“On the morning of May 18, 2026, on the granite steps of Manhattan’s Criminal Courts Building, three chic women arranged themselves like starlets at Cannes. The heels. The practiced hip-thrust. Weight cocked to one side, chin down, eyes up. With enough mascara between them to repaint Gracie Mansion. But the most revealing part, the part that showed the most skin, was the laminated press credential blessed by the office of Mayor Zohran Mamdani. It certified they were card-carrying members of the working press. Only they were not here to cover a criminal. Luigi’s Angels, or as they call themselves, more affectionately, the Mangionistas, were there to worship a charismatic idol and to defend his violence.” (05/28/26)
“Anti-mafia investigators in Italy have seized cash, companies and other assets worth more than €200m (£175m) in an operation they say targeted the network of notorious late Sicilian mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro. The funds, described as ‘huge amounts of capital’ by the financial police in Palermo, are said to be proceeds from over four decades of drugs trafficking linked to the presumed former head of the Cosa Nostra group. Announcing their results in Sicily on Thursday, investigators released a video showing masked police officers, some in riot gear, barging down doors and scaling walls to raid a series of vast luxury villas surrounded by palm tree-lined lawns. Messina Denaro spent three decades on the run until his arrest in 2023 as he left a clinic where he was being treated for cancer. He died in custody soon after.” (05/28/26)
“The United States has indicted Cuba’s former president Raúl Castro on murder charges, deployed a carrier strike group to the Caribbean, and issued explicit threats of military intervention. Is the US moving toward another regime change operation in the Western Hemisphere? The rhetoric coming out of Washington suggests very much so. Cuba looks set to see a repeat of the Venezuelan playbook. President Donald Trump has said he will be “the one” to finally act on Cuba. The message from Washington is clear. Cuba is next. Latin America is empire’s favorite backyard, where the United States has consistently moved to remove governments that pursue independent foreign and economic policies not in line with American interests.” (05/28/26)
“A billionaire and insurance mogul with Bay Area ties was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after he orchestrated an elaborate scheme that defrauded multiple insurance companies out of $2 billion that he used to buy mansions and private jets, the U.S. Department of Justice said. San Mateo native Greg Lindberg, 56, was sentenced on Tuesday in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina on charges related to a multibillion-dollar fraud conspiracy that bankrupted several insurance companies and policyholders, the DOJ announced in a news release. Lindberg, now a Florida resident, was the founder and chairman of North Carolina-based international private equity and financial services firm Eli Global LLC, and Global Bankers Insurance Group, which managed international life insurance and reinsurance companies. Bloomberg Businessweek reported in December 2024 that Lindberg’s net worth had been more than $1 billion.” (05/28/26)
