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Colin Kaepeick and San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid kneeled during the national anthem Thursday night, continuing the quarterback's preseason protest of American racial injustice and minority oppression. Kaepeick and Reid dropped to one knee while a naval officer sang "The Star-Spangled Baer" and dozens of military members unfurled an oversized flag at the Chargers' Qualcomm Stadium. Kaepeick and Reid received scattered boos when they dropped to a knee amid a crowd of teammates, but the protest was otherwise unremarked by the San Diego crowd. The 49ers' visit coincided with the aual Salute to the Military preseason game for the Chargers, who have strong fan support in their city'...

People from the Florida Panhandle down to the Tampa area braced Thursday for Hurricane Hermine, as it lashes the area with strong winds and potentially dangerous storm surge. The National Hurricane Center said the storm's winds ratched up from 75 mph in the afteoon to 80 mph by evening as the former tropical storm gained new fury. Hermine was set to make landfall late Thursday or early Friday, forecasters said. A hurricane waing was in effect for Florida's Big Bend from the Suwaee River to Mexico Beach. And on the East Coast, a tropical storm waing was issued for an area that extended from Marineland, Florida, northward to the South Santee River in South Carolina. [embedded content...

(REUTERS/Brian Snyder) A public school district near Louisville, Kentucky has come down with a bad case of what I call “Participation Trophy Syndrome” – or PTS. The Greater Clark County School Board in Jeffersonville, Indiana, is considering a plan to eliminate the valedictorian system because it creates “unhealthy competition,” according to Supt. Andrew Melin. Click here to join Todd’s American Dispatch: a must-read for Conservatives! Unhealthy competition? Is he serious? Did a kid suffer a concussion while trying to parse a participle? “When students are competing for the Val and the Sal, they’re trying to find ways to maneuver through the system to try and get the best grades they can...

Donald Trump vowed Thursday to “rebuild our depleted military” and ensure America’s soldiers are the best-equipped in the world as he addressed the American Legion's aual convention – and sought to rebut Hillary Clinton’s suggestion to the same crowd a day earlier that he doesn’t believe America is “exceptional.” Kicking off the address in Cinciati, Ohio, by invoking his campaign slogan, “America First,” Trump tried to settle any doubts about his support for the Armed Forces. He called for a state-of-the-art missile defense, a “total reform” of the Veterans Affairs Department and a policy of “peace through strength.” “Nobody will be able to compete with us,” Trump said. His Democrati...

President Obama has extended the U.S. military’s combat mission in Libya for another month at the request of senior military leaders, two defense officials with knowledge of the order told Fox News. The decision keeps two U.S. Navy warships off the coast of Libya to continue striking ISIS and assist Libyan ground forces fighting the terror group in the coastal city of Sirte. One of the U.S. warships had been scheduled to go to the Persian Gulf in September to begin airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria and keep an eye on Iran, a week after four provocations between Iranian gunboats and U.S. Navy ships -- one of which resulted in waing shots being fired by a U.S. warship. The oth...

John Legend is standing with Colin Kaepeick in his decision not to stand during the national anthem, calling the "Star Spangled Baer" "weak," and saying he doesn't "truly love" the song. "For those defending the current anthem, do you really truly love that song? I don't and I'm very good at singing it. Like, one of the best," he wrote on Twitter. For those defending the current anthem, do you really truly love that song? I don't and I'm very good at singing it. Like, one of the best — John Legend (@johnlegend) August 30, 2016 He continued, "My vote is for 'America the Beautiful.' 'Star Spangled Baer' is a weak song anyway." My vote is for America the Beautiful. Star spangled baer ...

Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Tuesday survived a tough primary challenge -- defeating a persistent, first-time challenger and the controversy that ended her leadership of the Democratic National Committee. The Associated Press projected the win for Wasserman Schultz shortly after polls closed. In the state’s closely-watched Senate primaries, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy won their respective Florida Senate primaries -- setting up a high-profile November contest that will help determine whether Democrats can retake control of the Senate. Wasserman Schultz is expected to win a sixth term in November in the state’s Democratic-leanin...

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump criticized San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepeick Monday, calling Kaepeick's refusal to stand for the national anthem "a terrible thing." "I think it’s personally not a good thing," Trump told Seattle radio station KIRO when asked about the controversy. "I think it’s a terrible thing, and you know, maybe he should find a country that works better for him, let him try, it’s not goa happen." Kaepeick became the subject of national controversy over the weekend when he remained seated on the San Francisco bench during the playing of the "Star-Spangled Baer" prior to Friday night's preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. While e...

This undated photo shows Ryan Coles, who is accused of killing his parents Friday, Aug. 26, 2016. (Salem County Correctional Facility) A suburban Philadelphia couple were beaten to death by their own son in their New Jersey home, authorities said Saturday. Edward Coles Jr., 58, and wife Rosemarie Coles, 55, of West Deptford, were found dead by another family member Friday moing. The couple's son, 28-year-old Ryan Coles, was arrested on murder and weapons charges. His bail was set at $1 million. The Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office said that the couple died from "blunt head trauma" and alleged that Ryan Coles had bludgeoned his parents "with his hands and an unknown object." Neighbor...

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump tweeted Saturday about the fatal shooting of NBA star Dwyane Wade's cousin, in another apparent attempt to persuade black voters to back him in November. "Dwyane Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago," Trump tweeted. "Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!” Nykea Aldridge, 32 was shot and killed Friday afteoon while pushing a baby in a stroller on Chicago's South Side. Chicago Police said Aldridge was shot in the head and arm by two men outside an elementary school. The shooters appeared to be targeting a third man, police also said. The baby in the stroller wasn't hurt, and authoritie...

FILE - In this July 27, 2014 file photo, North Korean army soldiers watch the south side while a South Korean and United States Army soldiers stand guard at the border villages of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File) North Korea on Saturday threatened to aim fire at the lighting equipment used by "provocative" American and South Korean troops at a truce village inside the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas. The North's Korean People's Army accused U.S. and South Korean soldiers of "deliberate provocations" by aiming their lights at North Korean guard posts at Panmunjom since Friday evening. The KPA said in a statement that the soldiers' actions have...

The coffin of Giulia, 9 years old, is carried outside the gymnasium at the end of the state funeral service in Ascoli Piceno, Italy,. (AP) ASCOLI PIECENO, Italy – In the chaos of Italy's devastating earthquake, an older sister's embrace allowed a four-year-old girl to survive. The heartbreaking story of Giulia Rinaldo, 9, and her 4-year-old sister Giorgia was recounted Saturday by the bishop who celebrated a funeral Mass for 35 of the 290 people killed by the quake that ravaged central Italy before dawn Wednesday. Bishop Giovai D'Ercole recalled that around 6 or 6:30 p.m. Wednesday — 15 hours after the quake — he retued to a church in his diocese in the town of Pescara Del Tronto to reco...

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepeick is refusing to stand for the national anthem before games because he believes the United States oppresses African Americans and other minorities. Kaepeick sat on the team's bench Friday night during the anthem before the Niners played host to the Green Bay Packers in an exhibition game. He later explained his reasoning in an interview with NFL Media . ''I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,'' Kaepeick said. ''To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave a...

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton takes cellphone photos with people in the audience at a campaign event at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Nev., Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistribu) WASHINGTON – Seven months after a federal judge ordered the State Department to begin releasing monthly batches of the detailed daily schedules showing meetings by Hillary Clinton during her time as secretary of state, the govement told The Associated Press it won't finish the job before Election Day. The department has so far released abo...

WASHINGTON – Hillary Clinton defended her family's charitable foundation on Wednesday against criticism from Donald Trump, saying it had provided more transparency than her Republican rival's sprawling business interests. Clinton called into CNN's "AC360" to address Trump's suggestions that the foundation started by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, had been used to facilitate a pay-for-play scheme during her time at the State Department. "What Trump has said is ridiculous. My work as secretary of state was not influenced by any outside forces. I made policies based on what I thought was right," Clinton said. She said the foundation had provided "life-saving work," adding t...

Rescue crews aided by sniffer dogs dug through crumbled homes in Italy Thursday looking for earthquake survivorsas the death toll topped 241 and officials anguished over how to secure their ancient towns and mode cities from the country's highly seismic terrain. Hundreds of people were injured in the quake that struck at 3:36 a.m. Wednesday, investigators said. At least 470 aftershocks have since rattled the area, triggering more damage to centuries-old buildings in Amatrice. One aftershock had a magnitude of 5.1. After a night of uninterrupted, flood-lit search efforts, firefighters and rescue crews worked in teams around the hard-hit area in central Italy, pulling chunks of cement,...

If you look hard enough, you find there's usually a reason for everything -- even at The New York Times. But whatever the reason -- maybe it was the story about a parasite jeopardizing fly fishing in Montana, or those Russian hackers who attacked the Gray Lady's Moscow bureau -- the latest Clinton Foundation bombshell couldn't be found among "All the News That's Fit to Print." Related Image Expand / Contract Wednesday's New York Times ignored a major story from The Associated Press. The Associated Press scoopTuesday found that at least 85 of 154 people who got an audience with Hillary Clinton while she led the State Department had donated to her family charity. Combined, the 85 ...

Hillary Clinton’s post-convention bounce may be coming back down to earth – at least in some parts of the country – as new polls show a tightening race against Donald Trump in several battleground states, especially when Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson is factored in. A Monmouth University Poll released Wednesday showed Clinton holding onto just a 2-point lead in North Carolina. She leads Trump 44-42 percent in the state, while Johnson is pulling 7 percent. The poll also shows Trump with a double-digit lead among independents. North Carolina is one of several battleground states considered critical to Trump’s hopes of capturing the presidency in November. He still trails in most s...

DEVELOPING:Explosions and gunfire rang out atAmerican University of Afghanistan in Kabul Wednesday in what a police commander described as "a complex attack." Photo attributed to the attack on American University of Afghanistan in Kabul pic.twitter.com/EVunzOpyd3 — KAZEMI, Mustafa (@CombatJouo) August 24, 2016 Reporters in the area said teachers and hundreds of students took cover in classrooms and safe rooms as police and special forces surrounded the campus on the weste outskirts of Afghanistan's capital city. A car bomb had exploded outside a school for the blind next door before at least one attacker fired at the university campus from that school building, a police officer at t...

Joshua Robertson, left, and Brittany Humphrey. (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department) Authorities in Southe Califoia searched Tuesday for a man and a woman suspected of killing a woman, kidnapping her three small children and leaving the state. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that warrants have been issued for Joshua Robertson, 27, and Brittany Humphrey, 22. Robertson and Humphrey are suspected of killing Kimberly Harvill, whose body was discovered Sunday in brush along a remote road in northe Los Angeles County in the unincorporated Lebec area near Interstate 5. Authorities believe the pair also kidnapped Harvill’s three children, 2-year-old Josly Watk...