Author: rpnadmin

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Thousands of people rallied Saturday in the cradle of the modern Civil Rights Movement to mobilize a new voting rights era as conservative states dismantle congressional districts that helped secure Black political representation. U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey called Montgomery “sacred soil” in the fight for civil rights. “if we in our generation do not now do our duty, we will lose the gains and the rights and the liberties that our ancestors afforded us,” Booker said. The crowd was led in chants of “we won’t go back” and “we fight.” “We are not going…

PARIS — A French investigating judge will examine a complaint by two rights groups accusing Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of involvement in the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said Saturday. The prosecutor’s office, known as the PNAT, said the case will now be handled by an investigating judge from the crimes against humanity unit after a May 11 ruling by the Paris Court of Appeal. The complaint was filed by Trial International and Reporters Without Borders. The groups accuse the Saudi crown prince of complicity in torture and enforced disappearance over the…

NORFOLK, Va. — The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world largest aircraft carrier, returned home to Virginia on Saturday after an 11-month deployment, the longest since the Vietnam War, that saw it support the U.S. war with Iran and the capture of Nicolás Maduro when he was Venezuela’s president. The most advanced U.S. warship and two accompanying destroyers docked at Naval Station Norfolk with about 5,000 sailors waiting to see their families for the first time since June. Besides combat operations and traversing continents, the sailors aboard the carrier faced a noncombat-related fire that left hundreds without places to sleep…

NEW YORK — An Iraqi national accused of plotting at least 18 terror attacks in Europe in retaliation for the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran, including firebombing a bank in Amsterdam and stabbing Jewish men in London, has been arrested and charged with supporting Iran-backed terrorist organizations. According to a complaint unsealed Friday in federal court in Manhattan, Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi sought to attack a New York City synagogue last month and provided an undercover law enforcement officer with photos and maps of Jewish centers in Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Arizona, that he planned to target. Al-Saadi…

Family members often clench them as if they were still clasping their fallen loved one’s hands. Companions-in-arms have broken down reading them. More than a century after a U.S. Army chaplain pushed for “dog tags” to become standard issue for troops, they remain one of the most powerful links for grieving military families to their lost loved ones. “What they’re searching for is connection,” said Air Force Chaplain and Maj. Benjamin Quintanilla Jr. at Dover Air Force Base, where U.S. casualties from the wars in Afghanistan and now Iran have been repatriated. “So these dog tags become just a sacred…

PORTLAND, Maine — A large fire and explosion at a lumber mill in Maine’s midcoast region injured at least 11 people Friday. Flames tore through Robbins Lumber in Searsmont, a town of about 1,500 people about 95 miles (153 kilometers) from Portland, authorities said. “There’s been a huge explosion. The silo just exploded. Multiple firefighters injured,” a first responder said, according to scanner traffic from Kennebec, Somerset and Waldo County fire departments recorded by Broadcastify.com. MaineHealth Maine Medical Center in Portland, which has a Level 1 trauma designation, was waiting for 10 patients who had been treated at local hospitals…

AKRON, Ohio — An investigation began Friday into what caused a small plane to crash into a house in northeast Ohio and explode into flames, killing both pilots aboard. The National Transportation Safety Board was leading the review in Akron, alongside the Federal Aviation Administration and Ohio State Highway Patrol, officials said. The white and blue Piper PA-28-180, commonly known as the Cherokee, took off from Akron Fulton Airport for a training flight at around 2 p.m. on Thursday, according to Aaron McCarter, an NTSB aviation accident investigator. The two people on board – a certified flight instructor and the…

MEMPHIS, Tenn, — A Tennessee man pleaded guilty on Friday in the shooting death of Young Dolph during a daytime ambush at a Memphis bakery, marking an end to courtroom battles stemming from the rapper and music label owner’s shocking killing in his hometown more than four years ago. Cornelius Smith Jr., 36, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a Memphis courtroom under an agreement with prosecutors that dropped other charges against him, according to a press release from the district attorney’s office. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison as part of the plea deal. Smith and another…

American flags across the nation are flying at half-staff Friday in observance of Peace Officers Memorial Day, an annual tribute to law enforcement officers who have died or been injured in the line of duty. President Trump signed a proclamation designating May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week of May 10 through May 16 as Police Week, calling on all Americans to observe the week with appropriate ceremonies and activities. The flag order stems from a joint resolution approved by Congress on Oct. 1, 1962, which authorized and requested the president to designate May 15 of each…

A man living in the Houston suburbs pleaded guilty Thursday to shooting and killing a bald eagle, a violation of a federal law of 1940. Santos Guerrero, 42, a resident of Porter, Texas, about 25 miles northeast of Houston, shot at a bald eagle that was sitting in a tree on Oct. 11, 2024, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. The eagle survived the initial gunshot, but its wing was damaged, and it suffered injuries to its liver and leg, along with internal bleeding after falling from the tree. The bald eagle was taken to…