MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Three former Memphis officers were convicted Thursday of charges of witness tampering in the 2023 fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, and two were acquitted of federal civil rights violations in a death that sparked national protests and calls for broad changes in policing. After a nearly monthlong trial, a jury found Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith guilty of witness tampering. Haley was acquitted of violating Nichols’ civil rights causing death, but of of...

ALBANY, N. Y. (AP) — U. S. Rep. Mike Lawler said he was sorry Thursday after the New York Times obtained photos of him wearing blackface about two decades ago at a college Halloween costume party where he dressed as Michael Jackson. The images emerged as Lawler, a first-term Republican, is locked in a competitive reelection fight for his congressional seat in New York's Hudson Valley. In a statement provided to The Associated Press, Lawler described himself as a lifelong Jackson superfan who...

Whether a 2-year-old beaver named Nibi gets to stay with the rescuers she has known since she was a baby or must be released into the wild as winter approaches in Massachusetts has ended up in court — and caused such an uproar that even the governor has weighed in. “To literally see people from around the world come together to protect this beaver is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life,” said Adam Teper, an attorney representing Nibi's rescuers. A judge on Tuesday...