Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach said Zeta's 110 mph (175 kph) winds would make it the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the continental United States this late in the calendar since the 1899 Halloween Hurricane struck South Carolina. NEW ORLEANS — Zeta powered ashore just 1 mph (1.6 kph) shy of a devastating Category 3 hurricane, gaining in intensity just before its south Louisiana landfall. At 4 p.m. Wednesday, Zeta's core was centered about 65 miles (105 kilometers) south-southwest of New Orleans. Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said the hurricane's top sustained winds had strengthened slightly before landfall. In coastal Louisiana, the president of St. Bernard Parish, Guy McInnis, called on residents to stay home as Zeta pummels the region.

BASEBALLARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Justin Turner violated coronavirus protocols when he celebrated with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates and he refused instructions from security to leave the field, behavior that Major League Baseball said risked the safety of others. The commissioner’s office said it is starting a full investigation of the 35-year-old third baseman. The Dodgers won their first World Series championship since 1988 with a 3-1 victory over Tampa Bay in Game 6 on Tuesday night at Globe Life Field.

Mayor Christian Estrosi said on Twitter the knife attack had happened in or near the city's Notre Dame church and that police had detained the attacker. Police said two people were confirmed to have died in the attack and several were injured. French politician Marine Le Pen also spoke of a decapitation having occurred in the attack. Reuters journalists at the scene said police armed with automatic weapons had put up a security cordon around the church, which is on Nice's Jean Medecin avenue, the city's main shopping thoroughfare. The French anti-terrorist prosecutor's department said it had been asked to investigate the attack.

Country music star Billy Joe Shaver has died at the age of 81, Fox News can confirm. Shaver's songs were recorded by the likes of Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Kris Kristofferson, Jerry Lee Lewis among other artists. 'BRIAN'S SONG,' 'ROOTS' AND 'PURPLE RAIN' WRITER WILLIAM BLINN DEAD AT 83“I know the power of words,” Shaver told Esquire in 2014. Shaver was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPMost recently in 2019, the Academy of Country music gave Shaver the Poets Award.

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Eastern European criminals are targeting dozens of U.S. hospitals with ransomware, and federal officials on Wednesday urged healthcare facilities to beef up preparations rapidly in case they are next. Experts said the likely group behind the attacks was known as Wizard Spider or UNC 1878. The attacks prompted a teleconference call on Wednesday led by FBI and Homeland Security officials for hospital administrators and cybersecurity experts. “While multiple ransomware attacks against healthcare providers each week have been commonplace, this is the first time we have seen six hospitals targeted in the same day by the same ransomware actor.”In the past, ransomware infections at hospitals have downed patient record-keeping databases, which critically store up-to-date medical information, affecting hospitals’ ability to provide healthcare. The teleconference call participant said government officials disclosed that the attackers used Ryuk and another trojan, known as Trickbot, against the hospitals.

ATLANTA (AP) — Just days before the presidential election, millions of mail ballots have yet to be returned in key battleground states, and election officials warn that time is running out for voters who want to avoid a polling place on Election Day. At least 35 million mail ballots had been returned or accepted as of early Wednesday, according to data collected by The Associated Press. That surpasses the 33.3 million total mail ballots returned during the 2016 election, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Yet an estimated 1.9 million ballots were still outstanding in Florida, along with 962,000 in Nevada, 850,000 in Michigan and 1 million in Pennsylvania. In most states, the deadline for ballots to be received is Election Day.

(Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images)North Carolina Can Count Absentee Ballots Arriving 9 Days After Election Day: Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court late Wednesday ruled to allow absentee ballots received up to nine days after Election Day on Nov. 3 to be counted in North Carolina. The legal settlement also loosened requirements for fixing absentee ballots that lacked a witness signature. North Carolina Republicans earlier on Wednesday requested for the second time that the Supreme Court block the extended deadline. They sought to reinstate the three-day extension that North Carolina had set last June. Requests for mail-in ballots in North Carolina closed on Oct. 27.

The chiefs of Twitter, Facebook and Google parent Alphabet were taken to task by Republican senators over how content is policed on their platforms. A United States Senate hearing turned into a literal virtual brawl on Wednesday as the most powerful CEOs in social media were taken to task by Republican lawmakers over how content is policed on their platforms. Section 230 shields companies from liability over content posted by users but also lets the firms shape political discourse. Twitter’s Dorsey warned the committee that eroding the foundation of Section 230 could significantly hurt how people communicate online. All three CEOs agreed the companies should be held liable if the platforms act as a publisher.

Twitter, Facebook and Google have been warned their platforms face new restrictions after they were criticised by Republican senators for alleged anti-conservative bias. Donald Trump and the Republicans have accused the social media platforms of deliberately suppressing conservative, religious and anti-abortion views. Both US parties say that immunity under Section 230 enables social media companies to abdicate responsibility to impartially moderate content. Both Twitter and Facebook have used a misinformation label on content from the president, who has around 80 million followers. Google will also halt political ads after the polls close and Twitter banned all political ads last year.

Hurricane Zeta has reached the coastline of southeastern Louisiana, making landfall about 4:10 p.m. CDT as a Category 2 storm. Hurricane warnings were in effect from Morgan City, La., to the Mississippi-Alabama border, and included the New Orleans metropolitan area as well as Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas. Tropical storm warnings were in effect from the Mississippi-Alabama border to the border between Walton and Bay counties in Florida. Zeta has already been producing locally heavy rains ahead of the storm, but more downpours can be expected as the storm churns through. The storm's landfall in Louisiana marks the fifth so far this busy 2020 Atlantic hurricane season.

Tiffany & Co. is nearing an agreement to accept a lower price in its takeover by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE that would end a bitter dispute between the luxury-goods companies. The companies have come to a preliminary agreement on new deal terms that would call for LVMH to pay $131.50 for the iconic U.S. jewelry maker, according to people familiar with the matter. That is down from a prior agreement of $135 a share. Tiffany’s...

Germany will be plunged back into lockdown with restaurants, bars and theaters closed for a month to stop the rapid spread of COVID-19, officials announced Wednesday. “We must act, and now, to avoid an acute national health emergency,” Merkel said in a videoconference. Unlike Germany’s first lockdown in March, shops and schools will be allowed to remain open, and restaurants can sell take-out food. “We can say that our health system can cope with the challenge today,” Merkel said. Germany, which is home to 83 million people, has previously fared better than many European countries over the course of the pandemic.

An investigation was opened into an attack by the French anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office, reports said. Prime Minister Jean Castex said the country's threat level will be raised to its maximum after the attack. He also told the French National Assembly that the government's response to the attack would be firm and implacable. In September, a man who had sought asylum in France attacked bystanders outside Charlie Hebdo's former offices with a butcher knife. The prime minister rushed from the hall to a crisis center overseeing the aftermath of the Nice attack.

Nearly two years after his arrest, NXIVM leader Keith Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in prison following convictions on charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, and possession of child pornography. India and Catherine Oxenberg reacted to Raniere's sentence on Tuesday, Oct. 27, telling People that "the world is a safer place with Keith Raniere behind bars." India, a former member of DOS, celebrated all the victims and officials who worked to expose Raniere's actions in a statement. She went on to thank the U.S. District Court and the FBI for their efforts in seeking justice for Raniere's victims. In an interview with Vanity Fair, India spoke about facing Raniere again as she read her victim impact statement.

Iran has launched a major construction project at its controversial Natanz nuclear facility according to satellite imagery featured Wednesday in the Associated Press. It's widely believed that Israeli intelligence was behind the sabotage to disable advanced centrifuge operations there. Daily, moderate-resolution images from @planetlabs do appear to show construction occurring near the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant. "A satellite image Monday shows the site cleared away with what appears to be construction equipment there," it says of the Planet Labs images. Iran's leaders have meanwhile maintained its nuclear development is purely for peaceful nuclear energy needs and not in pursuit of nuclear warheads.

The ethnic Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh defence ministry said its military had recorded 1,009 deaths since the fighting erupted on Sept. 27. Localised battles were taking place along several parts of the front line on Tuesday, the Nagorno-Karabakh defence ministry said in a statement. Azerbaijan's defence ministry described fighting concentrated in three frontline areas. Shushan Stepanyan, spokeswoman for Armenia's defence ministry, said Azerbaijan had used drones to attack frontier posts near the country's southern border with Iran. Iran's foreign ministry said on Twitter that Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi would travel to several countries to discuss the crisis.

While the Jazz did not disclose the sale price, ESPN.com reported the deal for the Jazz and its home arena to be worth $1.66 billion. That number falls short of the $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers in 2014 and the $2.2 billion sale of the Houston Rockets in 2017, but both of those franchises operate in significantly bigger markets. The Jazz said the sale agreement should be approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors by the end of the year. Her goal, she said, was to ensure the Jazz would remain Utah. The 40-year-old Smith is a lifelong Utah resident and a longtime Jazz fan.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson said on Wednesday a collection of confidential documents related to the Biden family obtained by his team this week "vanished" when they were shipped across the country. During Wednesday's airing of Tucker Carlson Tonight, Carlson said that his staff received a "collection of confidential documents related to the Biden family" from a source on Monday, the same day that Carlson was in Los Angeles interviewing Tony Bobulinski, a former business partner of Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Tucker said his team believed the documents were "authentic" and "damning." Carlson did not say which shipping company his team had used but added that it took the complaint "seriously." Carlson made the announcement six days ahead of Election Day, when Biden seeks to defeat President Trump.

FILE PHOTO: Adult film star Ron Jeremy, who has been charged with raping three women and sexually assaulting a fourth in incidents in West Hollywood from 2014 to 2019, makes his first appearance in Los Angeles County Superior Court, California, U.S. June 23, 2020. Robert Gauthier/Pool via REUTERS/October 28, 2020LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Porn star Ron Jeremy was charged on Wednesday with an additional seven counts of rape and sexual assault, bringing to 23 the number of his alleged victims, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office said. Jeremy on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to the new charges in a brief court appearance where a Dec. 14 preliminary hearing date was set. Jeremy now faces a total of 11 counts of rape, eight of sexual battery and 16 other sexual offenses. If convicted as charged, he faces a possible maximum sentence of more than 330 years to life in state prison.

Stan ChoeAssociated PressNew York – Stocks around the world are falling sharply Wednesday on worries the worsening pandemic will push governments to bring back restrictions on businesses. The S&P 500 was 1.7% lower in early trading on Wall Street, heading for a third straight loss. The selling was widespread, and more than 90% of stocks in the S&P 500 were lower. The VIX measures how much volatility investors expect from the S&P 500, and it climbed 12.7% in Wednesday morning trading. Microsoft, the second-biggest company in the S&P 500, reported stronger profit and revenue for its latest quarter than expected.

The marathon is traditionally held on the third Monday in April, which is celebrated as Patriots’ Day in Massachusetts. It was postponed this year amid the coronavirus pandemic and eventually was staged in September as a virtual-only event. ADOf the six major marathons, only Tokyo and London staged races this year, and they were restricted to elite-level participants. The Boston Marathon was canceled entirely as an in-person event for the first time in a history that had dated back continuously to 1897. “The Marathon is one of Boston’s most beloved traditions,” the city’s mayor, Marty Walsh, said Wednesday in a statement.

That is far deeper than the 19,000 reduction that the company announced three months ago. The company recently lowered its forecast of demand for new planes over the next decade by 11% because of the coronavirus pandemic. In the first nine months of the year, Boeing has delivered only 98 airline planes, compared with 301 during the same stretch of 2019. That drop is crucial because aircraft makers get most of their cash from sales when planes are delivered. The company continues to forecast that regulators will let it resume deliveries of new Max jets before the year ends.

FILE PHOTO: A Nokia logo is seen at the company's headquarters in Espoo, Finland, May 5, 2017. REUTERS/Ints KalninsSTOCKHOLM/HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finnish telecom network equipment maker Nokia NOKIA.HE on Thursday reported worse-than-expected third-quarter underlying profit in its first earnings report under new Chief Executive Pekka Lundmark. Nokia said its July-September underlying earnings remained at 0.05 euros per share, unchanged from a year earlier, missing the 0.07 euros consensus in a Refinitiv poll.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian Defense Army said that Azerbaijan has used Smerch multiple launch rocket systems in shelling the towns overnight. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry in its turn claimed that Armenian forces shelled the Azerbaijani districts of Barda and Goranboy located north of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan does not disclose its military losses, but authorities in Baku say the fighting has killed 69 civilians and wounded 322. The reports of fresh fighting and targeting of civilians came three days after another ceasefire agreed by the warring sides collapsed. The United States, France, and Russia are the co-chairs of the Minsk Group, which has been the main mediator in the conflict.

“My view is that’s not an honest answer,? Peck told Yep. Meng’s lawyers have alleged there was a “coordinated strategy” to have the RCMP delay her arrest so border officials could question Meng for three hours under the pretense of a routine immigration exam. In apparent retaliation for Meng’s arrest, China detained former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor. China has also placed restrictions on various Canadian exports to China, including canola oil seed and meat. China also handed a death sentence to a convicted Canadian drug smuggler in a sudden retrial.

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives aboard Air Force One at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. October 27, 2020. “Stay home, Wisconsin.”The Trump campaign is taking all necessary precautions at the event in Mosinee, campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley told CNN. ELEVEN RALLIES IN 48 HOURSA Trump campaign official said Trump plans to visit 10 states in the last week of the campaign and will host 11 rallies in the final 48 hours. It’s freezing and snowy in Omaha tonight,” Megan Hunt, Democratic state senator in Omaha, wrote on Twitter. The Trump campaign said the problems were due to the unexpectedly large crowds who showed up.

(Reuters) - Wall Street main indexes slumped on Wednesday as a surge in coronavirus cases in the United States and Europe dashed hopes of a quick global economic recovery. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 442.69 points, or 1.61%, at 27,020.50 and the S&P 500 was down 57.05 points, or 1.68%, at 3,333.63. Of the 170 S&P 500 companies that have reported third-quarter earnings so far, about 84% have topped expectations, according to Refinitiv data. Microsoft Corp’s quarterly results surpassed analysts targets, benefiting from a pandemic-driven shift to working from home and online learning. The S&P index recorded no new 52-week highs and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded seven new highs and 66 new lows.

They started the party without Justin Turner, too, after their red-headed star received word of a positive COVID-19 test in the middle of their clinching victory. Turner was removed from Los Angeles‘ 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 6 on Tuesday night after registering Major League Baseball’s first positive test in 59 days. When asked about what happened after the game, Friedman said Turner wanted to take a picture with the trophy. “It’s gut-wrenching,” World Series MVP Corey Seager said. Commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed Turner’s positive test moments after presenting the World Series trophy to Los Angeles — a jarring reminder of all that’s been different in this season where the perennially favored Dodgers finally broke through.

REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File PhotoSEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 005930.KS reported a 59% rise in quarterly operating profit on Thursday as U.S. restrictions on China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] boosted the South Korean tech giant's phone and chip sales. Operating profit rose to 12.35 trillion won ($10.96 billion) for the quarter ended September from 7.78 trillion won a year earlier, the world’s top maker of memory chips and smartphones said. That was in line with the company’s estimate of 12.3 trillion won earlier this month. Net profit rose 49% to 9.36 trillion won. Revenue climbed 8% to 66.96 trillion won.

Yet the recovery from the deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s remains far from complete. With no further federal aid in sight this year, Goldman Sachs has slashed its growth forecast for the current fourth quarter to a 3% annual rate from 6%. Trump has drawn generally solid public support for his handling of the economy. Though the unemployment rate, at 7.9%, is down significantly from 14.7% at the start of the pandemic recession, it is still historically high. The economy is still roughly 10.7 million jobs short of recovering all the 22 million jobs that were lost to the pandemic.

At least 19 people have been killed and dozens are missing after torrential rains caused by a powerful typhoon triggered landslides in Vietnam. Typhoon Molave slammed into the coast near Da Nang city on Wednesday, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. The typhoon has affected more than a million people in central Vietnam, leaving destruction in its wake. Vietnam has been battered by storms, heavy rains and floods since early October. Forecasters say heavy rain is expected to continue in parts of central Vietnam until Saturday.

CINCINNATI — Carlos Dunlap got his wish. The Bengals have agreed to trade the two-time Pro Bowler to the Seattle Seahawks according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. The team told Dunlap to stay home on Wednesday, which was a sign that trade talks were progressing. The Bengals don't have to worry about the distraction anymore. The Bengals drafted Dunlap in the second-round of the 2010 NFL Draft.

(Reuters) - New York police arrested about 30 people as hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Brooklyn late on Tuesday following a deadly police shooting in Philadelphia of a Black man armed with a knife. “Approximately 30 people have been arrested”, a New York Police Department spokesman told Reuters by phone, without detailing the reason for the arrests. He added that one NYPD officer suffered “non-life threatening” injuries during the late night protests. The development in New York City came after the deadly Philadelphia police shooting on Monday of Walter Wallace, 27, who was described by relatives as suffering from a mental breakdown as he was confronted by law enforcement. The protests, which have sometimes turned violent, have aimed at achieving racial equality and opposing police brutality.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Phoenix Goodyear Airport in Goodyear, Arizona, U.S., October 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstOpinion polls show Biden with a significant edge nationally, but his lead is tighter in battleground states. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday showed Trump had essentially moved into a tie with Biden in Florida, with 49% saying they would vote for Biden and 47% for the president. In the battleground state of Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia prosecutor issued a stark warning for Trump campaign poll-watchers not to overstep their bounds as they search for voter fraud. The Trump campaign has said it is recruiting an “army” of 50,000 volunteers to monitor polling places, an effort Democrats say could suppress the vote.

LONDON — The Labour Party announced Thursday it had suspended its former leader Jeremy Corbyn pending an investigation. The former Labour leader had earlier responded to a report by the U.K.’s Equality and Human Rights Commission which found that the party was “responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination” in its handling of complaints of anti-Semitism within its ranks under Corbyn’s leadership. “In light of his comments made today and his failure to retract them subsequently, the Labour Party has suspended Jeremy Corbyn pending investigation,” a spokesperson said. “He has also had the whip removed [been suspended] from the parliamentary Labour Party.”AdvertisementCorbyn — who remains a talismanic figure for many on Labour’s left wing — responded to the findings shortly after their publication saying that, while he regretted that it “took longer” to tackle the issue than it should have done, and that “one anti-Semite is one too many,” the “scale of the problem” had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media.”At a press conference, his successor Keir Starmer, who described it as a “day of shame” for the party, declined to directly criticize his former leader, saying the report’s findings showed a “collective failure of leadership.” However, he added that those who claimed accusations of anti-Semitism were “exaggerated or a factional attack” were “part of the problem” and should be “nowhere near the Labour party.”

SINGAPORE/MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Thursday, extending a 5% slump in the previous session, as governments’ renewed restrictions to curb a second wave of coronavirus infections and signs of a growing global oil supply glut send prices tumbling. FILE PHOTO: The sun is seen behind a crude oil pump jack in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S., November 22, 2019. “The demand outlook is deteriorating as a second viral wave swept the U.S. and most part of the Europe. Stricter social distancing measures and more lockdowns may bring a larger-than-expected impact on global energy demand,” said Margaret Yang, a strategist at DailyFX. Oil had initially rebounded slightly from overnight losses in Asian morning trade on technical support and the prospect of tighter short-term supply as Hurricane Zeta slammed Louisiana.

“We must reach the landslide site the fastest way. Other villagers in Phuoc Loc were advised to flee to safety given the unstable mountain slope. The three landslide-hit areas lie in the mountains of the hard-hit province of Quang Nam in a coastal region still recovering from floods that killed 136 people and destroyed hundreds of houses earlier this month. Four people were killed by falling trees and collapsed houses in Quang Nam and Gia Lai provinces when the typhoon slammed into the coast Wednesday. Navy search and rescue boats found the bodies of 12 of 26 fishermen whose boats sank Wednesday off Binh Dinh province, state media said.

Eli Lilly & Co's coronavirus antibody treatment can almost completely reduce viral loads in COVID-19 patients to zero and lowers the risk of hospitalization. It comes as the pharmaceutical giant ended its trial testing a combination of the antibody drug and remdesivir in hospitalized patients due to being ineffective. Those who were in the high dose and low dose group had 'smaller differences,' according to the researchers. A total of 6.3% in the placebo group required hospitalization compared to 1.6% in the antibody group. A total of 6.3 percent in the placebo group required hospitalization compared to 1.6 percent in the drug group.

The Houston Rockets are hiring Dallas Mavericks assistant Stephen Silas as their new head coach, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. Silas replaces Mike D’Antoni, who stepped down in September after four seasons as the Rockets head coach. Stephen Silas will be a first-time NBA head coach in Houston. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton) MoreSilas’ coaching backgroundSilas, 47, has spent 20 seasons on NBA sidelines as an assistant or associate head coach. He got his NBA coaching start in 2000 as a Charlotte Hornets assistant alongside his father and veteran NBA coach Paul Silas.

FILE PHOTO: A logo of Airbus is seen at the entrance of its factory in Blagnac near Toulouse, France, July 2, 2020. The European planemaker, which is slashing jobs to cope with collapsing air travel demand, also took a 1.2-billion-euro ($1.42 billion) restructuring charge that drove it to an operating loss despite a better-than-expected underlying quarterly operating profit of 820 million euros. The underlying or adjusted operating profit marked a 49% drop from the same period last year, while revenues fell 27% to 11.2 billion euros. Analysts were expecting quarterly adjusted operating profit of 708 million euros on revenues of 11.439 billion, according to a company-compiled consensus. However, the announcement came as France and Germany, where Airbus has its main factories, announced new restrictions to try to contain a resurgence of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Shoppers stood on pictures of Emmanuel Macron's face and used them as a social distancing guide in a Libyan clothing store today, amid anger at the French president for defending Prophet Mohammed cartoons and cracking down on radical Islam. The identical Macron posters - defaced with footprints - were laid out at appropriate intervals in a clothing store near Tripoli. The Libyan capital has also seen protests where Macron portraits have been stamped on and set on fire amid demonstrations across the Muslim world. Libya's foreign ministry on Tuesday condemned Macron's 'reckless insults' towards Islam after the French president defended the right to blaspheme. A foreign ministry spokesman demanded that Macron apologise to the world's 1.5billion Muslims, according to Libyan media.

If confirmed, Budd would become the first Black woman to lead the state’s highest court in its long history. Governor Charlie Baker will nominate Kimberly S. Budd to be chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday, a source in his administration said. No woman of color has ever been chief justice in the court’s 328-year history, and she would be just the second Black chief justice, following Roderick L. Ireland (2010-2014). AdvertisementShe would be the second woman to hold the post, after Margaret H. Marshall (1999-2010), and at 54, Budd would be the state’s youngest chief justice in 150 years. Budd, the daughter of former US attorney Wayne A. Budd, was named to the Superior Court in 2009 by Governor Deval Patrick, a Democrat.

The FBI Agents Association (FBIAA), representing more than 14,000 active and retired FBI Special Agents, released letters today sent to President Donald Trump and to former Vice President Joe Biden in support of FBI Director Christopher Wray. The letters urged both candidates to allow Director Wray to complete his statutorily-created, ten-year term for "the stability, credibility, and integrity of the Bureau." "Collectively, our members strongly support Director Wray continuing his ten-year term," writes O’Hare. O’Hare emphasized the importance of insulating the position of FBI Director from politics, writing, "Director Wray operates independently from partisan activities, and his nomination and acceptance of the position were predicated on that fact. The FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) is the only organization dedicated to providing support and advocacy to active Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Like Doc Rivers, Daryl Morey won’t be without an NBA job for long. And just as Rivers ended up as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, Morey is on the verge of joining the 76ers in a prime front-office role. The Sixers are in advanced discussions with Morey to become president of basketball operations, a person familiar with talks told USA TODAY Sports. Morey is considered the father of the modern-day NBA analytics movement and co-founded the popular and influential MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. But with Embiid and Simmons, the Sixers are also one of the better shooting teams inside of five feet, according to NBA.com/stats.

9 Wisconsin canceled its game at Nebraska and paused team activities for at least a week after a dozen people in the program — including coach Paul Chryst — tested positive for COVID-19. Alvarez said the team had only one positive test two days before Friday’s season-opening 45-7 victory over Illinois and 12 positive tests afterward. Alvarez said Wisconsin had reached the “orange/red” levels in the Big Ten protocols based on its rate of positive tests. “We’ll see where we are as far as testing, and we’ll make that decision as we move closer to the game,” Alvarez said. Players who test positive must undergo comprehensive cardiac testing an be cleared by a university-designated cardiologist before they can return to action.

FILE PHOTO: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends a meeting to discuss preparations for the 6th Belarusian People's Congress, in Minsk, Belarus October 27, 2020. Nikolai Petrov/BelTA/Handout via REUTERSMOSCOW (Reuters) - Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko replaced his interior minister on Thursday, the Belta state news agency reported, as he faces mass protests calling for him to leave power. In a related move, Lukashenko named three senior figures with security backgrounds, including outgoing interior minister Yuri Karayev, as presidential aides. The reshuffle marked the latest move by Lukashenko to tighten his grip on domestic security in the face of demonstrations and strikes that have gripped the country for nearly 12 weeks since a disputed election. The new interior minister is Ivan Kurbakov, who has head of police in the capital Minsk has led the crackdown in the epicentre of the protests since the Aug. 9 election.

A change-of-plea hearing is set for Thursday for a man charged with conspiring with associates of Rudy Giuliani to make illegal campaign contributionsChange of plea scheduled in Rudy Giuliani-related caseBy LARRY NEUMEISTERAssociated PressThe Associated PressNEW YORKNEW YORK (AP) — A change-of-plea hearing is set for Thursday for a man charged with conspiring with associates of Rudy Giuliani, one of President Donald Trump’s lawyers, to make illegal campaign contributions. The hearing for David Correia, scheduled to occur by video, was announced in a filing Wednesday in Manhattan federal court. In September, an updated indictment charged Correia and co-defendant Lev Parnas with defrauding investors in a business called Fraud Guarantee. Parnas and Correia also hired Giuliani, a Republican former New York City mayor, to consult with Fraud Guarantee. Last month, one of his lawyers asked to leave the case and said Correia hadn’t paid him.

FILE PHOTO: A logo of Standard Chartered is displayed at its main branch in Hong Kong, China August 1, 2017. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File PhotoUnderscoring its improved near-term performance, StanChart said it may resume dividend payments when it releases full-year results in February. Despite the better-than-expected quarterly performance, the bank’s shares fell more than 5% in London as investors took note of the lender’s cautious outlook and its acknowledgement that the pandemic has pushed back its profit goals. StanChart said last month it would merge several businesses and cut its number of senior executives. Both StanChart and rival HSBC HSBA.L, whose shares have nearly halved in value this year, are also grappling with political uncertainty in Hong Kong, a key market for both.

(Reuters) - China’s Ant Group Co Ltd has invested far and wide overseas, both to expand its own Alipay payments service and in local e-wallet companies. Kakao Pay (Korea) :Ant invested $200 million in Kakao Pay, the mobile payment subsidiary of South Korea tech giant Kakao Corp, in February 2017. bKash (Bangladesh):Ant acquired a 20% stake in bKash, Bangladesh’s largest mobile payments firm, also in 2018. WorldFirst (UK):In February 2019, Ant announced it had purchased British currency exchange and payments group WorldFirst. eMonkey (Vietnam):According to sources, Ant took a sizeable stake in Vietnamese e-wallet eMonkey in 2019, which is operated by Vietnamese fintech firm M-Pay Trade.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers’ six-game win over the Tampa Bay Rays received an average television rating 32% below the previous World Series low. The six games on Fox averaged a 5.2 rating, 12 share and 9,785,000 viewers, Nielsen Media Research said Wednesday. The previous low was a 7.6 rating, 12 share and 12,660,000 viewers for the San Francisco Giants’ four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers in 2012. This year’s rating was down 36% from the 8.1 rating, 16 share and average of 14,067,000 viewers for the Washington Nationals’ seven-game win over the Houston Astros last year. Los Angeles’ 3-1 win in Game 6 on Tuesday night drew a 6.8 rating, 15 share and an average of 12,627,000 viewers, down from a 9.6 rating, 19 share and average of 16,551,000 viewers for Washington’s 7-2 win in Game 6 last year.

FILE PHOTO: The sun is seen behind a crude oil pump jack in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S., November 22, 2019. “Certainly the increase in oil production led to a unexpected build of crude oil, and given the additional lockdowns we are seeing in Europe, that is just further heaping bad news on the oil market,” said Andy Lipow, president of consultants Lipow Oil Associates. Brent futures fell $2.33, or 5.7%, to $38.87 a barrel by 1:10 p.m. EDT (1710 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $2.45, or 6.2%, to $37.12. The stronger dollar .DXY makes oil more expensive for holders of foreign currencies, which traders said weighed on crude prices. Traders said crude prices were also hit by fading prospects for a quick deal on a new U.S. stimulus, and increasing oil output from Libya.

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L on Thursday increased its dividend after easily beating third-quarter profit forecasts even as the energy company warned of "significant uncertainty" because of the pandemic. FILE PHOTO: Filled oil drums are seen at Royal Dutch Shell Plc's lubricants blending plant in the town of Torzhok, north-west of Tver, November 7, 2014. Shell’s adjusted earnings in the third quarter fell 80% to $955 million (732.8 million pounds) but easily beat company-provided average analysts forecasts of a $146 million profit. “As a result of COVID-19, there continues to be significant uncertainty in the macroeconomic conditions with an expected negative impact on demand for oil, gas and related products,” Shell said in a statement. Shell said on Thursday it would reduce the number of its oil refineries from 14 sites to six “energy and chemical parks”.

Commissioner Rob Manfred got the telephone call that Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner tested positive for COVID-19. He immediately telephoned Dodgers owner Mark Walter and president Andrew Friedman, and ordered them to get Turner off the field quickly as possible. Turner was removed and ordered to stay in isolation in a room outside the clubhouse. The game wrapped up, the World Series trophy celebration commenced and Manfred left the field, only for Turner to return and join the celebration. When MLB security raised the matter of being on the field with Turner, he emphatically refused to comply."