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An Illinois police officer was fired after fatally shooting a Black teen

An Illinois police officer, who has not yet been identified, was fired after fatally shooting Marcellis Stinnette,19, and wounding Tafara Williams, 20.

Convicted sex cult figure says he's innocent

"I apologize for my participation in all of this," Keith Raniere said.

France reports record of over 45,000 new coronavirus cases in a day

France on Saturday reported 45,422 new confirmed coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, a new record, after reporting 42,032 on Friday. Health Ministry data also showed that 138 people had died from coronavirus infection in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 34,645. The total number of confirmed cases rose to 1,086,497, after breaking above the 1 million mark for the first time on Friday.

Texas court temporarily reinstates limited ballot drop-off sites

The Texas Supreme Court on Saturday temporarily reinstated the governor's ban on multiple drop-off sites for mail ballots, in a short-term victory for President Donald Trump. The ban will remain in effect while the state supreme court fully reviews a Friday appeals court ruling that overturned the order by Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican like the president, who faces Democrat Joe Biden in a race for the White House on Nov. 3.

Nigeria's police order massive mobilization after unrest

Nigeria’s top police official on Saturday ordered the immediate mobilization of all officers to “reclaim the public space from criminal elements masquerading as protesters” after days of unrest and demonstrations over police abuses that left at least 69 people dead. The police order could further heighten tensions in Africa’s most populous country after some of its worst turmoil in years. Nigeria’s inspector general of police, M.A. Adamu, ordered colleagues to “dominate the public space” while announcing that enough is enough, a statement said.

San Bernardino police officer kills Black man

San Bernardino police shot and killed a Black man outside a liquor store. The suspect, Mark Matthew Bender Jr., 35, was outside of the King Tut Liquor store near the intersection of Baseline Street and Waterman Avenue. “There was a man jumping on vehicles in the parking lot of that location,” San Bernardino police Sgt. John Echevarria said.

Fired-up New Yorkers stand in line for hours to cast early votes

New Yorkers jammed polling places and stood in line for hours to cast ballots on the state's first day of early voting on Saturday, rushing to record their choices 10 days ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election. Long lines formed before polls opened across New York City and Long Island, videos on social media showed, as New Yorkers joined a flood of more than 56 million Americans across the country who have cast early ballots at a record-setting pace. Saturday was the first time that voters in New York, a reliably Democratic state where Democrat Joe Biden has a wide lead in polls over Republican President Donald Trump, have been allowed to vote early in a presidential election.

Jared and Ivanka threaten lawsuit over Times Square billboards

President Donald Trump's daughter and son-in-law, both top White House aides, are threatening to sue a group of anti-Trump Republicans for posting billboard ads in New York City's Times Square linking them to the country's almost 225,000 coronavirus deaths. A lawyer representing Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, made the threat on Friday in a letter to the Lincoln Project, calling the ads "false, malicious and defamatory" and saying they constituted "outrageous and shameful libel." "If these billboard ads are not immediately removed, we will sue you for what will doubtless be enormous compensatory and punitive damages," Marc Kasowitz said in his letter, which the Lincoln Project posted on Twitter.

Attorneys for Black woman shot by cop: Firing `a first step'

Attorneys representing a Black woman who was shot and wounded inside a vehicle by a suburban Chicago police officer who also fatally shot her 19-year-old boyfriend called the officer's firing “a first step in police accountability" but said they are pressing ahead with their own probe of the shooting. Waukegan Police Chief Wayne Walles announced late Friday the firing of the officer who fatally shot Marcellis Stinnette, a Black man, and wounded Tafara Williams, 20. No other details, including the officer’s name, were provided in the announcement, which came shortly after Lake County’s chief prosecutor said the FBI would join Illinois State Police in investigating Tuesday's shooting.

'Fingers crossed and prayers': Colorado wildfire kills couple, forces more evacuations

Officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for eastern Estes Park as wind gusts pushed the 188,300-acre (76,200-hectare) East Troublesome Fire east, threatening the town of 6,300 people that serves as a base camp for the popular national park. A red flag warning issued by the National Weather Service was in effect for the area as winds of 60 miles per hour (97 kph) and low humidity were expected through Saturday.

A man reportedly confessed to his 4-year-old daughter that he killed his pregnant girlfriend whose body was found in his freezer

23-year-old Selena Ann Bradley was pregnant with her third child when her body was discovered in William James Hernandez's freezer on Monday.

Fatal police shooting of Black 19-year-old prompts firing of officer

Marcellis Stinnette, 19, was killed, and a Black woman, Tafara Williams, 20, was injured when the officer shot at the vehicle in Waukegan on Tuesday night.

Fatal police shooting of Black 19-year-old prompts firing of officer

Marcellis Stinnette, 19, was killed, and a Black woman, Tafara Williams, 20, was injured when the officer shot at the vehicle in Waukegan on Tuesday night.

Algerian president, 75, self isolates as pandemic spreads

Algeria's 75-year-old President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is self isolating because some officials in "upper ranks of the government" are sick with COVID-19, he said in a Tweet on Saturday. Tebboune took office in December in an election that came amidst months of mass protests which forced his predecessor Abdelaziz Bouteflika from power after 20 years. The global pandemic struck Algeria's economy as it faced long-term challenges posed by the decline of the oil and gas revenues that finance its historically lavish state spending.

New Florida resident Trump casts presidential ballot for himself

Trump, wearing a mask to prevent the spread of coronavirus, voted using a paper ballot. "It was a very secure vote, much more secure than when you send in a ballot," Trump said, repeating unfounded allegations that mail-in voting is more susceptible to fraud. "I voted for a guy named Trump," he said.

Chile surpasses 500,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases

Chile has identified more than 500,000 cases of the new coronavirus since the outbreak began in March, the health ministry said on Saturday. The ministry said 500,542 Chileans were now confirmed to have suffered from the virus, including 1,631 cases added in the past day and 48 deaths, taking fatalities to a total of 13,892. Chile, which was among the worst-hit nations by COVID-19 in July, ranking only behind Qatar globally for cases per head of the population, has in the past two months gradually eased lockdowns.

Member of far-right group charged with rioting at George Floyd protests

Ivan Harrison Hunter, a self-described member of far-right group Boogaloo Bois, has been charged with one count of rioting

Illinois officer who shot Black couple in Chicago suburbs, killing one, has been fired

An Illinois police officer has been fired for his role in a police shooting in the Chicago suburbs that left a Black man dead and a Black woman hospitalized earlier this week, according to media reports. The man, Marcellis Stinnette, was a passenger in a car with the woman, Tafara Williams. Williams was in the driver seat when another officer began “investigating an occupied vehicle” in Waukegan, Illinois late night Tuesday, local authorities said.

Exclusive: U.S. State Department suspends all diversity training after Trump's directive

The U.S. State Department has suspended all training programs for employees related to diversity and inclusion, an internal cable obtained by Reuters showed, after President Donald Trump directed federal agencies last month to end programs deemed divisive by the White House. "Beginning Friday, October 23, 2020, the Department is temporarily pausing all training programs related to diversity and inclusion in accordance with Executive Order ... on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping," the cable said. "The pause will allow time for the Department and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to review program content," it said.

Police officer fired after fatally shooting Black teen in Illinois

Marcellis Stinnette, 19, was killed during the incident and his girlfriend was seriously wounded.

Virus, economy top concerns as Lithuanians vote in runoff

The coronavirus pandemic is the main domestic issue as Lithuania holds a parliamentary runoff election Sunday, and the winner will have to tackle a rapidly deteriorating public health sector and high unemployment. In the second round, 68 of the 141 seats in Lithuania's legislative assembly, the Seimas, are up for grabs. The other seats were allotted after the Oct. 11 first round of voting.

A right-wing extremist shot up a Minneapolis police precinct during a BLM protest and screamed 'Justice for Floyd!' prosecutors say

Weeks after opening fire, he posted on Facebook "I helped the community burn down that police station in Minneapolis," according to the complaint.

Mexico will not follow FDA in approving Gilead's COVID-19 drug

Mexico will not necessarily follow the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in approving Gilead Science Inc's antiviral drug remdesivir for use in COVID-19 patients, a top Mexican health official said on Friday. Mexico's health regulator Cofepris has already twice denied approval for the drug with a "non-favorable" opinion, deputy health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell told his regular nightly news conference.

NASA probe leaking asteroid samples after hearty collection

The U.S. probe that collected a sample from an asteroid earlier this week retrieved so much material that a rock is wedged in the container door, allowing rocks to spill back out into space, NASA officials said on Friday. The robotic arm of the probe, OSIRIS-REx, on Tuesday night kicked up a debris cloud of rocks on Bennu, a skyscraper-sized asteroid some 200 million miles (320 million km) from Earth and trapped the material in a collection device for the return to Earth. The leakage had the OSIRIS-REx mission team scrambling to stow the collection device to prevent additional spillage."Time is of the essence," Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s associate administrator for science, told reporters.

Mainland China reports 28 new coronavirus cases vs 18 previous day

China reported 28 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for Oct. 23, up from 18 cases a day earlier, the health commission said on Saturday. All the new infections were imported, the statement by the National Health Commission said. It reported 27 new asymptomatic patients, up from 11 a day earlier.

Scott Peterson, who killed pregnant wife, faces death penalty at resentencing

“At this point in time, we are on track to retry" the death penalty case, a prosecutor told a judge in California on Friday.

Woman arrested after allegedly kidnapping grandmother for exorcism

Melissa Welsh told police that relative was possessed by demons

Man who drove semi-truck into BLM protesters charged

The man who drove his gas tanker into a crowd of peaceful protesters on a closed-down Minneapolis interstate in May has been charged with two felonies. Bogdan Vechirko, 35, is facing a felony charge of threats of violence and a gross misdemeanor charge of criminal vehicular operation, according to a press release from Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman’s office, Star Tribune reports. Vechirko, who was released from jail in June, reportedly admitted to investigators that he was “kind of in a hurry” when he nearly plowed through Black Lives Matter demonstrators on May 31.

Alleged member of right-wing group Boogaloo Bois charged with rioting during Minneapolis protest

A Texas man allegedly affiliated with the right-wing group, the Boogaloo Bois has been charged with rioting in connection to the Minneapolis protests for George Floyd. Authorities say, Ivan Harrison Hunter, 26, is the person who shot 13 rounds into the Minneapolis Police Department’s 3rd Precinct on May 28 with an “AK-47 style semiautomatic rifle,” according to MPR News. The criminal complaint says it was Hunter who was caught on video high-fiving another man while yelling, “Justice for Floyd!” and that a distinctive skull face mask from the riot was seen on his Facebook page.

Weapons supplier for San Bernardino terror attack gets 20 years

Enrique Marquez Jr. was sentenced Friday in federal court after he tried to withdraw his guilty plea.

Second Brazilian company to produce Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

A Brazilian pharmaceutical company said on Friday it has signed an agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to produce Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 starting in the second half of November. The private company União Quimica said on Friday that it was bound by a confidentiality agreement not to give any technical or scientific details. It still must obtain approval from Brazil's health regulator Anvisa.

2 Washington officers used excessive force during Floyd protests, police watchdog says

Video shows one of the officers “forcibly pushed the demonstrator’s head into the ground causing injury.”

Brazil institute to import Chinese COVID-19 vaccine rejected by Bolsonaro

Brazilian regulator Anvisa on Friday authorized a biomedical center to import 6 million doses of the Sinovac coronavirus vaccine, one day after President Jair Bolsonaro said Brazil would not buy the Chinese vaccine. Sao Paulo's Butantan Institute plans to initially import Sinovac's vaccine, which is in phase 3 trials conducted with the help of a local university and not yet approved for wider use in Brazil.

FBI to assist probe into police shooting of Black couple in Illinois

Lake County State's Attorney Michael Nerheim said he asked the Department of Justice for help reviewing the Oct. 20 shooting, which left 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette dead and has been under investigation by state police. "I have been advised that they have agreed to do so," Nerheim said of the Justice Department, which oversees the FBI.

Texas may not limit ballot drop boxes for U.S. election: appeals court

The Texas 3rd Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court that limiting the number of drop boxes would increase the risk that voters could get infected with COVID-19, and would infringe on their right to vote. Abbott has informed the voting rights groups who oppose his move to limit drop boxes that he intends to quickly appeal Friday's ruling to the Texas Supreme Court, effectively delaying the re-opening of ballot drop-off locations.

Fugitive priest accused of molesting teen arrested in Georgia, Louisiana cops say

Rev. Patrick Wattigny was removed from public ministry in early October.

Fight for justice continues in 2004 murder of Louisiana woman

Courtney Coco’s partially-clothed body was found in an abandoned building near Winnie, Texas, on October 4, 2004. It is unclear how the 19-year-old from Alexandria, Louisiana ended up 200 miles away in Texas. A week later, Courtney’s car was located in Houston, Texas. Her death was ruled a homicide but the case has gone cold and her killer has never been found. The Alexandria Police Department and the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office are investigating.

USPS boosts extra trips, returns mail processing machines to service

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) told a U.S. judge on Friday it has returned 137 mail processing machines to service since August and approved thousands of daily extra delivery trips this month as it works to deliver millions of ballots. U.S. District Judge Emmett Sullivan had ordered the return of mail sorting machines if removals could impact timely ballot deliveries ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election. The Postal Service said since Aug. 18, 137 mail processing machines have been returned to service and it has not removed any additional machines from service.

Mexico City discourages large gatherings as COVID-19 hospitalisations rise

The mayor of Mexico City, the country's largest city, on Friday called on residents to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people as the capital grapples with a surge of coronavirus hospitalisations. Health authorities have been warning that large gatherings, such as the Nov. 1-2 Day of the Dead festivities that usually draw hundreds of thousands of people nationwide, could prompt another wave of infections. The pandemic has led to more than 874,000 infections and killed nearly 87,900 people in Mexico.

Crews battling largest wildfires in Colorado history brace for high winds

Crews battling a string of wildfires in drought-stricken Colorado braced on Friday for the return of high winds that have stoked flames in what authorities have called an unprecedented outbreak of late-season wildfires. Three of the largest wildfires in Colorado's history have raged this year and two of them are still growing. The largest, the Cameron Peak Fire, has scorched more than 206,000 acres (83,360 hectares), according to the fire-reporting site InciWeb, and as of Friday morning it was 57 percent contained.

'Boogaloo Bois' member charged in connection to shooting at Minneapolis police station

Prosecutors say Ivan Harrison Hunter, 26, fired 13 rounds from an AK-47 during Minneapolis protests in late May.

McDonald's urges dismissal of Black former franchisees' discrimination lawsuit

In a filing in the federal court in Chicago, McDonald's said its franchise agreements made clear the obligations and risks of owning restaurants, which was "fatal" to the claim it defrauded the 52 plaintiffs, who operated more than 200 stores and have been seeking as much as $1 billion in damages. McDonald's, which is based in Chicago, also said many of the plaintiffs' claims were too old, and that there was no proof it made or broke promises that would support their "expansive" claim of longstanding, companywide discrimination. "On its face, this claim is illogical as it suggests the company somehow has an interest in undermining its franchisees and seeing them fail," McDonald's said.

Georgia teen apologizes for Black church murder plot, sentenced to juvenile detention

This week a Georgia teen accused of plotting to attack a predominantly Black church in 2019, issued an apology in court before being sentenced to four years in a juvenile facility and probation. According to CNN, the young woman’s plot eerily resembled the one carried out by Dylann Roof at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina five years ago. Fortunately, authorities intercepted her plans and she was arrested last November before being able to carry the attack at the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Gainesville, Georgia.

Wildfire smoke may help virus spread, mouthwash helps curb it

Large wildfires may be linked to increases in COVID-19 cases and deaths in the San Francisco area, according to a paper in the European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences. Researchers found that between March and September, increases in smoke particles, other wildfire pollutants and carbon monoxide levels corresponded to increases in daily COVID-19 diagnoses and total COVID-19 deaths. While correlation does not necessarily mean causality, coauthor Sultan Ayoub Meo of King Saud University in Saudi Arabia said air pollution provides a means for viruses to move around the environment.

J&J preparing to resume U.S. trial of COVID-19 vaccine candidate

Johnson & Johnson said on Friday it was preparing to resume a large clinical trial of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine in the United States after an independent safety panel recommended enrollments for the study. Last week, the company paused its late-stage trial after a study participant became ill. J&J at the time said it was not clear if the volunteer had received the vaccine or a placebo and that it would take at least a few days for an independent data and safety monitoring board to evaluate the illness.