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UPDATED 8:30 P.M. | Rita Ali leads Jim Montelongo by 43 votes in the race to become Peoria's next mayor after the final tally of mail-in ballots postmarked on or before April 6.

Jim Steinman, co-creator of power ballads and orchestral-style rock by such artists as Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler, has died. Steinman was a composer, lyricist and record producer whose work with Meat Loaf on the 1977 album Bat Out of Hell catapulted the motorcycle-loving singer to stardom. The Connecticut State Medical Examiner's office confirmed Steinman's death to NPR. He was 73. Steinman's brother told the Associated Press he died of kidney failure.

After three weeks of testimony that included dozens of witnesses and hours of video footage, the high-profile trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd has come to a close. The jury has returned guilty verdicts on all counts.

By a vote of 216-210, House Democrats defeated a resolution Tuesday brought by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to censure Rep. Maxine Waters over comments that protesters should "get more confrontational" if former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin were to be acquitted in his trial over the killing of George Floyd.

In movies such as Contagion, a pandemic begins in a flash. A deadly virus spills over from an animal, like a pig, into humans and then quickly triggers an outbreak.

Corporate America wants you to know that it takes climate change seriously. But how can you tell if businesses will follow through?

Here's one idea that's catching on: Cut the pay of corporate leaders if they don't meet their climate goals.

Months after dropping Parler from its app store, Apple has agreed to reinstate the platform if it makes certain updates to its content moderation practices, according to a letter it sent to two Republican lawmakers. Parler says it will relaunch next week with "several new safeguards" in place.

The jury has found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all the counts he faced over the death of George Floyd. The trial has been one of the most closely watched cases in recent memory, setting off a national reckoning on police violence and systemic racism even before the trial commenced.

Chauvin, 45, has been found guilty of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

The European Union's drug regulator said Tuesday it had concluded there is a "possible link" between the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine and several cases in the U.S. of a rare type of blood clot, but emphasized that the shot's benefits "in preventing COVID-19 outweigh the risks of side effects."

Chris Reimer had never heard of Leopold, Mo., when he found himself rushing down a winding, two-lane road toward the rural, 65-person community in February.

Reimer, a social media manager in St. Louis, had made a split-second decision when he saw a local television reporter tweet about a 2,000-dose COVID-19 vaccination clinic opening to anyone after 3 p.m. that day.

Police say a man suspected in several recent robberies has struck in Peoria County.

Closing statements concluded Monday afternoon in the trial of ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. His fate is now in the hands of 12 jurors. They include a chemist, a youth volunteer, a cardiac nurse and an IT professional.

When a new baby is born in the United States, they are usually given a newborn hearing screening. If the baby is found to be deaf, parents are presented with a choice for their child: sign language or cochlear implants.

The National Recording Registry has chosen to preserve an episode of a classic American soap opera, “The Guiding Light.”

First broadcast on the radio in 1937, “The Guiding Light” eventually transitioned to television in 1952 and aired for a total of 72 years before the show was canceled in 2009.

The country is braced for a verdict in the murder trial against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. The in-court portion will finish on Monday and closing arguments will be made later in the day.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is renewing a push that failed during the previous administration to extend the deadlines for reporting 2020 census results after the pandemic and Trump officials' interference disrupted the count.

Democrats in the Illinois General Assembly are pushing a measure that would require schools to provide free menstruation products in both girls’ and boys’ bathrooms for grades 4 through 12.

Advocates of the proposal argue it would allow for transgender students who also menstruate to be able to access needed resources.

Idriss Déby Itno, the president of Chad and one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, was killed in the country's north, where he had traveled to observe the fight against rebel insurgents, state media reported Tuesday.

The announcement came just hours after election officials in Chad certified that Déby, 68, had carried nearly 80% of the vote in April 11 polls, setting him up for a sixth five-year term as president.

When Armya Williams heard last week that a Brooklyn Center, Minn., police officer had shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop, she knew she needed to do something.

"After Daunte Wright, I was like, 'Really? It hasn't even been a year since George Floyd died,' " Williams said. "I was just like, we need to do something. So I started brainstorming, getting ideas from other students and I came about a walkout. That's one way we can get our voices heard."

The panel of 12 jurors weighing the case against the fired Minneapolis police officer charged with murdering George Floyd has resumed deliberations.

The jury, who are sequestered in a nearby hotel under the supervision of Hennepin County Sheriff's deputies, are considering three charges against former officer Derek Chauvin: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Writer Lauren Hough grew up in a nomadic doomsday Christian cult called the Children of God. She says she remembers being taught animals could talk to Noah — that's how he was able to get them on to the ark — and that heaven was located in a pyramid in the moon.

"I had problems with [the teachings] pretty early on, but I couldn't express those," she says. "Probably the earliest thing I learned is just keep your mouth shut — and I couldn't, which was a problem."

The American ambassador to Russia is returning to Washington, D.C., for "consultations" after President Biden imposed a new round of sanctions on Moscow last week, including the expulsion of 10 diplomats — a move quickly followed by reciprocal measures from the Kremlin.