Drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's lawyer says he has seen a "marked deterioration" in his client's mental state — including hallucinations, depression and memory loss — due to stringent jail condition.
"It is plain to the defense team that something is not right with Mr. Guzman," defense attorney Eduardo Balarezo said in a letter to a federal judge seeking permission for a neuropsychologist to examine his client.
Since his extradition to the U.S., defense lawyers and prosecutors have beenfighting over the terms of his detention, which keeps him in a cell for 23 hours a day with barely any visitors beyond legal counsel.Because Guzman has escaped twice from Mexican lockups, he is held in near-isolation at the federal jail in Manhattan while awaiting trial on charges he ran the world's largest drug-trafficking cartel.
In the letter, Balarezo complained that Guzman's cell is cold and always lit. He's had one hour-long visit with his daughters and one hour-long visit with his sister, whose visa has since been revoked.
"During the last month Mr. Guzman has suffered a marked deterioration in his mental state," the letter said. "This deterioration has manifested itself in his inability to remember people, places and events. Specifically, he has complained about 1) auditory hallucinations; 2) the government 'recording' his cell and legal visits; 3) feeling persecuted; and 4) depression.
"Counsel has noticed that Mr. Guzman has begun repeating himself often and sometimes forgetting what the discussion is about."
El Chapo's lawyers argue his prison conditions are too tough
The attorney suggested that if the alleged deterioration continues, Guzman might be found incompetent to stand trial.
In a letter to the judge, the psychologist said she needs a contact visit to properly assess Guzman. She said his hands cannot be shackled and the exam must take place in a room with no one else but an interpreter present.
Prosecutors, who have previously said that the tight security is necessary because of Guzman's history of escapes, have not yet responded to the defense request.
Kentucky's House Republicans will meet privately Friday to discuss the future of House Speaker Jeff Hoover after the state's largest newspaper reported the GOP leader settled a sexual harassment claim by a member of his staff outside of court.
The Courier-Journal reported those allegations Thursday evening based on anonymous sources. The Associated Press has not been able to confirm those details. A spokesman for Hoover did not return calls seeking comment. Others with knowledge of the incident also declined to comment.
Republican Party of Kentucky spokesman Tres Watson condemned "sexual harassment in any form," but criticized the story as "based on nothing more than anonymous sources and third hand copies of text messages."
In this Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017 file photo, Kentucky Speaker of the House Jeff Hoover speaks at the 137th annual Fancy Farm picnic in Graves County, Ky. Kat Russell / AP
But the unconfirmed reports threaten to upend the party's legislative agenda. The revelation comes as Hoover is trying to muster enough votes in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to pass a bill that would make substantial changes to the state's public pension system, one of the worst-funded retirement plans in the country. The bill is a priority of Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, who has vowed to call a special legislative session by the end of the year to vote on it.
The bill is unpopular with state workers and public school teachers, who have filled town hall meetings with lawmakers across the state to object to a proposal that would eventually shut down the pension system in favor of a 401(k)-style plan. Some Republican lawmakers wondered if Hoover could keep his job, given the allegations.
"It calls everything into question. And two days ago, it wasn't," Republican Rep. Phil Moffett said. "We have some incredibly difficult things we have to do for the state. Pension reform, tax reform, a budget; all three of those are three ring circuses on their own. And then layering this on top makes it all the more difficult. We have to get through this quickly. I believe that is the biggest reason we have to address it (Friday)."
Democrats did not call for Hoover's resignation. House Democratic Leader Rocky Adkins declined to comment on the allegations, but added "the General Assembly has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to any form of harassment."
All state lawmakers have had to attend annual sexual harassment training since 2013, when three female staffers filed sexual harassment lawsuits against several Democratic lawmakers that led to the resignation of former Rep. John Arnold. The Legislative Research Commission eventually agreed to a $400,000 settlement with the women.
Republican state Rep. Jerry Miller said it was crucial for lawmakers to remain focused on passing the pension bill. Kentucky is at least $33 billion short of the money required to pay retirement benefits over the next 30 years, and state Budget Director John Chilton warned lawmakers Thursday that they would have to find at least another $1 billion to spend on the pension system unless changes are made. Pressed on whether the House could pass the bill with Hoover as speaker, Miller said "I can't answer that."
"It can't be understated how important this bill is," he said. "I recognize it has problems that will jeopardize its passage in the House and I'm going to work hard to make sure that we get this bill passed."
Hoover has been in the House of Representatives for 27 years, toiling for much of that time in the Republican minority. He was the minority leader for 16 years before being chosen speaker in January after voters elected a Republican majority in the House for the first time in nearly 100 years. As speaker, he pushed through legislation that restricted abortion, limited the power of labor unions and allowed for the creation of charter schools. He is married and has three children.
Some Republican lawmakers said Thursday they were reserving judgment until they heard from Hoover himself.
"We're going to have to have a conversation," said Rep. Richard Heath of western Kentucky, adding that he thinks Hoover can still lead the House because of his experience and institutional knowledge.
Wesley Morgan, one of the wave of new Republican members elected in 2016, called it "a pretty serious charge" but said he doesn't believe it because Hoover's "character is beyond reproach."
Republican Senate President Robert Stivers said he has not spoken to Hoover or any other member of House leadership about the allegations. He said he is sure the allegations will have an impact on the pension bill, but said "I just can't gauge it."
Wendy Williams Says Cardi B Should Not Have Accepted Engagement From Offset
Wendy Williams gives her two cents on the weekend's biggest hip-hop happening.
During Friday night’s Power 99's Powerhouse concert in Philadelphia, Offset got down on one knee and popped the question to his girlfriend, Cardi B. She said yes, and now the two are set to tie the knot with BET interested in turning the big day into a segment, just as the network did for Gucci Mane's wedding.
On the latest episode of The Wendy Williams Show, the rapper's engagement was a hot topic where Wendy calls Offset the Kelly of the Migos group - in relation toKelly Rowland's status in Destiny's Child.
"I'm trying to draw the picture for you all, right,' she says in the clip. "But he's a Kelly, and now that he's engaged to Cardi B, he's all of a sudden kind of elevated his social status to something different. Her career is on fire right now, all the more reason not to accept the ring."
“[She’s] 25-years-old, Cardi came from nothing; bought herself some new teeth; she’s got a really good career right now! And, my thought is, there’s a whole lot that goes into staying exactly where you are Cardi, or getting better, because you’re going to get endorsements… things are about to happen and this is not the time to be stalled with a guy you’ve only known for eight months," she further tells the audience, according to The Hollywood Life. "Even accepting the ring is accepting things to happen … it doesn’t mean they have to get married now, but the proposal is the drum roll. No one has time to wait for a 5-year engagement.”
Cardi B has yet to respond to Wendy's opinion on the matter and who knows if she'll even take the time, considering the bliss she's in right now.
The rapper posted a photo to her Instagram of the special night with the caption reading, "OK guys I know I keep posting about this day but I just can’t believe it.I keep replaying it in my head.I keep smiling every minute.I should have known something was up since this nigga keep telling me to go get my nails done 😂Like since when you cared about my nails 🤔😩I love you and I love how you managed to get my mom to come out and witness my engagement.Im the happiest girl in the world ❤️❤️ @offsetyrn you a true King 🤴."
Spain is set to put in place measures to take direct control of Catalonia in response to the region's declaration of independence last week.
On Friday, Madrid stripped Catalonia of its autonomy and removed Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont from office.
The temporary move will see as many as 150 of the region's ministers replaced. Some have vowed to continue to work.
Mr Puigdemont and other Catalan officials may face criminal charges, a move likely to lead to huge protests.
What happens next?
Spain's central government is set to take control of Catalan institutions with Spanish officials expected to be put in place in the region's ministries on Monday.
Madrid has called for the Spanish constitutional court to revoke Catalonia's unilateral vote for independence.
Mr Puigdemont and his vice-president Oriol Junqueras say they do not accept the moves by Madrid, adding that they can only be removed from office by the citizens of Catalonia.
If Mr Puigdemont and others refuse to step aside, they face possible arrest and prosecution on charges of rebellion - the maximum sentence for which is 30 years.
About 200,000 civil servants are due to arrive on Monday, but it is not clear how many will stay away or refuse to follow instructions.
Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionCatalan regional police (Mossos) guard the Catalan regional government headquarters
Catalonia's regional police force, known as Mossos, whose chief was dismissed last week, are deployed in Sant Jaume square, near the government palace in the centre of Barcelona.
Spain's Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis has said he expects the officers to "act professionally".
Spain's chief prosecutor has also been preparing criminal charges against any officials considered to have acted against Spanish law in declaring independence following a referendum deemed illegal under the Spanish constitution.
Meanwhile, Madrid has called for fresh regional elections on 21 December.
Mr Puigdemont could run in new elections, according to Mr Dastis, but only if the sacked Catalan leader has not been jailed.
What about Catalonia's autonomy?
On Sunday, Mr Dastis told Sky News: "We are not taking autonomy away from Catalonia. We are just re-establishing it, in fact."
He added: "Reality is already sinking in, will continue sinking in and they will realise that they cannot do something without the authority of law and they will be usurping authority."
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido has written to all police officers in Catalonia asking for their loyalty as a "new era" begins in the region.
He reminded members of the regional police, who are now under direct control from Madrid, of their duty to obey orders and to guarantee "the rights and liberties of all".
Senior police officers have told the BBC that they have already complied with an order to remove framed photographs of Mr Puigdemont from police stations across the region.
Image copyrightEPAImage captionMr Puigdemont has urged "democratic opposition" to direct rule from Madrid
What is the local press saying?
The centre-left and unionist Madrid-based El País says that Sunday's huge pro-union protest in Barcelona "has shown in this difficult moment that Catalan society is much more plural than what the pro-independence block strives to show"
The pro-union Barcelona-based El Periódico says the protest was the "start of the election campaign". It adds that "the new regional elections should serve to move Catalonia out of its current impasse"
The pro-independence Catalan language Ara suggests in an editorial that it would be an "error" for the pro-independence parties not to contest the 21 December elections
The moderate Barcelona-based La Vanguardia focuses on the importance of "reconstruction" and how to overcome the divisions in Catalan society. "All sides will inevitably discover that there is no political problem that cannot be resolved by dialogue" it says
Rule from Madrid
Spain has been gripped by a constitutional crisis since a referendum, organised by Mr Puigdemont's separatist government, was held earlier this month in defiance of a ruling by the constitutional court which had declared it illegal.
The Catalan government said that of the 43% of potential voters who took part, 90% were in favour of independence.
Friday saw the regional parliament declare independence.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy then announced the dissolution of the regional parliament and the removal of Mr Puigdemont as Catalan leader.
Mr Puigdemont has urged "democratic opposition" to direct rule from Madrid.
'The Walking Dead' Season 8, episode 2 recap: The war gets bloodier
After last week’s harrowing attack on Negan and his Saviors, Rick and his faction aren’t out of danger just yet. Episode 2 of Season 8, “The Damned,” saw the plan for the future of the war take shape as a familiar face returned.
The episode opens by revealing that Rick’s plan didn’t end at unleashing walkers on Negan’s headquarters. As previously-established, he’s got outposts all over the area, and the gang wanted to make sure those wouldn’t be a problem anymore. The very same day as last week’s attack, the good guys split up and execute a plan to hit at least three of them at once. It’s hard to tell, logistically, how many outposts are being targeted, but groups from the Kingdom, Alexandria and The Hilltop all seem to be going after separate areas.
Last week, Carol and members of The Kingdom were stunned by a grenade. There didn’t appear to be any casualties, but their part of the plan was doomed if the Savior who threw it managed to alert others. With some creative leadership and orders from King Ezekiel, the chase was on.
Meanwhile, Aaron led a faction of Alexandirans against a separate compound, hitting it hard from the front. While the plan seemed a little artless at first, it was quickly revealed to be a distraction meant to allow Rick and Daryl to get inside undetected. Their main mission appeared to be a stash of guns.
Finally, Morgan, Tara and Jesus led men on a daring but stealthy campaign inside a third location. They positioned themselves outside every room quietly and all entered at the same time. Unfortunately, Morgan’s room had a surprisingly large amount of fully-weaponed men inside, and he and two others got cut down. Fortunately, this wasn’t the end of the road for the heavily-armored Morgan.
Elsewhere in the same compound, Jesus and Tara were making their way through to their objective when they checked a closet to find a man on his knees begging for his life. Tara is ready to kill him, but Jesus tries to get her to recognize that they’re about to execute an unarmed man that’s begging for his life. He tells her not to let revenge for her dead girlfriend, Abraham or Glenn motivate her. As they argue, the man gets the drop on Jesus and holds him at gunpoint. They talk back and forth for a while before the karate expert manages to turn the tides once again.
“It’s not about revenge,” Tara says. “It’s about getting it done.”
Still, Jesus can’t execute him and opts for the knock-out/tie-up instead. It seems some people aren’t fully sold on the idea of killing humans for survival, despite the declaration of war.
Jesus builds on top of this when he leads his people outside and instructs them to surround the only exit. He orders no one to fire unless fired upon. However, he knows that would mean one of them dies. He gets lucky and manages to take a whole bunch of Saviors hostage without incident. He’s challenged when Morgan arrives, having shot his way out like a real gunslinger. He sees the Savior that killed his young friend and has a hard time not executing him, with the voice of Rick in his head telling him not to leave anyone alive. Still, Jesus prevails and they find themselves with a lot of hostages they don’t know what to do with.
Just when the average indignant viewer began yelling at their TV about the necessity to be ruthless, the episode cuts to Rick, who is doing just that. As he looks for guns, he finds himself in a fight for his life against an unknown Savior. The two battle it out and our hero eventually gets the better of his foe and takes him out on a clothes hook. Once he’s free to go inside the room the man was protecting, he finds no guns, but a baby named Gracie. He has a moment of panic when he looks himself in the mirror and realizes that he killed a father that was just trying to protect his daughter. Not all Saviors are Negan, despite what he makes them say.
Despite the setback, things were clearly going well for the members of Rick’s faction. But things weren’t all good. While Aaron led the charge to create a distraction, his husband took a dangerous position and held the line, but it cost him a nasty-looking shot through the gut to do so.
Elsewhere, The Kingdom managed to find its man and used the tiger, Shiva, to tear him to pieces. Sadly, he still got word out to the outpost ahead, meaning the Saviors know they’re coming. However, that doesn’t stop an undeterred Ezekiel, who challenges his men to go at them full-tilt anyway.
The episode ends with a deep Season 1 callback as Rick makes his way through the outpost looking for guns. He finds a picture and realizes he’s in a familiar face’s room. From behind, he’s held at gunpoint by none other than Morales. Fans may remember this character from Season 1, when he reluctantly hung back in Atlanta rather than tag along with Rick and his family to the CDC. It seems he found his way to the Saviors and no longer goes by Morales… He’s Negan.
Adam Sandler blasted after repeatedly touching Claire Foy's knee
Viewers of “The Graham Norton Show” hit out last night after Adam Sandler repeatedly touched actress Claire Foy‘s knee during an interview, leaving her looking extremely uncomfortable.
Fans immediately took Twitter to question why the Hollywood actor kept resting his hand on The Crown star's knee.
Looking uncomfortable, Claire in the end put her hand over his to show him that she had noticed him resting his hand there.
Unfortunately her efforts to pat away his hand went unnoticed, and he soon placed it back on her knee.
Emma Thompson, who was also a guest on the show, appeared then to look confused at why Adam kept touching Claire's knee throughout the awkward encounter.
Adam, meanwhile, seemed oblivious to what was happening, as he carried on telling a story to the audience with a story.
But he didn't stop there, he also touched Emma's leg, his co-star in the new Netflix film The Meyerowitz Stories.
Fans vented on Twitter, with one saying: "Claire Foy replacing Adam Sandler’s hand onto his own knee rather than hers, was the perfect “haha dont touch me again” move #GrahamNorton"
While another said: "Adam Sandler has no social awareness of how awkward he seemed to be making Emma Thompson and Claire Foy #stoptouching #GrahamNorton."
NEW HARVEY WEINSTEIN SEXUAL ASSAULT ACCUSATIONS EMERGE
One tweeted: "With all that's happening did I just see Claire Foy looking a little distressed at Adam Sandler's hands all over her knee?'"
Another viewer fumed: "Adam Sandler touching Claire Foy’s knee for no reason, she put his hand back, he then does it again, she looked rightly p***** off."
While one wrote: "Felt very uncomfortable watching Adam repeatedly put his unwanted hand on the knee of Claire Foy."
Fortunately for Sandler, Foy released a statement after the backlash explaining that she took no offense from the actor's gesture.
"We don't believe anything was intended by Adam's gesture, and it has caused no offense to Claire," a spokesperson for the actress told Page Six.
It comes as Hollywood was left reeling from the Harvey Weinstein scandal, with a string of A-listers accusing the mogul of sex crimes - including a number of rape allegations.
The FBI and police in New York and London have all opened investigations into Weinstein, with one cop calling him a “super-predator”.
(2017 Invision)
Emma Thompson spoke out against the sleazy producer, saying he was at "the top of the ladder of a system of harassment and belitting and bullying".
She also compared him to vile Jimmy Savile, and said Weinstein is just the “tip of the iceberg” of what goes on in the movie business.
Sopranos actress Annabella Sciorra is the latest star to make allegations against Weinstein – claiming he “violently raped” her in the 1990s after dropping her off following a party, the New Yorker reports.
(2017 Invision)
And Daryl Hannah says her career suffered following a series of encounters with Weinstein – including one where he “burst in like a raging bull” when she was staying in a hotel room.
Model Cara Delevinge, who also appeared on the show, has also told how Weinstein once tried to force her into a threesome.
A spokesman for Sandler described the actor's actions as a "friendly gesture".
Weinstein has denied allegations of non-consensual sex.
