Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. envoy says terrorism and organized crime by violent extremist groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State are a “pervasive threat” in Africa’s volatile Sahel region. And Leonardo Simão adds that those ills are spilling over to West Africa’s coastal countries. The U.N. special envoy for the
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SEATTLE (AP) — A Washington state judge said Friday that Attorney General Bob Ferguson is not entitled to enforce a subpoena seeking decades of records from the Seattle Archdiocese. Ferguson said his office needs the records to learn whether the Catholic church used charitable trust funds to cover up sexual abuse by priests.
Continue ReadingBy Anissa Carby and Navya Shukla, CNN (CNN) — Vending machines selling ammunition will now be in grocery stores in Alabama, Texas and Oklahoma – a move that has generated mixed feelings from officials in those states. American Rounds, the distributor of the machines, uses AI technology to scan the customers’ identification as well as facial recognition
Continue ReadingMEXICO CITY (AP) — Prosecutors in northern Mexico say they’ll investigate after the body of a long-missing man was found after months lying unidentified in a state morgue. The man’s desperate mother, Virginia de la Cruz, had approached authorities eight months ago for help in looking for her missing son. Mexico has about 115,000 missing
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal appeals court panel has ruled that Tennessee does not unconstitutionally discriminate against transgender people by not allowing them to change the sex designation on their birth certificates. In a 2-1 ruling on Friday, the majority opinion of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel found, “There
Continue ReadingAssociated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi should work quickly to fulfill the court-ordered redrawing of some legislative districts to ensure more equitable representation for Black residents, attorneys for voting rights groups said in a new court filing Friday. The attorneys also said it’s important to hold special elections in the reconfigured state House and
Continue ReadingMAMMOTH, Wyo. (AP) — Five people were able to escape a hot, acidic pond in Yellowstone National Park after the sport utility vehicle they were riding in went off the road and into an inactive geyser. The crash happened Thursday morning. The passengers were able to get out of the 105 degree water on their
Continue ReadingAssociated Press British singer-songwriter Griff’s career has been an undeniable whirlwind. Less than two years after releasing her first single — and finishing her A-level exams — she won the Brit Award for Rising Star. Then she opened for Dua Lipa. Then Ed Sheeran. Then Coldplay. Then Taylor Swift. In between those gigs, solo shows
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge is reining in the use of “strip searches” by police in Louisiana’s capital city. The Baton Rouge policy that was blocked by Friday’s order allowed police to strip search people who had not been arrested based on a “reasonable suspicion” that the person might be armed
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man is facing trial on kidnapping and sexual assault charges after a woman said she escaped weeks in his captivity. He has now been arraigned on a new charge of murder. Authorities say they have linked him to the remains of a woman found in a barrel
Continue ReadingCOCOA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A 375-pound sea turtle has been released back into the Atlantic Ocean after three months of rehabilitation in Florida. Officials with the Brevard Zoo released a male loggerhead named Bubba on Wednesday afternoon in Cocoa Beach. Officials say biologists with Inwater Research found Bubba in St. Lucie County on April
Continue ReadingSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — American Airlines says a smoking laptop in a passenger’s bag prompted an evacuation on one of its flights headed to Miami from San Francisco International Airport. The airline said in a statement that one person sustained minor injuries while exiting the plane on Friday, which required transport to a hospital. Passengers
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama has agreed to forgo an autopsy of a Muslim inmate who is scheduled to be executed Thursday. Keith Edmund Gavin said the post-mortem procedure would violate his religious beliefs. The Alabama Department of Corrections said Friday that no autopsy will be performed. The 64-year-old inmate is scheduled to
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The Columbia Police Department announced the name of the man accused of stabbing a woman on Thursday night at the Break Time on Business Loop 70 in Columbia. Murphy Hughes Jr., 69, of Columbia, was charged with first-degree assault, armed criminal action, tampering with evidence and unlawful use of a weapon. He
Continue ReadingAP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — Nancy Pelosi’s phone lit up the night of President Joe Biden’s debate performance with a question that has yet to be fully resolved: Now what? Calls kept coming the morning after Biden’s agonizing face-off against Republican Donald Trump, and anxious lawmakers surrounded Pelosi later on the House floor. Two
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A man who killed two Alaska Native women and was heard while videotaping the torture death of one say that in his movies “everybody always dies” was sentenced in Anchorage Friday to 226 years in prison. Brian Steven Smith was sentenced for the deaths of Kathleen Henry in 2019
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has a one-word answer on whether President Joe Biden is a liability for the most vulnerable House Democrats seeking reelection. “No,” he tells reporters. But a growing number of House Democrats are indicating otherwise. It’s not just some of the lawmakers representing true battleground districts but
Continue ReadingAP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Since Donald Trump’s emergence on the political scene, late-night comics like Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel have made him a relentless target. But since President Joe Biden’s poor showing in the debate with Trump two weeks ago, the comics have retrained their guns. It shows that comedy —
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Officials say the U.S. Department of Transportation is providing nearly $400 million to build a new Interstate 55 bridge connecting Tennessee and Arkansas across the Mississippi River. The work would replace the existing 75-year-old span. The Tennessee governor and a congressman from Memphis said in separate news releases Friday
Continue ReadingJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court is moving forward with execution plans for Marcellus Williams, even as a prosecutor tries to overturn his murder conviction. Judges on Friday decided against halting Williams’ execution despite the prosecutor’s efforts. The prosecutor filed a motion in January to vacate Williams’ 1998 conviction, citing DNA evidence.
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