DEAL WORKING: President Joe Biden and other US authorities say a deal is close for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Asked by a reporter whether a rumored agreement was near, Biden said, “I believe so”.

  CNN reports that the deal would involve as many as 50 women and children.

  The International Committee of the Red Cross says its leader has travelled to Qatar to meet with Hamas. Qatar has been acting as the go-between. One possibility is that groups of hostages would be released in exchange for a rolling ceasefire. Critics say Hamas will just take it as a breather to re-organize and re-arm.

  The slaughter goes on. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry now says that 13,300 Palestinians have died under Israeli bombardment, an estimated 5,600 of them children. Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu said in a post on Twitter/X, “We will not stop fighting until we return our hostages home, destroy Hamas and ensure that there is no more threat from Gaza.” 

INTELLIGENCE WARS: Seven hundred of the 770 employees of OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company, signed a letter threatening to resign if the board does not bring back the fired CEO Sam Altman.

  Altman’s abrupt firing last Friday shocked not just company employees, but the whole tech world. He’s been the face of the artificial intelligence revolution, but his board said they couldn’t trust him. Altman signed on with Microsoft on Sunday when OpenAI refused to take him back.

 Kevin Roose writes in The NY Times, “Before Friday, the company was the hottest name in tech, with a celebrity leader, a household-name product in ChatGPT, and a murderers’ row of A.I. talent that was the envy of Silicon Valley giants.”

  The employee letter to the board says, “We are unable to work for or with people that lack competence, judgement and care for our mission and employees.”  And it goes on to say that Microsoft has assured all the employees of OpenAI that they have a job with Microsoft if they want it.

VOTING RIGHTS: The federal appeals court in St. Louis ruled yesterday to drastically weaken the 1965 Voting Rights Act, issuing a ruling that would bar private citizens and civil rights groups from suing when they believe election or voting practices discriminate based on race. 

  The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit found that only the federal government could bring a legal challenge under such circumstances. Historically, the feds have not had the time and resources to pursue these cases. It’s almost certain to land before the Supreme Court.

  The Voting Rights Act was one of the most significant achievements of the civil rights movement, undoing decades of discriminatory Jim Crow laws and protecting against egregious racial gerrymanders of voting districts.

ORANGE ALERT: After hearing hours of argument, a panel of three federal appeals judges appeared unsympathetic to Donald Trump’s claim that the gag order placed on him by the judge in his criminal election case is a violation of his right to free speech and interferes with running for president.

  The gag order issued by District Judge Tanya Chutkan restricts Trump from attacking Special Counsel Jack Smith, members of his team, court staff, or witnesses in the case in which the former resident is charged with illegally attempting to overturn the 2020 election. Trump isallowed to criticize the Justice Department in general, claim innocence, and argue that the case is “politically motivated.”

  Trump’s lawyer said the gag order infringes on Trump’s “core political speech.”

  Cutting him off, Judge Patricia Millett said: “Labeling it ‘core political speech’ begs the question of whether it is in fact political speech or whether it is political speech aimed at derailing or corrupting the criminal justice process.” 

TAKE THE CANNOLI: An Italian tribunal yesterday convicted 207 people on Mafia-related charges and sentenced them to a combined 2,100 years in prison. Among the convicted are a former legislator, former police chief, former mayor, and 39 women … very rare for the Mafia. And as usual, some colorful names: “The Wolf,” “Fatso,” “Sweetie,” and “Lamb Thigh.” That’s right, “Lamb Thigh.”

  The defendants had been charged with drug and arms trafficking, extortion, and for being members or acting in complicity with the ’ndrangheta, one of the world’s most powerful and extensive drug-trafficking organizations. Prosecutors say ’ndrangheta has pushed aside the Sicilian Mafia and now holds a near monopoly on cocaine importation in Europe. They say the organization also has bases in North and South America, and even in Africa.

  The trial that started in January 2021 involved 400 lawyers and 900 witnesses in a purpose-builtbunker in the southern Calabria region, where the mob organization was originally based. It took over an hour and 40 minutes to read aloud the court’s verdicts, including the acquittal of 131 other defendants. 

  The chief prosecutor said that in the province of Vibo Valentia the ’ndrangheta was so deep-rooted and powerful “that I think it can be noted that there was no aspect of the life of the social economic fabric of the province that was not conditioned by the capacity of the force of intimidation of this so dangerous criminal organization.” 

THE SPIN RACK:  — A new study published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health delivers shocking news about lead poisoning. It says that an estimated 5.455 million adults worldwide died in 2019 from cardiovascular disease attributable to lead exposure traced back to gasoline and paint, even cookware, water supply lines, and electronic waste. 

BELOW THE FOLD: President Biden turned 81 yesterday … the oldest serving president. He said, “I just want you to know, it’s difficult turning 60.” Then with his age a re-election issue he went on to fumble a joke in which he confused Britney Spears with Taylor Swift. He didn’t have a big celebration. Instead, he pardoned the Thanksgiving turkeys, Liberty and Bell, and lost all hope of ever hosting Saturday Night Live.

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