Author: NBC

A judge in Kentucky has dismissed core charges against two former Louisville police officials involved in the raid that ended in Breonna Taylor’s death.Judge Charles R. Simpson III of western Kentucky’s U.S. District Court on Thursday said Taylor’s death was triggered by the actions of her boyfriend, who opened fire when police arrived outside her Louisville apartment March 13, 2020.Regardless of whether former Louisville Police Detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany wrote and approved a falsified request for a warrant, it was boyfriend Kenneth Walker’s gunfire at what he believed were intruders that caused a deadly police response, Simpson…

Director, writer and producer Justin Simien, who a decade ago crashed through the Hollywood gates with his Sundance-winning film “Dear White People,” doesn’t approach his four-part MGM+ documentary series, “Hollywood Black,” from the perspective of Hollywood letting Black talent in. Instead, he emphasizes how Black talent or at least the concept of Blackness has been a part of Hollywood from day one.“From its very beginnings, Hollywood has been fascinated with Blackness,” Simien says in the first episode. “Not only are we the first subjects in early motion pictures, but we are also the subject of the first blockbusters, early animation…

Tim Walz accepts the Democratic vice presidential nomination. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to drop his presidential bid and endorse Trump. And what to know about the upcoming new round of Covid vaccines.Here’s what to know today.Tim Walz accepts VP nomination with a high-energy pep talkTim Walz officially became the Democratic vice presidential nominee last night, delivering a keynote speech on the third day of the Democratic National Convention that hammered home the theme of “freedom.” “When Republican use the word ‘freedom,’ they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor’s office, corporations free to pollute your…

Michelle and Barack Obama make the case for Kamala Harris. A survey shows Americans are seeking new jobs at the highest rate in a decade. And Jennifer Lopez files for divorce from Ben Affleck.Here’s what to know today.The Obamas get Democrats fired up for HarrisFormer President Barack Obama played the role of elder statesman in last night’s keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention, conveying a message of hope, admiration and determination. “I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling fired up,” he said in a callback to the early days of his own campaign in the city where he…

Former NFL star Michael Oher has broken his silence about the lawsuit he filed last year accusing Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy of deceiving him into a conservatorship and unfairly profiting from the book and movie “The Blind Side,” which centered on the couple’s relationship with him.In an interview published in The New York Times Magazine on Sunday, Oher lamented that the movie, released in 2009 just two months into his first NFL season, stripped his true identity.“That’s my heartbreak right there,” Oher said. “It was as soon as I got there, I was defined.”In a lawsuit that made headlines…

Kamala Harris’ big weekAs the Democratic National Convention kicks off in Chicago on Monday, the party will be looking to introduce Kamala Harris to the many Americans who still know little about her, with just 11 weeks until Election Day. A mad scramble is underway to roll out her biography as Trump works to villainize her.The DNC speakers this week will include former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, former first lady Michelle Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. On Monday night, President Joe Biden will deliver a speech at the event that just weeks ago was expected…

A Missouri woman with a long history of small-time scams and fraud was arrested Friday morning on federal charges in connection with a scheme to extort Elvis Presley’s family out of millions and steal their ownership interest in the music legend’s former Memphis home, Graceland, prosecutors announced.Lisa Jeanine Findley, who is also known by Lisa Holden and a slew of other aliases, 53, was charged with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft in a criminal complaint unsealed Friday, prosecutors announced. Findley made her initial appearance Friday afternoon before Magistrate Judge David Rush at the United States Courthouse in Springfield, Missouri.…

A white woman with a history of harassing children and using racial slurs was convicted of manslaughter on Friday in the fatal shooting of a Black neighbor last year in Ocala, Florida.Susan Louise Lorincz, 60, killed Ajike “AJ” Owens with a single shot from a .380-caliber handgun as Owens knocked on her apartment door on June 2, 2023.The Marion County Sheriff’s Office said at the time Lorincz and Owens were in a long-standing “feud” over Owens’ children playing.The all-white, six-person jury found Lorincz guilty of manslaughter despite the 60-year-old asserting that her actions were in self-defense. Lorincz, who showed no…

Five people have been charged in connection with the death of actor Matthew Perry. Kamala Harris will lay out economic policy proposals in a North Carolina speech. And a viral but unsubstantiated rumor claims Americans’ Social Security numbers were leaked.Here’s what to know today.Matthew Perry’s addiction was spiraling out of control before his death, prosecutors allege“Friends” actor Matthew Perry was experiencing an out-of-control ketamine addiction in the weeks leading to his death, injecting the drug six to eight times a day and paying at least $55,000 for it in the month before he died, prosecutors say in court documents.Prosecutors announced…

The president of Columbia University announced her resignation Wednesday after a little more than a year on the job, following months of criticism over protests on the Manhattan campus over the war in Gaza.Nemat “Minouche” Shafik had been criticized by anti-war protesters and by House Republicans in Congress, but for different reasons.In a letter to the Columbia community, Shafik said that while she was president “we have made progress in a number of important areas.””However, it has also been a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community,” she said. “This period has…