Miami-Dade officials drop charge of battery by strangulation against rapper due to ‘insufficient evidence’

Florida prosecutors on Thursday dropped a felony charge against rapper Rick Ross nearly a month after he was arrested in Miami Beach when a woman he was living with told police he hit her, court records said.

The Miami-Dade state attorney’s office filed paperwork on Thursday to drop a felony charge of battery by strangulation because of “insufficient evidence”. Ross, whose legal name is William Roberts II, still faces a misdemeanor charge of battery domestic violence.

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© Photograph: Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty Images

© Photograph: Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty Images

© Photograph: Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty Images

The cases involved are an impending shutdown and reconfiguration of a historic public golf course and the construction of the monumental arch that, at 250 feet, would be 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty is from its base to the top of the torch.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio pulled the plug on the traditional group photo after several European officials threatened to boycott or walk out of the snapshot that usually helps kick off such diplomatic gatherings.

The officer, Mario Alberto Morales, was driving an unmarked SUV on Oct. 10 when he struck and ran over Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, who was running away during a pursuit through a parking lot, the Harris County District Attorney's Office said.

In her first public statement since her botched execution last month, Pike said she went into the execution chamber prepared to die in peace.

Leo XIV has become the first pope to vote in a U.S. general election, casting a mail-in ballot in a contest that will decide America's future as the Trump era slowly comes to an end.

Israeli election results are in, showing the makeup of the country's next parliament but leaving open the question of who will be prime minister.

Large segments of Israel's Palestinian Arab minority have historically stayed home and not voted in the country's elections. But they turned out in record numbers this week, reflecting a desperation that outweighed any qualms about participation.

Israel's final election results confirmed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies lost their parliamentary majority and that weeks of difficult negotiations among very different parties, from ultra-Orthodox Jewish to secular to Arab-led, lie ahead.

The nation's major political parties are at a crossroads. Win or lose Tuesday, the end of the 2026 midterms marks the beginning of a high-stakes fight over the direction of the Republican and Democratic parties as the Trump era nears its end.

The surge is especially pronounced in Texas, where voters are deciding closely watched Senate, House and governor's races. More than 6.3 million Texans had voted early as of Wednesday, compared with 4.2 million at the same point four years ago, a 50% increase.

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, said Thursday it's investigating reports of a potential security issue as its founder said the incident "does look like a hack on Binance." The company said late Thursday the estimated total impact was at more than $6 billion, which could be one of the most significant of such security incidents on record.

Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola denied Thursday that she knew anything about an effort to put another candidate on the Alaska ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent as the Justice Department escalated a criminal investigation with new grand jury subpoenas.

A humanitarian mission entered the devastated city of Oleshky on Friday, officials said, as Russia and Ukraine observed the most significant truce of the 4½-year war that began with Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

The world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange reported Thursday that approximately $6.3 billion was impacted in an apparent hack.

(Image credit: Matt Slocum)

• Green Bay RB claims gesture was an ode to gospel song

• Jacobs pleaded no contest to battery charges last month

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs says he was paying homage to a gospel song rather than making light of his recent arrest when he briefly had his hands behind his back while celebrating a touchdown Thursday night.

This was Jacobs’s second game of the season after coming off the commissioner’s exempt list. He was placed on that list after charges were filed against him in August stemming from a May altercation with his then-girlfriend during which she said he threw her to the ground.

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© Photograph: Stacy Revere/Getty Images

© Photograph: Stacy Revere/Getty Images

© Photograph: Stacy Revere/Getty Images

It wasn't immediately clear the extent of the damage hackers might have been able to cause, and Binance had not explicitly confirmed that funds had been pilfered. The company said its teams are "working around the clock" to resolve the issue.

(Image credit: Matt Slocum)

NSW police say charges include child rape and relate to 23 alleged victims aged between one and five at a Sydney childcare centre

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One of Australia’s most notorious paedophiles is facing hundreds more child abuse charges, including for the alleged rape of children as young as one.

Days after being extradited from Queensland to New South Wales, Ashley Paul Griffith was hit with 202 charges dating from between 2014 and 2017, with police labelling the allegations “deeply disturbing”.

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© Photograph: SUPPLIED/AAP

© Photograph: SUPPLIED/AAP

© Photograph: SUPPLIED/AAP

• Australia coach says recalled 37-year-old adds depth to tour squad

• Tom Hooper overcomes injury to be available for Nations Championship

Coach Les Kiss says veteran playmaker Kurtley Beale is in consideration for Australia’s Rugby World Cup squad after his shock recall for the Wallabies’ spring tour of the UK.

Beale answered Kiss’s SOS call for next month’s three Tests against England, Scotland and Wales, before the inaugural Nations Championship finals from November 21-23.

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© Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA

© Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA

© Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA

NSW police say charges include child rape and relate to 23 alleged victims aged between one and five at a Sydney childcare centre

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

One of Australia’s most notorious paedophiles is facing hundreds more child abuse charges, including for the alleged rape of children as young as one.

Days after being extradited from Queensland to New South Wales, Ashley Paul Griffith was hit with 202 charges dating from between 2014 and 2017, with police labelling the allegations “deeply disturbing”.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: SUPPLIED/AAP

© Photograph: SUPPLIED/AAP

© Photograph: SUPPLIED/AAP