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Marriage, service, TikTok fame: How the Menendez brothers spent 34 years in prison

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LOS ANGELES — For all attention focused on Erik and Lyle Menendez — the TikTok freedom campaign, the multiple documentaries and docudramas — one fact gets easily lost: While their lives and actions have been chronicled exhaustively up to their trials for violently killing their parents, much less is known about their 34 years behind bars. ...Read more

Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/TNS

'We're not looking for a quick killing here': Jurors see undercover video of ex-Illinois Speaker Madigan soliciting law business from Chinatown developer

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CHICAGO — Jurors in the Michael Madigan corruption trial on Monday got their first look at a secretly recorded video of the then-powerful House speaker soliciting business for his law firm from the developer of a Chinatown hotel project.

“We’re not looking for a quick killing here,” Madigan said near the end of the August 2014 meeting, ...Read more

Jose Iglesias/Miami Herald/Jose Iglesias

Children are being recruited into Haitian armed gangs at an alarming rate, UNICEF says

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Haiti’s armed-gang crisis just got worse — and even more complicated.

A new report by the United Nations’ leading child welfare agency, UNICEF, says the number of children being recruited by the country’s violent gangs has soared by 70% in the last year.

The unprecedented spike, registered between the second quarter of 2023 and this ...Read more

AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Israel and Hezbollah close to ceasefire deal, says Israel's envoy to Washington

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Israel is potentially days away from a cease-fire agreement with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, following a new round of shuttle diplomacy by a senior envoy for the outgoing Biden administration.

“We are close to a deal,” the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Michael Herzog, told Israel’s Army Radio on Monday, adding that some final points still ...Read more

Jessica Tisch sworn in as latest NYPD commissioner

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NEW YORK — Jessica Tisch was sworn at the NYPD’s new commissioner Monday, the fourth top cop to assume the role during Mayor Eric Adams’ first three years in office.

Tisch, who has served as New York CIty’s sanitation commissioner since April 2022, is no stranger to the nation’s largest police force — she has worked in the past as a...Read more

Robyn Beck/Getty Images North America/TNS

Menendez brothers to make first court appearance in bid for freedom

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LOS ANGELES — Brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are serving life terms without parole for the shotgun killings of their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion, will make their first court appearance Monday in a bid for their release after more than 34 years behind bars.

The brothers will join the hearing in Van Nuys via video from the San ...Read more

Egypt says 17 missing after tourist boat sinks in Red Sea

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Egyptian authorities are searching for 17 people missing after a tourist boat sank off the country’s Red Sea coast.

Twenty-eight others have been rescued, Amr Hanafi, the governor of Egypt’s Red Sea governorate, said in a statement. The vessel, identified as the Sea Story, foundered at about 5:30 a.m. Monday in waters near the coastal town ...Read more

Haitian Americans sue Red Cross, accusing charity of mismanaging Haiti aid after quake

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A Haitian American organization has filed suit in federal court against the American Red Cross, the International Red Cross and related entities, accusing the well-known charities of exploiting “the poverty and calamities” of an impoverished Haiti to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in the name of humanitarian aid only to mismanage and ...Read more

Bomb cyclone shows cracks in Washington's electrical grid

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SEATTLE — The bomb cyclone that knocked out power for some half a million people in Western Washington last week exposed the weaknesses in the Pacific Northwest's energy grid.

As the massive low-pressure system spun off the coast, easterly winds, reaching hurricane strength in places, tore through the region, blowing over trees into power ...Read more

MIKE NELSON/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Menendez brothers to make first court appearance in bid for freedom

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES — Brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are serving life terms without parole for the shotgun killings of their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion, will make their first court appearance Monday in a bid for their release after more than 34 years behind bars.

The brothers will join the hearing in Van Nuys via video from the San ...Read more

Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/TNS

FBI mole and ex-Ald. Daniel Solis back on stand in former Illinois Speaker Madigan's corruption trial

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CHICAGO — Former Ald. Daniel Solis will resume testifying Monday in the corruption trial of ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan about his bombshell turn as an FBI mole.

Solis, 71, the former 25th Ward alderman and longtime head of the City Council’s influential Zoning Committee, took the witness stand late last week to begin what will be a ...Read more

Arvin Temkar/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Georgia starts budget season with $16.5 billion in reserves

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ATLANTA — Georgia officials will begin the upcoming budget season with plenty of cash on hand and no shortage of ways to spend it.

The state closed the fiscal year that ended in July with nearly $16.5 billion in “rainy day” and undesignated reserves, according to a recent state report. That’s enough to pay for nearly half a year’s ...Read more

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths here in Florida. Here's why

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Sherrie Smyth had a feeling something was wrong. For several months, she suffered shortness of breath.

After her cardiologist found nothing unusual, she tried an allergist. “I was 57, and the allergist told me I had adult-onset asthma,” said Smyth, a Miami mother of a teenager.

Although she accepted an inhaler, ...Read more

Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Key Bridge rebuild contractor recommended itself for millions in contracts for a pier project, audit says

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BALTIMORE — The construction giant selected by Maryland officials to replace the fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge recommended itself for at least $64 million in contracts while serving as the construction manager for a Connecticut pier project, according to a state audit.

The process, during which Kiewit Infrastructure developed bid packages ...Read more

Alejandro A. Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

For the first time in 10 years, Philly school enrollment is rising

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PHILADELPHIA — After years of declining enrollment, the Philadelphia School District has grown.

Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said the school system's official student count for 2024-25 is 117,956 — 1,841 students more than in 2023-24, an increase of a little under 2%.

The student population rose in 10 out of 15 geographic networks...Read more

AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Israel and Hezbollah close to ceasefire deal, says Israel's envoy to Washington

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Israel is potentially days away from a cease-fire agreement with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. said, following a new round of shuttle diplomacy by a senior envoy for the outgoing Biden administration.

“We are close to a deal,” Michael Herzog told Israel’s Army Radio on Monday, adding that some final points ...Read more

Sasinparaksa/Dreamstime/TNS

An orthopedic specialist's tips to care for achy knees as you age

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Chronic knee pain is just a matter of time for many adults. With tips from a treatment expert, however, you might be able to soothe the pain — or even prevent it.

Dr. Angie Brown is a clinical associate professor at Quinnipiac University, where she uses her experience as an orthopedic specialist to teach students about the musculoskeletal ...Read more

Aamir Qureshi/Getty Images North America/TNS

Imran Khan supporters rally in Pakistan despite ban, arrests

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Pakistan’s authorities have arrested hundreds of supporters of incarcerated leader Imran Khan amid skirmishes with the police in multiple cities and blocked highways after the former premier’s call to converge in the capital Islamabad.

The biggest convoy led by Khan’s top leaders from the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has removed ...Read more

Tiziana Fabi/Getty Images North America/TNS

G-7 poised to boost pressure on China over Russian support

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Group of Seven allies are set to step up pressure on China while offering Kyiv “unwavering commitment” amid accusations that Beijing has increased support for Russia in its war against Ukraine.

The G-7 foreign ministers, who are meeting in Italy on Monday and Tuesday, are expected to vow “appropriate measures consistent with our legal ...Read more

Miami Police Chief harassed veteran Black officer after making racist remark, lawsuit says

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MIAMI — A Black 18-year police veteran alleges she was victimized by Miami Police Chief Manuel Morales when he made racist criticisms of her hair, a federal lawsuit reads. When she refused to conform to his supposed biased views, Morales is accused of derailing her promising career by using his power to target and undermine her.

Weslyne Lewis...Read more