and Trump himself has had to settle multiple fraud lawsuits. "You really think President Trump is concerned about rooting out corruption?" Tapper added."I think most of what you've listed and most of the people indicted or convicted were alleged to have been part of some sort of huge Russian conspiracy," Paul countered. "But I think what we found out from the inspector general report is that it was all based on a false premise."The CNN host fired back that it was Trump's own Justice Department who put all of these people in prison. After Paul brought up former Trump campaign aide Carter Page and the IG finding his FISA applications had serious errors, Tapper quickly responded: "That doesn't absolve Paul Manafort of money laundering."The two would continue to go back and forth over Ukrainian military aid and Paul's claim that Trump held it back due to legitimate concerns over corruption, finally resulting in Tapper taking the Kentucky senator to task over his grasp of the facts about Trump's infamous July 25 call with the Ukrainian president."You guys are not being honest with the facts here," Paul grumbled. "He does not call up and say 'investigate my rival.' He said investigate a person.""And Joe Biden is his rival," Tapper retorted, adding: "He said investigate Joe Biden. The word 'corruption' does not appear in the transcript. He said investigate Joe and Hunter Biden."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| NYC paying $625K to mom whose baby was ripped away by police Posted: 14 Dec 2019 09:58 AM PST ![NYC paying $625K to mom whose baby was ripped away by police]( "NYC paying $625K to mom whose baby was ripped away by police") New York City will pay $625,000 to resolve a lawsuit filed by a mother whose toddler was yanked from her arms by police in a widely seen online video, the city's Law Department said. Jazmine Headley sued the city in August alleging trauma and humiliation and seeking unspecified damages over the December 2018 incident at a Brooklyn benefits office. On Friday, the Law Department said the city will pay to resolve the lawsuit.
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| Lebanon counter-protesters clash with police in Beirut Posted: 14 Dec 2019 10:05 AM PST  Late Saturday afternoon, young counter-protesters from an area of Beirut dominated by the powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah and fellow Shiite movement Amal tried to raid a key anti-government protest camp in Martyrs' Square. The square, in central Beirut, has been at the epicentre of protests which flared in mid-October over perceived official corruption, poor services and economic woes. Both Amal and Hezbollah are partners in Lebanon's cross-sectarian government.
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| CBS News Battleground Tracker: Biden has edge in Super Tuesday states Posted: 15 Dec 2019 05:44 PM PST  Democrats are more nervous than optimistic about the unsettled 2020 presidential campaign.
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| UN climate talks face failure Posted: 14 Dec 2019 09:25 AM PST  A UN climate summit in Madrid risked failing Saturday after all-night negotiations between countries left them more divided than ever over on how to fight global warming and pay for its ravages.
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| NATO Nightmare: A Russian Invasion of Iceland? Posted: 15 Dec 2019 06:22 AM PST  You've got to be kidding (but we're not).
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| Bolivia's interim leader says arrest warrant to be issued against Morales Posted: 14 Dec 2019 07:07 PM PST  Bolivia will issue an arrest warrant in the coming days against former leftist President Evo Morales, accusing him of sedition, interim Bolivian President Jeanine Anez said on Saturday. Morales is in Argentina, granted refugee status this week just days after the inauguration of new President Alberto Fernandez. Peronist Fernandez succeeded outgoing conservative Argentine leader Mauricio Macri, who lost his bid for re-election in October.
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| California governor declines $13.5 billion PG&E settlement Posted: 14 Dec 2019 07:41 AM PST  California Gov. Gavin Newsom has rejected a $13.5 billion settlement that Pacific Gas & Electric came to last week with thousands of people who lost homes, businesses and family members in a series of fires that drove the nation's largest utility into bankruptcy.
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| An exclusive fundraiser reveals Pete Buttigieg is being backed by some of Silicon Valley's wealthiest families Posted: 14 Dec 2019 07:05 AM PST  Buttigieg has come under fire from rival Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren for his ties to big tech.
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| Switzerland Plans to Send Its Old Fighter Jets Back to the U.S. Posted: 15 Dec 2019 08:34 AM PST ![Switzerland Plans to Send Its Old Fighter Jets Back to the U.S.]( "Switzerland Plans to Send Its Old Fighter Jets Back to the U.S.") (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. is expected to buy 22 aging fighter jets from Switzerland, a country that's struggling to modernize its own air force.U.S. Navy representatives and the Swiss defense procurement agency, known as Armasuisse, discussed the deal in July, an agency spokesman said by email on Sunday. The contract is expected to be signed once U.S. lawmakers approve the fiscal 2020 defense budget, he said.President Donald Trump is seeking $718 billion in Pentagon funding for 2020, including $39.7 million for the F-5s, an aircraft first delivered to Switzerland in 1978. Nowadays, the U.S. uses the F-5 to simulate enemy planes in aerial combat training.Switzerland has been trying to buy new warplanes for years. Voters in 2014 rejected a 3.1 billion-franc ($3.2 billion) order for Saab AB Gripen fighter jets. Switzerland now plans to spend about 6 billion francs on new fighter jets, according to SonntagsZeitung newspaper and previous Swiss media reports."If the Americans want to take over the scrap iron, they should do it," Beat Flach, a Green Liberal lawmaker, told SonntagsZeitung, which reported on the planned sale on Sunday. "It's better than having the Tigers rot in a parking lot."To contact the reporter on this story: Albertina Torsoli in Geneva at atorsoli@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Beth Mellor at bmellor@bloomberg.net, Tony Czuczka, James AmottFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| A Mobster's Murder, and the Jockeying to Move Up the Hierarchy Posted: 14 Dec 2019 07:20 AM PST  NEW YORK -- On a quiet night in March, a mob leader was executed in New York City for the first time since 1985. The body of Francesco Cali, a reputed boss of the Gambino crime family, lay crumpled outside his Staten Island home, pierced by at least six bullets.Hours later, two soldiers in the Gambino family talked on the phone. One of them, Vincent Fiore, said he had just read a "short article" about the "news," according to prosecutors.No tears were shed for their fallen leader. The murder was "a good thing," Fiore, 57, said on the call. The vacuum at the top meant that Andrew Campos, described by authorities as the Gambino captain who ran Fiore's crew, was poised to gain more power.Cali's death was just the beginning of surprises to come for the Gambino family.Last week, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn charged Fiore and 11 others in a sprawling racketeering scheme linked to the Gambinos, once the country's preeminent organized crime dynasty. The charges stemmed from a yearslong investigation involving wiretapped calls, physical surveillance and even listening devices installed inside an office where mob associates worked.As part of the case, the government released a court filing that offered an extremely rare glimpse at the reactions inside a Mafia family to the murder of their boss -- a curious mix of mourning and jockeying for power. The case showed that life in the mob can be just as petty as life in a corporate cubicle."Mob guys are the biggest gossips in the world," said James J. Hunt, the former head of the Drug Enforcement Administration's office in New York. "You think they're tough guys, but they're all looking out for themselves. The only way they get promoted is by a guy dying or going to jail."While Fiore initially plotted how Cali's death would help him and his faction, he adopted a different tone when calling his own ex-wife a few days later, prosecutors said. He warmly referred to Cali as "Frankie" and seemed to mourn the boss as a man who "was loved." He speculated about the killer's motive, saying he had watched the surveillance tape from Cali's home that captured the murder.Vincent Fiore appeared ambitious, court documents showed, eager to reveal his connections to other gangs and organized crime families. About two weeks after Cali's death, Fiore bragged in another wiretapped conversation about how he could take revenge on students who had hit his son at school, a government filing said.Fiore talked first about sending his daughter to beat the students up.But he also had other options, he said on the call. His ex-wife's father was a Latin King, her nephews were Bloods, and her cousin was a member of the Ching-a-Lings, the South Bronx motorcycle gang.Vincent Fiore and the other defendants have each pleaded not guilty to the charges. A lawyer for Fiore did not respond to a request for comment.Despite decades of declining influence in New York City, the Gambino family, led by the notoriously flashy John J. Gotti in the 1980s, is still raking in millions of dollars, according to the government. Prosecutors said they had evidence that the family had maintained its long-standing coziness with the construction industry, infiltrating high-end Manhattan properties.The indictments accused Gambino associates of bribing a real estate executive to skim hundreds of thousands of dollars from New York City construction projects, including the XI, a luxury building with two twisting towers being built along the High Line park in West Chelsea.At the height of their power in the 1980s and early 1990s, the Gambinos and other organized crime families had a stranglehold on New York City construction, through their control of construction unions and the concrete business.Some of the defendants charged last week operated a carpentry company called CWC Contracting Corp., which prosecutors said paid kickbacks to real estate developers in exchange for contracts.Despite the scramble after Cali's death in March, the Gambino crime family continued to thrive through fraud, bribery and extortion, investigators said.The wiretaps quoted in court papers hinted at the crime family's capacity for violence. One of the defendants was recorded in April claiming that he had a fight in a diner and "stabbed the kid, I don't know, 1,000 times with a fork." Inside another defendant's home and vehicle, agents found brass knuckles and a large knife that appeared to have blood on it.Among the notable names in last week's takedown were two longtime Gambino members, Andrew Campos and Richard Martino, who were once considered by Gotti to be rising stars in the Mafia, according to former officials."John was enamored by these guys," said Philip Scala, a retired FBI agent who supervised the squad investigating the Gambino family. "He couldn't believe what they were doing. These kids were making millions of dollars as entrepreneurs."In particular, Martino has long been viewed by mob investigators as somewhat of a white-collar crime genius, former officials said. Prosecutors have previously accused him of orchestrating the largest consumer fraud of the 1990s, which netted close to $1 billion. One part of that scheme involved a fake pornography website that lured users with the promise of a free tour and then charged their credit cards without their knowledge.Campos, 50, and Martino, 60, each pleaded guilty in 2005 to their role in the fraud and served time in federal prison.But as soon as they were released, the government said, they returned to the family business.Martino is now accused of hiding his wealth from the government to avoid paying the full $9.1 million forfeiture from his earlier case.After Martino's release from prison in 2014, he still controlled companies that conducted millions of dollars in transactions, using intermediaries to obscure his involvement, the government alleged. This included investments in pizzerias on Long Island and in Westchester County, according to a person familiar with the matter.Martino's lawyer, Maurice Sercarz, said his client fully paid the required forfeiture before reporting to prison. He added, "The suggestion that Mr. Martino concealed his ownership of businesses and bank accounts to avoid this obligation ignores or misrepresents his financial circumstances."Campos, meanwhile, climbed the ranks to become a captain inside the Gambino family, according to prosecutors.Henry E. Mazurek, a lawyer for Campos, said the government's photos and surveillance footage of his client were not evidence of a crime. "The government presents a trumped-up case that substitutes old lore for actual evidence," Mazurek said.After searching Campos' home in Scarsdale, New York, a wealthy suburb north of New York City, investigators found traces of a storied mob legacy. In his closet there were photos taken during his visits with Martino to see Frank Locascio, Gotti's former consigliere, or counselor, in prison.Locascio is serving a life sentence. He was convicted in 1992 alongside Gotti by the same U.S. attorney's office that brought last week's indictment. Gotti, who died in prison in 2002, was found guilty of, among other things, ordering the killing of Paul Castellano in 1985, the last time a Gambino boss was gunned down in the street.On March 14, the day after Cali's death, Campos drove into Manhattan around 5:50 p.m. to discuss the circumstances of the murder with Gambino family members, seemingly unaware that law enforcement was tracking his every move.He parked near a pizzeria on the Upper East Side, according to a person familiar with the matter. As the night progressed, he met with Gambino family captains on the Upper East Side and near a church in Brooklyn. They stood in the street, chatting openly, but law enforcement officials could not hear the conversations.Several days later, Campos and Fiore drove to Staten Island for a secret meeting. A group of about eight high-level Gambino lieutenants gathered to discuss Cali's murder, a court filing said. In a wiretapped call the next day, Fiore complained that he had stayed out past midnight.Fiore said on the call that a woman had been at Cali's home the night of his death, pointing to her as a possible connection. Court papers do not reveal the woman's identity.Nobody within the mob family seemed to suspect the person who was charged: a 25-year-old who appeared to have no clear motive.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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| Kentucky's new Democratic governor hits the ground running Posted: 14 Dec 2019 05:05 AM PST  Just days into his term as Kentucky's governor, Democrat Andy Beshear already has checked off some big priorities from his to-do list: a new state school board installed; the education commissioner gone; more than 140,000 nonviolent felons' voting rights restored. "This week's actions are pieces of cake compared to what he faces in terms of building a budget and getting a program through the legislature," longtime Kentucky political commentator Al Cross said. Beshear's aggressive start as governor was possible because he did most of it with executive orders, fulfilling promises he had made during the campaign.
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| Israel eyes Dubai expo as 'portal' to Arab world Posted: 14 Dec 2019 07:43 PM PST  With the world's largest trade fair opening in an Arab country for the first time next year, Israel is stepping up preparations, hoping to boost nascent ties with regional neighbours. The Dubai Expo 2020 trade fair will gather nearly 200 countries vying for the attention of a projected 25 million visitors over nearly six months from October. Like most Arab countries, the United Arab Emirates has no diplomatic relations with Israel.
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| Jeremy Corbyn should never have apologised over anti-Semitism claims, says French far-Left ally Posted: 15 Dec 2019 03:27 PM PST  French far-Left firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon has sparked uproar by claiming Jeremy Corbyn should never have apologised over "churlish" anti-Semitism accusations, which he claimed were trumped up by the chief rabbi and Israeli Right. Mr Mélenchon, who came fourth in France's 2017 presidential election, claimed that the UK Labour leader lost a part of the electorate during his election campaign by showing "weakness" over such allegations. In a blog, he said: "(Corbyn) had to endure, unaided, churlish anti-Semitism claims from England's chief rabbi and various influence networks linked to Likoud (the hard Right party of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu". "Instead of riposting, he spent his time apologising and making pledges. In both cases, he showed weakness, which worried popular sectors (of the electorate)," he said. The Labour defeat "must serve as a lesson", said Mr Mélenchon, an MP who leads the France Unbowed party. "Corbyn spent his time being insulted and stabbed in the back by a handful of Blairite MPs. Instead of riposting, he took it on the chin." Jeremy Corbyn was personally accused of 11 counts of anti-Semitism in a leaked Jewish Labour Movement dossier this month Credit: TOBY MELVILLE/Reuters Earlier this month, Mr Corbyn was personally accused of 11 acts of anti-Semitism in an extensive leaked dossier detailing an alleged "cover-up" within the Labour Party over its treatment of Jews. The submission compiled by the Jewish Labour Movement alleges Mr Corbyn "has repeatedly associated with, sympathised with and engaged in anti-Semitism". But Mr Mélenchon dismissed such allegations and said that in France he would never let himself "be influenced by lobbies of any sort - be they financial or from a sectarian community." He then went on to slam what he called the "arrogant and sectarian dictates" of the Crif, France's Jewish umbrella group. The Crif slammed the claims, saying they were reminiscent of "Vichy rhetoric about the Jewish conspiracy". They were, it said, "a shocking and surprising hotchpotch: what link is there between the Crif and the British elections?," asked Crif president Francis Kalifat. The "media-hungry" Marxist's "conspiracy theory drift speaks volumes about his thought processes". The French government condemned Mr Mélenchon's comments, with education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer branding them "foul" and liable to "fuel anti-Semitism". French interior minister Christophe Castaner denounced Mr Mélénchon's comments as "foul" Credit: LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP Christophe Castaner, the interior minister, called them "shocking and inappropriate". After winning almost 20 per cent of the vote in the first round of France's 2017 presidential elections, Mr Mélenchon's popularity has nosedived following a string of controversial outbursts. Last week, he was handed a three-month suspended prison term and an €8,000 (£6,700) fine for intimidating officials investigating his funding. In October 2018 prosecutors launched searches of his party offices and home. Mr Mélenchon was filmed shouting "I am the Republic!" at a police officer and shoving him. With colleagues he then tried to break into the party HQ.
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| Is marijuana linked to psychosis, schizophrenia? It's contentious, but doctors, feds say yes Posted: 15 Dec 2019 11:35 AM PST  Government health officials say excessive use of potent THC can lead to psychosis. Marijuana advocates say they can't be trusted.
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| Lindsey Graham Invites Rudy Giuliani to Push Biden-Ukraine Conspiracy Theories in Senate Committee Posted: 14 Dec 2019 04:00 PM PST  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has invited Donald Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani to appear in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee to present information he claims to have dug up in Ukraine—even though the details of Giuliani's self-directed investigation raise serious doubts about the credibility of any information he presents."Rudy, if you want to come and tell us what you found, I'll be glad to talk to you," Graham said in an interview for CBS' Face the Nation set to air Sunday. "I don't know what Rudy found, I don't know what he was up to when he was in the Ukraine."Giuliani traveled to Hungary and Ukraine earlier this month with a camera crew from One America News, a pro-Trump cable network that has eagerly courted the president's approval in its rivalry against Fox News. Giuliani and OAN White House reporter Chanel Rion interviewed former Ukrainian prosecutors who repeated widely debunked claims that former Vice President Joe Biden pressured the Ukrainian government to drop investigations into a Ukrainian energy company that had hired his son to sit on its board.While Giuliani told Trump he had uncovered "plenty" on his Ukraine dirt-digging mission, his sources alone have raised red flags. Several of Giuliani's witnesses are widely seen as discredited in Ukrainian circles, while OAN reporter Rion is a conspiracy theorist whose botched reporting on another story recently prompted a retraction from her network. OAN has had other questionable ties to Ukraine. The network tried to get a United States visa for a Ukrainian millionaire who had promised dirt on the Biden family. Before that could happen, though, the millionaire was arrested on a warrant issued by Ukrainian anti-corruption prosecutors. He'd been wanted on embezzlement charges for years and was accused of treason. Graham's offer also comes as Giuliani is reportedly the subject of multiple federal investigations aimed at his foreign ties. Two Giuliani associates involved in his Ukraine crusade are facing campaign finance charges.Giuliani, who was spotted at the White House on Friday, claims that he returned from Ukraine with a suitcase full of documents about the Bidens. Graham said he's open to hearing from Giuliani at a hearing separate from impeachment."We can look at what Rudy's got and Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and anything else you want to look at after impeachment," Graham said in his Face the Nation appearance. "But if Rudy wants to come to the Judiciary Committee and testify about what he found, he's welcome to do so."Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| 9 Dem candidates demand DNC toss out current debate rules Posted: 15 Dec 2019 12:07 AM PST  Party officials signaled Saturday that they are unlikely to budge and change the rules.
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