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Minnesota opts against asking Supreme Court to block mail-in ballots ruling

Minnesota officials decided on Friday not to seek emergency intervention from the conservative-majority Supreme Court over an appeals ruling that questioned the legality of their decision to count mail-in ballots received after Election Day. Thursday's ruling by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of Republicans in the battleground state indicated that ballots received after Election Day, which is on Nov. 3, would not be counted if the extended deadline was ultimately found to be unlawful. The ruling, which is not the final word in the litigation, requires that ballots received after Election Day be separated from other ballots.

Philadelphia to release police body camera video in Wallace death Wednesday

The fatal police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr., 27, who is Black, sparked protests.

Feds go after protesters with rarely used civil disorder law enacted in 1960s

The statute has been used in at least two dozen cases across the country. But legal experts worry it can be "a dangerous road to go down."

Violin professor who once taught in NC accused of sexually exploiting a minor, feds say

Stephen Shipps — a long-time violin professor at the University of Michigan — previously taught at the UNC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, according to prosecutors.

Kyle Rittenhouse sent to Wisconsin to face charges in Kenosha protest shootings

WAUKEGAN, Ill. — Lake County authorities on Friday afternoon handed off Kyle Rittenhouse to police in Wisconsin, where he faces charges stemming from the fatal shooting of two men and the wounding of a third during August protests in Kenosha, officials said. Shortly after a judge ruled the Antioch 17-year-old should be extradited, Lake County sheriff's deputies drove him to the ...

Kennedy cousin wont be retried in Martha Moxley case

Michael Skakel spent 11 years in prison before his conviction was overturned in 2018

Britain may impose new national lockdown from Wednesday: Times

The new restrictions could be introduced on Wednesday and remain in place until Dec. 1, the Times said. Cabinet Office officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Currently, the government has a three-tier system of restrictions for local areas in England, with Level 3 the highest.

Police forcibly took a Black toddler from his mother's car and then posted his photo to Facebook saying he was 'lost,' lawyers for the family say

Philadelphia police officers smashed her car's windows, separated her from her kids, took her into custody, and didn't charge her with anything.

Brazil will buy China COVID-19 vaccine, VP Mourão says, contradicting Bolsonaro

Brazil's government will "of course" buy a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine that is being tested in the country, Vice President Hamilton Mourão said on Friday, in the latest example of him contradicting President Jair Bolsonaro. Last week, Bolsonaro, a long-standing China critic, said the federal government would not buy a COVID-19 vaccine from China's Sinovac, one day after the health minister said that it would be included in the nation's immunization program.

A white supremacist gang has been charged with kidnapping and forcibly removing a tattoo of a former member before killing him

The new indictment charges members of the group with kidnapping, forcibly removing a tattoo, and then killing one ex-gang member.

Kyle Rittenhouse extradited to Wisconsin following terse ruling from Illinois judge accusing him of asking the court to 'ignore binding Illinois law'

Rittenhouse, charged in Wisconsin with first-degree homicide over the shooting of three people at Kenosha protests, had been fighting his extradition.

Philadelphia police smash windows of SUV carrying mom and baby in video, while union claims child was 'lost'

National union claims "child was lost during the violent riots," then removed post that's been called "propaganda."

U.S. judge orders 'extraordinary measures' to ensure ballot deliveries

A federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to adopt "extraordinary measures" at some processing locations to ensure the timely delivery of millions of ballots before Tuesday's presidential election. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said he was ordering the measures in places where election mail processing scores for completed ballots returned by voters were below 90% for at least two days from October 26-28. The measures are outlined in the Postal Service's ' Oct. 20 "Extraordinary Measures Memorandum."

France reports 49,215 new cases over 24 hours

France on Friday reported 49,215 new confirmed coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, compared to 47,637 on Thursday and a record high of 52,010 on Sunday. A new national lockdown came into effect on Friday in France in an effort to put the brakes on a COVID-19 epidemic that officials say risks spiralling out of control. The number of people in France who have died from COVID-19 rose by 256 over 24 hours to 36,565, the health ministry said.

U.S. nursing homes still face COVID-19 test delays; you can wash Halloween candy

Most U.S. nursing homes still cannot get prompt results of COVID-19 tests of staff and residents, researchers reported on Friday in JAMA Internal Medicine. This was true "even among homes in hotspot counties supplied with rapid testing machines from the federal government, which implies that these machines are not helping nursing homes with the rapid turnaround they need," he said.

Social issues a priority for cardinal-to-be Wilton Gregory

Washington, D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory, soon to become the Roman Catholic Church’s first Black cardinal from the United States, hopes the U.S. hierarchy can broaden its concept of “pro-life” so that other pressing issues can be considered top priorities along with opposition to abortion. Gregory, in an interview Friday with The Associated Press, also endorsed proposals to include the history of Black Catholics in the U.S. as part of the curriculum in Catholic schools. Earlier this year, amid nationwide demonstrations against racial injustice, some Black Catholics said the curriculum should be more honest about the church’s past links to slavery and segregation, and more detailed in portraying how Black Catholics persevered.

Walter Wallace Jr killing: footage shows 'obvious mental health crisis', lawyer says

Shaka Johnson says body-cam video shows onlookers pleading with Philadelphia police not to shoot Wallace, 27Footage from the body cameras of the police who fatally shot Walter Wallace Jr in Philadelphia earlier this week shows a person in “obvious mental health crisis” before an officer told the other to “shoot him” and they both opened fire, the family’s lawyer said.Attorney Shaka Johnson, who watched the footage on Thursday, said it also shows chaotic scenes in which onlookers, including Wallace Jr’s wife and mother, alerted Philadelphia police to his mental state and pleaded with them not to open fire before they shot at him 14 times.The death of Wallace Jr, a 27-year-old Black man, who was killed outside his home in west Philadelphia after his family called for an ambulance, has prompted protests in Philadelphia, as well as other US cities, as police admitted they do not have the right resources to handle mental health problems.Johnson said Wallace was almost immediately incapacitated after the first shot by police, who were positioned “approximately a car length-and-a-half” away from the victim.“What, other than death, did you intend when you shoot a man, each officer, seven times apiece?” he said at a press conference on Thursday afternoon, also attended by Wallace Jr’s mother, Kathy Brant, and his father, Walter Wallace Sr.“I saw a person in obvious mental health crisis. My auditory senses heard people shouting, ‘He’s mental, he’s mental,’” said Johnson of the 30-40 second video.He said when Wallace came out of the house and on to the street, where, seconds later, police shot him, he did not appear to say anything.“It seems to be a person in sort of a cloud or a stupor or just not appreciating the gravity of that particular moment,” he said.The family has said Wallace had bipolar disorder and had been taking a mood stabiliser, lithium.Johnson said he had “grave issues” with the way police handled the situation. While he said Wallace Jr was holding a knife, it “does not give you carte blanche to execute a man”. He said the video did not show him “lunging at anyone”.Amid screams not to shoot and that he was mentally ill from his family, and an attempt by his mother to grab him, Johnson said: “What you will hear from one of the officers is ‘shoot him’.”Although Wallace’s family, who have also watched the footage and listened to 911 audio recordings, believe they have been failed by the city, they are not calling for police officers to be charged with murder, Johnson said.“Here’s why: they were improperly trained and did not have the proper equipment by which to effectuate their job,” he said.The officers did not have Taser stun guns, police commissioner, Danielle Outlaw, has said.Philadelphia’s mayor, Jim Kenney, and district attorney, Larry Krasner, said the calls, footage and a history of police responses to the home would be made public by the end of next week. Johnson said he had hoped they would release the footage on Thursday.Johnson said Wallace’s funeral has been scheduled for 7 November.Following protests and some incidents of looting and burglary earlier in the week, the city was put under curfew, which ended on Thursday, and Kenney has said he plans to deploy the Pennsylvania national guard on Wednesday to guard businesses and assist police.It comes as the nation’s largest police union has been accused of taking a young boy from the back seat of a car after breaking the windows and violently arresting and injuring his mother, who was later released without charges, during Tuesday’s unrest in Philadelphia, and then misusing a photo of the child as “propaganda”.The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) reportedly shared a photo of the boy, in a now deleted tweet and Facebook post, in the arms of a Philadelphia police officer with a caption claiming the child was “lost during the violent riots in Philadelphia, wandering around barefoot”.“The only thing this Philadelphia police officer cared about in that moment was protecting this child,” it reportedly said.But lawyers for the boy’s family say the story was completely made up, reported the Washington Post.Philadelphia police said they had no comment about the picture, but that an investigation was under way into the incident and that “the officer(s) involved is on restrictive duty pending the investigation.”A FOP spokeswoman said the photo was immediately taken down after it “learned of conflicting accounts of the circumstances under which the child came to be assisted by the officer”.

‘I’m getting my money!’ Florida shopper denied refund returns with a crowbar, cops say

A Florida shopper wouldn’t take no for an answer, and things got a little out of hand.

Lori Loughlin reports to prison early for 2-month sentence for college admissions scandal

Lori Loughlin has reported to prison early almost three weeks early to begin her 2-month sentence for her role in last year's college admissions scandal.

Mexico City says tougher coronavirus curbs could be needed by next week

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday said the capital could next week impose tougher restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus if the number of people being treated in hospital for COVID-19 rises further in the coming days. "If the number of hospitalizations continues to increase next week, we could be announcing next Friday measures to restrict hours," said Sheinbaum, who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week. Mexico has the world's fourth highest official death toll from COVID-19, with over 90,000 fatalities, and is grappling in several states with an upsurge in infections.

Actress Lori Loughlin starts prison term for role in college admissions scandal

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Full House" actress Lori Loughlin began a two-month prison sentence for her role in a vast college admissions fraud scheme to help her daughters gain entry into a top U.S. university, a prison official said on Friday. After initially fighting the charges, Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. Prosecutors said Loughlin and Giannulli paid $500,000 in bribes to secure spots for their daughters at the University of Southern California (USC) as fake athletic recruits for the school's crew team even though neither rowed competitively.

Police union accused of using photo of Black boy as "propaganda"

The nation's largest police union posted and then deleted a photo on Facebook purporting to showing a Philadelphia police officer with a "lost" Black toddler.

Black toddler taken, mother beaten by police during Philadelphia protests

A Black mother is claiming that the Philadelphia police beat her, took her toddler from her during the recent protests, and then used the boy for propaganda. The Fraternal Order of Police posted a picture of an officer holding a Black child close to her chest on Thursday following days of unrest after Walter Wallace Jr. was killed by police. “This child was lost during the violent riots in Philadelphia, wandering around barefoot in an area that was experiencing complete lawlessness,” the union claimed in a tweet and Facebook post that have since been deleted.

‘It’s propaganda’: Police pulled Black toddler from family car then claimed he was found lost, attorneys say

‘She wasn’t even charged with a crime,' Rickia Young’s representation says

Walmart returns firearms, ammunition to U.S. store floors ahead of election

Walmart Inc said on Friday it has begun returning firearms and ammunitions to the floors of its U.S. stores a day after the world's largest retailer said it had removed these products to protect customers and employees as tensions across the country rise. "After civil unrest earlier this week resulted in damage to several of our stores ... we asked stores to move firearms and ammunition from the sales floor .... As the current incidents have remained geographically isolated, we have made the decision to begin returning these products to the sales floor today," the company said.

Why Lori Loughlin will spend 2 months in prison for the college admissions scandal while Felicity Huffman was sentenced to 14 days

Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin have both pleaded guilty in the college-admissions scandal, but their roles in the scheme are quite different.

Man convicted of murdering fiancee googled how to ‘travel back in time’ after her killing

Anna Repkina was found dead on a logging road in Oregon in 2017

Ireland's COVID-19 reproduction rate falls, hospital admissions slow

The number of people in Ireland infected by someone who has COVID-19 fell to close to 1.0 from 1.3 to 1.4 a week ago, the head of Ireland's COVID-19 modeling group said on Friday, as admissions to hospital also showed signs of stabilising. "This is the first time in three months that I've been able to report positive indications that we are starting to suppress transmission of the virus," Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the Irish Epidemiological Modeling Advisory Group, told a news conference. Nolan has said the so-called "reproduction rate" must be cut to 0.5 for six weeks to reduce cases below 200 per day and keep them there for a sustained period.

Former Venezuelan treasurer charged with accepting millions in Miami corruption case

A former Venezuelan national treasurer and her husband accepted massive bribes from a politically connected billionaire who paid them through U.S. bank accounts so he could gain access to the government’s lucrative currency exchange system, according to a new federal criminal case filed in Miami.

Rifle shell casings found at Breonna Taylor scene, Daniel Cameron says

Two long-rifle shell casings were found in and near Breonna Taylor’s Louisville apartment after a botched police drug raid that ended in Taylor’s death, Kentucky’s attorney general said. It’s the first time these specific shell casings have been mentioned by authorities investigating Taylor’s death. One of the casings was found by Taylor’s sister in her bedroom and the other was found in the parking lot outside the apartment, according to a court filing this week in a criminal case against the sole Louisville police officer charged in connection with the raid.

Days before election, economic data reveals gradual improvement, gloomy outlook

Now, with infections on the rise, economists say many voters may be weighed by a gloomy outlook when deciding whether to back the incumbent president, Republican Donald Trump, or his challenger, Democrat Joe Biden. "I would think the overall mood of the voter going in is not joyous right now," said Kathy Bostjancic, chief U.S. financial economist for Oxford Economics. The economic data released this week largely beat expectations and showed incomes are rising, consumers are spending more and output is increasing.

Spain's COVID-19 infections rise by 25,595 in new daily record

The number of coronavirus infections in hard-hit Spain rose by 25,595 on Friday, the highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic and the second consecutive record after Thursday's 23,580, health ministry data showed. The death toll went up by 239, bringing the total number of fatalities to 35,878 in Spain, which approved a six-month state of emergency this week to try to curb the second wave of coronavirus contagion. The official cumulative number of infections now stands at 1,185,678, but Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said the real total is likely above 3 million based on prevalence studies and estimates.

Betting markets favour Biden over Trump in U.S. presidential race

New Zealand-based prediction market PredictIt has Biden leading overall at 68 cents to Trump's 39 cents, while British betting company Betfair Exchange gives Biden a 65% win-chance versus Trump's 35%. Will Jennings, head of public engagement at PredictIt, said odds have begun to "break a little" in favour of Biden, who leads in 10 of 14 swing state markets.

Russia makes preliminary submission of COVID-19 vaccine to Brazil regulators

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is backing the development and roll-out of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, said on Friday it had completed the pre-submission of preliminary documents to Brazil's health regulator. The pre-submission, conducted together with RDIF's local partners - the Brazilian state of Paraná and União Química Farmacêutica Nacional - is necessary for registration of the Russian vaccine for use in Brazil. "Production of the first batches of the Sputnik V vaccine will soon be launched in Brazil as part of the technology transfer agreement between RDIF and União Química," the Russian fund said in a statement.

A Louisville police officer is suing Breonna Taylor's boyfriend in connection with a shooting injury he claims Kenneth Walker caused

Walker's conduct was "outrageous, intolerable, and offends all accepted standards of decency and morality," the lawsuit says.

COVID tests should play bigger role in international travel: WHO expert

COVID tests should be more widely used in international travel than quarantines, the chair of the World Health Organization's Emergency Committee said on Friday. Didier Houssin, chair of the independent panel of experts advising WHO on the COVID-19 pandemic, said it was important for the U.N. agency to provide fresh guidance on safe international air travel. "And clearly the use of the tests is certainly now supposed to have a much larger place compared to quarantine, for example, which would certainly facilitate things considering all the efforts which have been made by airlines and by airports," Houssin told a news conference.

Philadelphia police say they rescued a lost child. His family says they actually ripped him from his mother's car.

During recent protests over the police killing of Walter Wallace Jr. in Philadelphia, the U.S.'s largest police union posted what looked like a sympathetic photo. A Philadelphia police office held a Black toddler, with a caption purporting he was found "walking around barefoot in an area that was experiencing complete lawlessness," the National Fraternal Order of Police's Facebook post said.But lawyer's for the boy's family say that's not what happened. Rickia Young was driving with her toddler son to pick up her 16-year-old nephew when she accidentally drove into an area where police and protesters were facing off. She tried to turn around, but police surrounded the car, smashed its windows, and threw Young and her nephew onto the street, her lawyers tell The Washington Post. The officers then pulled the toddler from the seat, video of the incident shows.> The attacked on this boy and his mother were caught on video. @ryanjreilly has done a good job of pointing out this lie by @GLFOP https://t.co/kJ4QcrXegc> > — Riley H. Ross III (@AttorneyRoss) October 30, 2020Police soon detained Young, but she had to be taken to the hospital before she could be processed because she was bleeding from her head after police threw her to the ground. Young's nephew was also injured, and the toddler was hit in the head. Young was split from her son for hours before she was released without charges. Her family found the boy in his car seat in the back of a police car, broken glass from the car's windows still in the seat, the Post describes.The whole scene was caught on video by AApril Rice, who told the Philadelphia Inquirer watching what happened was "surreal" and "traumatic." The National Fraternal Order of Police has since deleted the post. Philadelphia police still haven't told the Young family where to find the car, along with her son's hearing aids and other belongings inside.More stories from theweek.com How to make an election crisis 64 things President Trump has said about women Republicans are on the verge of a spectacular upside-down achievement

DOJ ended investigation into Tamir Rice shooting without telling family

The Justice Department let a request for a federal probe into Rice’s death sit for two years. Last August, the U.S. Justice Department, led by Attorney General William Barr, unofficially shut down its investigation into a Cleveland Police officer’s shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. Shot while playing alone in a park with a toy gun in 2014, Rice died the day after a single bullet from the gun of now-former Officer Timothy Loehmann struck him in the stomach less than two seconds after Loehmann arrived with Officer Frank Garmback, who was driving the police cruiser.

Video shows $1 million of stolen Home Depot goods — all in one home, Texas police say

The elaborate house set up even included a makeshift elevator to help with moving the merchandise.

Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel won't face retrial in 1975 killing, prosecutor says

The announcement comes 45 years to the day after Martha Moxley, 15, was found bludgeoned to death in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Louisville officer involved in Breonna Taylor's death files lawsuit against her boyfriend

Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, who was shot in the leg, filed the counterclaim against Kenneth Walker alleging assault, battery and emotional distress.

Novavax lays out specific minority targets for U.S. COVID-19 vaccine trial

Novavax Inc on Friday outlined specific diversity targets for its large-scale COVID-19 vaccine study expected to begin in the United States and Mexico next month. The company, which is already testing its vaccine in a Phase III trial in Britain, aims to include at least 15% Black or African Americans, 10% to 20% Latinos and 1% to 2% Native Americans, the company said at a meeting of advisors to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The group, known as Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, is charged with making recommendations for how vaccines should be used and tracked once they are deemed safe and effective by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

U.S. coronavirus cases cross nine million: Reuters tally

Cases are rising faster than ever before. The previous record for 1 million new cases was during a surge in infection in July and August - when it took 16 days. Now the country has recorded over 1 million cases in 14 days with no sign of the outbreak slowing.

Lori Loughlin reports to prison to serve 2-month sentence in college scandal

The former "Full House" star has reported to a federal prison in California to begin her two-month sentence for her involvement in a college admissions scandal.

Lori Loughlin begins 2-month prison sentence in college admissions scandal

The actress paid $500,000 to help her two daughters get into college. Her husband has also been sentenced in the scheme.

Harvey Weinstein is sued by woman he was convicted of sexually assaulting

Harvey Weinstein was sued on Friday by the former production assistant who the disgraced movie producer was convicted at trial of having sexually assaulted. Miriam Haley, who has also used the name Mimi Haleyi, is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for the pain and suffering she said Weinstein caused by assaulting her in July 2006, a time when she was seeking more work in the entertainment industry. Haley, who lives in London, filed her lawsuit with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan.