USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department said Thursday the federal government will resume executing death-row inmates for the first time since 2003, ending an informal moratorium even as the nation sees a broad shift away from capital punishment.

Attorney General William Barr instructed the Bureau of Prisons to schedule executions starting in December for five men, all accused of murdering children. Although the death penalty remains legal in 30 states, executions on the federal level are rare.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Twenty years ago, a knock on the door opened the past for Arlinda Valencia.

A relative had come to pay his respects on the death of Valencia’s father. He then revealed a shocking secret: The family was descended from survivors of a 1918 massacre along the U.S.-Mexico border.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The question to Michael Dukakis, the Democratic presidential candidate in 1988, was brutally personal.

“If Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?” Bernard Shaw, a CNN anchor, asked, referring to the Massachusetts governor’s wife. Dukakis said he wouldn’t favor it because “I don’t see any evidence that it is a deterrent.”

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — The disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews shortly after singing “Jingle Bells” with classmates at a 1984 Christmas concert stunned this rural town in northern Colorado. Her case attracted the attention of the White House, and came at a time when the faces of missing children across the nation were being placed on milk cartons.

SEATTLE (AP) — Rachel Whalen remembers feeling gutted in high school when a former friend would mock her online postings, threaten to unfollow or unfriend her on social media and post inside jokes about her to others online.

The cyberbullying was so distressing that Whalen said she contemplated suicide. Once she got help, she decided to limit her time on social media. It helps to take a break from it for perspective, said Whalen, now a 19-year-old college student in Utah.

DETROIT (AP) — When Barack Obama was on the ballot in 2008 and 2012, there was no question that Terrance Holmes would vote for the first black president. But as he helped fix cars this week at a repair shop on Detroit’s west side, he recalled his ambivalence about the 2016 campaign.

“I just didn’t feel no reason to” vote, said Holmes, who is black and holds a second job at an auto parts factory.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein was found on the floor of his jail cell with bruises on his neck early this week while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday.

It was not clear whether the injuries were self-inflicted or from an assault, said the person, who was not authorized to discuss the case and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man fatally shot his father, brother and two other people Thursday during a 12-hour rampage across Los Angeles’ sprawling San Fernando Valley, eluding a manhunt until he was arrested after gunning down a bus passenger, authorities said.  

Police said they did not know what motivated Gerry Dean Zaragoza to launch the attacks in neighborhoods dotting the vast, largely suburban valley that is home to nearly 2 million Los Angeles residents.

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump added his voice Thursday to the chorus of people upset about videos showing New York police officers getting drenched with buckets of water during a heat wave.

“What took place in NYC with water being tossed on NYPD officers was a total disgrace,” Trump tweeted. “What took place was completely unacceptable, and will not be tolerated.”

He called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to “act immediately,” though he didn’t say what action he believed the mayor should take.

25 July 2019; AFP: Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday reaffirmed his commitment to the social network's quest to launch Libra cryptocurrency despite pushback from governments and critics.

Facebook last month unveiled plans for Libra in an announcement that sparked fears of the unintended consequences of a loosely supervised global currency.