Month: November 2021

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man has been found guilty of murder in the shooting death of an Orlando police officer who was trying to arrest him outside a Walmart store for the slaying of his pregnant former girlfriend. Markeith Loyd was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder in the killing of Orlando police Lt.

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged the country’s arms makers to develop even more advanced hypersonic missiles and lasers to maintain the country’s edge in military technologies. Speaking during a meeting with officials Wednesday, Putin hailed the new weapons, such as the Avangard and Kinzhal hypersonic weapons

By MIKE CATALINI Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has won reelection over Republican Jack Ciattarelli. Murphy eked out a victory that spared Democrats the loss of a second gubernatorial seat. He’s the state’s first Democratic governor to get a second straight term in 44 years. Former Assembly member

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Reporter WASHINGTON (AP) — If you find the current economy a bit confusing, don’t worry: So does the nation’s top economic official, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. At a news conference, Powell said the Fed was sticking by its bedrock economic forecast: COVID-19 will eventually fade, which, in turn, will

By LOUISE DIXON Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Transgender pop star Kim Petras says her performance at next week’s MTV EMAs in Hungary will be “pretty powerful.” The performance comes after the country passed a law that critics say limits LGBTQ rights. The German singer-songwriter says she supports MTV’s decision to continue to host the

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — The Algerian president’s office says three Algerians were killed by a military strike on their trucks. It accuses Moroccan forces in the disputed Western Sahara of being behind the attack. The president’s office said Wednesday that the trucks were traveling from the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott toward the Algerian city of Ouargla

By ELLIOT SPAGAT and VALERIE GONZALEZ Associated Press and AIM Media Texas McALLEN, Texas (AP) — President Joe Biden recognized migration flows would spike if he scrapped his predecessor’s hardline border policies without a new asylum system in place. He was prepared for traffic to return to highs of 2019, but arrivals exceeded expectations almost

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Two Tulsa, Oklahoma, police officers have been charged with helping conceal evidence of a shooting and the involvement of the brother of a former officer. Lt. Marcus Harper and Officer Ananias Carson were charged Tuesday as accessories after the fact in what police say was a gang-related shooting. Harper and Carson

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and ROBERT BURNS Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force says nearly 8,500 active duty members of the Air Force and Space Force have missed the deadline for getting COVID-19 vaccinations, including 800 who flatly refused and nearly 5,000 with pending requests for a religious exemption. The Air Force said

By MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writer An Australian privacy authority has ordered facial recognition company Clearview AI to stop scanning the faces of Australians and destroy the images and related data it has already collected. It’s the latest challenge for the New York startup that has angered privacy advocates around the world over its practice

By ELLIOT SPAGAT and VALERIE GONZALEZ Associated Press and AIM Media Texas McALLEN, Texas (AP) — President Joe Biden recognized migration flows would spike if he scrapped his predecessor’s hardline border policies without a new asylum system in place. He was prepared for traffic to return to highs of 2019, but arrivals exceeded expectations almost

By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Prosecutors in Las Vegas say former Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III was speeding at 156 mph with a blood-alcohol content twice Nevada’s legal limit before his sports car slammed into another vehicle, killing a 23-year-old woman. Ruggs made his initial court appearance Wednesday and posted

By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Thirty years ago, Ken Welch’s father sought unsuccessfully to become the first Black mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida. Welch wore his dad’s campaign button Tuesday when he claimed a resounding victory for the top office in the once-segregated city. Welch recognized his milestone in a

By RYAN J. FOLEY Associated Press IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Voters have reelected the Black mayor of Iowa’s eighth-largest city, Waterloo, which will also have its first majority-Black City Council. The historic outcome of Tuesday’s election followed a campaign marked by bitter debates over policing and race. Quentin Hart, who became Waterloo’s first Black

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY Associated Press The oldest college in Louisiana is celebrating its first granting of tenure to a Black faculty member, and discussing why this racial milestone took nearly two centuries to accomplish. Centenary College of Louisiana associate professor Andia Augustin-Billy now has a lifetime appointment to teach French, literature, women’s studies and other

By BEN FINLEY Associated Press Voters in Virginia Beach have approved a huge bond measure for a mid-sized city, committing to spend millions in hopes of avoiding billions in losses due to rising seas and intensifying hurricanes. Unofficial election results show the $568 million bond was approved by nearly 73% of the voters. For many,

By ALICIA RANCILIO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Growing up, Barry Watson says the TV series “Highway to Heaven” was appointment viewing when it aired weekly. It was created by and starred Michael Landon as an angel sent to earth to help people. Watson co-stars with Jill Scott in a new film version for

By The Associated Press Ronnie Wilson, multi-instrumentalist and founder of the popular R&B and funk group The Gap Band, has died. He was 73. His wife, Linda Boulware-Wilson, posted on Facebook that her husband died on Tuesday. “Ronnie Wilson was a genius with creating, producing, and playing the flugelhorn, trumpet, keyboards, and singing music, from

By ROBERT BURNS AP National Security Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon says China is expanding its nuclear force much faster than U.S. officials predicted just a year ago. In a report to Congress, the Pentagon says this highlights a broad and accelerating expansion of military power designed to enable Beijing to match or surpass

by SARAH EL DEEB Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon is seeking a dialogue with Saudi Arabia to resolve an unprecedented diplomatic rift over a Lebanese Cabinet minister’s comments, even as new reasons for tension emerged. Statements by the Lebanese information minister aired last week about the war in Yemen stirred the crisis. Lebanese officials

By BABA AHMED Associated Press BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Malian authorities say they are searching for a French woman who spent four years as an al-Qaida hostage and who now has returned to the West African country despite being denied a visa. The 76-year-old Sophie Petronin spent years working in Mali before her 2016 abduction

By DON BABWIN and KATHLEEN FOODY Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago woman who served more than seven years in an Indonesian prison for killing her mother at a luxury resort in Bali has been indicted on federal murder conspiracy charges and taken into custody. A 2016 federal indictment unsealed Wednesday shows 26-year-old Heather

By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — The judge in the trial of three white men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery has declined to override decisions in jury selection that left just one Black juror on the final panel of 12. Prosecutors had asked Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley on Wednesday to

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s central bank has made its second interest rate hike in as many months as consumer prices surge. The National Bank of Poland raised the rate Wednesday to 1.25%. The move indicates that it intends to move more forcefully against rising prices after facing criticism for not acting sooner. It comes