Former assistant principal charged with murder of Florida educator
MIAMI — A former assistant principal at Norland High School in Miami Gardens, Fla., has been arrested and charged with murdering educator Kameela Russell, whose body was discovered floating in a Miami Gardens canal. Police detectives took Ernest Joseph Roberts, 39, into custody early Friday morning. Police obtained an arrest...
Trump says he won’t fire Kellyanne Conway over Hatch Act violations
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump said Friday that he will not fire White House counselor Kellyanne Conway for repeated violations of the Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from engaging in political activity in the course of their work. “Well I got briefed on it yesterday, and it looks to...
Tenn. pastor preaches that the government should execute LGBTQ people
Standing at the front of the All Scripture Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, Pastor Grayson Fritts had the rapt attention of his congregation. It was June 2, the first Sunday of Pride Month, and Fritts had planned a timely sermon. For roughly an hour, Fritts, who is also a detective...
Inert grenade in Detroit airport luggage causes brief scare
ROMULUS, Mich. — Authorities say what turned out to be an inert grenade in a piece of luggage caused a brief scare and drew a heavy law enforcement presence at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The airport in the Detroit suburb of Romulus says Transportation Security Administration officers on Thursday evening spotted...
American detained at Cairo airport for carrying Yemen dagger
CAIRO — Egyptian officials say a Yemeni American was detained at the Cairo airport for carrying a traditional Yemeni dagger in his luggage. Customs officials say the man, a dual U.S.-Yemeni national, landed in Cairo on Friday on a flight from the Yemeni port city of Aden. The officials say...
Rescue group: Missing pony named ‘Pikachu’ found dead
FOUNTAIN INN, S.C. — A group dedicated to finding missing horses says a South Carolina pony named Pikachu has been found dead. Stolen Horse International got involved after Hidden Pasture Farm owner Kate Nichols said last week that her miniature palomino filly had vanished overnight. She said she had searched...
German court lifts city’s ban on burkini swimsuits
BERLIN — A German court has lifted a city’s ban on the burkini, an all-encompassing swimsuit used by some Muslim women. Wearing the garments in municipal pools in the western city of Koblenz was forbidden at the beginning of this year after the local council narrowly approved a ban. Officials...
UK leader race down to 6 contenders, Boris Johnson in front
LONDON — One of seven contenders to replace Prime Minister Theresa May quit the Conservative Party leadership race on Friday, as front-runner Boris Johnson was accused of trying to dodge media scrutiny. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said after the first round of voting, it was clear he did not have...
Thai vets nurture lost baby dugong with milk and sea grass
BANGKOK — A baby dugong that has developed an attachment to humans after being separated from its mother and getting lost in the ocean off southern Thailand is being nurtured by marine experts in hopes that it can one day fend for itself. The estimated 5-month-old female dugong named Marium...
U.S. extradition case against Assange set for next year
LONDON — A British court has set a date early next year for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face a U.S. extradition attempt over his role in revealing classified government and military information. Ben Brandon, a British lawyer representing the U.S. government, told a court hearing Friday that the case...
Bridge in China collapses, sending vehicles into river
BEIJING — An entire section of a roadway bridge has plunged into a wide river in southern China, sending two vehicles into the water and leaving two people missing. Heyuan city police said the 390-foot section collapsed early Friday morning. China’s Xinhua News Agency reported that two nearby security guards...
Younger 2020 candidates hint at age divide in hitting Biden
WASHINGTON — Some of the younger candidates in the crowded Democratic presidential primary are suggesting that the early front-runner, 76-year-old Joe Biden, is too mired in the past. Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, 46, and Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Ind., have stepped up questions this week...
Oregon public defenders mobilize for pay, staffing overhaul
SALEM, Ore. — Facing an ever-mounting caseload, dozens of public defenders in Oregon walked out of courthouses and into the Statehouse this week to lobby for a bill that would fix a staffing shortage and an outdated contract payment system that has some attorneys representing more than 200 clients at...
Utah man held without bail in deputy’s killing
LOS ANGELES — A Utah man was held without bail Thursday on charges of murder in the deaths of an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy and another man. Rhett McKenzie Nelson, 30, of St. George, wore a navy blue jail uniform during his initial arraignment in Los Angeles Superior...
Testimony: Suspect bought Drano after Chinese scholar death
PEORIA, Ill. — A former University of Illinois doctoral student on trial in the killing of a visiting scholar from China bought Drano and garbage bags three days after the slaying, according to testimony Thursday. The detail came during the second day of the federal murder trial of Brendt Christensen...
US considers more options for detaining transgender migrants
MILAN, N.M. — Behind a thick metal door and down a sterile hallway at a privately-run detention center in rural New Mexico, voices echo from the confines of a small outdoor recreation yard. It’s a three-on-three volleyball match. The players, all clad in different colored jumpsuits, are transgender women awaiting...
Utah officer who pulled gun on black child sparks protests
WOODS CROSS, Utah — Activists are planning to protest at a police agency in northern Utah after learning an officer who pulled his gun on a 10-year-old child will continue to work. Black Lives Matter in Utah founder Lex Scott said Thursday they will hold a protest Friday night to...
Unity man ‘was always telling a story or a joke’
James Miller never met someone with whom he couldn’t strike up a conversation. “He was a talker,” said his son, Bruce Miller of Mt. Pleasant. “Whenever he was in the room, you might get to throw in a word here and there, but he was always telling a story or...
Payments to clergy sexual abuse survivors in Philadelphia, Scranton top $20 million
The meter is ticking as administrators for compensation funds in Catholic dioceses across the state process payments to survivors who experienced child sexual abuse at the hands of trusted priests. Church officials have released interim statements showing the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the Diocese of Scranton have paid nearly $21.8...
Perfectly preserved head of Ice Age wolf found in Siberia
Russian scientists have found the furry head of an Ice Age wolf perfectly preserved in the Siberian permafrost. The head of a wolf, which died 40,000 years ago, was discovered in the Russian Arctic region of Yakutia. Valery Plotnikov, a top researcher at the local branch of the Russian Academy...
Lawmakers say doctored videos pose national security threat
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers and experts said Thursday that videos altered with artificial intelligence software pose a threat to national security and the 2020 U.S. election. The technology uses facial mapping and artificial intelligence to produce videos — known as “deep fakes” — that appear genuine, and they “enable malicious actors...
Trump says Press Secretary Sarah Sanders to leave White House
WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Sarah Sanders will be leaving the Trump administration at the end of the month. President Donald Trump announced the news on Twitter Wednesday. He says Sanders will be returning to her home state of Arkansas and has not immediately named a successor. Sanders is...
Jury: Man held stepdaughter for 18 years, fathered 9 kids
MUSKOGEE, Okla. — A federal jury has convicted a 64-year-old man accused of kidnapping his stepdaughter and holding her captive for 19 years in Mexico and elsewhere while fathering her nine children. Court records indicate jurors found Henri Michelle Piette guilty on June 6 of kidnapping and travel with intent...
Florida law lets autonomous vehicles drive without humans
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Self-driving vehicles will be able to operate in Florida without a human on board under a bill signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis signed the measure Thursday at a test track for autonomous vehicles. The governor says he wants companies testing the vehicles to move to...
Federal agency recommends White House aide Kellyanne Conway be fired
WASHINGTON — A federal watchdog agency on Thursday recommended that White House counselor Kellyanne Conway be fired for repeatedly violating a law that limits certain political activities of federal employees. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which is unrelated to special counsel Robert Mueller’s office, said Conway is a “repeat...
