Richmond

Canada's Trudeau wins reelection but faces a divided nation

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau begins his second term facing an increasingly divided Parliament and country, with his rock-star appeal from four years ago diminished by scandal and unmet expectations. Trudeau was reelected in a stronger-than-expected showing in Monday's national elections. The prime minister struck a conciliatory note in an early morning address that forced the TV networks to break away from covering his Conservative rival, Andrew Scheer, who had just begun speaking to his own supporters.

Toyota's luxury Lexus brand plans battery EV launch in 2020

Toyota Motor's Lexus will launch its first all-battery electric vehicle next year, as the luxury brand races to market a battery-operated car amid growing competition to develop zero-emissions vehicles, the head of the brand said on Wednesday. At the unveiling of a concept model of a futuristic EV hatchback ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show, he added that the goal is for sales of Lexus electric vehicles, including battery electrics and gasoline hybrids, to outpace sales of the luxury brand's gasoline vehicle models by 2025. The Lexus model will be Toyota's first full-sized, battery operated passenger car as the Japanese automaker catches up with rivals, including Nissan Motor Co and Tesla Inc , which have marketed battery EVs for years.

As trial nears, hearing set in Florida school shooting case

As his death penalty trial draws closer, a hearing is set for Florida school shooting defendant Nikolas Cruz in the 2018 massacre that killed 17 people. Although Cruz has pleaded not guilty, his lawyers say he would admit to the crimes in exchange for a life prison sentence. Prosecutors say they are pursuing the death penalty.

Appeals court set to hear arguments over Trump's tax returns

President Donald Trump's lawyers are ready to urge a federal appeals court to reverse a lower-court's conclusion that his tax returns can be turned over to state prosecutors. The lawyers will appear before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Wednesday morning to urge a three-judge panel to reject the judge's conclusions that Trump can't stand in the way of the request from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. Vance, a Democrat, sought tax records since 2011 from Trump's longtime accountant for a criminal probe stemming in part from payments made to buy the silence of two women who claim affairs with the president before the 2016 presidential election.

Giuliani associates due in court in campaign finance case

Two associates of Rudy Giuliani are to be arraigned Wednesday on charges they used straw donors to make illegal campaign contributions to politicians and committees to advance their business interests. Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were expected to plead not guilty in federal court in Manhattan in a case that's cast a harsh light on the business dealings of President Donald Trump's personal lawyer. Prosecutors say Parnas and Fruman made donations while lobbying U.S. politicians to oust the country's ambassador to Ukraine.

California braces for possible round 2 of outages

California's largest utility planned to decide Wednesday whether to black out some half-million customers as dangerous fire weather returns to California. Pacific Gas & Electric said it could begin precautionary power shutoffs as early as Wednesday afternoon to about 189,000 homes and businesses in portions of 16 counties, mostly in the Sierra foothills and north of the San Francisco Bay Area. Meanwhile, Southern California Edison said it could cut power Thursday to about 132,000 customers in six counties — around 300,000 people.

Jamaican citizens sue Yellowstone Club over wages

Five Jamaican citizens who were recruited to work at a Montana ski resort for the ultra-rich just north of Yellowstone National Park last winter say they and more than 100 other Jamaicans were discriminated against and paid less than other employees doing the same work. The lawsuit alleges the Jamaicans did not receive tips or service charges that are included on restaurant and bar bills like other employees did while cooking for or serving wealthy club members, who include Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Berkshire Hathaway founder Warren Buffett and Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. The complaint argues the lost tips and service charges could amount to around $500 a night for workers at the nicest restaurants.

Trump claim brings new pain to relatives of lynching victims

Willie Edwards Jr., a black truck driver, was killed by Ku Klux Klansmen who forced him to jump off a bridge in Alabama in 1957. Two years earlier, white men had bludgeoned black teenager Emmett Till to death in Mississippi. Both people died in racist lynchings, and relatives of each were aghast Tuesday after President Donald Trump compared his own possible impeachment to lynching — racist killings, often for the purpose of inciting terror, that took an estimated 4,400 black lives over roughly seven decades in 20 states, mostly in the South.

New 9/11 exhibit stages hunt for Osama bin Laden

Declassified U.S. government documents and artifacts are part of a new exhibit on the decade-long search for Osama bin Laden at the site of the New York terrorist attack. "Revealed: The Hunt for Bin Laden" opens Nov. 15 at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, a multimedia account of the mission that ended with bin Laden's death in Pakistan in 2011. The exhibit presents the hunt for bin Laden as a sort of who-done-it come alive with graphics, videos and the voices of the protagonists, from intelligence agents, former President Barack Obama and members of the U.S. Navy SEALs team that raided bin Laden's home and shot and killed him.

Video released in controversial arrest of black Oregon State University student

Oregon police have released body camera footage of the controversial arrest of a black college student who clashed with officers after they stopped her for allegedly riding her bike on the wrong side of the road. The video, released by Oregon State Police on Monday, captured the Oct. 13 arrest of Genesis Hansen, a 21-year-old Oregon State University student who was pinned to the ground and dragged by two officers after refusing to answer their questions. OSP said it was releasing the video in response to claims from critics, including the NAACP, who accused the officers of using excessive force and targeting the young woman because she is black.

Botswana votes as ruling party faces surprising challenge

Polls opened in Botswana on Wednesday as the long-peaceful southern African nation faces what is expected to be its tightest election in history. The ruling party and President Mokgweetsi Masisi have been presented with a surprising challenge after former President Ian Khama broke away and announced his support for an opposition coalition instead. Khama hand-picked Masisi as his successor when he stepped down last year following two terms in office in the diamond-rich country.

Chicago mayor set to unveil budget, plan for huge deficit

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is expected to detail how the nation's third-largest city should deal with an $838 million budget deficit when she delivers her budget address to the City Council. Lightfoot's speech set for Wednesday morning comes on the fifth day of canceled classes during a strike by Chicago Public Schools teachers. The city's budget Lightfoot will address is separate from the school district's.

Meet the Disney and Points of Light Volunteer Family of the Year nominees

For thousands across America, volunteering is a family affair. Take, for example, the nominees for the first-ever Volunteer Family of the Year, who are being honored by Disney and Points of Light, the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteerism. "Good Morning America" introduced viewers to these deserving families, profiled below, that are making a difference in their community through volunteering.

Ballistics database helps bring Houston gang war into focus

Kenneth Roberson's lyrics chronicled the gang violence he saw in his hometown of Houston. "I don't know how to move on," said Ferguson-Smith, who has started a nonprofit group called TEARS to help grieving mothers. Roberson's killing, which had no witnesses, might have gone unsolved if not for a federal ballistics database that linked the 24-year-old's death to a series of fatal shootings that seem unconnected but that authorities say are part of an ongoing gang war in Houston that's claimed more than 60 lives the past six years.

Lori Loughlin among parents hit with new charges in admissions scam

Loughlin, her husband and nine others are now accused of conspiring to commit federal program bribery

Ex-Honolulu police chief, estranged wife plead guilty

A retired Honolulu police chief and his wife, a former deputy city prosecutor, pleaded guilty Tuesday to bank fraud in order to avoid other trials against them, capping a federal corruption investigation that brought down the once-respected and powerful couple. As part of a deal with prosecutors, Louis and Katherine Kealoha pleaded guilty to bank fraud, saying in separate hearings Tuesday that they provided false information to obtain loans. Katherine Kealoha, 49, also pleaded guilty to an identity theft charge, saying she got a police officer to forge a police report she used to explain negative information on a credit report.

Body of missing Alabama girl found; 2 being charged

Investigators searching through garbage found the body of a 3-year-old girl who was missing more than a week, and authorities are charging two people with murder, police said Tuesday. Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith told a news conference that the remains of Kamille McKinney were located in a trash bin that had been taken to a landfill. Smith said police were obtaining murder warrants against two people previously identified as persons of interest in the case, 39-year-old Patrick Devone Stallworth and his 29-year-old girlfriend, Derick Irisha Brown.

New charges in college admissions scandal affect 11 parents, including Lori Loughlin

A grand jury in Boston returned additional charges on Tuesday against 18 people tied to the "Varsity Blues" college admissions scandal. The new charges affect 11 of 15 previously charged parents, including actress Lori Loughlin, and seven university officials. Mossimo Giannuli, Loughlin's husband, is also among those facing additional charges.

Police find body in dumpster believed to be missing Alabama 3-year-old Kamille McKinney

Police said they recovered what appeared to be the body of 3-year-old Kamille McKinney in a Birmingham dumpster not far from where she disappeared nine days ago, the Birmingham Police Department announced Tuesday. The department also said it plans to charge suspects Patrick Stallworth, 39. The suspects were arrested last week on unrelated charges and were named persons of interests in Kamille's disappearance.

Biden to step up attack on Trump's economic policies in Pennsylvania speech

Democratic U.S. presidential contender Joe Biden plans to tout his economic policy credentials and double down on his attacks on President Donald Trump in a speech on Wednesday in the electoral battleground state of Pennsylvania. Biden, who faces a two-front war against the largest Democratic field in history as well as Trump, will speak in Scranton, the Rust Belt town where he grew up, about "the middle class values that guide his vision," his campaign said. Biden, a leading contender in the Democratic race to take on Trump in the November 2020 election, recommitted to raising the U.S. minimum wage to $15 an hour from the current $7.25, according to a statement released on Tuesday.

Trump administration unveils new water rules for California

The Trump administration on Tuesday unveiled new rules to govern California's scarce water, committing to send more to farmers in the Central Valley despite warnings from environmental groups that it would imperil endangered species in the fragile San Joaquin Delta. The rules govern management of the federal Central Valley Project and the State Water Project, two complex labyrinths of dams and canals that corral rain and snowmelt to provide water to more than 25 million Californians and millions of acres of farmland. An initial review by the national Marine Fisheries Services in July concluded the plan would threaten the existence of some endangered species, including winter-run chinook salmon, according to the Los Angeles Times.