AP National News

By AMY FORLITI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Another long and painful trial over the killing of George Floyd was averted on Monday after one former Minneapolis police officer pleaded guilty to manslaughter and another agreed to take a more uncommon approach and let a judge decide his fate based on the evidence in the

By GABE STERN Associated Press/Report for America RENO, Nev. (AP) — A rural Nevada county’s plan to hand-count all paper ballots for the November midterm elections is coming under renewed scrutiny just days before the tally is set to begin. The sticking point: How the county will keep the ongoing vote totals from leaking publicly.

By ANITA SNOW Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Elected officials in a rural county in southeastern Arizona are debating a hand count of ballots in the midterm election alongside the machine count. But the Cochise County attorney’s office and state authorities says the Board of Supervisors doesn’t have the legal authority. The two Republicans on

By ADRIAN SAINZ Associated Press SOMERVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee man whose violent arrest for alleged traffic violations is under investigation by state police says he was stopped because he was a young Black man driving a nice car. Brandon Calloway spoke with an Associated Press reporter Monday outside a courthouse in Fayette County.

By BILL BARROW and JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Strong early voting could point to high turnout in Georgia and nationwide in the 2022 midterms. Total early votes in Georgia through Sunday, including those cast in person and those sent in by mail, were running 60% higher than in the 2018 midterm election.

WAVERLY, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man convicted of shooting five of eight family members killed in a 2016 massacre has testified he had no choice but to kill the mother of his child. Jake Wagner pleaded guilty last year to shooting five members of the Rhoden family in what prosecutors say was a custody

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A panel of judges has tossed out part of a lawsuit challenging Arkansas’ new U.S. House district map. The federal panel on Monday dismissed some of the constitutional claims challenging the map that split the Little Rock area among three congressional districts. The map was challenged by two Black Democratic

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The new U.N. special envoy for Libya says he plans to follow up on commitments by the country’s political rivals at the end of a meeting last week that reportedly include the need to hold presidential and parliamentary elections and ensure that the divided north

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The mother of a Georgia toddler presumed dead by police says she still hopes he will be found “happy and alive” nearly three weeks after she reported the child missing. Leilani Simon told WTOC-TV she’s hopeful someone is taking care of her 20-month-old son, Quinton. She spoke Monday as police and

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A drag queen story time at an Oregon pub that was to have featured an 11-year-old performer attracted protesters over the weekend near the venue. Counterprotesters also showed up Sunday and armed people were among them on both sides. Police did not intervene. They estimated the total crowd at about 200

By MARK GILLISPIE Associated Press CLEVELAND (AP) — Two right-wing operatives have pleaded guilty in Cleveland to single felony counts of telecommunications fraud for having placed thousands of hoax robocalls in Ohio during the runup to the 2020 general election. Twenty-four-year-old Jacob Wohl, of Irvine, California, and 56-year-old Jack Burkman, of Arlington, Virginia, face up

WHITEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A suspended North Carolina sheriff has resigned in the aftermath of a leaked audio recording in which he called Black employees by derogatory names and said they should be fired. Attorney Michael Mills made the announcement Monday during a hearing on whether Columbus County Sheriff Jody Greene should be removed from

By LEANNE ITALIE AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A completed documentary about the rapper formerly known as Kanye West has been shelved amid his recent slew of antisemitic remarks. MRC studio executives Modi Wiczyk, Asif Satchu and Scott Tenley announced in a memo Monday: “We cannot support any content that amplifies his platform.”

By SUDHIN THANAWALA Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — A trial to determine whether Georgia can continue to ban abortion as early as six weeks into a pregnancy is underway in an Atlanta courtroom. Abortion provider Carrie Cwiak testified Monday that the state’s law is confusing and harmful to women’s health. Fulton County Superior Court Judge

By MALLIKA SEN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The week dawned gloomily in New York, but the drab mist was little match for the holiday at hand: Diwali, the festival of lights that symbolizes the triumph over darkness. Celebrated across South Asia in some fashion by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists, the multi-day festival

By LYNN ELBER and MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writers LOS ANGELES (AP) — Leslie Jordan, the actor whose wry Southern drawl and versatility made him a comedy and drama standout on TV series including “Will & Grace” and “American Horror Story,” has died. The Emmy-winner, whose videos turned him into a social media star during

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidents come and go, but White House grounds superintendent Dale Haney has been a constant through the past 10 presidencies. As of this month, Haney has tended the lawns and gardens of the White House for 50 years. But he may be better known for taking care

By MICHAEL PHILLIS and JIM SALTER Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — An armed former student broke into a St. Louis high school Monday morning warning, “You are all going to die!” before fatally shooting a teacher and a teenage girl, and wounding six others before police killed him in an exchange of gunfire. The

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — R&B singer Mary J. Blige has joined first lady Jill Biden to promote cancer prevention. Blige was a guest Monday at the White House, where the American Cancer Society announced two new “roundtables” to address breast and cervical cancer. Blige said she lost several relatives to cancer

By CARLA K. JOHNSON AP Medical Writer Children’s hospitals in parts of the U.S. are seeing a surge in a common respiratory illness that can cause severe breathing problems for babies. RSV cases fell dramatically two years ago as the pandemic shut down schools, day cares and businesses. With restrictions easing in the summer of