An appeals court has upheld former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s corruption conviction but ordered a resentencing after reversing his conviction on some charges. The ruling Monday by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals means the Democrat may get a fresh chance to seek a reduction of his seven-year prison sentence. He has remained free pending appeal. Silver was sentenced in 2018 after he was convicted for a second time of trading favors to collect nearly $4 million in fees to help a cancer researcher and real estate developers. His first conviction in 2015 was overturned by the appeals court. Silver served as speaker for 21 years after first being elected in 1976. His lawyer declined to comment Tuesday. (AP)

After a coordinated investigation by the NYPD and Boro Park Shomrim, the suspect who has scammed more than a dozen victims out of thousands of dollars was arrested. The suspect was taken into custody from his home in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. As YWN had reported, the scammer would sit in his double-parked vehicle, and when cars would pass, he would hit your mirror and claim you hit his hand. He would then shake down his innocent victims for $50 or $500 instead of suing you for calling the police. Thanks to a wealth of information provided to Shomrim and the NYPD by more than a dozen victims, Detectives were able to identify the man, and make the arrest on Tuesday morning. YWN notes that these scammers usually continue their scam even after their release from police custody.

Hillary Clinton says “nobody likes” her former presidential rival Bernie Sanders, even as the Vermont senator remains entrenched among the front-runners in the Democratic race, with the Iowa caucus beginning in less than two weeks. In an interview with “The Hollywood Reporter” published Tuesday, Clinton was asked about a comment she makes in an upcoming documentary where she says Sanders was “in Congress for years” but, “Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done.” Clinton replied that the criticism still holds and refused to say she’d endorse him this cycle if he wins the party’s nomination, adding: “It’s not only him, it’s the culture around him. It’s his leadership team.

Face masks sold out and temperature checks at airports and train stations became the new norm as China strove Tuesday to control the outbreak of a new virus that has reached four other countries and territories and threatens to spread further during the Lunar New Year travel rush. Anxiety grew both at home and abroad after Chinese government expert Zhong Nanshan confirmed fears on state television late Monday that the new type of coronavirus can spread from human to human. Six people have died and 291 have been infected in China, the National Health Commission said Tuesday. The stock prices of some companies that sell masks rose Tuesday, but markets fell in much of Asia as investors worried about the potential impact on tourism and the economy.

President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is set to unfold at the Capitol, a contentious proceeding over whether to remove him from office for pressuring Ukraine to investigate his Democratic rivals and obstructing Congress’ ensuing investigation. As the Senate reconvenes with Chief Justice John Roberts presiding, a first test will come midday Tuesday when the session gavels open to vote on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s proposed rules for debate. More than procedure is at stake: Trump’s presidency is on the line, and the nation is deeply divided just weeks before the first Democratic primary presidential contests. To complicate matters, four presidential candidates are serving as jurors in the Senate trial, which will keep them off the campaign trail.

One person was seriously injured in a fire in a private home in Flatbush, Monday night. It happened at around 10:30PM at 757 Ocean Parkway near Foster Avenue. FDNY says they found heavy fire blowing out of the windows upon their arrival. It quickly escalated to a second alarm. One civilian was removed with serious injuries from the burning home, and was treated and transported by Flatbush Hatzolah Paramedics. One firefighter was injured as well. Photos by Heshy Rubenstein – Dee Voch (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Democratic “Squad” member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. compared Monday’s gun rights protest in Richmond, Va., to the protests that followed the deaths of Freddie Gray and Eric Garner and questioned what she thought was the lack of police presence at the commonwealth’s capital. “There’s this gun rights protest that’s going on in Richmond … on MLK Day, but here’s the image that has [stuck] with me the most about that is that when we go out and march for the dignity and the recognition of the lives of people like Freddie Gray and Eric Garner,” Ocasio-Cortez explained, “the whole place is surrounded by police in riot gear without a gun in sight.

When President Donald Trump’s historic impeachment trial is called to order in the Senate this week, he won’t be watching from inside the chamber or on television from the White House. He’ll be thousands of miles away at the Davos economic forum in the Swiss Alps, trying to charm global CEOs over dinner. Trump’s participation in the annual World Economic Forum will provide a conspicuous split-screen moment in a presidency familiar with them. His two-day visit to Switzerland will test his ability to balance his anger over being impeached with a desire to project leadership on the world stage. Administration officials say Trump remains focused on serving the public.

Three months after YWN first reported on the expected cutback in the budget for yeshivos due to the political imbroglio, it reported on Monday that the decreased budget is at a new low and is expected to bring back the world of yeshivos to the days of [former Finance Minister Yair] Lapid’s decrees. It is expected that the reduced budget will soon be transferred from the Education Ministry to the bank accounts of the kollelim and yeshivos and unless there is no last-minute change, the amount of money received for each avreich and yeshivah bochur will be similar to the amounts when Lapid served as Finance Minister (March 2013 – December 2014).

Ten Israelis, most of them Chareidim, including three minors, were arrested in Europe last week in the cities of Vienna, Copenhagen and London for attempting to smuggle dozens of kilograms of Khat in their suitcases. Two 19-year-old Chareidi girls from Jerusalem and a 17-year-old yeshivah bochur were arrested in Copenhagen, Denmark for attempting to smuggle Khat into the country, Chareidim10 reported. Each one had over 20 kilograms in their possession. The yeshivah bochur doesn’t speak English and the investigators are speaking to him with the help of Google Translate. Rabbi Yitzchok Loewenthal, the Chabad shaliach in Copenhagen, has become involved in the case.