Insane Mafia-Linked NBA Gambling Scandal Erupts; Terry Rozier, Chauncey Billups Arrested Among Dozens Of Alleged Riggers

What we know:

Terry Rozier, Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones have been arrested

The years-long investigation spanning 11 states has resulted in over 30 arrests

The Bonnano, Gambino and Genovese organized crime families were allegedly involved as enforcers, taking a cut of the winnings

There was an alleged robbery at gunpoint to obtain a rigged shuffling machine, along with extortions

Defendants laundered their proceeds through cash exchanges, multiple shell companies, and cryptocurrency transfers

Rozier allegedly manipulated betting results by leaving a game early

Over 30 people have been indicted after an FBI investigation uncovered an explosive gambling scandal rocking the NBA.

Legendary Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones were all arrested as part of the investigation into illegal gambling operations that included x-ray tables that read cards, special contact lenses, rigged shuffling machines and more - swindling people out of 'tens of millions of dollars.'

Billups was charged in connection with an illegal poker operation tied to 'la costa nostra,' according to the FBI, while Rozier allegedly manipulated his performance during an NBA game to sway betting results.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/insane-mafia-linked-nba-gambling-scandal-erupts-terry-rozier-chauncey-billups-arrested

Trump Now 'Fully On Warpath With Russia' With Oil Sanctions, Medvedev Says

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and close Putin-ally has blasted President Donald Trump's new sanctions against Russia's oil giants as an "act of war" which puts the United States on the direct warpath with Russia.

"The US is our enemy, and their talkative 'peacemaker' has now fully embarked on the warpath with Russia," Medvedev, who serves as a top Russian national security official, said. "The decisions taken are an act of war against Russia. And now Trump has fully aligned himself with loony Europe," he emphasized in the statement.

Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia's two biggest oil companies, were slapped with US Treasury sanctions along with dozens of their subsidiaries, resulting in global oil prices to rise by 3% on Thursday. Further repercussions have included India, the largest importer of Russian oil, but mull cutting its purchases.

Trump has frequently said the "war should have never started" and that it's Joe Biden's fault, but Medvedev took the Republican president to task on this also, per Russian state media:

He argued that Trump had likely been pressured by both domestic and international hawks into taking a hardline stance, rather than acting out of ideological conviction as was the case with his predecessor, Joe Biden. “But now it’s his conflict,” Medvedev concluded, adding that Russia must focus on achieving its objectives militarily rather than through negotiations.

"Of course they'll say he couldn't do otherwise, that he was pressured in Congress, etc.," Medvedev did concede in the statement.

Still, it remains there's no clear evidence that the Trump administration has ever brought real pressure to bear on its ally Zelensky to make key territorial concessions and to permanently reject the idea of ever joining NATO.

Instead, Trump has allowed long-range attacks inside Russia, and has even authorized intelligence help for the Ukrainians to attack energy sites deep into Russia.

With these escalations under the Trump White House, Medvedev is arguing that Trump now 'owns' the grinding conflict, also after the White House made clear the Budapest summit with Putin is not going to happen.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-now-fully-warpath-russia-oil-sanctions-medvedev-says

The Rise of Digital ID in the United States: A Legal and Privacy Crisis

Republished with permission from Attorney Tom Renz.

The destruction of our privacy rights in the United States is making me sick. It’s happening right under our noses, and it’s getting worse by the day. Most people seem unaware, but digital ID is now the law, and its implementation is moving forward as we speak. This isn’t the work of a single piece of legislation; it’s a slow creep driven by updates to existing regulations, rooted in the post-9/11 “Patriot Act” mindset that trades our freedom for security. Let’s break this down academically, with the relevant laws and texts, so you can see the full scope of what’s at stake.

Foundational Federal Law: The REAL ID Act of 2005

The cornerstone of this shift is the REAL ID Act of 2005, codified in 49 U.S.C. § 30301 note. This law set minimum security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards to be accepted for federal purposes, like boarding commercial flights. While it initially governed physical IDs, its mandates for digital features and databases laid the groundwork for what we now face with digital identification. The law was updated with the REAL ID Modernization Act, signed into law as part of a larger bill in 2020, pushing us further down this path.

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The Act’s Section 202(b) outlines the minimum requirements for an acceptable ID, and it’s packed with digital components that paved the way for today’s mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs). Here’s the breakdown from the relevant text:

Digital Photo: “(5) A digital photograph of the person, which may be the photograph taken by the State at the time the person applies for a driver’s license or identification card or may be a digital photograph of the person that is already on file with the State.”

https://joehoft.com/tom-renz-the-rise-of-digital-id-in-the-united-states-a-legal-and-privacy-crisis/

Newsom Signs Bill Pointing Kids Toward LGBT Site with Possible Predators

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed new legislation pointing children in government schools toward an LGBT online forum that some in the state believe is likely a hotbed for predators.

Newsom signed Assembly Bill 727 on Oct. 10, which was World Mental Health Day, mandating that school IDs for public middle schools, high schools, and colleges have contact information for The Trevor Project on the back.

The group purports to prevent suicide for self-proclaimed homosexual and transgender young people, but their online forum, TrevorSpace, lacks age verification and moderation standards, according to The Christian Post.

Brenda Lebsack, a Santa Ana Unified School District trustee, said that The Trevor Project allows for easy predation on children.

“I saw with my own eyes that Trevor Project is putting kids in harm’s way through TrevorSpace by connecting minors with unfettered random adults on an international virtual platform to explore their genders and sexualities, and this is dangerous for our most vulnerable kids who identify as LGBTQ,” Lebsack wrote in a recent article, according to a release from the California Family Council.

TrevorSpace is advertised as a “welcoming online social community for LGBTQ+ young people between the ages of 13-24 years old.”

There are over 400,000 members on the forum, where young people can “find support groups and make friends.”

The California Family Council wrote that “multiple investigations, including those cited by law enforcement and school officials, reveal that anyone can create an account, set their age, and directly message minors.”

“There is no reliable age verification, and moderation is limited,” the organization said.

Kevin Brown, a retired police officer who launched the anti-trafficking entity Lives Worth Saving, said that his experience in law enforcement led him to believe that TrevorSpace could be easily compromised.

“I understand the strategies used by child predators and traffickers to lure their victims,” Brown said in written testimony against Assembly Bill 727.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/10/newsom-signs-bill-pointing-kids-toward-lgbt-site/

RFK Jr. Gave Ed Martin a List of 28 Scientific Studies that Defrauded the American Public – The Scientific Journals Have Been Put on Notice

James Lyons-Weilor: I think that we’re going to probably see some prosecutions on the basis of defrauding the federal government. If I’m funded by the federal government to do science, to do research, and I falsify the data, I can be fined personally, and I can be banned from doing research for 10 years…

…Ed Martin. He was at the Association of Physicians and Surgeons meeting last month. I was there Yes. And he made an announcement that Mr. Kennedy, Secretary Kennedy, gave him a list of 28 studies with the journals and layperson’s summaries that actually they were wrongfully retracted and that those journals have been put on notice by the attorney general’s office. And I was asked by Secretary Kennedy to put that list together for him.

Lyons Weilor ended the interview suggesting that there is a government investigation into the individuals who scammed the American public and lied to them about the dangers of particular vaccines.

https://rumble.com/embed/v6yfb90/?pub=4

Israeli Forces Raid Syrian Village, Expand Number of Military Sites Inside Syria

Forces bring heavy equipment into village to carry out ‘excavations’

Israeli troops continue to expand their presence in southwestern Syria, with more and more military incursions and the establishment of yet further military outposts on Syrian soil, despite active negotiations with the Syrian government that are meant to see a return to the 1974 agreement.

The latest target in the incursions was al-Hamidiyah, in the Quneitra Governorate, where they entered an old military site with heavy equipment, and began carrying out excavation on the compound, apparently expanding it for further IDF use.

The IDF had a presence at the al-Hamidiyah site for around six months, but it was relatively small. It’s still not clear how much of an expansion these new excavations represent.

Israel invaded Syria in December, following the ouster of the Assad government. In the ensuing six months, they set up 10 military outposts inside seized Syrian territory. That number has now expanded to 19, with efforts to increase the size and scale of those sites.

Israeli forces on Tuesday also crossed the border and raided the village of Bariqa, though they withdrew shortly thereafter. They also reported stopped a civilian bus in the northern part of Quneitra and captured a young man who was on board. They ultimately released him shortly thereafter.

The increase of Israeli military presence within Syria adds further complexity to the negotiations attempting to return to the situation that prevailed on the Syria-Israel frontier from 1974-2024, though it is noteworthy that the IDF has largely not directly occupied Syrian towns and villages in the area, but just raids them occasionally to hassle the locals.

The lack of direct occupation would make it theoretically easier to roll back this occupation if a deal was reached. At the same time, Israel expanding their bases in the territory suggests they aren’t anticipating leaving any time soon.

https://news.antiwar.com/2025/10/22/israeli-forces-raid-syrian-village-expand-number-of-military-sites-inside-syria/

Vance Says Israeli Knesset Vote on West Bank Annexation Was a ‘Stupid Political Stunt’

The vice president said he took the vote as a personal insult

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday criticized the Israeli Knesset vote that advanced a bill to annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank while he was visiting Israel, calling it a “stupid political stunt.”

The vote on Wednesday was a preliminary step, and the bill would need to be voted on three more times before it becomes law, something that’s not expected to happen. The vote was supported by some parties in the ruling government’s coalition, but it was opposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, which called it a “stunt” meant to harm relations with the US.

Before departing Israel, Vance was asked about the vote and said he was told that it was a “political stunt, that it had no practical significance,” and was just symbolic. “If it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it,” he said.

Vance said that the Trump administration opposes the Israeli annexation of the West Bank. “The West Bank is not gonna be annexed by Israel. The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy, and if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that. But we certainly weren’t happy about it,” he said.

While the administration opposes annexation of the West Bank, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has said the US won’t get in the way of the expansion of illegal Jewish settlements, which amount to de facto annexation, and US military aid continues to fuel the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory.

Netanyahu and his Likud party also ultimately want to annex the West Bank, having supported a non-binding resolution earlier this year that called for the annexation of the Palestinian territory, but it’s clear Netanyahu doesn’t want to force the issue now to maintain good relations with the Trump administration.

https://news.antiwar.com/2025/10/23/vance-says-knesset-vote-on-west-bank-annexation-was-a-stupid-political-stunt/

We’ve been warning for years and it’s finally happening the global Digital ID rollout is here and it could lock humanity in a digital cage

We’ve been warning about this system for over a decade and now we are seeing the attempt to implement it. Digital ID is the foundation for a cage unlike anything humanity has never known. Once we go in, we won’t come back out. I made this hour-long video on all the reasons why we MUST reject this Orwellian nightmare and I hope you will share it far and wide so people can understand why we must reject this now, while we still can.

Love you all,

Melissa

https://youtu.be/pqVQuhnBf8A

>>23760878

Israel would lose ‘all support’ from the US if it annexes West Bank, Trump warns

VP Vance says Knesset preliminary vote on matter was ‘very stupid’ and an insult to him, marring his visit; US president predicts Saudi normalization this year, weighs intervening for Barghouti

Seemingly putting the kibosh on the Israeli right’s dream of applying sovereignty to parts of the West Bank, US President Donald Trump has said Israel would lose “all support” from the United States if it tried to move ahead with annexation.

The comments published Thursday by Time magazine were made by Trump during an October 15 interview, prior to the Knesset’s passage on Wednesday — in a preliminary reading and against the prime minister’s wishes — of a bill that would apply Israeli sovereignty to all West Bank settlements. Underlining the administration’s lack of patience for such efforts, Trump’s deputy JD Vance said Thursday as he departed Israel that the previous day’s vote had offended him and was “very stupid.”

“It won’t happen. It won’t happen,” Trump told Time, referring to annexation. “It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries. And you can’t do that now. We’ve had great Arab support. It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries. It will not happen. Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.”

Trump had already ruled out the idea last month, saying, “I’m not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank. There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now.” But the comments published Thursday were his most stern warning yet that he would not tolerate the move.

Also in the Time interview, Trump said he’d made Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stop the war in Gaza, and that it might have continued “for years” otherwise. He also said he believed Israel and Saudi Arabia would normalize ties by the end of the year.

(AP/Evan Vucci)

Seemingly putting the kibosh on the Israeli right’s dream of applying sovereignty to parts of the West Bank, US President Donald Trump has said Israel would lose “all support” from the United States if it tried to move ahead with annexation.

The comments published Thursday by Time magazine were made by Trump during an October 15 interview, prior to the Knesset’s passage on Wednesday — in a preliminary reading and against the prime minister’s wishes — of a bill that would apply Israeli sovereignty to all West Bank settlements. Underlining the administration’s lack of patience for such efforts, Trump’s deputy JD Vance said Thursday as he departed Israel that the previous day’s vote had offended him and was “very stupid.”

“It won’t happen. It won’t happen,” Trump told Time, referring to annexation. “It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries. And you can’t do that now. We’ve had great Arab support. It won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries. It will not happen. Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.”

Trump had already ruled out the idea last month, saying, “I’m not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank. There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now.” But the comments published Thursday were his most stern warning yet that he would not tolerate the move.

Also in the Time interview, Trump said he’d made Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stop the war in Gaza, and that it might have continued “for years” otherwise. He also said he believed Israel and Saudi Arabia would normalize ties by the end of the year.

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“They had a Gaza problem and they had an Iran problem. Now they don’t have those two problems,” he said of Saudi Arabia. He did not offer any further details on how this would be achieved, given Riyadh’s insistence that normalization was directly tied to Palestinian statehood, a nonstarter for Israel.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-would-lose-all-support-from-the-us-if-it-annexes-west-bank-trump-warns/

Headed for Israel, Rubio says Knesset’s preliminary vote to annex threatens Trump’s Gaza plan

Top US diplomat says initial endorsement of West Bank sovereignty ‘might be counterproductive,’ US president has ‘made clear’ annexation ‘not something we’d be supportive of right now’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday night that the Knesset’s move toward annexing the West Bank could threaten President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

“They passed a vote in the Knesset, but the president has made clear that’s not something we’d be supportive of right now,” Rubio told reporters before taking off for Israel. “We think there’s potential for [it to be even] threatening to the peace deal.”

The Knesset on Wednesday passed, in a preliminary reading, a bill that would apply Israeli sovereignty to all West Bank settlements — as well as another, more limited bill to annex a major city-settlement — despite opposition from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and most of his Likud party. The legislation then went to committee for deliberations and revisions, and would have to pass three more votes in the Knesset to become law.

Last month, Trump broke his silence on potential Israeli annexation of the West Bank amid mounting Arab opposition, vowing that he wouldn’t allow such a move to take place.

“They’re a democracy, people are going to have their votes, people are going to take these positions, but at this time we think… it might be counterproductive,” Rubio added.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/headed-for-israel-rubio-says-knessets-vote-to-annex-threatens-trumps-gaza-plan/

Smotrich on Saudi normalization: ‘No thank you, keep riding camels’

Opposition denounces finance minister’s ignorance, as he rejects idea of Palestinian state, defying Riyadh’s precondition for diplomatic ties, ahead of Trump-Saudi talks; he later apologizes

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Thursday that he wouldn’t agree to a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia if it meant the establishment of a Palestinian state, disparagingly saying the Saudis could “keep riding camels.”

“If Saudi Arabia tells us ‘normalization in exchange for a Palestinian state,’ friends — no thank you. Keep riding camels in the desert in Saudi Arabia, and we will continue to develop with the economy, society and state and the great things that we know how to do,” Smotrich said, speaking at a conference called “Halacha in the Technological Era” organized by the Zomet Institute and the Makor Rishon newspaper.

Smotrich was denounced by several opposition leaders, who accused him of ignorance and causing harm, said he did not represent Israel, and demanded he apologize.

The far-right Religious Zionism party leader apologized a few hours later, with a caveat: “My comment about Saudi Arabia was absolutely inappropriate, and I apologize for the insult it caused,” he said. At the same time, he added, “I expect from the Saudis not to do us harm and not to deny our heritage, our tradition and the rights of the Jewish people to its historic homelands in Judea and Samaria, and to establish true peace with us.”

His comments came following Wednesday’s vote in the Knesset to pass a bill in its preliminary reading that would apply Israeli sovereignty to West Bank settlements, despite opposition from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/smotrich-on-saudi-normalization-no-thank-you-keep-riding-camels/

‘We want to have a voice’: NY Jews hit the streets for Mamdani ahead of election

Jewish supporters of far-left Israel critic candidate are motivated by his focus on affordable living, say fears of antisemitism are unwarranted despite warnings from community leaders

Jewish volunteers gathered under the streetlights of an Upper East Side park on Tuesday night, introducing themselves and stating their reasons for canvassing in support of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

The caustic mayoral campaign has pitted the far-left Mamdani, a harsh critic of Israel, against former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a pro-Israel centrist.

During the introductions, the volunteers donned “Jews for Zohran” shirts, heard a briefing on rent stabilization from an employee of a housing nonprofit, and got instructions on how to converse with voters, including how to de-escalate if they encountered hostility.

“I’m here because we need to fight fascism at home,” a volunteer said. The group cheered for one volunteer who said it was his first time canvassing.

One said he was opposed to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, and another voiced support for Mamdani’s childcare plan.

JFREJ is part of a Jewish coalition supporting Mamdani called Jews for Zohran, which also includes the far-left IfNotNow, Bend the Arc, and anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace. JFREJ coordinates with the Mamdani campaign, but the canvassing session was an independent initiative.

New York City is home to the world’s largest Jewish population outside Israel and the candidate’s longtime anti-Israel rhetoric has alarmed many in the community. On Wednesday, more than 850 rabbis from across the US, including New York City leaders, signed an open letter warning about Mamdani’s anti-Zionism. Community leaders in the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements have criticized Mamdani or lined up behind Cuomo.

Other Jews focused on affordable living and housing — especially the young and progressive — have backed his campaign and Mamdani has consistently polled as the leading candidate. A July poll focused on Jewish voters gave him the top slot with 37% support. In the same poll, about half of the respondents said he was antisemitic. More recent polls with smaller Jewish sample sizes have found varying levels of support, with Mamdani generally in the lead.

For the general voter population, Mamdani, who identifies as a democratic socialist, leads Cuomo, who is running as an Independent, by double digits in nearly all polls. The Republican Curtis Sliwa is trailing Mamdani and Cuomo.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/we-want-to-have-a-voice-ny-jews-hit-the-streets-for-mamdani-ahead-of-election/

Israel Is In Meltdown Over a Massive New War Crimes Dossier Heres Whats Inside

Right, so Israel’s fiercest new enemy doesn’t command rockets or militias — it runs on paperwork. The Hind Rajab Foundation has done what armies, sanctions, and summits never could: it’s dragged Israel’s war on Gaza into a courtroom. In The Hague, not a trench. In a 120-page dossier, this Brussels-based legal outfit has named twenty-four Israeli soldiers and commanders over the klling of a six-year-old girl – the very girl the foundation itself has taken its name from - her family, and two medics — an atrocity Israel spent getting on for two years now, insisting was “fog of war.” Well the fog has apparently cleared. Satellite data, intercepts, and forensic modelling have done the job others wouldn’t. And for once, Israel can’t bmb the evidence. The world’s most documented war crime has just become Israel’s most uncontrollable crisis.

https://youtu.be/_MC9GgAtm54

All COVID Vaccines Increase Cancer Risk, 2025 South Korean Study Concludes

COVID-19 vaccines and boosters — both mRNA and non-mRNA — pose an increased risk of six types of cancer and a 27% higher risk of cancer overall, according to a recent South Korean study of over 8 million people.

Four South Korean researchers published the report last week as a letter in Biomarker Research, a Springer Nature journal.

The study used data from 2021-2023 for over 8.4 million people in South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service database. The sample was split into two groups based on vaccination status. The vaccinated sample was further split into booster and non-booster groups.

Researchers tracked the patients for one year. The vaccinated group was tracked following vaccination. The results showed a statistically significant higher risk of cancer in the vaccinated group, including:

Overall cancer: 27% higher risk

Prostate cancer: 68% higher risk

Breast cancer: 20% higher risk

Colorectal cancer: 28% higher risk

Gastric cancer: 34% higher risk

Lung cancer: 53% higher risk

Thyroid cancer: 35% higher risk

https://covid19.onedaymd.com/2025/10/all-covid-vaccines-increase-cancer-risk.html