In its heyday, the Tropicana Las Vegas was known for its opulence.

A veteran U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent is on trial in Buffalo, New York, on charges he took $250,000 in bribes from the Mafia to derail investigations and keep his childhood friends out of prison.

A woman who would go 100% for her children.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has announced a ban on the use of TikTok and certain China and Russia-based platforms in the state’s executive branch of government.

This week’s new entertainment releases include Will Smith’s comeback campaign in the Antoine Fuqua movie “Emancipation,” a documentary about Broadway star Idina Menzel, the video game “Dragon Quest Treasures” and a TV series exploring the tumultuous relationship between country music stars Tammy Wynette and George Jones.

“The Flatshare” stars Jessica Brown Findlay and Anthony Welsh got to do all their own stunts in their new rom-com TV series.

The five people who were killed at a gay club in Colorado are being remembered as loving parents, enthusiastic performers and longtime patrons who cherished Club Q as a safe haven for members of the LGBTQ community.

Democrats have held on to a swing U.S. House district in Maine.

Aliyah Boston had 16 points and 13 rebounds and Zia Cooke added 18 points to lift No. 1 South Carolina to an 81-56 victory over No. 17 Maryland.

Sometimes, one author isn't enough to write a novel.

The still-undecided U.S. House majority is on track to be even narrower than either Republicans or Democrats had expected.

A man who livestreamed the aftermath of a mass shooting at a Colorado supermarket has been found not guilty of obstructing police.

Nearly 400 school districts across the country are receiving grants totaling about $1 billion to purchase 2,500 “clean” school buses under a new federal program.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona grew up in a musical household playing instruments with his family.

This week’s new entertainment releases include albums from Babyface, Arctic Monkeys and a Taylor Swift original, a documentary about the last known ship to bring African captives to the American South for enslavement and “Doc Martin” gets a proper farewell on Acorn TV.

A midterm rematch in Maine could help decide which party will control Congress.

LaQuan Smith launched his spring collection, am exploration of the female form, on the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier docked on the Hudson River.

The newly restored Cort Theatre on Broadway has been renamed after James Earl Jones, becoming the second theater on the Great White Way named after a Black artist.

Testimony at the trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz shows that chaos reigned in the home he shared with his widowed mother and brother.

From the hoopla it looked like a movie premiere, but the star was a bag.

The president of a local NAACP branch in Florida has resigned, saying that as a South Asian woman she was racially marginalized by others in the civil rights group.

Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state is seeking her sixth term at a new inflection point for women.

Ohio families that have called rural land home for generations are lamenting the loss of their property to a massive development project.

New global data shows that emissions of heat-trapping gases coming from making cement have doubled in the last 20 years.

Becky Hammon vowed before the season tipped off that the Las Vegas Aces would be shooting more 3-poitners this year.

Several gowns Marilyn Monroe donned for “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business” are going up for auction this summer along with 1,400 other pieces of Hollywood history.

Anton Lundell scored twice and the Florida Panthers extended their winning streak to 10 games with a 6-1 rout of the Detroit Red Wings.

Sarah Palin has filed paperwork to join a field of at least 40 candidates vying for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat.

Tiffany Haddish’s next book will be in part a story of laughing through the tears.

Jennifer Hudson was named entertainer of the year at the 53rd annual NAACP Image Awards that highlighted works by entertainers and writers of color.

Eileen Gu turned the Beijing Olympics into her own personal playground.

American-born Eileen Gu earned the first of what she and her many fans in Beijing hope could be three gold medals for China by cranking out the first 1620 of her career in the Olympic debut of women's freestyle skiing big air.

Seattle's elected prosecutor is promising quicker charging decisions to help tackle persistent low-level crime that's plagued businesses downtown.

Scott Laughton scored 2:22 into overtime, Cam Atkinson had a pair of goals in regulation and assisted on the winner, and the Philadelphia Flyers snapped a franchise-record 13-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.

State and local governments reported more than $117 billion of revenue losses in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.

This week’s new entertainment releases include a new album from the legendary group The Temptations, the latest addition to the animated “Ice Age” franchise and a new series on HBO by “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes called “The Gilded Age” and starring Carrie Coon, Morgan Spector, Cynthia Nixon and Christine Baranski.

Netflix could be a dominant force at next month’s 53rd NAACP Image Awards.

Funeral services were held Monday for nine children and three adults who died in a Philadelphia fire five days into the new year, the deadliest blaze in the city in more than a century.

Actor and comedian Tiffany Haddish has been charged with driving under the influence in Georgia.

A recent Wyoming school board meeting was yet again packed with opponents of mask mandates when things took an abrupt turn and a parent started reading out sexually explicit passages from a book available in school libraries.

Human rights activists are lobbying major jewelers to stop buying gems sourced in Myanmar as a way to put pressure on Myanmar's military leaders by limiting profits from the country's lucrative mining industry.

A once-standout U.S. narcotics agent who used his badge to build a lavish lifestyle of luxury cars and Tiffany jewelry has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for conspiring to launder money with a Colombian cartel.

The Rev. Craig Duke has been a Methodist minister for three decades, building a reputation as a staunch advocate of LGBTQ inclusion.

They both carved out sterling reputations as military and political leaders over years of public service.

Jessica Tillman, a Seminole County mother of four, developed some new interests during the COVID-19 pandemic: Fighting against school board mask mandates and organizing with like-minded parents.

A Colombian national police officer who was part of an elite unit that worked closely with U.S. anti-narcotics agents has pleaded guilty to charges he betrayed the Drug Enforcement Administration to the same traffickers they were jointly fighting.

A man upset over the impeachment of former President Donald Trump, illegal immigration and the direction he thinks the country is headed is accused of threatening the lives of Alaska’s two Republican U.S. senators.

A Colombian national police officer who was part of an elite unit that worked closely with U.S. anti-narcotics agents has been extradited to Miami to stand trial on charges he betrayed the Drug Enforcement Administration to the same traffickers they were jointly fighting.

A serial killer has been sentenced to 160 years after friends of one victim used fake social media accounts to lure the suspect and turn him in to police.

R. Kelly grew up in Chicago's housing projects and went on to have an illustrious musical career increasingly clouded by allegations of lurid behavior and sexual abuse.

The “amistad,” or friendship, that Del Rio, Texas, and Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, celebrate with a festival each year has been important in helping them deal with the challenges from a migrant camp that shut down the border bridge between the two communities for more than a week.

An Ohio man is among those who made their way to the Texas border city of Del Rio, where thousands of Haitian migrants set up camp near a border bridge, including many seeking asylum.

New Orleans is showing signs of making a comeback nearly two weeks after Hurricane Ida blasted coastal Louisiana.

The terrorist attacks 20 years ago struck an emotional chord, still do for Chad Jenkins, then a senior quarterback at Army.

This week’s new entertainment releases include Mary Elizabeth Winstead starring in the brutal assassin thriller “Kate” on Netflix and a filmed version of the Tony-nominated Broadway musical “Come From Away.”.

R. Kelly has long faced allegations of lurid sexual behavior and abuse, some of which have been made public through documentaries or court documents.

State Fairs in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin are offering COVID-19 vaccinations as the delta variant spreads across the country.

President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats are putting judges on federal trial and appellate courts at a much faster clip than Biden’s recent predecessors.

The Venice Film Festival has unveiled a starry lineup of world premieres for September including Pablo Larrain’s “Spencer,” starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana and Ridley Scott’s medieval drama “The Last Duel,” featuring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Adam Driver.

The American Booksellers Association is apologizing for sending a publication widely criticized as anti-trans, Abigail Shrier’s “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters,” in a recent mailing to independent stores.

The Chicago Sky are at full strength and moving up the WNBA standings after a slow start due to injuries.

Fifteen months after shuttering for the pandemic, New York’s Radio City Music Hall reopened its doors Saturday for the Tribeca Festival premiere of a new Dave Chappelle documentary.

President Joe Biden has signed legislation Thursday establishing a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery, saying he believes it will go down as one of the greatest honors he has as president.

A jury in Oklahoma has recommended a death sentence for an alleged serial killer who was convicted of kidnapping a woman from a car wash and killing her more than 20 years ago.

The WNBA season is only a few weeks old and there already have been five games that have decided in overtime.

A march along the trail that Black people used to flee the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre is just one of an array of events scheduled to mark the upcoming 100th anniversary of the atrocity.

There's been some progress in the relationship between the Tulsa police and the city's Black community in the 100 years since the Tulsa Race Massacre left as many as 300 Black people dead and thousands of Black residents displaced.

Tulsans working on events commemorating the 1921 Race Massacre say a dispute over monetary payments to survivors led to the cancellation of a headline event.

The WNBA season isn’t even two weeks old and the New York Liberty have already doubled their win total from last year and are off to their best start since 2007.

BET is forming the next big R&B girl group with the help of members from platinum-selling ensembles like 702, Total, Danity Kane, 3LW, Blaque and Cherish.

Prominent pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has been sentenced to more jail time for participating in an unauthorized vigil to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Jessica Korda rode out a series of big momentum shifts Friday at historic Wilshire Country Club to hold onto the lead in the HUGEL Air Premia LA Open.

LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault and Tod’s founder Diego Dalle Valle are further cementing their 20-year friendship with a deal for the French group to increase its stake in the Italian luxury goods maker.

Jessica Korda shot a 6-under 65 on Thursday in the HUGEL Air Premia LA Open to break the tournament 36-hole scoring record and increase her lead to three strokes.

Jessica Korda birdied three of the final four holes for a 7-under 64 and a one-stroke lead Wednesday after the first round of the HUGEL Air Premia LA Open.

Officials say a small community in south-central Arizona remained under an evacuation notice Friday after crews and air tankers stopped the growth of a wildfire that burned at least 12 homes the day before.

Three of the picks are Black women whom Biden wants for the federal courts of appeals, often a stepping stone to the Supreme Court. Circuit, in particular, is a place where presidents have searched for Supreme Court justices. Some liberal Democrats have urged Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who is 82, to retire to allow Biden to choose a possible replacement. Other Black women who would be front-runners if a spot on the U.S. Supreme Court were to open are California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger and U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs. Ad“This trailblazing slate of nominees draws from the very best and brightest minds of the American legal profession," Biden, a former Senate Judiciary Committee chair, said in a statement.

FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2015, file photo, Director Bertrand Tavernier poses with his Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievements after the award ceremony at the 72nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy. Acclaimed French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier has died at the age of 79, according to French media. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)PARIS – French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier, who directed acclaimed movies such “A Sunday in the Country,” “Captain Conan” and “The Judge and the Assassin,” has died, according to his family. Tavernier was married to the late French-Irish screenwriter Claudine O’Hagan, better known as Colo Tavernier, from 1965 to 1980. They had two children together: writer Tiffany Tavernier and director and actor Nils Tavernier.

(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)Like many famous comics, Jo Koy had early struggles at comedy clubs. "Mixed Plate: Chronicles of an All-American Combo,” out Tuesday, is an ideal companion to Koy's stand-up with its humorous — and at times painful — origin stories behind some of his most popular bits. The book shows how Koy's mixed-race background ultimately shaped his brand of comedy and his determination not to give up on his childhood dream. “I’ve always been open to just letting people be inside my life,” Koy said. Even with all these opportunities, Koy's mother sometimes asks him if he'll drop stand-up for a regular job “with benefits.”“I don’t think about retiring.

FILE - Elsa Peretti, left, poses with designer Halston after a fashion show in New York on June 15, 1970. Famed jewelry designer Elsa Peretti, a formal Halston model turned Tiffany & Co. legend, is dead at age 80. According to a family statement, Peretti died Thursday night in her sleep at home in a small village outside Barcelona. “Elsa was not only a designer but a way of life,” Tiffany said in a statement Friday. In recognition of her work, Tiffany established the Elsa Peretti professorship in jewelry design at the Fashion Institute of Technology, the first endowed professorship in the history of FIT.

Some are spending every weekend driving hundreds of miles back to Ohio to see their children. Moyers transferred almost two years ago to GM’s assembly plant in Lansing, Michigan, that makes Cadillacs and Chevy Camaros. What happens next for Moorhead, after 24 years at GM, is still up in the air. “When GM was closing there was a fear of what happens next and everything was going to end, but it doesn’t,” he said. But I guess our futures were never guaranteed.”___This story was updated to correct that Moyers' drive home is 263 miles, not 463 miles.

House Democrats are expected to pass a sweeping elections and ethics bill, offering it up as a powerful counterweight to voting rights restrictions advancing in Republican-controlled statehouses. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – House Democrats passed sweeping voting and ethics legislation over unanimous Republican opposition, advancing to the Senate what would be the largest overhaul of the U.S. election law in at least a generation. The bill is a powerful counterweight to voting rights restrictions advancing in Republican-controlled statehouses across the country in the wake of Donald Trump’s repeated false claims of a stolen 2020 election. It would limit states' ability to purge registered voters from their rolls and restore former felons' voting rights. AdSome Democrats have discussed options like lowering the threshold to break a filibuster, or creating a workaround that would allow priority legislation, including a separate John Lewis Voting Rights bill, to be exempt.

House Democrats are expected to pass a sweeping elections and ethics bill, offering it up as a powerful counterweight to voting rights restrictions advancing in Republican-controlled statehouses. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – House Democrats passed sweeping voting and ethics legislation Wednesday over unanimous Republican opposition, advancing to the Senate what would be the largest overhaul of the U.S. election law in at least a generation. The bill is a powerful counterweight to voting rights restrictions advancing in Republican-controlled statehouses across the country in the wake of Donald Trump’s repeated false claims of a stolen 2020 election. It would limit states' ability to purge registered voters from their rolls and restore former felons' voting rights. AdSome Democrats have discussed options like lowering the threshold to break a filibuster, or creating a workaround that would allow priority legislation, including a separate John Lewis Voting Rights bill, to be exempt.

She’s only the second woman in the history of the Globes to win, and the first since Barbra Streisand won for “Yentl” in 1984. Its star, guerilla comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, also won best actor in a comedy. “The Queen's Gambit” won best limited series, and best actress in the category for Anya Taylor-Joy. “Schitt's Creek,” the Pop TV series that found a wider audience on Netflix, won best comedy series for its final season. Catherine O'Hara also took best actress in a comedy series.

A wax statue of actor John Hamm stands by the bar with a drink at Peter Luger Steakhouse on Friday, Feb, 26, 2021, in New York. The statue, on loan from Madame Tussauds, will help fill out the restaurant during COVID-19 occupancy restrictions. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)NEW YORK – It’s a promotion that could be straight out of the “Mad Men” Don Draper playbook. Other figures on loan from Madame Tussauds include Michael Strahan, Jimmy Fallon, Al Roker and Audrey Hepburn in Holly Golightly of “Breakfast at Tiffany's” mode. After that, they'll return to the recently reopened Madame Tussauds in midtown Manhattan.

The icon for the social media app Clubhouse is seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. You can also download the app and get on a waiting list to be let into Clubhouse. Although Clubhouse hasn't divulged how many people are using its service, its app has been downloaded 5.3 million times, according to analytics firm App Annie. Thousands of Chinese users have flocked to the app in recent months, lured by the unfettered discussions it allowed with people abroad — particularly about democracy, Taiwan and other sensitive topics. Users still could download it if they had access to an Apple app store abroad.

Maral Javadifar, assistant strength and conditioning coach, and Locust follow in Katie Sowers' footsteps with the Bucs the only NFL team with two female coaches this season. Javadifar, assistant strength and conditioning coach, and assistant defensive line coach Lori Locust follow in Sowers' footsteps with the Bucs the only NFL team with two female coaches this season. Down judge Sarah Thomas will be the first female to officiate a Super Bowl. The Chiefs have a pair of female assistant athletic trainers in Julie Frymyer and Tiffany Morton. Bucs defensive end Shaq Barrett loves how Locust is always giving him tips.

Melvin Capital is also exiting GameStop, with manager Gabe Plotkin telling CNBC that the hedge fund was taking a significant loss. Last week they gave us the Great GameStop Stock Uprising. Online spaces are being used to radicalize people toward extremism, to plan hate crimes and attacks," she said. It’s the same thing as when Jim Cramer gets on CNBC smashing buttons.”AdIn 2017, the hashtag “MeToo" began going viral as women — and some men — shared their experiences of sexual assault on social media. Social media also helped Black Lives Matter activists organize rallies, record police violence and communicate during the marches sweeping the U.S. and other countries following the death of George Floyd last summer.

One emergency medicine doctor said initial reopening plans for the district's 5,000-plus students weren’t safe enough. “And that’s what I, and I’m sure other superintendents, have been struggling with.”Each side argued data and science supported their view in a debate over reopening schools that sometimes veered into vitriol. Without specific reopening instructions from federal and state leaders, school administrators have had to become amateur epidemiologists, Dude said. Around Decatur, neighbors dodged the issue in polite conversation as tensions rose during school board meetings and on social media. She didn't feel the district's reopening plans were safe or equitable, particularly for the most vulnerable students, but the increasing incivility troubled her, too.

Tiffany Trump and Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner listen as President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Kenosha Regional Airport, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. She shared a photograph of herself and fiance Michael Boulos posing on the West Wing colonnade at the White House. “It has been an honor to celebrate many milestones, historic occasions and create memories with my family here at the White House, none more special than my engagement to my amazing fiance Michael!” Tiffany Trump wrote. Tiffany Trump is the president's daughter with Marla Maples, his second ex-wife. She and Boutros have been dating for the past few years and have attended White House events together.

Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami smiles at the end of an alpine ski, women's World Cup super-G in St. Anton, Austria, Sunday, Jan.10, 2021. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)ST. ANTON – It took the veteran skills of Lara Gut-Behrami to win a tricky World Cup super-G on Sunday. World Cup super-G champion Corinne Suter was third, trailing her Switzerland teammate by 0.20. Gut-Behrami’s 13th win in World Cup super-G came more than 12 years after her debut victory in a discipline that demands speed and technical ability to improvise. Now 29, the 2016 World Cup overall champion won both of her career season-long discipline titles in super-G.Gut-Behrami rose to fifth in the overall standings, ahead of three-time champion Mikaela Shiffrin.

The site of Middle Collegiate Church, which was devastated by a fire earlier in the month, is seen in New York on Dec. 14, 2020. The facade and the New York Liberty Bell are the only parts of the 128-year-old church that remain. Middle Collegiate had previously occupied two other locations in Manhattan beginning in 1729. Middle Collegiate has also welcomed 25 new parishioners since the fire, she said. “The church is made up of the congregation and what the people in the congregation believe and do,” said Slacik, who married her wife at the church.

This image released by Sundance Institute shows a scene from "In The Same Breath," which will debut at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. (Sundance Film Festival via AP)Sundance Institute programs. Organizers on Tuesday unveiled a robust and diverse slate for the festival, which will be largely virtual due to the pandemic. Yutani said that the Sesame Street documentary, “Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street” is likely to be a crowd favorite. “We all are so excited about the possibility of encountering people who’ve never been to the festival," Jackson said.

Clooney was honored Monday, Dec. 7, 2020, by co-stars and colleagues at the annual film benefit for the Museum of Modern Art, held virtually. MoMA’s annual film benefit raises funds to bring great works of film to the museum’s collection. Also giving virtual tributes Monday evening were actors Felicity Jones, Tiffany Boone, Kyle Chandler and Demian Bichir, who appear in “A Midnight Sky,” which Clooney stars in and directs. The benefit featured clips from some of Clooney’s many films: “Michael Clayton,” “Syriana,” "The Descendants,” “Gravity,” and “Good Night, and Good Luck,” among others. In earlier comments to The Associated Press, Clooney said “Good Night, and Good Luck” was probably his proudest professional accomplishment.

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire that erupted from a building next to Middle Collegiate Church on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020 in New York. The historic 19th century church in lower Manhattan was gutted by a massive fire early Saturday that sent flames shooting through the roof. The Middle Collegiate Church had been in two other locations in Manhattan since 1729. Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that the fire was “heartbreaking” and pledged: "We’ll do whatever we can to help Middle Collegiate rebuild." The fate of the church building is unclear, Lewis said, but the ministry will continue.

NEW YORK – Christmas is still a few weeks away, but Mariah Carey is already orchestrating her dinner menu. 1 hits really going to sweat over a hot stove? “Magical Christmas Special” is another example of diverse, family-friendly holiday programming that hasn’t always been allotted by Hollywood. “As a kid, if I had to select one holiday, of course I’m going with Christmas. And while the pandemic has halted a number of projects, 2020 has been busy for Carey: In September she released her candid memoir “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” which debuted at No.

Because live shows aren’t really a thing in 2020, she’s launching a holiday TV special on Apple TV+ on Friday. “Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special” will includes a mix of musical performances and dancing with amination. — Shawn Mendes released his debut album in 2015 and he’s dropping his fourth effort Friday. Along with the album is the Netflix documentary called “Shawn Mendes: In Wonder,” which is available for streaming and follows Mendes’ rise and journey over the last few years. — Christmas came early when Carrie Underwood released her first holiday album in September, and on Thursday she’ll debut a musical TV special to accompany the album.

And it earned him his first Grammy nomination in six years. 3 spot on the pop charts — is up for best rap song and best rap performance. And Anderson .Paak's “Lockdown," about police brutality and racial injustice, is up for best melodic rap performance and best music video. JAY-Z, THE SONGWRITERS, SHINESHappy wife, happy life: Jay-Z has lent his songwriting hand to his wife Beyoncé and he's earned Grammy nominations for it. PAUL McCARTNEY, THE ART DIRECTORPaul McCartney scored his 79th Grammy nominations this year — as an art director.

This combination photo shows Brad Paisley, from left, Bruce Springsteen and Sheryl Crow who will participate in this years Stand Up for Heroes fundraiser on Nov. 18. The fundraiser, which benefits injured veterans and their families, will also feature comedians including Nate Bargatze, Ronny Chieng, Tiffany Haddish, Iliza Shlesinger and Ray Romano. (AP Photo)NEW YORK – This year’s Stand Up for Heroes fundraiser is going virtual for the first time and The Boss will once again be there. Bruce Springsteen, Sheryl Crow, Tiffany Haddish and Brad Paisley have all signed up to participate — as well as Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, for the first time. The fundraiser, which benefits injured veterans and their families, will also feature comedians and musicians including Nate Bargatze, Ronny Chieng, Mickey Guyton, Patti Scialfa, Iliza Shlesinger, Jeannie Gaffigan and Ray Romano.

Students from Hesston Middle School hold class at the Cross Winds Convention Center in Hesston, Kan., Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. Districts are setting up makeshift outdoor shelters, bringing in trailers to house classrooms and making use of otherwise empty spaces like museums. Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson is holding up the Hesston district’s plan as a model to be replicated. He said his visits to dozens of school districts revealed many were struggling regardless of whether they were offering in-person, virtual or hybrid instruction. However, some 1,100 New York City schools have been approved to spend part of their day outdoors.