| As Trump fell ill, Republican report praised his leadership on pandemic response Posted: 05 Oct 2020 01:27 PM PDT  The rosy report contrasted sharply with the reality of a White House in turmoil, not to mention of a nation that widely disapproved of Trump's coronavirus response even before he himself fell ill.
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| Tasmanian devils return to Australian wild after 3,000 years Posted: 04 Oct 2020 08:46 PM PDT  Tasmanian devils have been released into the wild on Australia's mainland 3,000 years after the feisty marsupials went extinct there, in what conservationists described Monday as a "historic" step. Aussie Ark, along with a coalition of other conservation groups, revealed on Monday that they had released 26 of the carnivorous mammals into a 400-hectare (1,000-acre) sanctuary at Barrington Tops, about 3.5 hours north of Sydney. Tim Faulkner, president of Aussie Ark, said the "historic" releases in July and September were the first steps in a project akin to the successful move to return wolves to Yellowstone National Park in the United States in the 1990s. After 16 years of work, including the establishment of mainland Australia's largest Tasmanian devil breeding programme, Faulkner said it was "incredible and surreal" to have reached the goal. "It's the stuff dreams are made of," he told AFP.
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| He tried to carjack 4 people in a row, police say, but all the victims fought back Posted: 05 Oct 2020 01:37 PM PDT  An attempted carjacking case in Central Florida could have gone a very different way if the intended victims had not fought back. But they did, valiantly.
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| Photos Show Why Miami Public Schools Could Be the Next Ron DeSantis Coronavirus Debacle Posted: 05 Oct 2020 01:50 AM PDT  MIAMI—Last week, a few days before Donald Trump revealed he came down with COVID-19, Karla Hernandez-Mats went on a coronavirus safety fact-finding mission in South Florida schools ahead of their reopening on Monday.The president of United Teachers of Dade, the local teachers union, Hernandez-Mats said she and her colleagues conducted surprise inspection visits at 17 Miami-area schools that suggested administrators were still scrambling to put safety measures in place.At Miami Springs Senior High, one of the 17 schools inspected, administrators initially refused to allow her colleague, United Teachers of Dade First Vice-President Antonio White, to enter the building and called a police resource officer on him, the union officials told The Daily Beast."When administrators act like that, their schools are usually not prepared," White said in an interview. "That was the case at Miami Springs."COVID-Skeptical Florida Guv Outdoes Himself, Lifts All Restrictions on Restaurants and BarsFor instance, the school appears to be supplying teachers with alcohol-free hand sanitizer, which may be ineffective in killing coronavirus, the union officials said, providing The Daily Beast with a photo of just that. (The Centers for Disease Control's COVID-19 guidance recommends people use hand sanitizer that is at least 60 percent ethanol-based or 70 percent isopropanol-based.) Union officials also provided photos showing decals marking 6-foot distance requirements that were already peeling off the sidewalks near the school's entrance, and desks arranged in such a way that does not allow for 6-foot social distancing.Reached by phone, Miami Springs principal Torossian said he was unaware of police being called on the union official and referred further questions to the school district's media relations department. Spokeswoman Jacquelyn Calzadilla did not specifically address what had occurred at Miami Springs, but she said "our school site administrators are working around the clock to ensure a safe return to the schoolhouse for our students and employees."The flap illustrates the daunting task facing the public school system in Miami-Dade County, which has been the epicenter of Florida's COVID-19 outbreak for most of the pandemic. More than 10,000 teachers and 133,000 students begin filing into 340 schools this week on a staggered schedule. This after the Miami-Dade School Board voted to resume in-person learning under pressure from Florida Education Commissioner Richard Cocoran, a Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee who threatened to cut the school district's funding if classes did not resume by early October.Miami-Dade's daily positivity rate rolling average for the 14 days ending on Oct. 4 stood at 4.78 percent, just below the 5 percent positivity rate that the World Health Organization recommends maintaining for two weeks before lifting shelter-at-home and social distancing protocols. During the same 14-day period, Miami-Dade reported 5,456 new cases, bringing its total to 172,205.School reopenings have been a mess of infection, quarantine, and closure across America in recent weeks. But conversations with teachers, labor leaders, and experts in South Florida painted a picture of Miami schools as a new guinea pig for epidemiological mayhem imposed on high from Tallahassee.This past Friday, Thais Alvarez returned to Norman S. Edelcup Sunny Isles Beach K-8 in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, for the first time since the pandemic forced the shutdown of school buildings across the country.Alvarez, 48, believes keeping students 6 feet apart is going to be nearly impossible in some cases, despite guidance that she and other staff do so. "While my classes are significantly smaller compared to other years, I have some with 16, 19, 21, and 22 students," she told The Daily Beast. "There is no way to do traditional social distancing given the square footage of my classroom."For her personal protection, Alvarez said, she received three six-packs of facemasks and a face shield from the principal's office, along with a large bottle of hand sanitizer placed on her desk. To bolster the official offerings, some of her students gave her packages of clorox wipes in recent days to sanitize surfaces, added Alvarez, who teaches sixth, seventh and eighth graders.The teacher's concerns over clean and sanitized classrooms and bathrooms have a history at Norman S. Edelcup going back to this spring. Alvarez provided The Daily Beast email exchanges she had with Assistant Principal Neal Stayton and Principal Melissa Mesa as far back as May describing grimy conditions inside her classroom and bathrooms on the fourth floor of the school. In a May 7 email, Alvarez complained that objects such as cabinets and desktop screens were caked in dust and floors went unswept throughout the school year. She also claimed the bathroom often ran out of soap and toilet paper before the school day ended, and that toilets were not cleaned for days.In email responses to Alvarez, Mesa acknowledged that custodial staff were supposed to clean bathrooms, including toilets, on a daily basis. But the principal explained that the school district only allocates one custodian per floor and that, based on the workload, the custodian assigned to Norman S. Edelcup's fourth floor could only provide a full-service cleaning once a week. Mesa also noted that if the custodian missed work or went on vacation, it would take longer for full-service cleanings to take place."Please communicate custodial concerns with Mr. Stayton and myself throughout the school year and we will do what we can to assist you," Mesa wrote back on May 7. "Please know that the health and safety of all our faculty, staff and students is of paramount concern to us as well."When she returned to campus on Friday, Alvarez claimed the bathrooms looked the same to her and that her classroom did not appear any cleaner than the start of previous school years, when floors are stripped and waxed."I can't speak to the future," she added. "But if my past experience is any indication, it's going to be a dog and pony show in front of the cameras. Behind the scenes, it's going to be the complete opposite."Alvarez's bosses at Norman S. Edelcup referred inquiries to school district's chief spokeswoman Daisy Gonzalez-Diego, who did not specifically answer questions about the middle-school teacher's complaints."Miami-Dade County Public Schools administrators and school site personnel are following all recommended health and safety protocols to ensure our schoolhouses are secure and welcoming environments where children can thrive under the instruction of our inspirational educators," Gonzalez-Diego said in an email statement. "We also understand that beyond the academic benefits, in-person schooling provides children the social, emotional, and motivational support they need."But on a Facebook page administered by school district employees, dozens of teachers are sharing similar stories about their schools. One teacher posted photos of her classroom's moldy ceiling tile and moldy air conditioning vents. The Daily Beast obtained a screenshot of a text message from another teacher complaining that no one had provided her with masks, hand sanitizer, and wipes. The teacher claimed to work at iPrep Academy, which is adjacent to the school district's headquarters and whose principal is none other than Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho."The office made me feel uncomfortable as if I were asking for something difficult to get when I thought they had plenty in store," the text message read.In an emailed statement, Miami-Dade Public Schools said all teachers at iPrep Academy received bags containing personal protective equipment. Gonzalez-Diego also explained that the school district prioritized resources to increase existing inventories of cleaning supplies and purchase large quantities of personal protective equipment, among other precautions. "With these investments, our schools are now equipped with sufficient PPE and sanitization supplies to safely welcome our students and employees back to the schoolhouse for the 2020-2021 school year," Gonzalez-Diego said.Likewise, on Sept. 30, Superintendent Carvalho sent a letter to all school district employees that read: "Rest reassured that comprehensive measures have been undertaken and will continue to be implemented as a means of ensuring a safe and healthy working environment for all. There is an overall heightened awareness and adherence to prescribed cleaning practices in order to reduce the risk of exposure to our employees."Regardless of how well prepared it is, the school district has been forced to rush things because Carvalho and the school board caved to Education Commissioner Corocan's threats, Hernandez-Mats, the union official, argued. Cocoran, a Republican former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, is a staunch ally of Gov. DeSantis and President Trump, who have advocated reopening schools as part of their push to resume normal life even as health experts across the country warn Florida is about to experience another surge once flu season kicks into high gear.Schools Touted by DeSantis Now in a Quarantine Nightmare"Obviously, this is very troubling how they are getting pressure from Gov. DeSantis, who is falling in line with Trump, telling him to reopen schools," Hernandez-Mats said. "They are succumbing to political pressure instead of doing what is right to ensure the health and well-being of the students and the people who work in those schools with those kids."Gonzalez-Diego did not comment on Hernandez-Mats' criticisms of local cooperation with pressure from the state level. But Florida education department spokeswoman Taryn Fenske clapped back, arguing school unions like United Teachers of Dade want to dictate the type of learning environment students should have, instead of giving them a choice between online and face-to-face learning. "The union bosses are nothing but schoolhouse bullies who want to force everyone to make an identical decision," Fenske said. "They're just mad that we have no problem or hesitation with standing up for students and families, regardless of what the union demands." A spokesperson for DeSantis did not respond to a request for comment for this story.Florida International University infectious disease expert Mary Jo Trepka told The Daily Beast the sheer size of Miami-Dade's public school system makes it critically important that every school site has every possible precaution in place."It is not only critical that transmission be controlled within schools to protect students, teachers, and staff, but also because transmission within schools will fuel overall community transmission," Trepka said. "This could happen at a large scale… Even if only half are interacting in person, that is a lot of opportunities for transmission."Trepka said the danger of reopening schools in Miami-Dade was compounded by DeSantis' decision earlier this month to allow bars and nightclubs to reopen throughout the state. She said it's a recipe that could lead to another spike in coronavirus cases similar to what occurred during the summer, when local and state government officials first relaxed COVID-19 restrictions."I fear we will repeat the same situation now with the added problem of colleges resuming classes and the reopening of schools," Trepka said, noting that Florida's summer surge was initially driven by young people catching coronavirus."They ended up infecting older people," Trepka said. "Then, of course, we saw a lot of deaths."Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Justice Clarence Thomas suggests Supreme Court should overturn same-sex marriage in scathing attack Posted: 05 Oct 2020 09:43 AM PDT  The landmark ruling legalizing same-sex marriage had "ruinous consequences for religious liberty," Thomas says
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| 7 key takeaways from the Lindsey Graham, Jaime Harrison debate Posted: 05 Oct 2020 08:09 AM PDT  Graham called the virus "serious" but said "we have to move on as a nation." Harrison said there had been "a failure in leadership."
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| A fired Amazon employee led a protest in front of Jeff Bezos' $165 million Beverly Hills mansion over workers' wages and job protections Posted: 05 Oct 2020 02:44 PM PDT  Amazon faces multiple lawsuits from employees over its working conditions during the pandemic.
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| This Latino cartoonist is on a mission to defeat Trump in November Posted: 05 Oct 2020 08:49 AM PDT  The self-described "perennial anti-Republican Chicano cartoonist" is even working with GOP strategists who are against the president's re-election.
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| Lawyer: Iran grants furlough to French-Iranian researcher Posted: 04 Oct 2020 01:14 PM PDT |
| White House reassurances about Trump's condition stir doubts instead Posted: 04 Oct 2020 08:47 AM PDT  Information released to show that President Trump is winning his battle with COVID-19 have only raised more questions about an episode clouded by suspicion, rumors and confusion.
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| U.S. court orders Iran to pay $1.4 billion in damages to missing former FBI agent's family Posted: 05 Oct 2020 01:06 PM PDT |
| After $5 million bank heist, 26 years in hiding, being found in Hialeah, ‘The Ghost’ dies Posted: 05 Oct 2020 08:36 AM PDT  Until he decided to start ripping off Hialeah jewelry stores in 2015, legendary criminal Anibal Mustelier lived life at least one step ahead of everyone else.
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| Cuomo orders New York schools in coronavirus hot spots to close tomorrow Posted: 05 Oct 2020 10:30 AM PDT  In a press conference on Monday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered schools in coronavirus hot spots in Brooklyn and Queens to close on Tuesday.
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| Husband of South Korean Foreign Minister Breaks Her Rules—to Fly to America to Buy a Yacht Posted: 05 Oct 2020 06:07 AM PDT  It is one thing to flout a coronavirus travel ban to fly overseas for the purposes of buying a yacht.It's altogether another matter to do so when your wife is the one who made the rules.South Korea's foreign minister, Kang Kyung-wha, came under pressure to resign Monday after her husband defied her ministry's advice against all but essential travel overseas and flew to the United States on Saturday to buy himself a new boat.Lee Yill-Byung, a university professor, has now become the focus of considerable outrage in Korea after he was confronted by a television crew as he prepared to fly to the U.S. on Saturday, saying, "The coronavirus epidemic is not going to disappear any time soon. I can't sit at home all the time. I can't keep worrying about other people's lives as I live my own."His mission, as described on his now-deleted blog, was to buy himself a small yacht and enjoy a "cruising life" and be able to say that he "lived in a beautiful place" for several years before he dies.The opposition People Power Party was quick to condemn Lee's actions, with a party official telling the Chosun Ilbo newspaper, "Small businesses are suffering from the epidemic, but a family member of a high-ranking government official is traveling and buying a yacht."The paper accused Kang of "flagrant hypocrisy" as her ministry, just days before, had ordered Koreans to stay home for this year's Chuseok holiday, saying that people's "private lives are not an absolute right."Broadcaster KBS initially broke the news Saturday evening of Lee's travel, screening astonishing footage of reporters at Incheon International Airport confronting a defiant Lee, who told the reporters that he had "packed many masks."When asked if he was concerned about being the husband of a public figure and prominent lawmaker, Lee reportedly replied, "It could be a burden if I am doing something bad, but I am doing what I believe is right, and I am living my own life, so I don't have to compromise on this because of what others think." Lee was asked if Kang had spoken to him about the trip, and he replied, "We are both adults, so she didn't particularly tell me not to go."The following day, Kang told reporters that she was "sorry" about her husband's decision to travel overseas, adding, "He has planned the trip for such a long time and postponed it several times, so it's difficult for me to tell him not to go."The Korea JoongAng Daily said that sailing the world on a yacht was at the top of a bucket list on Lee's now-scrubbed blog, and that he has been planning the purchase for nearly a year. Lee reportedly was traveling to New York to purchase a 51-foot 1990 Kanter 51-foot Mistress V yacht, estimated to cost around $120,000.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Voters sue Republican Gov. Greg Abbott over his order to shutter ballot drop-off locations in Texas Posted: 05 Oct 2020 09:41 AM PDT  Abbott forced two of Texas' Democratic strongholds to close a number of drop-off sites which had already opened
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| Thousands of coronavirus cases were not reported for days in the UK because officials exceeded the data limit on their Excel spreadsheet Posted: 05 Oct 2020 04:25 AM PDT  Officials failed to report 15,841 new cases between September 25 and October 2.
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| Microsoft plans $1 billion data center venture in Greece Posted: 05 Oct 2020 01:23 AM PDT  Microsoft has announced plans to build three data center sites in greater Athens, providing a badly needed investment of up to $1 billion to the Greek economy which has been hammered by the pandemic. The news was announced Monday by the U.S. tech giant and Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis and follows nine months of confidential negotiations for an agreement that also includes digital-skills training programs for some 100,000 government and private sector workers as well as educators and students. "This significant investment is a reflection of our confidence in the Greek economy, in the Greek people and the Greek government," Microsoft President Brad Smith said at a ceremony held in the Acropolis Museum, facing the ancient site in central Athens.
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| 'That should never have happened': Secret Service agents attack Trump over hospital drive-by Posted: 05 Oct 2020 08:14 AM PDT  Mr Trump's former campaign manager claims two Secret Service agents volunteered to drive him
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| Rapidly strengthening Delta could cross Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 3 hurricane Posted: 05 Oct 2020 05:17 AM PDT  Tropical Storm Delta is near-hurricane strength a day earlier than initially expected, and a western swing in the track now has the storm crossing the Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 3 hurricane Wednesday morning.
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| White House COVID-19 outbreak shows the limits of testing; even the most accurate ones can miss the coronavirus early Posted: 05 Oct 2020 01:50 PM PDT  The revelation Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany tested positive for COVID-19 shows the White House strategy of frequent testing alone isn't enough.
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| Louie Gohmert joins three other Texas Republicans in vote against House resolution condemning QAnon Posted: 05 Oct 2020 09:20 AM PDT  The FBI has identified the conspiracy theory movement as a domestic terrorism threat
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| Researchers find 'Queen of the Ocean' ancient great white shark off Nova Scotia coast Posted: 05 Oct 2020 12:26 PM PDT  The shark, named Nukumi by researches, is more than 17 feet long, 3,541 pounds and believed to be about 50-years-old.
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| Israel army strikes Gaza target after rocket attack Posted: 05 Oct 2020 11:30 AM PDT |
| Fauci said he's 'disturbed and concerned' by the number of new COVID-19 cases in the US and is not involved in treating Trump's illness Posted: 05 Oct 2020 08:20 AM PDT  Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN he's not involved in President Donald Trump's care and declined to comment on Trump's temporary trip outside the hospital.
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| Saudi business leader urges boycott of goods from 'hostile' Turkey Posted: 04 Oct 2020 09:53 AM PDT |
| Disturbance expected to grow into Gulf hurricane, while tropical storm hovers off Mexico Posted: 04 Oct 2020 04:17 PM PDT  While Tropical Storm Gamma is nearly stationary just north of the Yucatan Peninsula, there is one more disturbance quickly growing in the Caribbean Sea, the National Hurricane Center said Sunday.
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| Black ‘Good Samaritan’ shot and killed by Texas police as he broke up domestic violence fight Posted: 05 Oct 2020 10:41 AM PDT  Jonathan Price died after trying to stop brawl between man and woman
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| China leads UN call for US to end 'coercive' sanctions Posted: 05 Oct 2020 12:40 PM PDT  China, Russia and two dozen other countries called on the United States and Western countries to end the use of unilateral sanctions, which they said make it harder to deal with Covid-19.
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| Fired Amazon employee arrested for allegedly issuing false refunds Posted: 05 Oct 2020 11:20 AM PDT  A former Amazon employee fired by the company has been arrested and charged with allegedly issuing false refunds.
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| How Filipino activists ended up on a 'wanted' poster Posted: 05 Oct 2020 05:22 PM PDT  Activists warn that public vilification through 'red-tagging' is growing in the Philippines to quash dissent.
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| Mormon president calls on members to help end racism Posted: 04 Oct 2020 02:50 PM PDT  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' president issued another plea for members to help end racism, saying Sunday at the faith's signature conference that God loves people of all races equally and that it pains him to see Black people suffer prejudice. Russell M. Nelson's comments followed similar speeches by other top leaders Saturday at the conference that comes as many members live through a reckoning over racial injustice, especially in the U.S. following the May police killing of Black man George Floyd. Like the leaders who spoke on Saturday, Nelson didn't mention the church's past ban on Black men in the lay priesthood.
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| Trump's drive-by stunt was branded 'insanity' by a Walter Reed doctor who said the president put lives of Secret Service agents at risk for 'political theater' Posted: 05 Oct 2020 03:59 AM PDT  Dr. James P. Phillips said "the irresponsibility is astounding" after President Donald Trump exited Walter Reed on Sunday to appear before supporters.
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| Lt. Col. Allen West reacts to Pence's new role as President Trump fights COVID-19 Posted: 04 Oct 2020 06:01 AM PDT  Texas GOP chairman weighs in on vice president's larger role in the reelection process.
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| Breathing with face mask does not alter oxygen level; virus can last nine hours on skin Posted: 05 Oct 2020 12:05 PM PDT  Oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the blood were measured before and after the walking test. Mask discomfort is likely not due to rebreathing of carbon dioxide and decreases in oxygen levels, the researchers reported on Friday in the journal Thorax. Left undisturbed, the new coronavirus can survive many hours on human skin, a new study has found.
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| A student says test proctoring AI flagged her as cheating when she read a question out loud. Others say the software could have more dire consequences. Posted: 04 Oct 2020 06:30 AM PDT  The distraught college student said that her scholarships could have been affected by the software's determination.
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| Why Armenia and Azerbaijan are fighting, and why it could get uglier Posted: 05 Oct 2020 07:24 AM PDT  The countries have fought for years over a breakaway region, but this time, the U.S. isn't helping to mediate, and other major powers are picking sides.
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| Claudia Conway announces coronavirus diagnosis on TikTok Posted: 04 Oct 2020 12:25 PM PDT  Claudia Conway, the daughter of former White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, revealed on TikTok Sunday that she has coronavirus. "Hey guys currently dying of covid," Conway captioned a video on the social media platform. Kellyanne Conway announced she tested positive for coronavirus Friday night and was experiencing some symptoms including a "mild (light cough) and I'm feeling fine." Prior to ...
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| August Browne: The Nigeria-born man who joined the Polish resistance Posted: 05 Oct 2020 03:08 AM PDT  August Agboola Browne is thought to have been the only black person in the Polish resistance.
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| Bitter U.S. Senate contest dwells on crime, coronavirus Posted: 04 Oct 2020 11:00 PM PDT  Candidates for an open U.S. Senate seat in New Mexico are parrying a barrage of political attack ads with the first televised debate of the campaign scheduled for Monday evening. Retiring Democratic Sen. Tom Udall has endorsed as his successor allied six-term U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, while Republican former television meteorologist Mark Ronchetti is promising to chart a more conservative political course on issues from health care to economic recovery. Absentee balloting begins Tuesday across the state that currently has an all-Democratic delegation to Washington, D.C. New Mexico hasn't backed a Republican for Senate since 2002, and Trump lost New Mexico in 2016 to Hillary Clinton by 8 percentage points.
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| Trump’s early discharge from Walter Reed hospital has some doctors worried. Here’s why Posted: 05 Oct 2020 01:18 PM PDT  "There is so much wrong with this."
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| Apple is suing a recycling firm for $23 million, claiming it resold iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches instead of breaking them down Posted: 05 Oct 2020 02:36 AM PDT  Apple claims in the suit that it sent more than 530,000 iPhones, 25,000 iPads, and 19,200 Apple Watches to the Ontario-based GEEP from 2015 to 2017.
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| Philippines' Duterte scores record high rating, despite virus crisis Posted: 05 Oct 2020 12:56 AM PDT  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's approval rating has hit a record high, an opinion poll showed on Monday, despite a stubborn coronavirus crisis that has ravaged the economy and caused millions of job losses. The Pulse Asia survey, conducted last month with in-person interviews with 1,200 adult Filipinos, found 91% of respondents approved of both his performance and his personality, up from 87% and 83% respectively in December. The Philippines, for years among the world's fastest-growing economies, is forecast to see a 6.9% economic contraction this year, the World Bank has said, the biggest since the 1980s and worse than the government's projected 5.5% decline.
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| Top Vatican Cardinal Accused of Buying False Pedophile Testimony Against Cardinal George Pell Posted: 05 Oct 2020 04:29 AM PDT  ROME—The strange case of a top Vatican cardinal who Pope Francis dismissed in September has just taken a Machiavellian turn that would make Dan Brown proud.Giovanni Angelo Becciu, the Vatican's former secretary of state and, until recently, head of the Holy See's saint-making wing, has been accused of funneling some $800,000 of the pope's charity money to Australia to buy false testimony against his archrival, Cardinal George Pell, while he was on trial for sexually abusing choir boys in Australia more than 30 years ago.Disgraced Cardinal George Pell Slithers Back to Rome and Targets His Vatican Bank Enemies Becciu adamantly denies all wrongdoing, issuing a statement Monday in which he said, "I categorically deny interfering in any way in the trial of Cardinal Pell."Pell, who mysteriously returned to Rome last week despite a ban on Australians traveling abroad, was first convicted in 2018, and then acquitted of historical clerical sex abuse in April, after what was known as the "cathedral trial" because the alleged crimes happened in Melbourne's main basilica. The trial in which he was acquitted came after a hung jury on the same case. A subsequent trial that involved accusations of Pell grabbing young boys' genitals in a public swimming club, known as the "swimmers trial," was dropped when Pell was convicted.Pell left Rome in 2017 while serving as the pope's top financial czar as head of the Secretariat of the Economy. The pope never removed him from that post, even after his conviction, but the term expired in 2019 and Pell's mandate was not renewed. The role has not been filled since. It was during that time as the Vatican's No. 3 that he first accused Becciu—who was then the Vatican's secretary of state and thus the church's No. 2—of financial improprieties tied to dodgy loans, a property in London's Sloane Square, and mysterious transfers of cash from the papal charity known as Peter's Pence to his brother in Sardinia. At the time, Pell ordered an audit into the Holy See's financial discrepancies, which was halted by Becciu, who was Pell's superior. It is unclear what Pope Francis said at the time Becciu pulled rank to stop the audit. Over the weekend, Italian newspapers were slipped leaked summaries of what is being reported as the Vatican's internal investigation into Becciu's alleged crimes. Those leaks imply that Becciu is being investigated for funneling around $800,000 to conservative groups in Australia meant to buy hostile testimony against Pell in his pedophile trial. Pell was unanimously convicted in February 2019 for assaulting two former choir boys in a cathedral while he was archbishop of Melbourne in the 1990s. His conviction was overturned in April after an appellate court found that the testimony was lacking.The Italian leaks also refer to a 39-year-old woman named as Cecilia Morogna, who is described as Becciu's niece and reported to be involved in some of the transfers. But the investigation leaks imply that Morogna is no relative of Becciu's at all and is in fact part of a Freemasonry Roosevelt Movement. Grainy photos run in the papers imply that she has been seen in the cardinal's company several times in Rome.On Monday in Melbourne, a lawyer representing the primary witness in the trial against Pell adamantly denied receiving money for his testimony. Viv Waller represents the alleged victim, whose name has not been made public because of privacy issues related to child sex-abuse allegations. She said her client's testimony was genuine. "My client denies any knowledge or receipt of any payments," she told reporters in Melbourne. "He won't be commenting further in response to these allegations."Pell's Australian lawyer, Robert Richter, has instead insisted that these claims of paid-for testimony be investigated. "They are concerning allegations and require thorough investigation of the money trail, wherever that may be," he said Monday. The Vatican has not issued comment on the latest allegations beyond confirming that its investigation into Becciu and at least six others continues in secrecy.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| US Navy’s aging surface fleet struggles to keep ships up to spec, report shows Posted: 05 Oct 2020 01:12 PM PDT  A report on inspections of U.S. Navy ships shows the surface fleet struggling with declining readiness.
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