NEW YORK NEWS
87% of criminal suspects in Nassau County were released without bail, according to police data. The report, which covered the period between April 1 and June 30, was presented by Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman at an East Meadow Press Conference. “The atmosphere of lawlessness that we have in New York state is the direct result of policies, failed policies in Albany that make our communities less safe,” Blakeman said. “Our police are solving the crimes, they’re making the arrests, but they’re literally handcuffed, pun intended.”
The report shows that out of 3,019 arrested, 2,641 were released without bail. Of that released group, assault charges account for 282 cases, gun-related charges are 103 cases, and 487 are drug cases.
Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the re-arrest of a man who put a Bronx resident in a coma last week in an unprovoked attack. The man was arrested and charged with attempted murder by the NYPD, but prosecutors in the Bronx downgraded the charge to misdemeanor assault and harassment, both of which force the presiding judge to release the suspect without bail according to the No Cash Bail Law. A New York Post cover story shed light on the case, prompting outrage. “I took action into my own hands,” Hochul said after she ordered the re-arrest. “As of minutes ago, that person is now in custody. That is at my direction.” However, many New Yorkers are unimpressed with the hoops that must be jumped through to keep suspects in jail. “Great! Now we just need an individual [NY Post] cover story, for every single violent crime, to persuade [Governor Hochul] to do her job,” one Twitter user said.
Ben & Jerry’s was denied by a federal judge in their request for an injunction against their parent company, Unilever. The injunction was filed in Southern District of New York with the goal of stopping Unilever from distributing Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Judea and Samaria. The ice cream company made this decision in July 2021, claiming that “We believe it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” When Unilever reversed the decision, Ben & Jerry’s sued for breach of contract, claiming that the sale of the product in those territories would cause “irreparable harm” to the company. The judge determined that this was not the case.
Congregation Beth Shalom of Brooklyn suffered an anti-Semitic defacing of their building when the word “Hitler” was found spray painted to the edifice. Police were called to the scene and determined that the graffiti likely occurred between 8:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. Councilwoman Inna Vernikov tweeted, “HITLER Is the message Holocaust Survivors who saw and experienced the atrocities of WWII have to see at Congregation Bet Shalom this morning when they go to pray. Happening right here in our own backyards. America in 2022.”
Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg pled guilty to 15 counts of tax evasion over $1.7 million in untaxed perks - including school tuition, rent on an apartment, and the lease on a car. Weisselberg, 75, has been subject of a years-long investigation into the Trump Organization that began when Attorney General Letitia James was elected to office. “There is zero tolerance for individuals who defraud our state and cheat our communities,” James said. “Let this guilty plea send a loud and clear message: We will crack down on anyone who steals from the public for personal gain because no one is above the law.” Weisselberg was sentenced to five months in Riker’s and a $2 million fine.
Yankees Legend Paul O’Neill’s no. 21 jersey number was retired at Yankee Stadium, making him the 23rd former player or manager to have his number retired by the club. O’Neill, 59, attended the ceremony at Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park while fans were treated to highlights of his momentous career. This is the first retired number for the Yankees since Derek Jeter’s no. 2 in 2017. “Yankees fans,” O’Neill tweeted after the game, “you never cease to amaze me! What a great day and an unbelievable honor..and a Yankees win!” The four-time All-Star won four championships with the Yankees and retired in 2001.
US NEWS
Dr. Anthony Fauci released a statement that he will be stepping down from his post as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation in December. Claiming that he is not retiring but rather leaving to “pursue the next chapter of my career.” Dr. Fauci became the NIAID Director under President Ronald Reagan, and said that he is “particularly proud to have served as the Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden since the very first day of his administration.”
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is at the lowest level since 1985, according to publicly available data from the Energy Information Administration. The Reserve, which has been releasing a million barrels per day to combat the rising prices in gas, went from 638 million barrels in January 2021 to 461 million as of August 2022. This shortage is occurring ahead of the winter months, where oil prices are expected to surge again due to an increase in demand when homes require heating. The Biden administration views this as a temporary stopgap measure. “This record release will provide a historic amount of supply to serve as a bridge until the end of the year when domestic production ramps up,” the White House said earlier this year.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is getting restructured, according to director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. The agency, which has been under severe criticism over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, is reacting ahead of the release of the report ordered in April that is meant to critique the reaction. This reaction by Walensky indicates that the finding of the report will be scathing. “To be frank, we are responsible for some pretty dramatic, pretty public mistakes, from testing to data to communications,” Walensky said in a video distributed to the agency’s roughly 11,000 employees. Critics of the CDC believe that this is just an excuse for the bureaucracy to gather more power. “Their argument is they need more power,” said Ben Shapiro on his podcast. “Their big mistake is that they weren’t forceful enough during the last pandemic. So when they say shake-up, what they mean is give us more power.”
White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha announced that the Biden administration will stop buying vaccines, treatments, and tests as soon as this fall. This move is part of an ongoing effort by the administration to get past the “crisis phase” of the pandemic. The plan is to transition to commercial sales of these products, same as any other medical test or treatment. «My hope is that in 2023, you›re going to see the commercialization of almost all of these products. Some of that is actually going to begin this fall, in the days and weeks ahead. You›re going to see commercialization of some of these things,» Jha said.
Brian Stelter is out at CNN after Chris Licht, the CEO of CNN, canceled Stelter’s show, “Reliable Sources.” Stelter, who has been with CNN since November 2013, said that “It was a rare privilege to lead a weekly show focused on the press at a time when it has never been more consequential.” Stelter is the latest in a series of changes that the cable news network has undergone, including the departures of Chris Cuomo, Jeff Zucker, Allison Gollust, Jeffrey Toobin, and others.
WORLD NEWS
Israel and Turkey announced a return to full normalization of relations, including reinstating ambassadors and consuls-general. The two nations have had a fraught dynamic since a 2010 confrontation when a passenger vessel attempted to breach Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. After the Trump administration moved the American Embassy to Jerusalem in 2018, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recalled his ambassadors as a show of solidarity for the Palestinian cause. Erdogan’s position has softened over the past year, however, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that the restoration of full diplomatic relations would “encourage greater economic relations, mutual tourism, and friendship between the Israeli and Turkish peoples.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz publicly condemned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s comparison of Israel to the Holocaust. Scholz told Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, “For us Germans in particular, any relativization of the singularity of the Holocaust is intolerable and unacceptable. I condemn any attempt to deny the crimes of the Holocaust.” Abbas drew global rebuke when he was asked if he wanted to say anything on the 50th anniversary of the Munich massacre, where Palestinian terrorists murdered 11 Israeli Olympians. In response, Abbas said that he could point to “50 Holocausts” by Israel.
Islamic militants stormed a hotel in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu, leading to a hours-long standoff that left at least 20 dead. The Islamic extremist group al-Shabab, which has ties with al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest of its frequent attempts to strike places visited by government officials. The attack on the hotel is the first major terror incident in Mogadishu since Somalia’s new leader, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, took over in May.
Iran is pushing the United States for a prisoner exchange, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani. Claiming it is unrelated to the stalled negotiations over reviving the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA aka the Iran Deal), Iran is looking for several Iranians detained on charges linked to U.S. sanctions in exchange for several Iranian-Americans held in Iran on security charges. Senior U.S. Correspondent Mike Wagenheim tells Mia Batya that the prisoner talks coinciding with the crucial stages of the Iran Deal nuclear negotiations is not a coincidence.