Richmond

Alicia Keys is launching a cruelty-free collection with e.l.f. Beauty

Alicia Keys is a bonafide beauty in her own right, and now fans will be delighted to hear she's coming out with a line of beauty products. Beauty announced the company will team up with the award-winning singer-songwriter to create a new lifestyle beauty brand. "We are beyond thrilled to leverage our strengths to help realize Alicia's vision, as it not only aligns with our mission to make the best of beauty accessible, but infuses it with an even deeper dimension," said Tarang Amin, chairman and CEO of, e.l.f.

Amanda Kloots marks 1 month since Nick Cordero's death: 'With each passing day I miss you more and more'

Amanda Kloots paid tribute to her late husband Nick Cordero one month after his death on Wednesday. "Dear Nick, it's been one month since you've been gone," the fitness trainer wrote alongside a photo of herself with her husband. "I wish I could see you, hold you, kiss you, talk to you, hear your voice, get a hug, see you with Elvis," she continued, mentioning the couple's 1-year-old son.

Underwater art museum finally opens after COVID-19 delay

The Museum of Underwater Art (MOUA) in the Great Barrier Reef, Townsville, Australia, welcomed its first divers to its newest installation earlier this week.Jason deCaires Taylor. a British sculptor, is the artist behind the underwater exhibit called Coral Greenhouse. The Coral Greenhouse is located in the heart of the Greater Barrier Reef Marine Park at John Brewer Reef and is the largest MOUA installation, featuring the first underwater building. View this post on Instagram The sculptures by @jasondecairestaylor for 'the Coral Greenhouse' are absolutely stunning. ...

Racist online searches fuel NC man’s threats against Black church, feds say

John Malcolm Bareswill’s searches included “who said all whites are racist” and “why are (racial slur) protesting and looting,” according to court filings.

Ohio governor tests positive for COVID-19, cancels plans to greet Trump in Cleveland

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said on Thursday he had tested positive for COVID-19 as part of a safety protocol to greet U.S. President Donald Trump when he arrives in Cleveland to visit a Whirlpool washing machine factory. A statement issued on DeWine's Twitter feed said the governor, a Republican, had no symptoms at the present time and would return to the Ohio capital of Columbus to quarantine at home for the next 14 days. Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted also took the coronavirus test and tested negative, DeWine's statement said.

Coronavirus updates: Disproportionate number of non-white children dying, data shows

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 708,000 people worldwide. Over 18.8 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks.

More signs point to U.S. economic recovery losing momentum

Weekly data that Reuters follows from sources ranging from the New York Federal Reserve to mobility tracking and small business payroll service providers shows that after big upticks in May and June, activity growth stalled in July as COVID-19 spread rapidly in key areas of the country across the South and Southwest. The Kronos data showed that shift growth peaked at 8.7% in May, then slowed to 5.9% in June and to just 1% in July. "We've now settled into a clear plateau in shift work growth," Dave Gilbertson, vice president for Kronos' HCM practice group, said in a statement.

U.S. health secretary says Taiwan trip is to reaffirm partnership

Health Secretary Alex Azar said on Thursday his upcoming trip to Taiwan was designed to reaffirm the U.S. partnership with the Asian country, which he praised for its transparency and cooperation in the public health field. "This is about Taiwan, and the United States and the partnership we've had in public health," Azar said in an interview with MSNBC. Azar, the highest-level U.S. official to visit the island in four decades, did not address a question on the wisdom of provoking China's wrath with the trip.

Man admits threatening to burn black church over George Floyd vigil

A North Carolina man pleaded guilty to racist comments and threatening to burn down an African American church just days after a vigil was held for George Floyd.Read more Police bodycam footage shows initial moments of George Floyd arrest Ex-officer in George Floyd death asks for charges to be dropped George Floyd’s family gathers in Virginia for unveiling of hologram NYPD says 303 police vehicles damaged since George Floyd’s death Charred body found in pawnshop that was set alight during protests John Malcolm Bareswill, 63, faces a maximum 10 years prison after entering the plea on Wednesday, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, G Zachary Terwilliger confirmed in a press release.

Twin YouTube pranksters were charged with felonies after a fake robbery left their Uber driver held at gunpoint by police, officials say

Twin YouTubers Alan and Alex stokes have been charged each with a felony and a misdemeanor, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

Marijuana sent him to prison for decades. Now he has COVID-19 and is seeking release.

Michael Thompson, 69, is serving a 40- to 60-year sentence for charges that stem from a marijuana sale in 1994. His advocates say his punishment was excessive.

Trump optimistic coronavirus vaccine will be ready this year, possibly by U.S. election

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was optimistic a coronavirus vaccine would be ready before the end of 2020, possibly in time for the Nov. 3 presidential election. Trump, speaking to reporters as he departed the White House for a trip to a Whirlpool washing machine factory in Ohio, said a vaccine release around the time of the election "wouldn’t hurt," but the goal of the effort was to save lives.

Cops ignored ‘value of human life’ in beating of Black man, Mississippi indictment says

The officers are accused of causing ‘”serious bodily injury” to the victim.

Twin YouTube stars face charges in bank robbery ‘prank,’ California officials say

“These were not pranks. These are crimes that could have resulted in someone getting seriously injured or even killed.”

Most of the coronavirus tests the U.S. does are worthless. But there's a solution that could actually work — and stop the spread.

Although President Trump is correct that the U.S. has conducted more tests than any other country, it’s not testing enough, given the scale of its outbreak. But there might be a simple solution: new tests that prioritize speed over sensitivity.

NY Attorney General lawsuit seeks to dissolve National Rifle Association

The New York Attorney General is filed a lawsuit against the National Rifle Association on Thursday, seeking to dissolve the powerful gun lobby for a multitude of alleged violations of state law governing charities. Attorney General Letitia James accused the NRA of an array of “illegal conduct,” according to a press release describing the suit, including “[the] diversion of millions of dollars away from the charitable mission of the organization for personal use by senior leadership, awarding contracts to the financial gain of close associates and family, and appearing to dole out lucrative no- show contracts to former employees in order to buy their silence and continued loyalty.” The civil lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, also names as defendants longtime NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre and three other NRA executives – Wilson “Woody” Philips, John Frazer and Joshua Powell – and seeks their removal from their current positions and prohibition from their future service on any other New York-based nonprofit board.

Female country artists have highest percentage of No. 1 hits on Country Airplay chart in 14 years

Women have seen an uptick in airplay on country radio lately. Published this week, a new study by Billboard shows that five female artists have had No.1 singles on the Billboard Country Airplay chart so far this year, the most in a four-year span. Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris and Gabby Barrett are among the artists who have topped the charts this year -- Lambert with "Bluebird," her first solo No.1 since 2014, and Morris and Barrett scoring multi-week hits with "The Bones" and "I Hope," respectively.

Rapper FBG Duck killed in triple shooting in Chicago

The 26-year-old performer, who rapped about violence, was hit in the chest, groin and neck, police said.

TikTok twins charged over bank robbery 'prank'

Alan and Alex Stokes are accused of faking a bank robbery "to gain popularity on social media".

It's not for me: speed of COVID-19 vaccine race raises safety concerns

The frenetic race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine has intensified safety concerns about an inoculation, prompting governments and drugmakers to raise awareness to ensure their efforts to beat the coronavirus aren't derailed by public distrust. There are more than 200 COVID-19 vaccine candidates in development globally, including more than 20 in human clinical trials. U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to have a shot ready before year's end, although they typically take 10 years or longer to develop and test for safety and effectiveness.

Zimbabwe reporter denied bail as government arrests critics

A Zimbabwean investigative journalist will remain in jail after a judge dismissed his bail application Thursday, as the United Nations secretary-general raised “concern” about a wave of arrests in the country. Before his arrest, Chin’ono regularly posted on Twitter about alleged government corruption and encouraged Zimbabweans to speak out and act against graft. Opposition politician Jacob Ngarivhume was also arrested for organizing the anti-government protest, which was thwarted by police and the military which kept people off the streets of Harare, the capital, and other cities on July 31.

Three teenagers with AK-47 arrested for trespassing at Trump's Mar-a-Lago

Three teenagers fleeing police while carrying a semiautomatic weapon in a backpack jumped a wall at Mar-a-Lago on Friday.President Donald Trump was not in residence at the time, and authorities say that the teens probably didn’t know that’s where they were.

Pelosi says Congress will resolve COVID-19 aid but must help needy: CNBC

U.S. lawmakers will resolve their differences over the next batch of COVID-19 aid and reach a deal, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday, but assistance must go to those who need it the most amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Alyssa Milano opens up on battling COVID-19: 'I felt like I was dying'

Alyssa Milano is cautioning fans that COVID-19 testing isn't 100% reliable after testing negative for the virus three times despite having serious symptoms. Finally, an antibody test -- her fourth overall -- told her what she already knew. Despite presenting all the textbook symptoms, the "Who's the Boss?" star claimed she tested negative for the virus on three separate occasions, including a finger prick antibody test.

Trump says coronavirus vaccine possible before Nov. 3

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday it was possible the United States would have a coronavirus vaccine before the Nov. 3 election, a more optimistic forecast than timing put forth by his own White House health experts. Asked on the Geraldo Rivera radio program when a vaccine might be ready, Trump said, "Sooner than the end of the year, could be much sooner." Trump, who is seeking re-election to a second term amid a U.S. economy crippled by coronavirus shutdowns, has pushed for schools to reopen and things to get "back to normal" as coronavirus deaths in the country average more than 1,000 per day.

After Beirut blast, protesters plead with French president for change

President Emmanuel Macron of France was mobbed by protesters calling for change after arriving in Beirut Thursday, as loved ones of the missing gathered around the site of Tuesday's massive explosion. One American has been confirmed as being among the dead and several others injured, a U.S State Department spokesperson told ABC News. "We will organize things so that aid can go on the ground, can reach the Lebanese women and men," he told reporters soon after landing.

Dutch health authorities report 601 new coronavirus cases in past day

A surge in coronavirus cases in the Netherlands continued on Thursday, health authorities said, rising to 601 cases in the past 24 hours from 427 cases a day earlier. The National Institute for Health reported the newest numbers in a daily update. Prime Minister Mark Rutte has cut short a vacation to address the public later on Thursday about the increase in cases.

Trump executive order to boost U.S. drug manufacturing: Navarro

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday will sign a long-awaited executive order aimed at boosting American production of medicines and medical equipment, and protecting the United States against shortfalls in a future pandemic, a top adviser said. It will include a "Buy America" provision mandating federal purchases of certain medical supplies and equipment deemed essential, moves to accelerate approval of new U.S. drugs, and steps to boost use of advanced manufacturing techniques, White House adviser Peter Navarro told reporters.

Cameron Diaz on why she retired from acting, who encouraged her to become a mother

It's been about six years since Cameron Diaz stepped away from her career as an actress, and now she's opening up about why she made the decision. "I realized I handed off parts of my life to all these other people," the "Charlie's Angels" star added. The life-changing move has only had positive effects on Diaz, who admitted that walking away from her movie career has brought her "peace."

Israel institute to start COVID-19 vaccine trials in humans soon

An Israeli research institute that is overseen by the Defence Ministry intends to begin human trials for a potential COVID-19 vaccine as early as October, Defence Minister Benny Gantz said on Thursday. The Israel Institute of Biological Research (IIBR) would start the trials in conjunction with the Health Ministry after a series of Jewish holidays ends in October, Gantz said. The IIBR has been working on a vaccine for six months and began animal trials in March.

'If you can talk, you can breathe': Video shows police ignoring black prisoner's pleas before he dies from lack of oxygen

A North Carolina judge has released video of a black prisoner pleading for oxygen as police officers held him down in a controversial restraint, before he later died from injuries sustained during the fatal incident.John Neville was found by another inmate in the early morning on 2 December 2019 after having reportedly suffering a medical emergency and falling off the top off the bunk bed in his cell.

Killer of backpacker Grace Millane launches appeal against conviction

The man who was found guilty of murdering 22-year-old British backpacker Grace Millane in New Zealand in 2018 has appealed his conviction and sentence to life imprisonment. A jury at his trial in November found that Millane was strangled to death on her birthday by the man she met on Tinder, whose identity has been kept secret by court order. Prosecutors said she was strangled for a prolonged period, while he argued that her death was not murder but the result of rough sex gone wrong. After the Essex woman’s death, in an Auckland hotel room, prosecutors said the killer took intimate photos of her body, searched for pornography online, then went on another Tinder date, before burying Millane in West Auckland’s Waitākere Ranges. At the Court of Appeal on Thursday, the man’s lawyer, Rachael Reed QC, said the appeal did not seek to "condone or excuse" her client's actions following Millane's death. But she argued that too much emphasis had been placed on those actions in determining his sentence, which mandated a minimum of 17 years in prison before he could be eligible for parole. Ms Reed also said the conviction was flawed, arguing that the jury had not received proper directions on considering the issue of consent and that they did not have sufficient experience to assess expert evidence. She claimed that jurors did not have guidance enabling them to fully weigh up the killer’s “honest belief in consent”. Reiterating the defence claim that Millane had consented to have pressure applied to her neck, she argued: “Consent shouldn’t be removed just because someone has died." But prosecutor Brian Dickey maintained the appeal was “flimsy” and that the question of consent had been fully examined in the trial. He said that 90 seconds was a long time to apply pressure to someone’s neck. “She must have been resisting ... and struggling for her life,” Mr Dickey said. “You don't just tap someone's neck and they die.” The trial of Millane's killer re-energised debate in New Zealand and Britain over the use of the so-called "rough sex defence". In July, Parliament voted to outlaw "consent for sexual gratification" as a defence for causing serious harm to a person, following an outcry in the UK over a series of acquittals on such grounds. However the jury in the New Zealand trial took just five hours to unanimously convict Millane's killer of murder. The 28-year-old man was present for the appeal via an audio-visual link from prison. The Court of Appeal judges, Justice Stephen Kos, Justice Patricia Courtney and Justice Mark Cooper reserved their decision.

Biden open to scrapping filibuster, but says he can legislate either way

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden expressed openness to eliminating the filibuster, but said he didn’t think the political stonewalling device would ultimately prevent him from passing legislation.

After Isaias rocks East Coast, more storms on the way

Along the East Coast, where millions are still without power thanks to Hurricane and Tropical Storm Isaias, the region is set to get more rain in the coming days. Already Thursday morning, a round of storms is moving through parts Maryland and Virginia. A new flash flood watch has been issued for the region because parts of the area received 7-9 inches of rain from Isaias.

'Nothing compares': Unemployment filings top 1 million for 20th straight week

For 20 straight weeks, the number of Americans who have lost their jobs and filed for unemployment insurance has topped 1 million. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the previous record for weekly unemployment filings was 695,000 in 1982. In the last week of March, that was smashed by nearly tenfold as 6.9 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance in a single week.

As the coronavirus rages in prisons, ethical issues of crime and punishment become more compelling

Across the United States, prisons and jails have become hot spots for COVID-19. Governments at the state and federal level are being pressed to release inmates before the end of their sentence in order to minimize the spread of the disease.So far more than 100,000 of them have been infected with the coronavirus, and at least 802 inmates and several correctional officers have died. New Jersey’s correctional facilities have been hit particularly hard. With 29 deaths for every 100,000 inmates, they have the highest COVID-19-related death rate in the nation.In response, New Jersey has already released more than 1,000 inmates, and Gov. Phil Murphy on April 10, 2020 authorized a case-by-case review of prisoners who are at greater risk. Additionally, the state legislature is considering a bill to authorize release of about 20% of its prison population. As a scholar who has studied penal policy in the U.S., it is clear that the coronavirus requires Americans to think hard about what is unjust and disproportionate punishment. It is a question that ethicists have tried to tackle for millennia, but has been given added urgency during the pandemic. Overcrowding, infections and deathsSocial distancing is impossible in correctional facilities and, as a result, so is COVID-19 prevention. In California, for example, where 109,000 prisoners are housed in facilities with a maximum capacity of 85,000, the infection rate in June for the state’s jails and prisons was about 40 per 1,000 inmates – more than seven times the rate for the state’s population as a whole. In New York City’s jails, it was was more than 7%, compared to just over 2% for the city’s population. Inmates fear for their lives. One California prisoner, who is serving an eight-year sentence for causing injury while driving drunk, told the Los Angeles Times: “I don’t deserve a death sentence.” Justice in punishmentPhilosophers since Aristotle have debated what justice in punishment requires. For him, punishment is governed by the requirements of what he called “corrective justice.” By this he meant that when someone is injured, the offender should be punished by inflicting comparable harm. Aristotle‘s idea that punishment is a deserved and proportional response to an offense provides a building block for retributive theories of punishment, which embrace some form of “an eye for an eye” as a way to do justice. Those theories insist, as 18th-century philosopher Immanuel Kant noted, that punishment “can never be inflicted merely as a means to promote some other good for the criminal himself or for civil society. It must always be inflicted upon him because he has committed a crime.” In other words, just punishment must give people what they deserve, nothing less and nothing more.Thus, Kant suggested that the amount of punishment should be governed by a principle of proportionality. Many contemporary theorists of punishment embrace this idea. As legal scholar Bernard Harcourt recently said, punishment “should be proportional to the amount of harm caused by the offender.” Prison conditionsTo determine whether the risk of being exposed in prison to sickness or death from COVID-19 is disproportionate punishment requires paying attention to prison conditions. One question to ask is whether the harsh conditions of life behind bars are part of a criminal’s punishment or merely a collateral consequence of their sentence. Throughout most of American history, a criminal sentence was thought to be the full measure of the punishment inflicted – jail and prison conditions, as bad as they might be, were not regarded as part of the punishment. In 1992, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas observed, in a case brought by an inmate who had been beaten by a guard, that the prohibition on cruel punishment found in the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment did not apply to any “deprivations” or “hardships” during incarceration. Two years later, Thomas reiterated his view that the overcrowding, disease or violence which are often part of confinement “are not punishment in any recognized sense of the term.” But Thomas’ view has not prevailed.In a series of recent cases, the United States Supreme Court has held that what happens in jails and prisons is in fact part of an inmate’s punishment and must be considered in deciding whether their treatment is just. As Justice Lewis Powell said in a 1981 case challenging prison overcrowding, such conditions are part of the punishment and are “subject to scrutiny under the Eighth Amendment standards.” Those conditions “must not,” he said, “involve the wanton and unnecessary infliction of pain, nor may they be grossly disproportionate to the severity of the crime warranting imprisonment.” In 2011, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the view that jail and prison conditions were very much part of the punishment. The court upheld a lower court order directing the state of California to reduce the size of its prison population so as to reduce overcrowding and provide better medical treatment for inmates. Protecting prisonersIn the coming weeks, courts will be handling a number of pandemic-related cases involving prisoners, and legislatures will be considering proposals to let large numbers of inmates leave confinement. [Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.]As they do so, it is important for them to acknowledge that when the government puts someone behind bars and deprives them of the capacity to provide for their own care and protection it has, what law professor Sharon Dolovich calls “an affirmative obligation,” a duty to act to protect them from harm. Judges and legislators will need to consider both whether being exposed to COVID-19 in prison is a disproportionate and unjust punishment and also how to discharge the government’s responsibilities to the incarcerated.Doing so should, I believe, lead them to release as many inmates as possible from the dangers to which COVID-19 is exposing them every day.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.Read more: * How the sound of religion has changed in the pandemic * We spoke to hundreds of prison gang members – here’s what they said about life behind barsAustin Sarat does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

French 'cybercop' charged with upskirting via cameras attached to his shoes

A former deputy police chief was allegedly caught filming under women’s skirts in a Paris department store using cameras fitted to his shoes. The 61-year-old man, who has not been named, was allegedly approaching women and sticking his feet out to capture images under their clothing. Some of the women complained about his behaviour and a security guard at the BHV store in central Paris realised that he appeared to be “upskirting”, or surreptitiously taking photos up women's skirts. He called the police, who arrested the man on Monday. He is due to stand trial in January for “voyeurism” and “taking intimate images without permission”. The accused man retired in June from the police force of the Val de Marne district, south-east of Paris, where he had served as the second highest ranking officer for seven years. A technology enthusiast, he reportedly headed France’s first police unit wholly dedicated to investigating computer and online fraud in the 1990s, which earned him the nickname “cybercop”. Upskirting is prohibited under voyeurism and privacy laws in France and also became a criminal offence in the UK last year. Police searched his home after arresting him, but declined to say if they had found illegal images or video. The suspect had an illustrious career and held a series of senior posts in Paris, during which he was awarded the Police Medal of Honour and the National Order of Merit . Police declined to comment on the case, but according to Le Parisien newspaper, he was described by former colleagues as “discreet”, “a gentleman” and a “strict” officer who demanded exemplary behaviour from those under his command. Earlier this year a policeman in the Paris area was charged with “infringement of privacy” after admitting that he had filmed a woman in the fitting room of a sportswear shop. He explained his actions by saying he “needed adrenalin”. Police forces across England and Wales recorded more than 150 allegations of upskirting in the six months after it became a criminal offence last year.

Mass shooters often have history of domestic violence and drug abuse, Secret Service report finds

The National Threat Assessment Center examined 34 attacks last year in which three or more people were harmed.

Why the coronavirus is killing so many of Mexico's healthcare workers

When the coronavirus epidemic began to intensify in Mexico at the end of March, Doctor Jose Garcia said his bosses at a public trauma hospital in Mexico City denied his request for masks, gloves and disinfectant. The hospital's director disputes this, saying all staff received protective equipment.