FBI raids home of Mayor Eric Adams' fundraising chief
NEW YORK >> Agents from the FBI on Thursday searched the Brooklyn home of Mayor Eric Adams' chief fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, a campaign consultant who is deeply entwined with efforts to advance the mayor's agenda, according to two people.
The early morning raid was part of a broad public corruption investigation by the FBI and federal prosecutors in Manhattan into whether Adams' 2021 mayoral campaign conspired with a Brooklyn construction company and the Turkish government to funnel foreign money into the campaign's coffers, apparently through a straw donor scheme, according to portions of the search warrant. The warrant sought evidence of the theft of federal funds and conspiracy to steal federal funds, wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy, as well as campaign contributions by foreign nationals and conspiracy to make such contributions.
Tens of thousands of Vegas hotel workers could strike
LAS VEGAS >> Tens of thousands of Las Vegas hotel workers set a deadline Thursday for a sweeping strike, threatening major disruptions to the city's economic background that could coincide with the Strip's inaugural Formula 1 races later this month.
The Culinary Workers Union said about 35,000 members whose contracts expired earlier this year are ready and willing to walk off the job at 18 casinos if deals aren't reached by Nov. 10 with casino giants MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts. That's five days before the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend, which is expected to bring thousands of people to the Strip, is set to kick off with an opening ceremony.
Ted Pappageorge, the union's secretary-treasurer and chief contract negotiator, urged tourists and Formula 1 ticket holders to support the workers if they go on strike by not coming to Las Vegas or crossing the picket lines.
Storm Ciarán whips Western Europe, blowing record winds PARIS >> Recording-breaking winds in France and across much of Western Europe left at least seven people dead and injured others as Storm Ciarán swept through the continent overnight and into Thursday, plunging vast numbers into darkness, devastating homes and causing travel mayhem in several countries.
Winds of more than 118 mph slammed the northern tip of France's Atlantic coast, uprooting trees and blowing out windows.
A truck driver was killed when his vehicle was hit by a tree in northern France, Transport Minister Clement Beaune said. Meanwhile, a 70-yearold man in the port city of Le Havre, Normandy, died in a fall from his balcony. Local media outlet FranceBleu quoted a prosecutor as saying it appeared the victim was closing his shutters amid a gust of wind when he fell at noon Thursday. Sixteen other people were hurt around western and northern France, authorities announced.
New Beatles song with John, Paul, George, Ringo debuts
LOS ANGELES>> The final Beatles recording is here.
Titled “Now and Then,” the almost impossible-to-believe track is four minutes and eight seconds of the first and only original Beatles recording of the 21st century. There's a countdown, then acoustic guitar strumming and piano bleed into the unmistakable vocal tone of John Lennon in the song's introduction.
More than four decades since Lennon's murder and two since George Harrison's death, the very last Beatles song has been released as a double A-side single with “Love Me Do,” the band's 1962 debut single.
“Now and Then” comes from the same batch of unreleased demos written by Lennon in the 1970s, which were given to his former bandmates by wife Yoko Ono. But there were technical limitations to finishing “Now and Then.”
That changed in 2022, when the band was able to use technical restoration methods.