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Nikolas Cruz’s defense says his brain was ‘poisoned’ by birth mother’s addictions in death penalty trial

By Eric Levenson, Denise Royal and Sara Weisfeldt, CNN An attorney for Nikolas Cruz asked jurors Monday to consider the Parkland school shooter’s dysfunctional family life and his serious mental health issues when they decide whether to sentence him to death. “In telling you Nik’s story, in telling you the chapters of his life, we

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2 Arkansas deputies suspended and 1 officer on administrative leave after video posted of violent encounter with man outside store

By Eliott C. McLaughlin, Andy Rose and Hannah Sarisohn, CNN Three Arkansas law enforcement officers have been removed from duty and are facing state and federal investigations, officials confirmed Monday, after bystander video captured at least two of them punching and kneeing a suspect during an arrest. At one point in the 34-second video recorded

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Dozens of high-water rescues are underway as the drought-parched Dallas area gets a summer’s worth of rain in a day

By Alisha Ebrahimji, Jennifer Henderson, Caroll Alvarado and Rachel Ramirez, CNN and Brandon Miller, CNN Meteorologist Dozens of high-water rescues were underway Monday — amid more than 450 such pleas since the prior night — as greater Dallas faces the threat of more flooding caused by sudden, climate crisis-fueled storms that have stunned parts of

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Teachers at Ohio’s largest school district vote to strike just before start of school year

By Chris Boyette, Michelle Watson and Amir Vera, CNN Teachers at Ohio’s largest school district voted Sunday to go on strike for better learning and teaching conditions, just days before school is scheduled to start, according to the teachers’ union. The Columbus Education Association union — which represents more than 4,000 teachers, nurses and other

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2 Arkansas deputies suspended and 1 officer on administrative leave after video posted of violent encounter with man outside store

By Andy Rose and Hannah Sarisohn, CNN Three Arkansas law enforcement officers have been removed from duty and are under investigation, their departments confirmed, after bystander video captured them appearing to punch and knee a suspect during an arrest Sunday. Two of the officers in the video are deputies with the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office

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2 Arkansas deputies suspended and 1 officer on administrative leave after video posted of violent encounter with man outside store

By Eliott C. McLaughlin, Andy Rose and Hannah Sarisohn, CNN Three Arkansas law enforcement officers have been removed from duty and are facing state and federal investigations, officials confirmed Monday, after bystander video captured at least two of them punching and kneeing a suspect during an arrest. At one point in the 34-second video recorded

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3 dead, 2 seriously injured in vehicle crash involving Indiana State University football players

By Andy Rose, CNN Three Indiana State University students died and two were seriously injured after their vehicle ran into a tree in western Indiana early Sunday, according to the school and local law enforcement. The Vigo County Sheriff’s Office identified the dead students as football players Christian Eubanks, 18, from Waukegan, Illinois, Caleb VanHooser,

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10 Chattanooga police officers reassigned after they ‘misrepresented the truth or filed a false report,’ chief says

By Hannah Sarisohn, CNN Ten Chattanooga police officers have been reassigned to non-enforcement positions and will no longer be allowed to testify in court after they “misrepresented the truth or filed a false report,” according to a police department press release. Police Chief Celeste Murphy reassigned them after the US Attorney’s Office asked “for a

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Louisiana state officials delay flood funding to New Orleans a second time over city officials’ stance on abortion

By Hannah Sarisohn, CNN Louisiana’s State Bond Commission denied funding Thursday for a $39 million infrastructure project in Orleans Parish for the second time, at the behest of state Attorney General Jeff Landry, according to a statement on Landry’s official Facebook page and video posted from the bond commission meeting. Landry urged the commission to

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Washington state’s King County declares monkeypox a public health emergency

By Paradise Afshar and Christina Maxouris, CNN Washington state’s King County, which includes Seattle, declared monkeypox a public health emergency Friday, with more than 270 recorded cases, according to a proclamation from county executive Dow Constantine. The proclamation, which went into effect immediately, will help boost local health officials’ response efforts to the outbreak, including

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Washington state’s King County declares monkeypox a public health emergency

By Paradise Afshar and Christina Maxouris, CNN Washington state’s King County, which includes Seattle, declared monkeypox a public health emergency Friday, with more than 270 recorded cases, according to a proclamation from county executive Dow Constantine. The proclamation, which went into effect immediately, will help boost local health officials’ response efforts to the outbreak, including

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3 men indicted in the beating death of gangster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger

By Elizabeth Wolfe, Amy Simonson and Rob Frehse, CNN Three men have been indicted in the beating death of imprisoned Boston gangster and convicted murderer James “Whitey” Bulger, prosecutors announced Thursday. Fotios “Freddy” Geas, 55, Paul “Pauly” DeCologero, 48, and Sean McKinnon, 36, were charged Wednesday with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death

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3 men indicted in the beating death of gangster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger

By Elizabeth Wolfe, Amy Simonson and Rob Frehse, CNN Three men have been indicted in the beating death of imprisoned Boston gangster and convicted murderer James “Whitey” Bulger, prosecutors announced Thursday. Fotios “Freddy” Geas, 55, Paul “Pauly” DeCologero, 48, and Sean McKinnon, 36, were charged Wednesday with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death

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Epicurean Butter recalls dill butter tubs due to potential bacterial contamination, FDA says

By Emma Tucker Colorado-based Epicurean Butter is recalling hundreds of “Wegmans Lemon Dill Finishing Butter” tubs due to potential bacterial contamination, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Epicurean Butter said in an announcement it was recalling its 3.5-ounce tubs after being alerted by its frozen dill supplier, SubHerb Farms, that a dozen

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All-Black women crew operates American Airlines flight from Dallas in honor of trailblazer Bessie Coleman

By Emma Tucker, CNN An all-Black female crew operated an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Phoenix in honor of Bessie Coleman, the first Black woman to earn a pilot’s license in 1921. The airline hosted the Bessie Coleman Aviation All-Stars tour this week to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Coleman performing the first public

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An Alabama GOP county chair apologizes for posting an elephant logo with KKK imagery. The local NAACP wants him off the school board

By Chuck Johnston, CNN A county NAACP chapter in northern Alabama is calling for the resignation of a school board member and local Republican Party chairman, who says his sharing on social media of a GOP elephant logo that included KKK imagery was unintended. The Facebook page of the Lawrence County Republican Party had included

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Judge grants preliminary injunction allowing transgender girls to compete on girls’ teams in Utah

By Paradise Afshar, CNN A Utah judge granted a preliminary injunction Friday allowing transgender girls to compete on girls’ teams, but they will not be automatically eligible to play. The decision “will allow transgender girls to compete on girls’ teams only when it is fair, as confidentially determined by a legislature-created commission,” according to the

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Florida officials seize $12.8 million worth of drugs, arrest 85 in a two-year undercover investigation

By Chuck Johnston, CNN Eighty-five suspects were arrested and over $12.8 million in drugs were confiscated in a two-year undercover drug trafficking investigation, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said on Friday. The investigation entitled, “Operation Flying Ice,” stemmed from a September 2020 search warrant in Winter Haven, Florida, that netted just one pound of methamphetamine.

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Officer involved in the deadly raid on Breonna Taylor’s home has been terminated

By Jennifer Henderson and Amy Simonson, CNN One of the officers involved in the deadly raid on Breonna Taylor’s home, Sergeant Kyle Meany, has been terminated from the Louisville Metro Police Department. Louisville Police Chief Erika Shields released the following statement Friday, “I made the decision to terminate Sergeant Kyle Meany after careful consideration and

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Vanessa Bryant testifies that she suffers panic attacks, anxiety since learning of shared crash scene photos

By Jason Kravarik, Natasha Chen and Cheri Mossburg, CNN Vanessa Bryant, widow of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, broke down at times Friday as she testified that she experiences panic attacks and anxiety over the possibility of seeing photos from the 2020 helicopter crash that killed her husband, their teenage daughter and seven others. On the

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Little League World Series player was minutes from death after a fall, dad says. He soon awoke and asked if he could play in today’s game

By Jason Hanna, Jason Carroll and Carolyn Sung, CNN After just this week fracturing his skull in a fall from a bunk bed, Easton “Tank” Oliverson understandably will miss his team’s opening game Friday at the Little League World Series. But, oh, did that 12-year-old still want to play. “When he asked what day it

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Wisconsin public school district affirms ban on teachers displaying Pride materials or identifying their pronouns in emails

By Andy Rose and Aya Elamroussi, CNN A ban on teachers displaying Pride materials in classrooms or writing their pronouns in email signatures will remain in place in a Wisconsin public school district following a contentious board meeting during which parents and students criticized the policy. The prohibition is based on Kettle Moraine School District’s

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Some LA County residents are asked to suspend outdoor watering for 15 days as utility seeks to fix leaky pipeline from Colorado River

By Stephanie Elam and Mike Valerio, CNN More than 4 million people facing Southern California’s prolonged drought have been asked to suspend outdoor watering for 15 days next month as officials work to fix a leak in a 36-mile “critical imported water pipeline” from the Colorado River. The restriction is set to start September 6

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R. Kelly victim testifies 20 years later about sexual abuse, including some recorded on video, that allegedly started when she was just 14

By Sonia Moghe, CNN Twenty years after she denied to a grand jury that R. Kelly had sex with her as a girl and recorded some of their encounters, the now-grown woman took the stand Thursday to reverse her testimony. Speaking in federal court in Chicago under the pseudonym Jane, the 37-year-old only looked at

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3 men indicted in the beating death of gangster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger

By Elizabeth Wolfe, Amy Simonson and Rob Frehse, CNN Three men have been indicted in the beating death of imprisoned Boston gangster and convicted murderer James “Whitey” Bulger, prosecutors announced Thursday. Fotios “Freddy” Geas, 55, Paul “Pauly” DeCologero, 48, and Sean McKinnon, 36, were charged Wednesday with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death

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Man who lost his wife and daughter in Kobe Bryant helicopter crash testifies he lives in fear of the graphic photos resurfacing

By Nouran Salahieh, Natasha Chen and Jason Kravarik, CNN Christopher Chester, who lost his wife and daughter in the helicopter crash that also killed Kobe Bryant and six others, took the stand Thursday, testifying he lives in fear that the graphic photos taken of his loved ones’ bodies may resurface one day. “I’m fearful all

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A third Black woman has been charged with a hate crime for allegedly making ‘anti-White’ statements and assaulting a woman

By Amir Vera and Zenebou Sylla, CNN A third Black woman has been arrested and charged for making “anti-White” statements in connection with the beating of a White woman in New York, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. Jahnaiya Williams, 19, was charged with assault as a hate crime and faces other charges, a

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3 people are killed after 2 planes collide over California airport, authorities say

By Laura Studley and Tina Burnside, CNN Three people were killed after two planes crashed mid-air over the Watsonville Municipal Airport in California on Thursday afternoon, according to Mayor Eduardo Montesino. A single-engine Cessna 152 and a twin-engine Cessna 340 collided during their final decent, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration. One

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She’s the sole survivor of a deadly lightning strike near the White House. Now she’s grappling with survivor’s guilt

By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN Amber Escudero-Kontostathis is the only survivor of a deadly lightning strike outside the White House earlier this month, and despite going through something so life-changing and suffering nerve damage, she said she’s recovering quickly. Escudero-Kontostathis, 28, and three other victims were riding out a thunderstorm underneath a tree in Lafayette Park

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Six weeks after getting shot at a Fourth of July parade, an 8-year-old left paralyzed feels ‘hopeless’ and angry as new reality sets in

By Christina Maxouris, CNN Before July Fourth, Cooper Roberts was almost always active and running around. He loved playing sports — including soccer, baseball and football — and riding his bike, his family has said. Life has looked very different since the 8-year-old was shot in the Highland Park Fourth of July attack, and left

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A Texas school district is removing and reviewing dozens of challenged books, including the Bible and an Anne Frank adaptation

By Andy Rose and Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN Officials in a school district near Fort Worth, Texas, have directed school staff and librarians to temporarily remove books that have been challenged through the district’s formal complaint process in the past school year, including the Bible and an illustrated adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary. The Keller Independent

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Six weeks after getting shot at a Fourth of July parade, an 8-year-old left paralyzed feels ‘hopeless’ and angry as new reality sets in

By Christina Maxouris, CNN Before July Fourth, Cooper Roberts was almost always active and running around. He loved playing sports — including soccer, baseball and football — and riding his bike, his family has said. Life has looked very different since the 8-year-old was shot in the Highland Park Fourth of July attack, and left

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