Cops descend on David Hogg’s home after hostage hoax

Police surrounded the Florida home of Parkland shooting survivor and anti-gun activist David Hogg Tuesday, because someone placed a phony 911 call in a prank called “swatting.”

The hoaxster told Broward Sheriff’s Office there was a hostage situation at the home, according to WPLG.

But emergency responders found nothing wrong and determined it was a prank.

Hogg is in Washington D.C. with his mother to accept the RFK Human Rights award and was not home at the time.

“I think it’s really a distraction from what we’re trying to fix here,” Hogg told WPLG of the prank. “Which is the massive gun violence epidemic in this country.”

Swatting led to the death of an innocent Kansas man late last year after a California serial prankster made a bogus 911 call claiming there had been a shooting at the victim’s home.

https:// nypost.com/2018/06/05/cops-descend-on-david-hoggs-home-after-hostage-hoax/

Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to rape, criminal sex act charges

Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty Tuesday to ​charges that he raped one woman and sexually assaulted another.

Looking ashen and wearing a dark suit and black tie, the disgraced movie mogul mumbled, “Not guilty” ​to ​felony charges of rape and criminal sex act before Judge James Burke in Manhattan Supreme Court.

He faces up to 25 years behind bars if convicted.

Weinstein was indicted last week on the charges related to two incidents — one in 2004, when he allegedly forced ​actress ​Lucia Evans to perform oral sex, and in 2013, when he allegedly raped a second woman at a DoubleTree hotel in Manhattan.

Weinstein’s attorney Benjamin Brafman blasted the charges in court.

“However reprehensible the crime of rape is, it is equally reprehensible to falsely accuse someone of rape,” he told the judge.

Joan Illuzzi, the top prosecutor handling the case, fired back against Brafman’s comments last month that “Weinstein did not create the casting couch in Hollywood.”

“It was not the people who went out to the courtroom steps and starting talking about a casting couch, undermining the seriousness of these charges,” she said. “Any denigration of these victims, any playing-down of these victims, is inappropriate.”

Brafman swore off using the term “casting couch” but “not because it’s inappropriate but because of the outcry.”

“My job is to defend specific allegations of criminal conduct,” he explained, “not specific behavior” of Hollywood in general.

Brafman also said he will examine whether to ask to sever the two cases.

Celebrated women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred — who represents some of Weinstein’s scores of accusers in their civil cases — was seated in the courtroom.

She declined to comment when asked if she represented either of the two women in the criminal case.

Late last month, Weinstein, 66, hobbled into a Manhattan precinct to turn himself in on the serious charges.

More than 80 women have accused the fallen moviemaker of sexual misconduct — including three who came forward last week. One of them, Melissa Thompson, claims Weinstein raped her at the Tribeca Grand Hotel in 2011.

On Tuesday, Weinstein arrived at court to a swarm of media and said nothing on his way in and out of the Centre Street building.

He only briefly smirked at photographers when he arrived.

The once-powerful producer is free on $1 million bail and must wear a GPS monitoring ankle bracelet.

His next court date is Sept. 20.

https:// pagesix.com/2018/06/05/harvey-weinstein-pleads-not-guilty-to-rape-criminal-sex-act-charges/

David Koch says he’s retiring with health in decline

Billionaire conservative icon David Koch is stepping down from the Koch brothers’ network of business and political activities.

The 78-year-old New York resident is suffering from deteriorating health, according to a letter that older brother Charles Koch sent to company officials Tuesday morning.

Charles Koch wrote that he is “deeply saddened” by his brother’s retirement. “David has always been a fighter and is dealing with this challenge in the same way,” he wrote.

David Koch is leaving his roles as executive vice president and board member for Koch Industries and a subsidiary, Koch Chemical Technology group, where he served as chairman and chief executive officer. Koch is also stepping down as chairman of the board for the Americans For Prosperity Foundation, the charity related to the Koch brothers’ primary political organization.

Charles Koch had assumed a more visible leadership role in the brothers’ affairs in recent years. He will continue to serve as the CEO of Koch Industries and the unofficial face of the network’s political efforts.

Democrats have demonized the Koch brothers for their outsize influence in conservative politics over the last decade. Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid regularly attacked Republicans for what he called a “Koch addiction.”

Yet the Koches have clashed with the Trump administration at times.

Citing concerns about Donald Trump’s style and substance, the network refused to endorse either presidential candidate in the 2016 election.

And while they have praised President Trump’s policies on taxes, deregulation and health care, they have aggressively attacked the Republican administration’s trade policies. On Monday, the Koch network announced a multimillion-dollar campaign to oppose Trump’s tariffs and highlight the benefit of free trade.

Using the money they made from their Kansas-based family business empire, the Koch brothers have created what is likely the nation’s most powerful political organization with short- and long-term goals.

Their network has promised to spend $400 million to shape the 2018 midterm elections. They have also devoted significant time and resources to strengthening conservative influence on college campuses, in the Hispanic community and in the nonprofit sector.

David Koch, who served as the Libertarian Party’s vice presidential candidate in 1980, had begun to focus more on philanthropy in recent years.

https:// nypost.com/2018/06/05/david-koch-says-hes-retiring-with-health-in-decline/

Trump-Kim summit: White House confirms leaders will meet on resort island of Sentosa

The White House has announced that the landmark summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will be held at Singapore’s Capella Hotel on the island resort of Sentosa, off the city state’s southern tip.

Trump’s press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed the venue on Twitter early Wednesday.

The five-star hotel, owned by Singapore property firm Pontiac Land Group, was not an obvious choice among observers to host the June 12 event because unlike the more central Shangri-La Hotel, high-key political meetings have not previously been held there.

Sentosa island has just one land link with mainland Singapore – a 710-metre causeway. It is also connected with the mainland via cable car.

The island has some two kilometres of sheltered beaches, two golf courses and is also the home of Universal Studios Singapore.

It was once a pirate hang-out known as Pulau Belakang Mati (Island of Death from Behind).

Today, Sentosa – which means peace and tranquillity in Malay – is one of Singapore’s most prestigious addresses, with “good class” bungalows there costing up to S$50 million (US$37.4 million).

“The location of Capella hotel which is separated from [the] mainland may serve as a virtual wall to keep out security threats from approaching the summit,” Singaporean national security researcher Muhamamad Faizal Abdul Rahman told This Week in Asia.

The Singapore government’s announcement on Wednesday came hours after it published a notice on the official gazette declaring the entire island a “special event area” from June 10 to June 14 – giving police additional powers to stop and search people.

Earlier this week, it issued a similar gazette for the diplomatic district around Shangri-La Hotel, which is located next to the popular Orchard Road shopping district.

The nine-year-old Capella Hotel is designed by the acclaimed British architect Norman Foster and has 112 ultra-luxurious rooms and suites.

Meeting rooms are equally elaborate, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering views of the South China Sea.

Capella Hotel’s owner Pontiac Land is controlled by the Singaporean family known as the Kwee brothers.

Muhammad Faizal said the gazetting of Shangri-La Hotel could mean “both hotels could serve as venues for the summit but for different purposes”.

The Shangri-La Hotel, owned by Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok’s Kuok Group, plays host to the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security forum which is attended by defence ministers as well as more senior leaders from around the world.

Diplomatic sources on Monday told This Week in Asia Pyongyang was insistent that the historic meeting could not be held in an American or European owned venue.

http://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2149411/trump-kim-summit-singapore-confirms-leaders-will-meet-resort