MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — The latest developments from a stampede on the third day of the annual hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. ___ 3:45 p.m. Saudi Arabia’s civil defense directorate says 717 people were killed in a crush of Muslim pilgrims near the holy city of Mecca. Thursday’s disaster was the deadliest such incident…… MORE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jumping into the issues of the day, Pope Francis opened his visit to the United States with a strong call Wednesday for action to combat climate change, calling it a problem that “can no longer be left to a future generation.” President Barack Obama, in turn, hailed the pontiff as a moral…… MORE
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Music legend and original founder of The Bar-Kays, Ben Cauley, has died. He was 67. According to CBS affiliate WREG, Cauley’s daughter confirmed that he died Monday. His cause of death was not disclosed. He was a trumpet player, vocalist and founding member of the Stax recording group, The Bar-Kays. Cauley was…… MORE
EAST SELMA, Ala. (AP) — A man suspected of shooting three people in an Alabama church was likely upset over a recent breakup and visitation issues with his son, police said. James Junior Minter, 26, is being held without bond in the shooting of his girlfriend, his infant son and a pastor who tried to…… MORE
One of the largest Muslim groups in Texas said Thursday that it does not fault police and school officials who handcuffed and suspended a 14-year-old Muslim boy after he brought a homemade clock to class that they mistook for a possible bomb. Instead, Khalid Hamideh of the Islamic Association of North Texas blamed political leaders…… MORE
Something unusual happened here Wednesday when the Republican presidential candidates met for their second debate: For the first time since he joined the race, Donald Trump wasn’t the commanding presence on the stage. Not that Trump wasn’t the Trump whom Americans have seen nonstop on cable television. Among the first words out of his mouth…… MORE
What made two Georgia brothers, 17 and 22, viciously attack their parents in a middle-class suburb of Atlanta is still a mystery. But an even more shocking detail has emerged from police – that the brothers planned the attack for years. Are the Ervin brothers the modern-day African-American version of the infamous Menendez brothers or…… MORE
(AP) — After an intense manhunt, authorities in Mississippi said a college instructor wanted in the deaths of a woman he lived with and a university professor he worked with died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound as police closed in on him. News of Shannon Lamb’s death late Monday night brought to a…… MORE
A suspect wanted in the fatal shooting of a Kentucky state trooper after a traffic stop and chase is in custody, a county official said on Monday. The suspect, Joseph Thomas Johnson-Shanks, 25, of Missouri, was shot and injured when he was apprehended, Kentucky’s Lyon County Judge Executive Wade White said. Kentucky police earlier had said…… MORE
Megan Barry was elected the seventh mayor of Nashville’s metropolitan government Thursday, making history as the first woman to hold the city’s top office and reaffirming Democrats’ stronghold on the nonpartisan post. Barry, who also became the first Metro Council member elected Nashville mayor, beat David Fox comfortably 55 percent to 45 percent in the…… MORE
Missy Elliott has the honor of being the first rapper in space…sort of. Her song, “Super Dupa Fly (The Rain),” is the first rap track to be beamed into deep space. The transmission took place last week. NASA’s Deep Space Network was able to broadcast the song 158 million miles from Earth to Venus at…
Prince’s estate will not give approval to Netflix for a nine-hour documentary on the late superstar. The original deal was for a six-hour feature. Director Ezra Edelman’s completed version is three hours longer. Prince’s estate said the extra content violates the initial agreement made in 2018. Page Six reports that Netflix feels “confident a compromise…
Chris Brown’s success continues to impress. The singer recently hit a mark that no other singer has. Breezy became the first artist to have 50 top ten songs on Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart. The song that pushed Brown to the mark was Jeremih’s “Wait On It,” with features from Breezy and Bryson Tiller.
Sexyy Red’s upcoming tour is in trouble. According to Touring Data, Sexyy’s has only sold 37.1 percent of tickets for her Sexyy Red 4 President tour. The tickets dropped to the general public on June 28th. There’s online speculation that the low sales could lead to Sexyy canceling some, if not all, of the 24…