The Latest: Texas inmate in murder plot loses appeal

A federal appeals court has rejected an appeal from a 60-year-old Texas inmate condemned for helping a former suburban Houston police officer murder his wife more than 22 years ago. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday refused arguments from lawyers for Joseph Andrew Prystash that raised questions about jury selection and juror instructions and the propriety of evidence.

Lawmakers suggest former Trump aide Flynn broke US law

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn failed to comply with the federal law According to Rep. Elijah Cummings, documents show that Flynn did not report his earnings from speaking engagements in Russia and lobbying activities in Turkey. The Oversight Committee asked the White House for documents of Flynn's security-clearance applications, but the White House replied that the papers were not in its possession.

At Holocaust event, Trump pays tribute to – those who survived history’s darkest hour’

President Trump spoke out against Holocaust deniers and anti-Semitism at a Holocaust memorial event at the Capitol on April 25. "Those who deny the Holocaust are an accomplice to this horrible evil," he said. President Trump on Tuesday paid tribute to Holocaust victims and survivors with a resolute speech in which he vowed that his administration would confront anti-Semitism and protect Israel from those seeking the Jewish state's destruction.

Highs and lows of Trump’s first 100 days

Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump looks on during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 20, 2017. Protesters stream onto Independence Avenue at the Women's March on Washington during the first full day of Donald Trump's presidency, Jan. 21, 2017 in Washington.

Arkansas executes 2 inmates on the same gurney, hours apart

Two inmates received lethal injections on the same gurney Monday night about three hours apart as Arkansas completed the nation's first double execution since 2000, just days after the state ended a nearly 12-year hiatus on administering capital punishment. While the first inmate, Jack Jones, 52, was executed on schedule, shortly after 7 p.m., attorneys for the second, Marcel Williams, 46, convinced a federal judge minutes later to briefly delay his execution over concerns about how the earlier one was carried out.

Husske promoted to FD assistant police chief

"Future Chief Porter and I are on the same page as far as the future of our Police Department is concerned," Husske told the City Council Monday evening. The promotions of Porter and Husske were triggered by the upcoming retirement of Acting Police Chief Kevin Doty, who will leave the department at the end of this year after about 24 years of service.

Zuckerberg Uses Virtual Reality To Put You Inside A Prison

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg released a virtual reality movie Sunday in hopes to help people assimilate with prison inmates. The documentary called "Step to the Line" utilizes VR technology to give viewers an opportunity to see prison and convicts in a first-person perspective.

Arkansas prepares for first double execution since 2000

Two condemned Arkansas killers who admit they're guilty but fear their poor health could lead to extreme pain during lethal injections set for Monday might become the first inmates put to death in a double execution in the U.S. in more than 16 years. Jack Jones and Marcel Williams are set to die in what would be the second and third executions in Arkansas this month.

Arkansas executions: What’s next?

The state of Arkansas will resume efforts this week to execute death row inmates before its supply of sedatives used in lethal injection expires. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson scheduled eight executions in 11 days, the most in the shortest amount of time since capital punishment returned to the United States in the 1970s, creating a race against the clock and a tangled web of legal challenges.

California taking slow steps to resume executions

California has long been what one expert calls a "symbolic death penalty state," one of 12 that has capital punishment on the books but has not executed anyone in more than a decade. Prodded by voters and lawsuits, the nation's most populous state may now be easing back toward allowing executions, though observers are split on how quickly they will resume, if at all.

Trump’s organized crime ties bring blackmail to the White House

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks as he stands surrounded by his daughter Ivanka, his son Eric, Eric Trump's wife Lara Yunaska and his wife Melania , during a campaign victory party after rival candidate Senator Ted Cruz dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, U.S., May 3, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson The words were positively polite, at least for a man convicted of assault and racketeering.

Parker: Strategy, policy are foreign to Trump – Sun, 23 Apr 2017 PST

Foreign leaders and local interlocutors, aka pundits, might as well take a vacation for the next few minutes until Donald Trump's next foreign policy "strategy" surfaces from deep within his amygdala. For to presume a strategy when Trump toys with potentially lethal nations - threatening to tear apart the nuclear agreement with Iran or putting North Korea on notice that doom may befall it any moment - is to imagine that a toddler has given grave consideration to the gravitational aspects of toppling his brother's Lego edifice.

Trump signs executive orders to revive United States economy

The second memo calls for Treasury to review the Financial Stability Oversight Council's processes for designating nonbank SIFIs and to pause any further designations of nonbanks pending completion of the review. This provision was a direct response to the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, as well as taxpayer funded efforts to bail out several other large faltering companies.