Italy, FBI raids target resurgent Cosa Nostra family

Italian anti-mafia police and the FBI in New York have arrested 19 people, in coordinated raids on historic mobster families bidding for power within the Cosa Nostra, investigators said Wednesday.

Raids in both countries targeted links between the Sicilian Mafia -- known as the Cosa Nostra -- and US organised crime, said an Italian police statement.

Italian police said 18 people had been arrested in Italy and one in the United States.

Among those arrested was Thomas Gambino, considered by the FBI to be a key player. Police also cuffed members of the Inzerillo family, said Italian prosecutor Roberto Tartaglia.

During their investigation, they said, they secretly filmed Gambino holding a covert meeting with the head of the Inzerillo family on a rubber dinghy off the coast of Palermo last summer.

The Inzerillo crime family has been trying to rebuild after the 2017 death of its enemy, Boss of Bosses Salvatore "Toto" Riina, police said.

The investigation, dubbed "New Connection" by the Italian police, revealed "the strong bond established between Cosa Nostra in Palermo and US organized crime," it said.

Investigators focussed in particular on the Gambino crime family in New York.

FBI and FTC Must Investigate FaceApp’s Ties to Russia, Chuck Schumer Says

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday is calling for the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate FaceApp, the popular app that lets users age themselves with one of several filters, over its use of user photos and data.

Schumer, in a letter to both the FTC and FBI that was first obtained by NBC News, said he’s especially concerned with FaceApp’s developer being based in St. Petersburg.

“In particular, FaceApp’s location in Russia raises questions regarding how and when the company provides access to the data of U.S. citizens to third parties, including potentially foreign governments.”

The FTC and FBI did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

FaceApp has sparked a phenomenon in the last week, with celebrities from Drake to Cardi B using the app to show their followers what they’ll look like when they’re old and gray. The app’s popularity has rocketed it to the top of Apple’s free apps chart, with aged FaceApp posts littering Instagram, Facebook and Twitter in recent days. At the same time, it’s raised questions over how FaceApp will use its pictures and data moving forward.

Instagram Tests Hiding Likes to ‘Remove Pressure,’ Company Says

Instagram has expanded hiding “likes” to six new countries, months after the Facebook-owned app launched its initial test in Canada.

On Wednesday, Instagram rolled out the test in Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Japan and New Zealand. Users will still be able to see how many like their posts get, but when someone else goes to their post, the total number of likes will be absent.

“We hope this test will remove the pressure of how many likes a post will receive, so you can focus on sharing the things you love,” Facebook director Mia Garlick told the us


The larger test comes only a few months after Instagram head Adam Mosseri told BuzzFeed News the company wants users to focus less on their like counts. Mosseri said he wanted to create “a less pressurized environment where people feel comfortable expressing themselves,” rather than an environment where people delete posts that don’t rack up enough likes.

The test also comes as there’s mounting evidence likes are detrimental to mental health.

Massive heat wave spreads east as storms linger in Upper Midwest

More than 200 damaging storms were reported on Wednesday, with most of those in the Midwest or along the Interstate 95 corridor. In Connecticut, lightning struck a tree, knocking a branch onto a car and killing a 21-year-old man inside. Six tornadoes were reported across Minnesota, Wyoming and Nebraska, while flash flooding was seen from South Dakota all the way into New York City.

'Bachelor' Creator Mike Fleiss Accused of Attacking Pregnant Wife

Photos of the alleged attack and injuries were included in the filings.
Mike Fleiss, creator of ABC's The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, has been accused by his wife of attacking her after she refused to have an abortion, according to court documents obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.

Laura Fleiss on Tuesday filed an emergency domestic violence restraining order in Los Angeles.

In the documents, the 2012 Miss America winner accused her husband of attacking her over the Fourth of July weekend because she would not get an abortion, which he allegedly demanded.

The couple's 4-year-old son, Ben, was in the room during a portion of the argument that went on for several days, according to the documents.

Laura said in the filing, “This was not the first time he had threatened a divorce during our marriage, but now, he was using this threat as leverage to force me to have an abortion. In addition, on July 4th, Mike made the following statements to me: ‘I am cutting you off financially Monday morning’; ‘You are paying for everything with your money’; ‘Next time I see you, I don’t want to see your stomach’; and ‘You have a choice, you can choose. Have an abortion or go back to Wisconsin, but you are not taking Ben.'"

After Two Weeks, A$AP Rocky Is Still Detained in Sweden

After two weeks, A$AP Rocky is still detained in Sweden after turning himself in to authorities following a June 30th altercation. On July 1st, TMZ posted a video of the Harlem rapper allegedly throwing a man across the street in Stockholm as a fight broke out. A day later, the Harlem rapper was arrested by Swedish police for suspected “gross assault,” according to The Hollywood Reporter and CBS News.

In two separate posts on Rocky’s Instagram, the two men can be seen following A$AP and his associates through the street. After multiple calls for the unknown men to stop following them and turn around, one of the men hits Rocky’s security with what appears to be a pair of headphones. “So a few drug addicts are not my fans. We don’t know these guys and we didn’t want trouble,” Rocky wrote on Instagram. “They followed us for 4 blocks and they were slapping girls butts who passed.”
A Swedish court ruled that Rocky was to be held for two weeks in pre-trial detention until the fight was investigated, The Hollywood Reporter noted.

“The conditions of the facility are horrific and include 24/7 solitary confinement, restriction of amenities for the most basic of human functions, lack of access to life-sustaining food as well as unsanitary conditions,” John Ehmann, Rocky’s manager, wrote on Instagram. “On the day of his arrest, I spoke with the U.S. Embassy Consult who informed me that his request to visit Rocky was rejected by police, which violates article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to which Sweden is a signatory. Since then, he has been allowed to visit with a U.S. Embassy Consult and attorney, but only in the presence of Swedish officials. It is troubling and worrisome that the laws are not being applied equally.”

'The White Storm 2: Drug Lords' ('Sou duk 2: Tindeih deuikyut'): Film Review

Andy Lau and Louis Koo lend star power to Herman Yau’s quasi-sequel to the surprise hit 'The White Storm.'
Despite what that title may indicate, there aren’t all that many drug lords in the follow-up to Benny Chan’s surprise 2013 hit The White Storm. Veteran pulp crime drama director Herman Yau picks up for Chan in The White Storm 2: Drug Lords and steers far away from the first film's tale of conflicted cops chasing a drug trafficker in Thailand. Instead, he settles in to concoct a relatively run-of-the-mill cops-and-robbers thriller with few surprises — with the exception of the final gonzo car chase through Hong Kong’s Central subway station.

Why no one has thought to do this before now is a mystery for the ages, but that enjoyably ridiculous sequence and some cheeky hamming by co-star Louis Koo (taking over the mantle of "hardest-working man in show business" with a staggering 18 films on his slate this year) make up for what the pic lacks in narrative logic or editorial flow.

Drug Lords is likely to be received with the same kind of reception the first film did, meaning audiences at home in Hong Kong, in China (there’s a clear cut anti-drug message that should prove easily digestible) and overseas that got a kick out of the original will probably check this out. And at roughly a half-hour shorter (!), Drug Lords has Yau’s signature hyper-efficient pacing (editing comes courtesy of Yau regular Chung Wai-chiu) that could actually win it new fans. Yau and frequent co-writers Erica Li and Eric Lee dispense with the lofty thematic goals Chan toyed with (and never really achieved), making Drug Lords a leaner entertainment-for-entertainment’s-sake exercise that's ideal for the summer season.

‘Russian Doll’ Star Natasha Lyonne Talks Season 2 Plans and Using a ‘Serial Killer’-Style Storyboard

If you thought keeping track of all the time loops in “Russian Doll” was a little overwhelming, then just imagine how much work sorting through those threads was for star/co-creator Natasha Lyonne. But just because it was tough doesn’t mean Lyonne, who was nominated for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series on Tuesday for her performance in the first season of the Netflix series, didn’t love that aspect of the complex project.

“The multiple timelines is part of what made me so thrilled for so many people on our team to be acknowledged today because that really was the detail-oriented, big-boy work of our show in so many ways: keeping the rules of our particular game very, very specific,” Lyonne told TheWrap.

Co-created by Lyonne, Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler, the series follows a young woman named Nadia (Lyonne) on her journey as the guest of honor at a seemingly inescapable party in New York. Nadia suffers through multiple time loops that end in her death throughout the eight-episode first season, an aspect of “Russian Doll” that wasn’t easy to keep track of.

Can ‘Lion King’ Remake Meet Sky-High Box Office Expectations Despite Backlash?

Aside from “Avengers: Endgame,” most box office observers pegged Disney’s CGI remake of “The Lion King” to be the biggest moneymaker of summer 2019. But as the final days tick down to its release, Jon Favreau’s movie is facing down sharply mixed reviews and social media buzz even as it is projected for a $150-180 million opening.

Three years ago, critics and audiences alike lauded Favreau’s CGI/live-action take on “The Jungle Book,” which grossed $966.5 million worldwide and took home a Best Visual Effects Oscar. But reviews for “The Lion King” are much more polarized. While some critics praised the photorealistic approach to the Pride Lands, others called the film a “soulless chimera” of the original 1994 film. Currently, the remake has a 61% score on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to 95% for “The Jungle Book.”

Critics who panned the film also singled out the interactions between the different characters as lacking in facial expression compared to its hand-drawn predecessor. Such complaints have been echoed by many “Lion King” fans on social media as clips from the new movie have come out in recent weeks, prompting side-by-side video comparisons casting the remake in an unfavorable light.

But will any of this actually hurt “The Lion King” at the box office? All signs say no. According to analytics site Movio, the film had brought in 17,000 pre-release admissions by July 9, outpacing presales for “Toy Story 4” and “Ralph Breaks the Internet.” 38% of those pre-sales came from moviegoers ages 25-34, signaling the four-quadrant appeal that has made these Disney remakes such big moneymakers.

Stephen Verona, Writer/Director of ‘The Lords of Flatbush,’ Dies at 78

Stephen Verona, producer, co-writer and co-director of “The Lords of Flatbush,” died from lung cancer this past weekend in Los Angeles. He was 78.

Released in 1974, “The Lords of Flatbush” follows four Brooklyn greasers in 1958 as they steal cars and pick up girls even as the looming specter of adulthood nears. The film helped launch the careers of Sylvester Stallone and Henry Winkler, who played two members of the gang prior to their big breaks in “Rocky” and “Happy Days.”

Stallone in particular saw his career resurrected thanks to “The Lords of Flatbush.” According to a retrospective in Ultimate Classic Rock, Stallone was considering giving up on acting when he was discovered by Verona at an acting workshop. Stallone has later said that his performance as Stanley Rosiello, a boorish greaser with a sensitive side that plans to marry his girlfriend after hearing she’s pregnant, became the blueprint for his iconic performance as Rocky Balboa.

2019 Emmy Awards Nominees

The 2019 Emmy Award nominations have been revealed.

Game of Thrones leads the pack with a whopping 32 nods, while Julia Louis Dreyfus is on course to make Emmys history. The star has won outstanding lead actress in a comedy series six times, beating out Candice Bergen and Don Knotts for most Emmys won by a performer in a single role for Veep.

Meanwhile, some big names have missed out on attracting a nomination with Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Emma Stone overlooked for Homecoming, Catch 22 and Maniac respectively.

Here’s the full list of nominations:



Outstanding Comedy Series

Barry

Fleabag

The Good Place

The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel

Russian doll

Schitt’s Creek

Veep

How did Kim Jong Un get his Mercedes-Benzes? New report traces origin of North Korea's luxury rides

On June 14, 2018, two armored Mercedes-Maybach S600 Guard vehicles were shipped from the Dutch Port of Rotterdam, heading out on a journey that would take months and see the cars transported thousands of miles through six countries, according to a new report from the Washington-based Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS).
After stops in China, Japan, South Korea and Russia, the two cars -- each worth about $500,000 -- are believed to have been flown to their final destination, Pyongyang. And in the North Korean capital, there's only one customer who likely requires this type of ride.
The origin and journey of the two Mercedes luxury vehicles were exposed in the C4ADS report.
We have not independently verified C4ADS' reporting.
Sanctions passed by the United Nations as punishment for Pyongyang's nuclear weapons development are supposed to bar companies and individuals from selling luxury goods to North Korea.




C4ADS found that North Korea imported at least $191 million worth of luxury goods from 2015 to 2017, sourced from "as many as 90 countries" in violation of United Nations sanctions. Definitive figures are difficult to determine because there isn't a shared definition of what constitutes a "luxury item" and due to the surreptitious way North Korea imports such items.
The Mercedes-Maybach S600, however, is undoubtedly luxurious. It's equipped with leather massaging seats and armor to protect occupants from steel-core ammo fired from assault rifles and from explosive devices, according to Car and Driver.

Conjoined twins split after 50-hour surgery

A pair of Pakistani conjoined twins are finally living independent lives after a 100-strong team of British medical experts spent 50 hours performing complex surgery to separate them.

Safa and Marwa Ullah came as a bit of a surprise when they were born in January 2017 as their mother had not known she was expecting twins -- let alone craniopagus twins, who are joined at the head.
Around two in five sets of craniopagus twins are stillborn or die during labor, while a third more do not survive the first 24 hours. Fortunately in the sisters' case, a wealthy benefactor offered to cover the costs of their long journey from home in Charsadda, Pakistan, for the surgery at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

According to its website, GOSH "is one of only a few hospitals in the world to have the infrastructure, facilities and team of experts" to separate conjoined twins. It has carried out the procedure more times than any other hospital worldwide.
Born by cesarean section, the girls emerged with their skulls and blood vessels fused together. Since arriving in Britain, they have undergone three operations between October of last year and when they were finally separated on February 11.
Such a procedure is extraordinarily rare; according to GOSH, the chances of craniopagus twins undergoing surgery is around one in 10 million. Around 5% of conjoined twins are craniopagus cases.
After consultation with their doctors in Pakistan, the London hospital welcomed them to the Bumblebee Ward where various experts -- from craniofacial, neurology and psychology specialists, to nurses, radiologists and physiotherapists -- spent four months treating them

Italian police seized an air-to-air missile and Nazi paraphernalia from three men

 


 Italian police have seized "an arsenal of military weapons," including an air-to-air missile, and a collection of Nazi paraphernalia from three men, one of whom is a former political candidate for an extreme right party. Fabio Del Bergiolo, who ran for the Italian Senate in 2001 as a candidate for the Forza Nuova party, Swiss citizen Alessandro Monti and Fabio Bernardi were arrested on Monday in connection with the arms stockpile. Monti, 42, and Bernardi, 51, were arrested for allegedly possessing and trying to selling a French-made Matra air-to-air missile, while Bergiolo, 60, was arrested for allegedly acting as an intermediary to sell weapons, a Turin police statement said. The stockpile was discovered by police who were investigating Italians "with extremist ideology" who had fought alongside Russian-backed separatist forces in Donbass, eastern Ukraine, last July, according to the police statement.

The investigation relied on the help of an arms expert who contacted the suspects about purchasing the Matra missile on behalf of a third party, police said. Throughout the course of the investigation, police used phone and data interception to view photos of the missile, which were exchanged via WhatsApp, they said. The probe brought authorities to the home of Del Bergiolo, where an array of military-grade weapons and illegally held guns were found, according to police. Del Bergiolo's house allegedly also contained Nazi swastikas and references to the Nazi military Waffen-SS unit.

Nollywood Block Buster Movie THE REUNION set to hit cinemas Nationwide Aug 16th 2019

All is set for the release of The Reunion across the cinemas nationwide from August. The movie which is a Fojo Media Productions parades stars like Mercy Johnson-Okojie, Lilian Esoro, Tana Adelana, Mercy Aigbe, Jide Kosoko, Frederick Leonard, Chioma Emeruah Chigul, Jaiye Kuti, Femi Jacobs, Lateef Adedimeji, Steve Onu Yaw among others.

The movie tells the story of four friends from high school who reunite to plan the 50th anniversary of their alma mater. As a battle of superiority stirs up and issues from the past are re-visited, secrets are revealed that threaten to tear up their seemingly perfect lives.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of Fojo Media Productions and Executive Producer of the movie, Mrs. Faith Ojo, the Reunion shares the struggles of women while living up to the expectations of the society. “This is a must watch for every household.”

While commenting on the film industry in Nigeria and its performance, Mrs. Ojo said that Nollywood actors are a match to Hollywood actors any day, adding that the support and partnership they give to every project they are involved in makes the difference.

“The Nollywood industry will be bigger than what it is today if Nollywood actors, throw their weight and support from their fans to make each movie a hit, that way the producer makes more money to plunge back into paying them for more movies.”