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
Chris O’Donnell is headed back to the small screen to star in the 9-1-1 spinoff series, 9-1-1: Nashville on ABC. We don’t know many plot details yet, but the show will follow first responders in the Tennessee-based city. Chris will play Captain Don Sharpe, who Variety describes as “a rugged fire captain and rodeo rider…
Will Smith announced his new album, Based On A True Story, will be released on March 28, 20 years after his last album. The album features DJ Jazzy Jeff, Teyana Taylor, and Smith’s son Jaden. The tracklist is divided into “episodes” instead of songs. He also recently revealed that he and Prince discussed launching an…
SZA is feeling speechless after her album SOS managed to tie Michael Jackson’s classic Thriller. The two artists are officially tied at 79 total non-consecutive weeks spent in the Top 10 on the Billboard 200. According to Luminate, that’s the most for a Black artist. TMZ Hip-Hop caught up with SZA after her appearance on…
Angie Stone’s catalog received a hefty boost following her recent death. Billboard reports that Stone’s streams have increased by 1,300 percent to 8.4 million. Stone’s sales have risen by 10,700 percent. Her 1999 hit “No More Rain (In This Cloud)” got the biggest bump in listens. Stone died in a car accident in Alabama on…