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Unicommerce’s Company Secretary & KMP Ajinkya Jain QuitsThe story so far: For a brief while on December 3, South Korea, a country with a history of military rule, had fleeting visions of its past, as President Yoon Suk Yeol imposed emergency martial law . This would have curbed the activities of political parties, brought the media under the ambit of law, and required protesting workers to resume duties. What followed the declaration? Yielding to pressure, Mr. Yoon repealed the law within six hours after lawmakers braved Army troops to vote 190-0 against it at the 300-member strong Parliament. This included 18 members of Mr. Yoon’s People’s Power Party (PPP). The opposition filed an impeachment motion against the President. But on Saturday, lawmakers from the PPP staged a walkout when the National Assembly met to discuss impeaching the President, and therefore, the motion failed. What is the history of the law? South Korea’s constitution states that martial law can be imposed to “cope with a military necessity, or to maintain the public safety and order, by mobilisation of the military forces in time of war, armed conflict or similar national emergency.” The law can be repealed if overturned by a majority in the National Assembly. Between the end of the Second World War and South Korea’s transition to democracy in 1987, martial law has been imposed 16 times. Park Chung-hee, who came to power in 1961 through a military coup, had imposed martial law multiple times during his 17-year reign. Major General Chun Doo-hwan, who came after Park, oversaw one of the darkest chapters in the history of martial law when troops cracked down on a pro-democracy uprising in the city of Gwangju, killing at least 200 people in 1980. What led to the decision? At the time of Mr. Yoon’s ascension to the President’s chair in 2022 (with a razor-thin majority of 0.8 percentage-points), the National Assembly was already dominated by the opposition Democratic Party. A victory for them in this year’s parliamentary elections landed Mr. Yoon in a precarious position, making him the first South Korean leader in decades without a majority in the National Assembly. This led to constant bickering, with the President vetoing Bills and accusing the opposition of filing 22 impeachment motions against his administration officials. Coupled with the latest argument over a Budget Bill, the stand-off culminated in Mr. Yoon declaring martial law to stop “shameless pro-North anti-state forces that plunder the freedom and happiness of our people”, terming the Assembly a “monster that destroys the liberal democratic system”. What has been Mr. Yoon’s track-record? A prosecutor by profession, Mr. Yoon came to power succeeding Moon Jae-in from the Democratic Party. During his career, the 63-year-old has handled several high-profile cases, including the investigation and conviction of former President Park Geun-hye. In comparison to Mr. Moon, who struck a conciliatory tone with North Korea by meeting its leader Kim Jong-un, the Conservative Mr. Yoon has adopted a hawkish approach. He called for increased military drills and economic sanctions on Pyongyang, in moves perceived as an overture to bolster ties with the U.S. On the domestic front, increasing home prices and rising unemployment have kept his administration busy. The country is home to an ageing population and has the world’s lowest birthrate. The government’s efficacy was first put to test on October 29, 2022, at the Halloween weekend stampede where 159 people were killed at a popular nightlife district in Seoul. The authorities’ response to the incident came under sharp criticism. The second challenge came in the form of the doctors’ protest which began in February 2024, when the government decided to admit more medical students to address staff shortages. The medical workers wanted the government to address their harsh working conditions and dismal pay before recruiting more students. Another blot on Mr. Yoon’s career was the bribery charges levelled against his wife, Kim Keon Hee, who was caught on camera receiving a $2,200 Dior pouch as a gif. These factors, clubbed with his anti-feminist policies and attacks against the media for spreading ‘fake news’, led the President’s approval points to drop to a 17% last month. What has been the aftermath? While Mr. Yoon apologised, senior aides to Mr. Yoon offered to resign en masse . Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who is believed to have recommended martial law to Mr. Yoon, resigned from his post. The opposition’s impeachment motion had the backing of citizens and labour unions who have gone on strike in Seoul. Allies of Mr. Yoon such as the leader of his PPP party, Han Dong-hoon, termed the martial law imposition wrong and suggested withdrawing President Yoon’s constitutional powers. However, lawmakers from the PPP staged a walkout during the discussion on the impeachment motion. The National Assembly is empowered to impeach the President if more than two-thirds of the members support the motion. The opposition currently holds 192 seats in the 300-strong Parliament while Mr. Yoon’s party has 108 members. The opposition needed eight members of the PPP to break ranks and join its cause for impeachment to come through. Under South Korean constitutional law, if a President is removed from office, his powers are suspended until the Constitutional Court makes a final decision. Once his or her termination is confirmed, the election for a new President must be held in 60 days. Published - December 08, 2024 02:40 am IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit The Hindu Explains / South Korea
Trump calls for end to 'spring forward, fall back' clock changes
The Kremlin fired a new intermediate-range ballistic missile at Ukraine on Thursday in response to Kyiv's use this week of American and British missiles capable of striking deeper into Russia, President Vladimir Putin said. In a televised address to the country, the Russian president warned that U.S. air defense systems would be powerless to stop the new missile, which he said flies at ten times the speed of sound and which he called the Oreshnik — Russian for hazelnut tree. He also said it could be used to attack any Ukrainian ally whose missiles are used to attack Russia. “We believe that we have the right to use our weapons against military facilities of the countries that allow to use their weapons against our facilities,” Putin said in his first comments since President Joe Biden gave Ukraine the green light this month to use U.S. ATACMS missiles to strike at limited targets inside Russia. Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed that Russia’s missile was a new, experimental type of intermediate range missile based on it’s RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile. “This was new type of lethal capability that was deployed on the battlefield, so that was certainly of concern," Singh said, noting that the missile could carry either conventional or nuclear warheads. The U.S. was notified ahead of the launch through nuclear risk reduction channels, she said. The attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro came in response to Kyiv's use of longer-range U.S. and British missiles in strikes Tuesday and Wednesday on southern Russia, Putin said. Those strikes caused a fire at an ammunition depot in Russia's Bryansk region and killed and wounded some security services personnel in the Kursk region, he said. “In the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond decisively and in kind,” the Russian president said, adding that Western leaders who are hatching plans to use their forces against Moscow should “seriously think about this.” Putin said the Oreshnik fired Thursday struck a well-known missile factory in Dnipro. He also said Russia would issue advance warnings if it launches more strikes with the Oreshnik against Ukraine to allow civilians to evacuate to safety — something Moscow hasn’t done before previous aerial attacks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov initially said Russia hadn’t warned the U.S. about the coming launch of the new missile, noting that it wasn't obligated to do so. But he later changed tack and said Moscow did issue a warning 30 minutes before the launch. Putin's announcement came hours after Ukraine claimed that Russia had used an intercontinental ballistic missile in the Dnipro attack, which wounded two people and damaged an industrial facility and rehabilitation center for people with disabilities, according to local officials. But American officials said an initial U.S. assessment indicated the strike was carried out with an intermediate-range ballistic missile. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that the use of the missile was an "obvious and serious escalation in the scale and brutality of this war, a cynical violation of the UN Charter.” He also said there had been “no strong global reaction” to the use of the missile, which he said could threaten other countries. “Putin is very sensitive to this. He is testing you, dear partners,” Zelenskyy wrote. “If there is no tough response to Russia’s actions, it means they see that such actions are possible.” The attack comes during a week of escalating tensions , as the U.S. eased restrictions on Ukraine's use of American-made longer-range missiles inside Russia and Putin lowered the threshold for launching nuclear weapons. The Ukrainian air force said in a statement that the Dnipro attack was launched from Russia’s Astrakhan region, on the Caspian Sea. “Today, our crazy neighbor once again showed what he really is,” Zelenskyy said hours before Putin's address. “And how afraid he is.” Russia was sending a message by attacking Ukraine with an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of releasing multiple warheads at extremely high speeds, even if they are less accurate than cruise missiles or short-range ballistic missiles, said Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank. “Why might you use it therefore?” Savill said. "Signaling — signaling to the Ukrainians. We’ve got stuff that outrages you. But really signaling to the West ‘We’re happy to enter into a competition around intermediate range ballistic missiles. P.S.: These could be nuclear tipped. Do you really want to take that risk?’” Military experts say that modern ICBMs and IRBMs are extremely difficult to intercept, although Ukraine has previously claimed to have stopped some other weapons that Russia described as “unstoppable,” including the air-launched Kinzhal hypersonic missile. David Albright, of the Washington-based think tank the Institute for Science and International Security, said he was “skeptical” of Putin’s claim, adding that Russian technology sometimes “falls short.” He suggested Putin was “taunting the West to try to shoot it down ... like a braggart boasting, taunting his enemy.” Earlier this week, the Biden administration authorized Ukraine to use the U.S.-supplied, longer-range missiles to strike deeper inside Russia — a move that drew an angry response from Moscow. Days later, Ukraine fired several of the missiles into Russia, according to the Kremlin. The same day, Putin signed a new doctrine that allows for a potential nuclear response even to a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power. The doctrine is formulated broadly to avoid a firm commitment to use nuclear weapons. In response, Western countries, including the U.S., said Russia has used irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and behavior throughout the war to intimidate Ukraine and other nations. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that Russia’s formal lowering of the threshold for nuclear weapons use did not prompt any changes in U.S. doctrine. She pushed back on concerns that the decision to allow Ukraine to use Western missiles to strike deeper inside Russia might escalate the war. ′′They’re the ones who are escalating this,” she said of the Kremlin — in part because of a flood of North Korean troops sent to the region. More than 1,000 days into war , Russia has the upper hand, with its larger army advancing in Donetsk and Ukrainian civilians suffering from relentless drone and missile strikes. Analysts and observers say the loosening of restrictions on Ukraine's use of Western missiles is unlikely to change the the course of the war, but it puts the Russian army in a more vulnerable position and could complicate the logistics that are crucial in warfare. Putin has also warned that the move would mean that Russia and NATO are at war. “It is an important move and it pulls against, undermines the narrative that Putin had been trying to establish that it was fine for Russia to rain down Iranian drones and North Korean missiles on Ukraine but a reckless escalation for Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons at legitimate targets in Russia,” said Peter Ricketts, a former U.K. national security adviser who now sits in the House of Lords. ___ Associated Press writers Jill Lawless and Emma Burrows in London, and Zeke Miller and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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He’s known as the ultimate iceman — a cool, calculating mob killer whose brains and brutality are matched only by his stubborn refusal to rat out others. But to hear it from reputed hit man Harry Aleman — whose dark, penetrating eyes once struck terror into hearts — he’s really an old softy, just trying to get by while serving a 100- to 300-year prison sentence. He breaks into a smile at the thought of his first great-grandchild paying a recent visit (“It was something to see”), shakes his head at the hurricane devastation in New Orleans (“A f------ shame”), contemplates Jesus’ suffering in the movie “The Passion of the Christ” (“This guy had balls this big”) and longs for freedom and living out his final years with his family (“They sustain me”). During an exclusive interview with the Chicago Sun-Times at the Western Illinois Correctional Center, about 250 miles from Chicago, the convicted killer spoke about his personal and professional lives and admitted being affiliated with the Chicago mob — when it existed. “It’s over,” he insists. “It’s done.” He also says he has never killed anyone and is doing time for someone else’s crime. In fact, Aleman hints that new evidence pointing to his innocence will emerge in an upcoming court filing. One of his lawyers later explained that Aleman will be seeking a new trial based on “newly discovered evidence” that he won’t yet discuss. Authorities regard Aleman’s claims of innocence and a frameup as ridiculous. “I think he’s convinced himself he’s a victim, which people often do when they’ve been locked up for as many years as Harry has,” said Cook County prosecutor Scott Cassidy. “There was evidence that he was a hit man for the mob, and I think he relished that role.” In a landmark case handled by Cassidy, Aleman was convicted in 1997 of shotgunning to death a Teamsters union steward who once was married to Aleman’s cousin. It remains Aleman’s sole murder conviction, although he once was indicted in another case and is suspected in 15 to 20 or more slayings. “Never, never,” he said, when asked if he has ever killed anyone. “And they know who killed them — but he’s dead. They don’t get raises or elevated blaming a dead person.” Aleman said he was framed because he would never flip on fellow hoodlums as local and federal officials pressed him to do. He said he maintained that obstinate attitude during more-recent prison visits by investigators. It’s not totally clear why Aleman — a thin but taut man of 66 with graying, combed-back hair and well-groomed nails — agreed to speak. A reporter wrote him many months ago, and Aleman recently agreed to talk. He said he has never granted an interview before. But the three-hour sit-down came as Aleman lays the groundwork to get a new trial, he faces a December parole hearing and a massive federal investigation bears down on some of his old mob associates for crimes stretching back decades. “I could be a target; I don’t know what’s in the FBI’s mind,” said Aleman, who’s prone to gesturing and raising his voice when trying to make a point. “For all I know, they’re going to keep indicting me for murders” until he flips. Thawing out Harry Aleman wants hot chocolate. Technically it’s still summer, but the frigid rain pelting Aleman’s medium-security prison, population 1,900, indicates otherwise. Aleman suggests that the reporter who came to visit him go to the vending area and get a hot chocolate — and a coffee for “yourself.” Then he remembers: You need a special vending card, so that’s not an option. He’s hungry, apparently having missed lunch for this meeting. But he’s still polite and friendly. “What can I do for you?” he asks after small talk about a long-ago hunting and fishing excursion out West. Aleman is reminded it was he who wrote the reporter earlier in the month saying he had something “exceptionally newsworthy” to discuss. “Where’s the letter?” he asks. In the car. “Did the FBI send you?” No. The meeting is taking place in a small office with a desk, typewriter, phone and a few filing cabinets. The walls are tan cinder block. The floors are pale tile. Aleman is wearing a blue button-down prison-issued shirt tucked into darker prison-issued pants. He’s carrying a coat. He and the reporter are alone, but just outside the closed door is another desk and, at times, a guard. There’ll be no trouble, however. Aleman isn’t regarded by corrections officials as problematic. Aleman begins speaking about himself, claiming he was “out and out railroaded” and prosecuted for no other reason than “just to get Harry.” William Logan, the Teamsters official, was murdered in 1972, and an eyewitness, Bob Lowe, testified during a 1977 trial that Aleman was the trigger man. Aleman was acquitted, and later it was determined that the judge had been bribed with the help of mob lawyer Bob Cooley, who later became an informant. Although the law bars “double jeopardy” — trying someone for the same crime twice — Cook County prosecutors won a new trial as the courts determined there was no “jeopardy” the first time because the case was fixed. Aleman still is indignant over the ruling, noting that two white men who once denied killing Black youngster Emmett Till in 1955 and were acquitted in his race-inspired murder later confessed in a magazine article. But they couldn’t be retried because of double jeopardy. Aleman was tried again in 1997 — again with Lowe’s help — and convicted. A book about Lowe and his long road to justice, Everybody Pays , came out a few years ago. Aleman, though, questions Lowe’s credibility, mentioning his personal troubles and asking a “hypothetical” question: If a killer “in the movies” made eye contact with an eyewitness to a murder, what do you think would happen to that eyewitness? “You kill him,” not let him go, Aleman says. ‘I didn’t feel nothing’ Aleman’s other allegation — raised unsuccessfully by his defense team in the 1997 trial, at which Aleman never testified — was that William “Butch” Petrocelli really killed Logan. Petrocelli had been secretly dating Logan’s ex-wife, and he and Logan had fought, Aleman said. Petrocelli also was a reputed hit man. Aleman said they once were best friends, and he described Petrocelli as “my partner.” Petrocelli disappeared in late 1980, and his mutilated body was discovered several months later. Although Aleman was jailed at the time — he has spent most of the last 27 years in custody for various crimes — questions have been raised about whether he ordered the hit because his old pal was holding back money meant to take care of his family. Aleman dismisses that theory, saying, “If he was holding back money, I wouldn’t have known about it because my family was taken care of.” Theories about Petrocelli’s murder also have centered on Petrocelli possibly shaking down people in a mob boss’ name, without his knowledge, then keeping the cash. Aleman, though, claims Petrocelli was killed by mobsters because it was found out he was a “rat.” How was that discovered? “People in the neighborhood” began asking questions about why Aleman got sent away on a particular beef and Petrocelli didn’t, Aleman said, and “it got to the right ears.” Whose? “Whoever,” Aleman says. Aleman believes — it’s not clear exactly why he believes this — that Petrocelli was in trouble with the law in the late 1970s, so a relative, a policeman, persuaded him to flip. And then the government didn’t want to admit Petrocelli was the Logan killer, Aleman says. Cassidy, the Cook County prosecutor, said, “I have no information to support that allegation” of Petrocelli being an informant. The feds wouldn’t comment. “The government wants everybody to be a stool pigeon . . . and I’m never going to become a stool pigeon,” Aleman said. “I don’t want to disgrace my family.” The government doesn’t “respect” that stance “because they’ve had so much success turning over hard-core guys,” Aleman says. “The guys out there [still on the street] I have to think twice about. You’re not stupid.” How did he feel when Petrocelli died? “I didn’t feel nothing,” Aleman says. “I wish they would have got him and made him confess, then exile him. Killing him didn’t help me at all. I’m still languishing in prison.” No more mob The feds hope to solve 18 old mob hits as part of their ongoing probe. One of those is Petrocelli’s murder. The indictment fingers notorious loan shark Frank Calabrese Sr. as a participant, saying he “and others committed the murder of William Petrocelli in Cicero.” Aleman has not been implicated in any of the 18 killings, or any of the other crimes listed in the indictment, but curiously, he is mentioned in the document as being among the “criminal associates who reported at various times to [late hoodlum] Joseph Ferriola.” The feds are basing much of the information in their racketeering case on the word of mobster-turned-witness Nick Calabrese, Frank Calabrese Sr.'s younger brother. Aleman says Nick Calabrese and he served time together at the federal prison in Pekin. He describes Nick Calabrese, now in protective custody, as “a regular guy,” quick to add that “I didn’t pal with him or anything like that. . . . You never ask a guy questions.” He heard about Nick Calabrese flipping “in your paper.” Aleman doesn’t know if he’ll be pulled into this probe in some way, and the feds won’t talk. “Who knows what Calabrese could say,” he says. What could he say? “It’s not anything ‘on me’ [that Nick Calabrese has], it’s what they want him to say,” Aleman says, referring to the feds. To that point, federal prosecutor Mitch Mars later said, “We never tell any of the witnesses to say [something]. It’s suicidal for us. . . . Nick will say whatever he’s going to say.” Aleman looks at the floor when asked about Frank Calabrese Sr. He refuses to discuss him, changing the subject to the reporter’s shoes, marveling that they had cost just $17 on sale. When pressed, he says, “Go talk to him.” Likewise, Aleman would rather not talk about reputed mob boss John “No Nose” DiFronzo, who was not indicted in the feds’ current case. “I don’t know what anybody does,” Aleman says. Asked about the severity of one Calabrese brother turning on the other, Aleman says, “I don’t think about them things. If he did it, he did it.” But he adds that the increasing number of mob informants is one of the reasons “no new people [are] coming into the mob. “The reporters and newspapers have to keep it alive, but there ain’t nothing in Chicago, no street tax, no extortion, no nothing,” Aleman says. “There might be some old guys languishing around, but it’s moot. “The younger generation doesn’t want no part of the mob; it’s over.” Aleman adds that young men would rather go to college and not take a risk they’d end up like him. “There’s no dice games, no card games, no bookmaking, if there’s any bookmaking, it’s just with the Jewish people on the North Side,” he says, adding that even if that’s happening, there’s no street tax on the money changing hands. “There’s nobody who wants to do the job; this isn’t the ‘30s or ‘40s,” he recalls. “Is there a mob running over, putting people in trunks? . . . No, nobody wants to be part of it because of the feds. . . . And these guys don’t want to go to no jail like Harry. “Whoever they locked up recently, they locked them up for their past performance, because they haven’t been doing anything for the past 10 or 15 years.” While it’s true the murders in the feds’ case are old, authorities accuse reputed mob chief Jimmy Marcello and his brother Michael “Mickey” Marcello, among others, of running an illegal video gambling operation in recent years. Aleman readily admits knowing the heavy hitters in that indictment. His take on the Marcellos, after being told about the alleged video gaming racket: “Mickey’s a legit guy . . . his brother wouldn’t make him do anything stupid like that. He has a catering business or a vending business.” Aleman said he only knew Jimmy Marcello was in trouble by catching a glimpse of the WGN-TV news one day. Aleman also knows reputed mob overlord Joey “The Clown” Lombardo, who was accused of murder in the feds’ current case but is on the lam. Aleman says he didn’t know Lombardo had taken off. “Joey ran away? Good for him,” he says. “I hope they don’t find him because he’s a real good guy. He’d help anyone. . . . He was known for helping out everyone in the neighborhood. “He’s not a monster at all; he helped more people in this area; he’s the softest touch around — ‘Hey Joe, can you loan me $20?’ Newspapers, what they can do to you.” Regrets? He’s had . . . very few Aleman indicated that it was the black-knight image of hoodlums that led him into the mob. Sure, his dad was a criminal, a “regular thief,” he says. But it was the guys in the shiny cars and slick suits who would act as “Robin Hoods,” watching over the neighborhood and paying the grocery bills when a family couldn’t, that got Aleman excited. “Some guys want to be like that; some want to be a tailor” like one of Aleman’s grandfathers, he says. “I wanted to take care of my family. . . . I’d do anything to support them, anything. Like many other guys did before me.” Aleman, who says he tries to “slough it off” when people call him a cold-blooded killer, was asked several times if he has any regrets about his chosen profession or anything he might have done in the past. “The only regret I have is not being with my family and not being with my grandkids,” Aleman replies the first time. Later, when asked again, he gets a serious look — something that often entails a clenched jaw — and says, “The only regret I’ve got is I broke my mother’s heart, and she died prematurely. . . . All I try to do is try to stay healthy and see my family and talk to them . . . all you’ve got left is family.” And lastly: “The only regret I have is not being able to sit down and eat with my family on a daily basis.” Family dinner Family is a recurring theme with Aleman. Not “family” in a mob sense, but his family at home. Some believe he cynically fosters this image of a devoted family man to soften his reputation — to jurors, investigators, the public. But Cassidy, the prosecutor, believes there really is a strong mutual love between Aleman and his family. “Unfortunately, he has another side to him,” Cassidy added. Whatever the case, Aleman’s family has remained devoted to him, weathering a four- to five-hour drive from the Chicago area to visit him. Aleman has no biological children. But long ago, he married a woman, Ruth, with four kids. Their biological father, also a hoodlum, had been murdered. Aleman notes: “I didn’t know my wife at the time he got killed.” Ruth died in 2000. Aleman helped her raise two boys and two girls as his own, and believes their fusion as a family unit was serendipitous. As a teenager, Aleman had a nasty accident. While washing his dad’s car in a family friend’s garage, Aleman stepped on one of those sewer caps, it flipped up, and he came down hard on it, right between the legs. His scrotum was torn open, and he was rushed to the hospital. Aleman was patched up and recalls being told he still could have kids some day. But much later, he found out he was unable to have children, so finding a “ready-made” family was “destiny,” he says. Aleman emphasizes the importance of having dinner every night — when his dad wasn’t in jail — with his family growing up around Taylor Street. When his dad was in jail, Aleman was sent to live with grandparents and an aunt, while his brothers stayed with their mom. He lived there as a youngster. He became quite close with the aunt, Gloria, often curling up with her to sleep. And so, when she ended up marrying Joseph Ferriola, the fearsome mobster, Aleman became close with him, too. Aleman says he wasn’t really involved in anything heavy, and cites Uncle Joe as evidence. “They make me part of the mob because of my uncle . . . which is not true because the last thing he wanted me to do is join,” Aleman recalls. “My Aunt Gloria, she made sure he didn’t make me do anything like he was doing.” Still, there’s ample evidence of Aleman’s ferocity. Before being sent to state prison, he did prison time for home invasions and other racketeering-related crimes. For years, Aleman was accused of working as an illegal “juice” loan collector, pursuing deadbeats who didn’t pay what they owed the mob, said Vic Switski, the former Aleman case agent on the FBI/Chicago Police organized crime task force. Once, Aleman was accused of shoving a woman through the glass door of a lounge, then beating a Chicago Police commander’s son who tried to intervene. Because his frame was always slight — he’s 5-foot-8, 140 pounds — Aleman said he felt he sometimes had to fight to prove himself. In high school, he and a friend brawled against others every day one semester, he said. ‘You have no idea’ Aleman once sent ripples of terror throughout the underworld, and segments of legitimate society, but his own fears appear much different. They don’t seem to involve the joint because he says he has no real trouble, from guards or other inmates. People treat the older guys with some deference, he says, and he and the other old-timers are known as “pops” by the younger, mostly Black prison population. One of the few times he alluded to fear came in a childhood story involving his beloved aunt, who “dressed me up and walked me to school,” he says. “I was afraid to go to school.” He admits to being scared seeing his little great-granddaughter; he was worried about the long drive and his family getting into a car accident. The wife of a fellow inmate in Atlanta once was killed that way, driving to see the inmate, he says. “It’s etched in me,” he adds, simmering about his 2003 transfer from Dixon, which is closer to Chicago, to this current facility in the sticks, south of Macomb. Aleman also hints at some frightening characters in his past. “You have no idea the guys in Chicago who never got their names in the newspapers and are the most f------ dangerous guys I knew,” Aleman says. He declines to identify them. Most of all, though, as the interview with the reporter nears completion, Aleman seems worried about the impact a story might have. He says he’s not optimistic about getting paroled — at more than one point, he says he’s resigned to dying in prison — but he’s clearly thinking toward the possibility of freedom. “My fate was cut out . . . to raise my four kids and to be in prison for the rest of my life,” he says. “I’ve got the love of my kids . . . what else could I ask for? Of course, it would be nice to be with them.” “Don’t hurt me,” Aleman later implores. IN AND OUT OF COURT 1975: Bookie Anthony Reitinger is murdered; Aleman indicted years later, but it never goes to trial 1977: Put on trial for 1972 murder of William Logan; acquitted because judge is bribed 1978: Convicted of interstate home invasions, goes to federal prison 1980: Reputed hit man and Aleman friend William “Butch” Petrocelli is murdered 1989: Aleman gets out of prison, albeit briefly 1990: Hit with new racketeering charges, sent to prison to await trial 1992: Convicted in that case, gets 12 years 1997: Retried for Logan murder. Convicted, sentenced to 100 to 300 years 2002: Denied parole 2005: Major mob indictment comes down, Aleman not charged; awaits parole hearing ALEMAN’S EARLY RECORD YEAR ARREST/CHARGE 1960 malicious mischief 1961 gambling 1962 possession of burglary tools 1962 assault, criminal damage 1965 aggravated assault 1966 grand theft auto 1966 armed robbery 1968 criminal damage to property 1969 aggravated kidnapping 1971 violating Federal Reserve Act 1975 keeper of gambling place
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Gisèle Benoit still gets goosebumps when she remembers the first time she saw a family of eastern wolves emerge from the forests of the Mauricie National Park, under the backdrop of a rising moon. It was 1984 and Benoit, then in her early 20s, had been using a horn to try to call a bull moose when she instead heard a long howl, followed by an adult wolf stepping out to a rocky shore accompanied by a half-grown youth and four pups. “I will never forget that,” she said of the magical moment. “It’s anchored in my heart forever.” It was only later that Benoit, an artist and documentary filmmaker, learned that the wolves she saw weren’t grey wolves but rather rare eastern wolves. The species, whose population is estimated at fewer than 1,000 mature adults, could soon be further protected by new measures that are raising hopes among conservationists that attitudes toward a once-feared and maligned animal are shifting. In July, the federal government upgraded the eastern wolf’s threat level from “status of special concern” to “threatened,” based on a 2015 report by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. That report found the population count may be as low as 236 mature individuals in its central Ontario and southern Quebec habitat. The eastern wolf is described as medium-sized canid with reddish-tawny fur that lives in family groups of a breeding pair and their offspring. Also known as the Algonquin wolf, it is largely restricted to existing protected areas, including Algonquin Park in Ontario. The federal Environment Department said in an email that development of a recovery strategy is underway, adding it would be “written in collaboration with provincial governments, federal departments responsible for the federal lands where the eastern wolf is found as well as First Nations groups and Indigenous organizations.” The order triggers protection for the species on federal lands and forces Ottawa to prepare a recovery plan. However, the fight for protection could be an uphill battle in Quebec, which does not even recognize the eastern wolf as a distinct species. A spokesperson for Quebec’s Environment Department said Quebec considers the eastern wolf a “genetic group” rather than its own species. “Recent study shows that the eastern wolf is a distinct entity, even if it comes from several crosses between the grey wolf and the coyote,” Daniel Labonté wrote in an email. “However, scientific knowledge does not demonstrate that this genetic grouping constitutes a species in its own right.” Labonté added that this lack of recognition was not a barrier to protecting the animal, since the law also allows for protection of subspecies or wildlife populations. In October, Quebec launched a program to collect samples to improve knowledge on the distribution of large canines, including the eastern wolf. The government said it is currently “impossible to assert that there is an established population” in Quebec due to low numbers — amounting to three per cent of analyzed samples — and the “strong hybridization that exists among large canids.” Véronique Armstrong, co-founder of a Quebec wildlife protection association, says she’s feeling positive about both the Canadian and Quebec governments’ attitudes. While wolves were once “stigmatized, even persecuted,” she said, “we seem to be heading in the direction of more protection.” Her group, the Association québécoise pour la protection et l’observation de la faune, has submitted a proposal for a conservation area to protect southern Quebec wolves that has already received signs of support from three of the regional municipalities that would be covered, she said. While it’s far from settled, she’s hopeful that the battle to protect wolves might be easier than for some other species, such as caribou, because the wolves are adaptable and can tolerate some human activity, including forestry. John Theberge, a retired professor of ecology and conservation biology from the University of Waterloo and a wolf researcher, spent several years along with his wife studying and radio-collaring eastern wolves around Algonquin Park. Back in the 1990s and 2000s, they faced a “huge political battle” to try to expand wolf protection outside park boundaries after realizing that the far-ranging animals were being hunted and trapped in large numbers once they left the protected lands. Conservationists, he said, faced resistance from powerful hunter and trapper lobbies opposed to protecting the animals but in the end succeeded in permanently closing the zones outside the park to hunting and trapping in 2004. Theberge says people who want to save wolves today still face some of that same opposition — especially when governments including Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia kill wolves to protect endangered caribou. But he believes the public support for protecting wolves has increased from when his career began in the 1960s, when they were treated with fear and suspicion. “Nobody wore T-shirts with wolves on them back then,” he said. Over the years, there have been questions about whether the eastern wolf may be a grey wolf subspecies or a coyote-wolf hybrid. But in the order protecting the wolves, the federal government says genetic analyses have resolved that debate, showing that it is a “distinct species.” Benoit, Theberge and Armstrong all believe that while it’s important to protect the eastern wolf from a genetic diversity perspective, there is value in protecting all wolves, regardless of their DNA. Wolves, they say, are an umbrella species, meaning that protecting them helps protect a variety of other species. They kill off weak and sick animals, ensuring strong populations. They’re also “highly developed, sentient social species, with a division of labour, and strong family alliances,” Theberge said. Benoit agrees. After years spent watching wolves, she has developed great respect for how they live in close-knit families, with older offspring helping raise new pups. “It’s extraordinary to see how their way of life is a little like humans’,” she said. Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian PressDiscover the latest aesthetic treatments at Marina Laser Center, now open on the Dutch side! Marina Laser Center specialises in advanced treatments to help you achieve smooth, glowing, and rejuvenated skin, with laser hair removal as our flagship service. 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Santos scores 24, Dayton defeats Lehigh 86-62STATE COLLEGE – Another game, another couple of records for Penn State star tight end Tyler Warren. The No. 4 Nittany Lions lead Maryland 31-7 at halftime on Saturday at Beaver Stadium.The Green Party is set to suffer significant losses in the Irish General Election, with its leader expecting just a handful of parliamentarians to be returned. Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman said the party could not buck the trend in Ireland of junior coalition partners in Fine Gael and Fianna Fail governments losing support in subsequent elections. He said they expected to retain two to three seats out of the 12 they had won in the 2020 election on the back of a worldwide “Green wave”. “It’s hard for a smaller party in government, that’s long been the tradition, the history in Ireland. We hoped going into the election to buck that but we haven’t been able to buck that today.” Mr O’Gorman, a candidate in Dublin West, is among the outgoing Green Party TDs in a battle to retain their seats. Culture Minister Catherine Martin, who is fighting to remain a Green Party TD for Dublin Rathdown, said it was a “very tight” race in her four-seat constituency. “We go in (to government) not afraid of that because the issue of the climate and biodiversity crisis is (greater) than our survival,” she said on RTE Radio. “I stand over and am proud of our track record of delivery.” Junior minister Joe O’Brien is expected to lose his seat in Dublin Fingal, Neasa Hourigan is at risk in Dublin Central, while Wicklow’s Steven Matthews garnered just 4% of first preferences. Former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, who announced his retirement from frontline politics in June, said his party had not had a good day. Arriving at the count centre at the RDS in Dublin, the outgoing environment minister told reporters: “If you don’t get elected you accept that, but you come back stronger and you learn lessons, and we’ve done that in the past and we will do that again.” He added: “No matter what the results today there will be a strong Green Party in Ireland, we have deep roots in the community and it’s a very distinct political philosophy and I think there is still space for that in Irish politics, for sure.” Mr Ryan said he did not believe his decision to retire, and the timing of his announcement, had affected the party’s showing. “Unfortunately – and this is just one of those days – we didn’t get the number of votes,” he said. He added: “We’ll look back and see what are the lessons, and what can we learn and what can we do differently. “It’s just one of those days when we didn’t have a good day.Putin says Russia attacked Ukraine with a new missile that he claims the West can't stop
Broadway Plan policy changes could add space for 64,000 more residentsNEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Monday, with those benefiting the most from lower interest rates and a stronger economy leading the way. The S&P 500 climbed 0.3% to pull closer to its all-time high set two weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 440 points, or 1%, to its own record set on Friday, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.Poeltl, Olynyk, Mitchell return to Toronto Raptors' lineup versus Mavericks
Barry Keoghan says he can't 'take' the 'hatred' in fiery post over Sabrina Carpenter cheating rumorsLOS ANGELES — The Dodgers’ signing of Blake Snell became official Saturday, adding the two-time Cy Young Award winner to front a starting rotation stocked with question marks. Snell, who will turn 32 next week, agreed to a five-year, $182 million contract that includes a $52 million signing bonus and $65 million in deferred salary. That deal was pending a physical which Snell passed. The 2018 American League Cy Young Award winner with the Tampa Bay Rays, Snell won the National League Cy Young in 2023 after going 14-9 with a 2.25 ERA for the San Diego Padres. He became a free agent last winter but stayed on the market well into March looking for a long-term deal that never materialized despite his Cy Young history. The Dodgers were involved with Snell at one point before he signed a two-year, $62 million contract with the San Francisco Giants that included an opt-out clause. He exercised that opt-out after going 5-3 with a 3.12 ERA in an injury-interrupted season with the Giants. He had 145 strikeouts and just 44 walks in 104 innings. But he made just 20 starts due to two trips to the injured list with a groin injury (likely related to his late signing affecting his preparation for the season). The 20 starts were his fewest in a full season since his rookie year in 2016 (19 starts). Snell goes to the front of a rotation that includes a number of players returning from injury and/or surgery. Shohei Ohtani is expected to return to pitching after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery in September 2023. But his return to the mound will be delayed by surgery on his non-throwing shoulder following the World Series. Yoshinobu Yamamoto finished the 2024 season healthy but missed three months with a rotator cuff strain. Neither he nor Ohtani will be asked to pitch on less than five days of rest and the Dodgers are planning to go with a six-man rotation in 2025. Tyler Glasnow’s 2024 season ended early with an elbow injury and his status for 2025 is uncertain. Tony Gonsolin will be returning from Tommy John surgery. Dustin May did not pitch in 2024 while recovering from his own elbow surgery and a torn esophagus. Emmet Sheehan is expected back at some point in 2025 after his Tommy John surgery. Clayton Kershaw is expected to re-sign at some point. But he underwent foot and knee surgeries in November and is not likely to be available for a full season. Walker Buehler and Jack Flaherty are free agents. The Dodgers will start the 2025 season early again with another trip to Asia. They are scheduled to open the regular season with two games against the Chicago Cubs on March 18 and 19 in Tokyo.
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