AP-MED-VIRUS-OUTBREAK
US opens COVID boosters to all adults, urges them for 50+
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is opening COVID-19 vaccine boosters to all adults, and urging them for anyone 50 and older. The decision Friday seeks to simplify what has been a confusing list of who’s eligible. Now for anyone 18 or older, the only requirement is to be at least six months past their last dose of a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or two months past the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The government is trying to get ahead of rising coronavirus cases that experts fear could snowball into a winter surge with upcoming holiday travel.
KENOSHA PROTEST-SHOOTINGS-MEDIA
A defining image: Rittenhouse nearly crumbles out of picture
NEW YORK (AP) — Kyle Rittenhouse, fighting back sobs, nearly collapsed out of the television camera’s sight as the last of five ‘not guilty’ verdicts was read in a Wisconsin courtroom. It instantly became the defining image of his murder trial’s climactic moment, which became the subject of such passionate debate that major broadcast and cable news networks set aside regular programming to reveal the jury’s decision. The verdict Friday didn’t end the strong opinions that raced through the media. Rittenhouse’s relieved lawyer, Mark Richards, was questioned by reporters after the trial live on television and ended the news conference with the plaintive request: ‘Can I go home?’
NEW YORK-FEDERAL PROSECUTOR
New US attorney: Civil rights unit made for ‘troubled times’
NEW YORK (AP) — The new Manhattan U.S. attorney says he’s establishing a civil rights unit in his office’s criminal division to concentrate greater resources on problems worsening in what he called troubled times. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams made the comments Friday after he was formally sworn in as the first Black top federal law enforcement official in the Southern District of New York. He was delivering remarks to about 500 current and former law enforcement personnel who gathered to hear Senate Majority Leader Sen. Charles Schumer and Attorney General Merrick Garland praise Williams as the right leader for the moment.
BC-US-COLORADO-SCHOOL-SHOOTING
Police: 3 students shot in Denver-area school parking lot
AURORA, Colo. (AP) — Colorado police say three students have been shot during a fight in the parking lot of a high school in a Denver suburb. Aurora police say two of those who were shot outside Hinkley High School were taken to a hospital and a third got there on their own. Police Chief Vanessa Wilson says the injuries are not life-threatening and that police are trying to determine if the shooting is related to a Monday shooting that injured six students from another high school. The two schools are about 3 miles apart. No arrests have been made in the Monday shooting.
SENATORS-DEATH THREATS
Alaska man accused of threats against US senators detained
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A federal magistrate has ordered the continued detention of a man who has been accused of leaving threatening messages against Alaska’s U.S. senators. Lisa Houghton, a spokesperson for the Alaska U.S. attorney’s office, says Jay Allen Johnson was ordered by the court to continue to be detained. Jason Weiner, an attorney for Johnson, says he was frustrated by the decision. He says the defense proposed alternatives, such as bail and electronic monitoring. He says he also has concerns about Johnson’s health. Johnson has been accused of making threats against U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-ELIJAH MCCLAIN-LAWSUIT
Denver suburb to pay $15M to settle Elijah McClain lawsuit
DENVER (AP) — The Denver suburb of Aurora has agreed to pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the parents of Elijah McClain, a Black man who died after suburban Denver police stopped him on the street and put him in a neck hold two years ago. The terms of the settlement were accepted by a magistrate judge Friday in Denver. The lawsuit alleged that the police’s violent treatment of McClain was part of a pattern of racially biased policing. City officials called the settlement an important step in restoring community trust, saying McClain’s death has led the city to take a hard look at its policies.
EX-OFFICER-CARJACKING
Police: Wanted ex-officer, kids among 4 found dead in car
SMITHSBURG, Md. (AP) — Maryland State Police have identified four people found fatally shot after a police chase near the Pennsylvania state line. They’re a former Baltimore County police officer who had been on the run with his two daughters and a police officer suspended after joining them. Police say former Baltimore County police officer and fugitive Robert Vicosa was found with his daughters. A woman found dead in the driver’s seat was identified as county officer Tia Bynum. Authorities had been looking for Vicosa and the girls for days. Police in Pennsylvania say Vicosa’s estranged wife reported that he assaulted her, but when authorities went to the home, Vicosa and the girls were gone.
MEXICO-IMMIGRATION
Mexican authorities find more than 400 migrants in trailers
COATZACOALCOS, México (AP) — Mexican authorities discovered more than 400 migrants transiting the country in the back of two semi-trailers Friday, not far from where two migrant caravans were more visibly, and slowly, making their way north. The migrants were held by authorities in a walled yard until federal immigration agents could retrieve them. Tonatiuh Hernández Sarmiento, of the Veracruz Human Rights Commission, said after visiting them, “There were more than 400. Some were very dirty, covered in mud, I imagine because of the conditions of the containers … the overcrowding. I imagine that because of the heat they were really wet.”
SCHOOL BUS CRASH-TEXAS
3 killed, none of them students, in school band bus crash
BIG SPRING, Texas (AP) — Officials say three people were killed when a wrong-way pickup truck on a West Texas interstate highway slammed into a bus carrying members of a high school band. The crash happened Friday afternoon on Interstate 20 in Big Spring, about 250 miles west of Fort Worth. The Texas Department of Public Safety reports the bus from Andrews High School in Andrews, Texas, near the New Mexico border, was headed to a football game when it was hit by the wrong-way truck, which burst into flames. DPS Sgt. Justin Baker says the truck driver and two adults from the bus were killed.
FRANCE-KARDASHIAN WEST-ROBBERY
12 to stand trial for Kardashian West jewel heist in Paris
PARIS (AP) — French authorities say 12 people will stand trial in Paris over a $10 million jewelry heist targeting Kim Kardashian West in 2016. The reality TV star said she was tied up at gunpoint and locked in a bathroom after armed robbers forced their way into her rented Paris apartment during fashion week. After five years of investigation, investigating judges have ordered the case sent to trial, authorities said Friday. The 12 suspects face a range of charges related to the theft. No trial date has been set. Kardashian West’s French lawyer didn’t comment.
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