New York Mets owner Steve Cohen has won approval to build and run a casino next to Citi Field in Queens. The state gaming commission approved licenses for two other projects in New York City. Cohen wants to build an $8 billion complex on what's currently a parking lot next to the team's baseball stadium.

Queens

Mets owner Steve Cohen has received the go-ahead to develop a major casino complex in Queens, New York, adjacent to Citi Field. The project, which also includes a new soccer stadium, is projected to create 17,000 construction jobs and 6,000 permanent positions, while generating $3.9 billion in tax revenue and $850 million in taxes.

Despite some initial opposition from a local council member and minor protests, the project has gained support from community leaders and residents. The casino is one of three sites recommended for a gaming license, with final approval from the gaming commission expected by the end of the year. Plans also include a potential ferry service to improve access to the complex.

Mets owner Steve Cohen gets green light for casino in Queens

And this is amazing in terms of the empire building story that Steve Cohen has out in Queens. He's got the Mets, right? Citi Field, obviously. He's got a soccer stadium now, and he's going to build a big gambling complex out there, right? That's right. And, you know, the job creation is incredible. 17,000 construction jobs, 6,000 permanent jobs, and it's going to make, you know, tons of money when it opens, slated for 2030, $3.9 billion in tax revenue, generating $850 million in taxes. So that all sounds great. Of course, there will be victims because it's gambling, but I guess they would be doing it somewhere else if they weren't doing it here. Do people think it's better that we have it, you know, legal gambling in a casino rather than, I guess, in the basement of some shop downtown? Well, Steve Cohen faced some opposition from a local council member who tried to prevent it, but in the end, the community came together, the borough president, and people really wanted this casino. Isn't the idea, I have a guy on the inside, Joe, who knows everything about sports-adjacent stories, and he says, Steve Cohen has cleaned up the whole area around Citi Field. Like, there were a lot of chop shops there. It was really a dirtier or maybe a trashier neighborhood that he has now kind of leveled and is going to, I guess, gentrify, right? Isn't that good for Queens? This is what the people are saying, right, through their local politicians. He also wants to have a ferry come to Citi Field. This is something still in the works. We wrote that story a few months ago, but that could happen as well so that people can come straight to Citi Field to gamble on the ferry. So I guess I was going to ask what's next, and I guess the ferry is part of that answer, right? Traveling to and from this huge complex is currently a little bit difficult, and that would make it a lot easier. Yes, definitely. So what has to happen now? Because I'm imagining there will still be a lot of pushback against building this giant casino. So actually, this is just the board recommending that they get one of three sites. All three were actually picked. So Genting has theirs, and Bally's has theirs. All three of them will now have to just get a gaming commission license approved by December 31st. There's not going to be any problem with that. And I don't think there's going to be as much pushback as we might have thought. There were some protests, actually, just 10 people who got up and were upset about the decision. But apart from some Bally's pushback, perhaps, we're not seeing a major force coming out against these casinos.

The White House confirmed it authorized a second airstrike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat in September, but denied it ordered everyone on board be killed, which would be considered a war crime.

Washington

U.S. authorization of second strike of Venezuelan ship questioned

Monday is World AIDS Day. It has been recognized globally since 1988, but this year, the U.S. government is not commemorating it for the first time.

U.S. not recognizing World AIDS Day this year

Operation "Swamp Sweep," a monthslong immigration crackdown centered in New Orleans, is set to begin Monday. CBS News national reporter Kati Weis has the details.

New Orleans

Immigration enforcement operation set to begin in New Orleans

Luigi Mangione, the man charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was in a New York City courtroom on Monday for a pre-trial hearing focused on what evidence the jury will see. CBS News' Anna Schecter has the details.

New York

Luigi Mangione's lawyers seek to toss evidence in state murder case

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said Monday that Andrew Wolfe, the second National Guardsman shot in Washington, D.C., last week, has woken up from an induced coma.

National Guardsman injured in shooting has woken up from coma

Lawmakers are questioning the massive mobilization in the Caribbean as President Trump announced airlines and pilots should consider "the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela to be closed in its entirety." It comes amid new controversy over the strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug boats that has some lawmakers raising questions over whether the Pentagon committed a war crime.

Caracas

Pentagon 'may have' committed war crime amid questions over drug boats

Steve Witkoff, one of President Trump's key envoys helping negotiate a peace proposal between Russia and Ukraine, is set to meet with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, the Kremlin says. CBS News' Ramy Inocencio reports.

Moscow

Trump envoy set to meet with Putin in Moscow, Russia confirms

Russian missiles and drones continue to hit Ukrainian cities even as U.S. negotiators try to broker a deal between the two countries. Some Ukrainians have expressed anger over President Trump's original peace plan put forward last month, saying it does not guarantee their safety.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

Ukrainians express anger over Trump peace proposal as strikes continue

Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last December, is set to appear in court for hearings on evidence for his upcoming trial. CBS News' Katrina Kaufman reports.

Luigi Mangione headed to court on what evidence should be allowed

Thousands rallied outside President Isaac Herzog’s residence in Tel Aviv, urging him to reject a pardon request from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces fraud charges. Demonstrators held signs demanding accountability and warned that approval could undermine justice in Israel.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Protests in Tel Aviv after Netanyahu seeks pardon in fraud cases

The Ukrainian delegation met with U.S. officials in Miami on Sunday ahead of scheduled talks between the U.S. and Russian officials, including Vladimir Putin, later this week.

Miami

Rubio calls U.S.-Ukraine talks productive but says more work ahead

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu submitted a formal pardon request in his long-running corruption cases to the Israeli president. Herzog says he will "sincerely consider the request."

Netanyahu asks president to grant him pardon from corruption charges

Two men and two women from the Paris region have been taken into custody in connection with the theft at the Louvre last month, prosecutors said.

Paris

Four more suspects arrested over Louvre jewelery heist

Entire areas of Sri Lanka's capital were flooded on Sunday after a powerful cyclone triggered heavy rains and mudslides across the island, with authorities reporting nearly 200 dead and dozens more missing.

Colombo

Sri Lanka reels from Cyclone Ditwah as death toll nears 200

Top Trump administration officials are meeting Ukrainian negotiators in Florida this weekend, pushing to broker an end to Russia's war in Ukraine.

Florida

Rubio and Witkoff to meet with Ukraine's negotiators in Florida

President Trump intensified his pressure campaign on Venezuela on Saturday. He posted that the airspace around the country is "closed in its entirety." It comes amid growing pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to step down.

Trump declares Venezuela's airspace closed

Negotiators for Ukraine are headed to Florida for further peace talks with Trump administration officials. The visit comes amid new deadly air assaults across Ukraine.

Deadly Russian air assaults hit Ukraine amid peace talks

Approximately 24 million people across the U.S. are under winter storm alerts. Dave Malkoff and Andrew Kozak have the details on this holiday weekend's forecast and the impact.

Chicago

Major storm blasts Midwest, impacting holiday travel

Ukraine’s security services say that domestically made naval drones struck two Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea, involving vessels described as part of Russia’s “shadow fleet.”

Ukraine strikes Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea

From Rome to Berlin, from São Paulo to Istanbul: the demonstration in the Italian capital, led by Global Movement to Gaza, reflects a global protest for Gaza, with thousands of people united in solidarity and justice

Rome

Thunberg joins pro-Palestine march in Rome

US President Donald Trump has said the airspace above Venezuela is to be closed. With a US task force already in the Caribbean, land operations against suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers could soon begin.

US military threat fuels fear and uncertainty in Venezuela

More than 150 people have been killed as Cyclone Ditwah has been battering Sri Lanka with torrential rains that triggered flooding and landslides. Authorities declared a state of emergency.

Cyclone Ditwah pounds Sri Lanka with deadly force

Investigators in Hong Kong are gathering evidence at the site of the apartment block fire that killed at least 128 people. At least 150 are missing, and 11 people involved in the renovation of the complex have been arrested.

Tsim Sha Tsui

Hong Kong apartment fire survivors share how they escaped

United States President Donald Trump has said the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela is to be closed “in its entirety”, as tensions between the countries escalate. There was no immediate response by Venezuela to Trump’s social media post on Saturday.

Trump says Venezuela airspace to be shut as tensions rise

Pope Leo XIV visited Istanbul's historic Blue Mosque, officially known as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, as part of his trip to Turkey.

Istanbul

Pope Leo XIV visits Istanbul's iconic Blue Mosque on Turkey trip

The Afghan man accused of shooting two National Guard members will face first-degree murder charges for an attack that prompted President Donald Trump to declare he would freeze migration from "Third World Countries" to the U.S.

National Guard shooting suspect to face murder charges

President Trump announced Thursday that he would "permanently pause" immigration from "Third-World Countries." The declaration comes as the Trump administration takes aim at U.S. immigration policies in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.

Trump says he plans to end immigration from "Third-World Countries"

Europe's Airbus says it is ordering immediate repairs to 6,000 of its widely-used A320 family of jets in a sweeping recall affecting more than half the global fleet, threatening upheaval during the busiest travel weekend of the year in the United States.

Leiden

Airbus issues major A320 recall, threatening holiday travel

Hong Kong firefighters found dozens more bodies in an intensive search of a high-rise complex where a massive fire engulfed seven buildings, bringing the death toll to 128 with many more unaccounted for. Authorities arrested another eight people involved in the towers' renovation.

Hong Kong Island

More arrests made in Hong Kong as fire's death toll rises to 128

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's powerful chief of staff, a close ally of the president who has headed Ukraine's negotiation team at fraught U.S.-backed peace talks, quit on Friday (November 28), after anti-corruption agents searched his home.

Breakdown