Livestock and poultry producers will need to comply with more specific standards if they want to label their products as organic under final rules announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture

Federal authorities have started removing hazardous materials from the Maui wildfires and laying the groundwork to dispose of burnt cars, buildings and other debris

Police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, are being sued after being accused of beating a grandmother in a so-called “torture warehouse,” a new lawsuit alleges. Baton Rouge resident Ternell Brown was detained in June; but rather than taking her to the police station, Baton Rouge police officers drove her to an unmarked warehouse, according to a 18 September lawsuit she filed. Officers referred to this facility as the “Brave Cave,” where the street crimes unit held people in custody, assaulted them, and conducted strip and body-cavity searches on them, the lawsuit claimed. Police officers wrongfully informed Ms Brown that it was illegal to have different prescription medicines in the same pill container, according to the complaint. Ms Brown, 51, was allegedly arrested on suspicion of illegal drug activity – after officers discovered a legal prescription medication in her car during a traffic stop. She was taken to the warehouse and held there for two hours, the filing states. There, officers “forced her to spread her vagina and buttocks for inspection and examined her vagina using a flashlight,” despite not having a warrant, probable cause, or consent to conduct a strip or body cavity search, the suit states. After a couple of hours, Ms Brown was released without charge. The 51-year-old isn’t the first one to flag the “Brave Cave.” Jeremy Lee, a Baton Rouge resident, was arrested in January, and police took him to the warehouse, which one officer called the “Brave Cave,” WAFB previously reported. Bodycam footage captured Mr Lee sitting in a wooden chair in what appeared to be a warehouse. There, the 22-year-old was punched and kicked – although that happened off-camera, the outlet noted. After the incident, Mr Lee “was so badly beaten that authorities at East Baton Rouge Parish Prison refused to accept him” into its custody, “insisting that Mr Lee be taken to the hospital,” according to a lawsuit he filed. He was treated for broken ribs and other injuries. After the incident, Mr Lee filed a lawsuit; in August, the city’s mayor ordered the facility’s operations to be suspended “in light of the serious allegations.” The FBI is now investigating the claims, and an officer involved in Mr Lee’s alleged “Brave Cave” assault have resigned. An attorney for Ms Brown called out Police Chief Murphy Paul at a Monday press conference. “Chief Murphy Paul, instead of bringing BRPD policy in compliance with the constitution, decided to double down and endorse what his officers were doing and to insist that the illegal strip search policy that BRPD maintains was appropriate,” said Thomas Frampton. As a result of the chief’s decision, Mr Frampton said, “countless Baton Rouge citizens have been subject to illegal, sexually humiliating strip searches.” Chief Paul was interviewed by the Washington Post, although he declined to comment on the pending lawsuits, adding that an internal investigation is underway. He did, however, address the “Brave Cave” at a news conference last month, explaining that it was a narcotics processing facility owned by the parish that had been used by the police department for “approximately 20 years.” However, up until Mr Lee’s lawsuit came out, he was unaware of the term “Brave Cave,” he said. “We made a mistake on this one,” Mr Paul told the Washington Post. “I’ve got to own that.” The police chief also addressed other accusations made in Ms Brown’s complaint. The filing claims that the Baton Rouge Police Department’s strip search policy “violates the legal standard” by allowing officers to subject non-arrestees to such searches based on an officer’s suspicion alone. The suit also accuses the department of ignoring misconduct complaints by the street crimes unit. “We’ve been pretty consistent in our discipline,” Mr Paul told the Post, disagreeing with the suit’s claims. “We’ve terminated officers for bad behavior.” To demonstrate this, he noted that two officers who were once involved in the street crimes unit were placed on administrative leave on Tuesday. He added that the department has moved operations — which used to be conducted at the warehouse — to other facilities. The police chief said that before restoring the street crimes unit, he was waiting for the internal investigation to be completed. Ms Brown is suing the Baton Rouge Police Department for unreasonable search, unreasonable seizure, Monell liability, battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, negligence, and state constitutional violations. Read More A Supreme Court redistricting ruling gave hope to Black voters. They're still waiting for new maps Louisiana moves juveniles from adult penitentiary but continues to fight court order to do so Prosecutors set to lay out case against officers in death of unarmed Black man in Denver suburb

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A French senator has been handed preliminary charges for drugging another lawmaker with the aim of rape or sexual assault, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office, and has been suspended from his party. Joel Guerriau, a 66-year-old representing the Loire-Atlantique region in western France, was detained for 48 hours and given preliminary charges Friday, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. He is suspected of putting ecstasy in a glass of Champagne he served parliament member Sandrine Josso, who left after she started feeling sick, according to French media reports. The incident occurred Tuesday evening in the senator’s apartment. His lawyer said Guerriau didn’t intend to drug Josso to abuse her and has apologized to her. In a statement, lawyer Remi-Pierre Drai said ‘’it was a handling error’’ that caused the lawmaker to fall ill. He did not elaborate. ‘’Joel Guerriau is not a predator,’’ the lawyer said. “He is an honest, respected and respectable man who will restore his honor and that of his family however long it takes.’’ Guerriau was given preliminary charges of use and possession of drugs, and of secretly administering a discernment-altering substance to commit a rape or sexual assault. He was released under judicial supervision and barred from contact with the victim and witnesses while the investigation continues. Preliminary charges under French law mean investigating magistrates have strong reason to suspect wrongdoing but allow more time before determining whether to send a case to trial. After the charges were announced, the center-right Horizons political group on Saturday announced his suspension, saying that it ‘’will never tolerate the slightest complacency toward sexual and sexist violence.'' Horizons is allied in parliament with President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party. Josso, a member of the lower house of parliament representing the Loire-Atlantique region with the centrist Modem party, has not spoken publicly about the investigation. Read More Moldova's first dog nips Austrian president on the hand during official visit Daisaku Ikeda, head of global Japanese Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai, dies at 95 Gaza communications blackout ends, giving rise to hope for the resumption of critical aid deliveries

A rescue and recovery dive team was deployed Saturday after a helicopter with a pilot and three state workers crashed in a large lake on Alaska’s North Slope,

By Kanishka Singh and Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Britain will host a global summit on artificial intelligence safety later this

A valet for Donald Trump is set to be arraigned on charges that he helped the former president hide classified documents that the Justice Department wanted back

The victim claimed she didn’t realize when she became an "unwitting participant"

Google planned to remove news links in Canada over a law forcing tech firms to pay news for news content.

Ukrainian and Russian forces clashed more than 80 times on Sunday as fierce fighting was witnessed in three major fronts that saw the use of guided air missiles, drones, rockets, artillery and mortar shells, military officials in Kyiv said. The announcement by Kyiv’s officials comes amid reports that Russia rushed more troops to Avdiivka to replace their heavy losses. Officials have said fighting on three fronts has remained particularly “hot”. Fighting in the direction of Avdiivka, Marinka and Kupiansk has intensified in the past few months but aggravated assaults have been particularly strong this month as Russian forces are eyeing the capture of Avdiivka. “During the day, 82 combat clashes took place. In total, the enemy launched 10 missiles and 36 air strikes, carried out 35 attacks from rocket salvo systems on the positions of Ukrainian troops and populated areas,” the General Staff of the Ukraine Armed Forces said in a daily update on Sunday evening. The Russian military is deploying personnel from Russian territory directly to Avdiivka positions to replace personnel losses, Ukrainian spokesperson for forces in the south Oleksandr Shtupun said. Another military observer from Kyiv, Kostyantyn Mashovets, said the Russian military command has recently transferred several Russian regiments comprising mobilised personnel to the Avdiivka direction suggesting Moscow does not plan to abandon its military operations in this direction, noted The Institute for the Study of War. It added that Vladimir Putin’s forces failed in their renewed push on 19-20 October and are now funnelling additional forces to this front despite suffering challenges with frontal mechanised assaults. “Russian forces are likely once again pausing following a failed major push which suffered heavy losses. A prominent Russian milblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces ‘unexpectedly’ counterattacked in the direction of Pisky (8km southwest of Donetsk City) and pushed Russian forces from positions in the area,” the US based think-tank said in its latest assessment on Sunday. In Kupiansk, Ukrainian forces repelled 15 attacks by Russian troops in Kharkiv’s Sinkivka and Ivanivka districts. Russian forces also fired artillery and mortar on the region, the General Staff said. Similar artillery shelling and mortar attacks, targeting 15 settlements, were carried out by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk where the Lyman direction lies. The besieged city of Bakhmut also suffered Russian strikes. “At the same time, the Defence Forces of Ukraine continue offensive operations in the Melitopol direction, offensive (assault) actions in the Bakhmut direction, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the occupying troops, exhausting the enemy along the entire front line,” the General Staff said. Troops amassed on both sides are engaged in daily shelling, but Russian forces are likely facing “positional deadlock”, a Kremlin-affiliated military blogger said, citing difficulties. “The milblogger claimed that it is difficult to conduct manoeuvre warfare on a static front line with a large number of personnel and fortified areas on both sides. The milblogger noted that Ukrainian drones and other precision weapons have made armoured vehicles increasingly vulnerable and have made ground attacks increasingly difficult,” the ISW said. He said Russian forces are “facing difficulties in overcoming Ukrainian minefields near Avdiivka and are unable to completely destroy Ukrainian logistics, allowing the Ukrainian command to quickly transfer personnel to critical areas”. Read More Ukraine-Russia war - live: Putin forced to increase number of soldiers on ground as UK estimates death toll Six killed and 16 injured in Russian missile strike on Kharkiv mail depot A price cap on Russian oil aims to starve Putin of cash. But it's largely been untested. Until now