New York City Primary Voters Discovered Their Names Were Missing from Voter Rolls

This report was published on September 13. 

by Claire Lampen

An untold number of primary voters are arriving at polling sites today only to find that their names are mysteriously missing from the voter rolls. Others have found that their registration has been quietly transferred to new election/assembly districts, or assigned to new parties without their knowledge. Attorneys with the NYCLU say they are currently receiving reports from numerous voters who are shocked to find their names missing from the voting rolls.  

Click here for the full article. 

Source: Gothamist

Puerto Rico's Fragile Power System Suffers Outages as Storm Passes

This report was published on YouTube on September 14. 

Source: PBS NewsHour

Mueller Just Called Bulls**t on Lobbying Powerhouse Mercury

 

The special counsel’s latest files says that employees of the firm knew that they were working for a foreign government, and not disclosing it.

By Betsy Woodruff

Just over a year ago, a spokesperson for lobbying powerhouse Mercury LLC was emphatic: His firm never worked for the Ukrainian strongman Viktor Yanukovych, who played a major role in making Paul Manafort notorious.

That was in response to a query after reports that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team had subpoenaed Mercury as part of its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign.

Mercury LLC partner Mike McKeon replied, saying he would be fielding media queries about federal filings showing the firm had introduced Viktor Klyuyev, a parliamentarian in Yanukovych’s party and the brother of his former chief of staff, to Congressional offices. He added: “But please note that we never worked or did PR for Yanukovich.”

Court filings released Friday indicate Special Counsel Robert Mueller would not believe that statement. Communications between lobbyists revealed in those filings indicate employees at Mercury LLC understood they were working on behalf of Yanukovych, who had jailed his political opponent and drawn condemnation throughout the Western world. And those lobbyists appear to have known they weren’t complying with federal disclosure law.

The revelation means lobbyists at the firm could face legal jeopardy, according to former federal prosecutors.

And Sol Wisenberg, who was Ken Starr’s deputy during the Monica Lewinsky investigation, told The Daily Beast that Mercury could be in trouble. 

Click here for the full article. 

Source: The Daily Beast

What We Know About the Letter Detailing Brett Kavanaugh Allegations

This report was published on YouTube on September 14. 

Source: PBS NewsHour

Trump's Former Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort Flips

Source: CBS News

North Carolina Governor Warns of Rising Floodwaters

Source: CBS News

How Climate Change May Be Affecting Storms Like Hurricane Florence

This report was published on YouTube on September 14. 

Source: CBS News

Funeral Held for Botham Jean, Man Fatally Shot Inside His Apartment by Dallas Officer

This report was published on YouTube on September 13. 

Source: CBS News

IWC Rejects Japan's Proposal to Lift Commercial Whale Hunting Ban

Chinese Investors Lose Billions to Fraudulent P2P Companies

OAS Chief Says 'Military Action Not Ruled Out' in Venezuela

Greece Arrests Migrant Rescuers on Charges of People Trafficking

Harare's Sanitation Crisis to Blame for Zimbabwe Cholera Epidemic

Thousands Rally Against Looming Offensive on Northwest Syria

Governor Cuomo Announces Additional National Guard Resources to Assist with Florence Recovery

This video was published on YouTube on September 14. 

Source: NYGovCuomo

Mayor de Blasio, Comptroller Stringer Make an Announcement on Pension Fund Investments

This video was published on YouTube on September 13. 

Source: NYC Mayor's Office

NYPD Cops Charged with Protecting Prostitution Ring Still Eligible for Pensions

Click here for the report. 

Source: Empire Report New York

In Memoriam: Janet Weinberg

Advocate for Gay Causes and the Disabled

By Richard Sandomir

Janet Weinberg, an advocate for people with disabilities who found her calling as a top executive and fund-raiser at social service organizations like the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, died on Sept. 1 in the Bronx. She was 63.

Her spouse, Rosalyn H. Richter, an associate justice of the Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court, said the cause was a chronic heart condition.

Ms. Weinberg had been an occupational therapist for a decade when she accepted an offer to join the board of the Lesbian & Gay Community Services Center in Manhattan in the mid-1990s. 

Click here for the full article. 

Source: The New York Times (via Empire Report New York) 

Winners and Losers in the Democratic Primary

Insurgent candidates fall short in bid to upend establishment

By Will Bredderman

As it turned out, Cynthia Nixon was not the one. 

The left-wing actor-activist and her slate of would-be statewide allies failed to capture the hearts and votes of most participating Democrats on Tuesday. But private sector interests had cause to both weep and cheer as the results came in.

Depending on what branch of government they looked at, the election was either completely predictable or utterly erratic. But as always, for some to win, others must lose. Let's start with the latter.

LOSERS:

Independent Democratic Conference: The state senators formerly known as the IDC are now, for the most part, the IDCers formerly known as state senators. The eight-member splinter conference that has maintained a power-sharing deal with the GOP in the upper chamber found itself all but routed, its numbers reduced to two. Most stunning of all was the defeat of Bronx state Sen. Jeffrey Klein, once one of New York's biggest power-brokers, at the hands of first-time candidate Alessandra Biaggi. Gone too are Upper Manhattan state Sen. Marisol Alcantara, Brooklyn state Sen. Jesse Hamilton and Queens state Sen. Jose Peralta.

Losers by extension are all the interests that aligned with Klein and his compatriots, including the Greater New York Hospital Association, private carting outfits, the Real Estate Board of New York and charter schools.

Click here for the full article. 

Source: CRAIN'S NEW YORK BUSINESS (via Empire Report New York) 

New York Primary Election Results

By The New York Times

Click here for the full listing.

Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker Attend Major NAN Event

Pictured left to right: Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) accepting the NAN Action & Authority award from the Rev. Al Sharpton, President and Founder, NAN. (Click on the photos to increase their size.)

New York, NY – The 2018 Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference kicked off on September 12 with the Rev. Al Sharpton’s annual Action & Authority reception at Studio Xfinity in Washington, D.C. 

This year's honorees included: Sen. Kamala D.Harris, (D-CA), Rep. Barbara Lee, (D-CA), Rep. Stacey Plaskett, (D-VI), Hon. Courtney Snowden, Deputy Mayor for Greater Economic Opportunity, Washington, D.C., Tamia Booker, Deputy Chief of Staff to Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Stefanie Brown-James, Co-founder and senior advisor, the Collective PAC. 

(L-R) Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), NAN honoree Tamia Booker deputy chief of staff to Sen. Booker, and NAN DC Bureau Chief Ebonie Riley.

The reception was hosted by Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Melanie Campbell, Kristen Clarke, Waikinya Clanton, Joshua Dubois, Michelle DuBois, Ashanti Gholar, Angela Rye, Esq. Ianta Summers, and Antonio Williams. 

(L-R) Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI), the Rev. Al Sharpton, President & Founder, NAN, & NAN DC Bureau Chief, Ebonie Riley

(L-R) Janaye Ingram, AirBnB, Angela Rye, CNN, NAN honoree Stefanie Brown-James, Collective PAC, Ebonie Riley, NAN, Heather Foster, Widmeyer Communications, and Dominque Sharpton-Bright

Source: Mercury

Mother of Eric Garner Seeks Justice with Release of 'This Stops Today'

 

After the death of her son, Eric Garner, at the hands of New York City police officers on Staten Island went viral, Gwen Carr’s life changed forever. The illegal chokehold that took Garner’s life has been seared into the public consciousness forever as the large Black man struggled to breathe while a white policeman held him down on a hot concrete sidewalk. His death set the tone for a new normal where young Black men and women now automatically document police interactions with their cell phones for fear of brutality and even death. As one of the Mothers of the Movement, Gwen Carr, a retired transit train operator, now dedicates her time to fighting for racial equality, especially the way law enforcement treats Blacks in the United States. 

Click here for the full statement and additional information.

Source: Nine Speakers, Inc.

'60 Minutes' Boss Reportedly Fired for Text Sent to Reporter

Senate Judiciary Committee Delays Vote on Brett Kavanaugh One Week

Source: CBS News

As Hurricane Florence Approaches, Some Residents Are Refusing to Leave

Source: CBS News

Child Labourers in Malawi Suffer from Tobacco Poisoning

Source: FRANCE 24 English

Poland and Hungary Ignore EU Disciplinary Action

Source: FRANCE 24 English

Aung San Suu Kyi Defends Jailing of Journalists

Source: euronews.

Putin Claims No Aggressive Intent as War Games End

Source: euronews.

Archbishop Dfends British MP After Activists Are Filmed Hounding His Children

Source: euronews.

Cancer Will Kill 9.6 Million People Globally in 2018: Report

Source: euronews.

Online Copyright: EU Lawmakers Pass Controversial New Laws

Authorities Can Now Deny Visa and Green Card Applications Without Giving Applicants a Chance to Fix Errors

Immigration lawyers call the policy change, which kicks in today, another brick in Trump’s “invisible wall” to make legal immigration as difficult as possible.

By Kavitha Surana

As President Donald Trump wages a vocal battle against illegal immigration, his administration has been working more quietly to cut down on legal pathways to immigrate to the U.S.

On Tuesday, a new policy kicks in, allowing officers with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to outright deny any visa or green card application that is missing evidence or contains an error. Around 7 million people apply every year.

Previously, officers were required by an Obama-era policy to send notices, giving applicants a chance to correct such problems instead of closing the process. Officers can still choose to do so, but they can also opt to skip that step if the application is deemed frivolous.

Without the notices, applicants won’t have the opportunity to intervene before a decision is made, potentially adding months or years of extra paperwork and thousands of dollars in fees to the already lengthy process. In the case of those trying to renew their visas while they’re still in the U.S., they could be placed in deportation proceedings the moment their visas expire.

Click here for the full article. 

Source: ProPublica

U.S. Military’s Worst-Case Scenario: Large Parts of Africa Seized by ISIS, Al Qaeda, and Boko Haram

By Nick Turse

What keeps U.S. Africa Command chief Gen. Thomas Waldhauser up at night? That remains unknown, but the analysts under his command are worried about terrorist organizations like the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, and Boko Haram combining forces and destabilizing large swaths of the African continent.

Planning documents issued in October 2017 and classified by Waldhauser detail the worst-case scenarios imagined by the command. The forecasts, which are an update to AFRICOM’s Theater Campaign Plan and were obtained by The Intercept via a Freedom of Information Act request, center around potential gains by terrorist organizations in the north and west of the continent, specifically Libya, the Sahel, and the Lake Chad basin. They offer a nightmare vision of a destabilized, crisis-ridden region that could – if the worst happens — fall increasingly under the control of Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Boko Haram.

Click here for the full article. 

Source: The Intercept_ 

Pope Francis Summons Catholic Bishops to Discuss Sex Abuse Scandals

By Mythili Sampathkumar 

Pope Francis has taken the unprecedented step of calling the Catholic Church’s top officials to a meeting to discuss the increasing number of sexual abuse scandals involving clergy members.

The summit with the presidents of all the bishops around the world is set to take place at the Vatican in February next year.

It will be the first meeting of its kind, with more than 100 bishop conferences attending. 

Click here for the full article.

Source: The Independent

Robert Gebbia on National Suicide Prevention Week

 

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Robert Gebbia discusses National Suicide Prevention Week and legislation related to suicide prevention.

Click here for video. 

Former CIA Chief Believes President Worried About Deepening Mueller Probe

Former CIA Director General Michael Hayden (Ret.), who served in the George W. Bush administration, has said President Trump's attacks on Robert Mueller and his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election are signs that the president is growing more concerned by the deepening probe. "The president has acted more and more desperate, more and more frightened by the prospect of the investigation continuing. And so he has doubled down on his attack on the person of Bob Mueller and on the institution that Mueller represents or is guiding," Hayden said. 

The former CIA chief went on to say that he believed the president is "willing to embrace long-term destructive action against critical institutions in American society" for his transient personal or political needs." Hayden, who has been critical of the president, made his comments at a forum on relations between the presidency and the intelligence community (IC) moderated by MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace in Washington Tuesday. 

This report was broadcast on September 11. 

Click here for video.

Click here for the full broadcast. 

Death on the Dakota Access: Oil & Gas Boom Generates Dangerous Pipeline Jobs Amid Lax Regulations

Source: Democracy Now!

Woman Issues Urgent Warning After Uber Scare

What Happens When Everyone Can Change Their DNA?

CRISPR technology is making genetic editing available to more people than ever before. But how wide should that door be opened?

Hurricane Florence Forces Mandatory Evacuation Orders, Threatens Dangerous Storm Surge

Source: CBS News

 Bonus Report: FEMA Officials Provide Update on Florence

Israel's Hunt for the Red Prince, Ali Hassan Salameh

Afghanistan War Causing Record Civilian Casualties

Inequality Haunts South African Students

This report was published on YouTube on September 11.

Desperate Venezuelans Flee Across Border to Colombia

Source: FRANCE 24 English

Brazil Presidential Race: 'Haddad Will Try to Capitalise on Lula's Charisma'

Source: FRANCE 24 English

War in Syria: Hezbollah's Secret Soldiers

Source: FRANCE 24 English

EU Lawmakers Set to Vote on Updating Copyright Rules for First Time in More Than 15 Years

Source: FRANCE 24 English

Rise of Extremist Parties Sends Tremors Across EU

Source: FRANCE 24 English

‘Not Keeping Pace with Need’: New York City Loses Out on Federal Funds for High-Poverty Schools

By Alex Zimmerman

New York City schools that predominantly serve low-income students are receiving less federal funding for everything from health services to books, according to a report released Tuesday.

A chunk of Title I money, which is designed to boost resources at schools with high concentrations of poor students, has evaporated over the past decade as federal funding has lagged compared with the number of needy schools, the city’s Independent Budget Office said.

In all, the city has seen a $140 million reduction in a funding stream known as Title I-A between 2006 and 2017, a nearly 18 percent decline (or roughly 38 percent when adjusted for inflation). The funding can be used for education technology, services for bilingual students, parent outreach, student health and other programs.

Click here for the full article. 

Source: Chalkbeat (via Empire Report New York) 

More Than 1,100 School Faucets Still Have Lead, City Says

By Eliza Shapiro

Lead contamination has been an ongoing crisis in New York City’s public housing, and the Education Department said on Tuesday that it continues to be an issue in schools as well.

In a report, the department said that while it has made progress in eliminating lead in schools over the last year, more than 1,100 water fixtures in city school buildings still have lead levels above the 15 parts per billion threshold that the Environmental Protection Agency allows.

In all, there are 142,411 water fixtures spread over the city’s 1,500 schools — drinking fountains, bathrooms faucets and other sinks used for cooking or washing dishes. Of those, 12,457 tested positive for high levels of lead between 2016 and 2017.

Click here for the full article.

Source: The New York Times (via Empire Report New York) 

Gawker to Relaunch Under New NY-Based Publisher: Reports

By Noah Manskar

NEW YORK — Hulk Hogan couldn't keep Gawker down for the count. The popular blog famously crippled by the former wrestler's lawsuit is set to come back next year under a new New York-based publisher, news reports say.

Bryan Goldberg, owner and CEO of Bustle Digital Group, plans to relaunch Gawker in the first half of 2019 and has hired Amanda Hale to lead it as publisher, Adweek and Variety reported Tuesday. Goldberg reportedly purchased the site last year after it declared bankruptcy in 2016.

Click here for the full article.

Source: Patch.com (via Empire Report New York) 

Dems Battle Trump — and Each Other — in Thursday Primaries

By Kenneth Lovett

ALBANY - For Democrats in New York, the fight this campaign season has not only been about making the state a firewall against President Trump, but also an intraparty battle for control of the “heart and soul” of the Democratic party. New York on Thursday has Democratic primaries for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and state Senate. In almost all cases, the races pit insurgent Dems against better funded establishment incumbents.

“I think that we’re really in a battle right now for the direction that our Democratic party is going to go in and I think primary challenges are really important,” said Cynthia Nixon, who is challenging Gov. Cuomo in the gubernatorial primary.

Click here for the full article.

Source: The New York Daily News (via Empire Report New York) 

Charter Spectrum Gets Brief Reprieve in New York

By Joseph Spector 

ALBANY -- Charter Spectrum on Wednesday received an extension from regulators to come up with a plan to exit New York amid an ongoing fight over its ability to expand internet services across the state.

The state Public Service Commission gave the embattled company until Nov. 8 to come up with a six-month exit plan, also giving the company an extension until Oct. 10 to seek a hearing on the state's effort to kick it out of New York.

The commission noted the reason for the extensions include the "productive dialogue that is ongoing between the Company and Staff, the commitments made by Charter not to air false or misleading advertisements, the work underway by the Company to comply with the network expansion condition."

The deadlines had been in late September or early October.

Click here for the full article.

Source: NBC2 WGRZ (via Empire Report New York) 

The National Hurricane Center: Tracking Florence

 

Click here for updates. 

Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Orders Staff to 'Do a Better Job' of Disclosing Industry Ties

 

The move comes after ProPublica and The New York Times reported that one of its top executives failed to report payments from drug and health care companies in dozens of medical journal articles.

by Katie Thomas, The New York Times, and Charles Ornstein, ProPublica

This article was produced in partnership with The New York Times.

The chief executive of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center sent an email to all staff members on Sunday saying that the institution and its faculty “need to do a better job” of disclosing their relationships with the drug and health care industries.

“The matter of disclosure is serious,” wrote the executive, Dr. Craig B. Thompson, along with Kathryn Martin, the chief operating officer.

The email, which was labeled an “important message,” referred directly to an article published this weekend by ProPublica and The New York Times about the failure of Dr. José Baselga, the cancer center’s chief medical officer, to disclose his extensive industry relationships in dozens of research articles since 2013.

The Times and ProPublica found that Baselga had received millions of dollars in consulting fees and in ownership interests in health care companies, but had often failed to disclose those ties in appearances at scientific conferences and in journal articles. His reporting failures included articles in prestigious publications like the New England Journal of Medicine and the Lancet as well as in Cancer Discovery, a journal for which he serves as one of two editors in chief.

Click here for the full article.

Source: ProPublica

Trump Official John Bolton Declares International Criminal Court 'Dangerous' and 'Dead to' America

He labels the ICC as a 'freewheeling global organisation governing over people without their consent'.

By Mythili Sampathkumar

National Security Advisor to Donald Trump, John Bolton, has said the International Criminal Court (ICC) is "dead to us" in his latest speech. 

He labelled the court as "illegitimate" and "for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us". 

Mr Bolton, who has long held an unfavourable view of the court,  was speaking at a meeting of the Federalist Society, a conservative group based in Washington DC, said the ICC was “ineffective, unaccountable, and indeed outright dangerous".

The court, established in 2002 in The Hague in the Netherlands, has the power to prosecute individuals for war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. The US never ratified the Rome Statute that established the court and George Mr Bush, in the early days of the still-ongoing war in Afghanistan, never ratified it. 

Click here for the full article. 

Source: The Independent

White House Press Briefing

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders answered questions from reporters during a briefing at the White House on a range of issues including the anonymous editorial piece printed in the New York Times, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s letter to President Trump, and trade relations with Canada. At the beginning of the briefing, White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Kevin Hassett updated reporters on jobs, the economy and small business growth figures.

Click here for video.

Source: C-SPAN 

Ex-Senate Aide: Kavanaugh Should Be Impeached for Lying Under Oath About Stolen Democratic Memos

Source: Democracy Now!

CBS Chief Out After Facing More Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Hurricane Florence Gains Strength as It Takes Aim at East Coast

Hussam Zomlot Reacts to US Decision to Close PLO Office in DC

HRW Report: Chinese Government Violates Xinjiang Muslims' Rights

Has Starvation Become a Weapon of Conflict?

One child living in a warzone could die of hunger every minute. That's the startling assessment from the UK based charity Save The Children. It's released a report on the use of hunger as a weapon in some of the world's worst conflicts. It says 4-and-a-half million children under five will need treatment for severe malnutrition before the end of this year. That's a 20 percent increase on 2016. 

Tens of thousands of children could die in Yemen, Afghanistan and South Sudan. But the biggest number of fatalities is expected in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where 300 thousand are at risk.

Iraq PM Abadi Visits Basra Amid Tension After Week of Unrest

Somalia: Suicide Blast Targets Government Offices in Mogadishu

UN Human Rights Chief Slams EU, US Migrant Policies in Maiden Speech

Source: FRANCE 24 English

Kenya: Can Universal Basic Income Revolutionise Development?

Source: FRANCE 24 English

FRANCE 24 Exlcusive: Interview with Nicaragua's Ortega: 'I Am Ready to Meet Trump'

Source: FRANCE 24 English