TALLAHASSEE, Florida — A first of its kind assessment of coral reefs in U.S. waters is again sounding the alarm over the continued decline of these sensitive underwater ecosystems, which scientists deem essential to the health of the world’s oceans amid the environmental effects posed by human activity and climate

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) — Rapper Lil Wayne was charged Tuesday in Florida with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, a federal offense that carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Documents filed in Miami federal court say the rapper, whose real name is

INDIANAPOLIS — Convicted killer-rapist Orlando Hall’s last-minute appeal to avoid the death penalty failed on Friday. Hall, 49, of Pine Bluff, Arkansas was sentenced to die 25 years ago after his conviction in the brutal 1994 kidnapping, rape and murder of 16-year-old Lisa Rene of St. Croix. A federal judge

CAPE CANAVERAL — Four astronauts lifted off Sunday night from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX rocket bound for the International Space Station. Liftoff occurred right on schedule at 7:27 p.m., despite concerns about weather earlier in the day. NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, and Japanese

ATLANTA — A St. Thomas native will be sentenced by a federal judge today after his conviction on a racketeering charge in a case where authorities said the Georgia cop turned his true loyalties over to a vicious street gang. Vancito Gumbs, 28, of Charlotte Amalie, who moved to Stone

WASHINGTON — U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr has directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to go forward with the execution of death row inmate Orlando Cordia Hall in Indiana in five days. Barr’s directive brings to an end Hall’s 25 years of legal appeals to halt his execution, one

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The FBI wanted to arrest Jeffrey Epstein while he was judging a beauty pageant in St. Thomas seven months before he signed a non-prosecution deal that shielded him from federal sex crime charges, a U.S. Justice Department report says. The 347-page report obtained by NBC News expands on an

WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump seeks to discredit last week’s election with baseless claims of voter fraud, his team has bombarded his supporters with requests for money to help pay for legal challenges to the results: “The Left will try to STEAL this election!” reads one text. But any

TERRE HAUTE, Indiana — Orlando Cordia Hall, who has been sentenced to die — within eight days — for kidnapping and raping high school student Lisa Rene of St. Croix, has filed his third federal habeas corpus petition to appeal one of his convictions. In September 1994, Hall and four

WASHINGTON — When families of banded mongooses prepare to fight, they form battle lines. Each clan of about 20 animals stands nose to nose, their ears flattened back, as they stare down the enemy. A patch of scrubby savannah separates them, until the first animals run forward. “Then they bunch