Alabama Public Radio

Cuba is still picking up the pieces following last week’s arrival of Hurricane Rafael. The storm spent the weekend meandering around the Gulf of Mexico before weakening completely. There’s was no threat to Alabama’s Gulf coast. But, the National Weather Service says Rafael is a reminder that a tropical system doesn’t have to hit Alabama directly to have an impact.

The family of a University of Alabama student is gearing up for trial following his drowning death three years ago. Garrett Walker’s family is also now suing the Delta Chi International Fraternity.

The City of Mobile is announcing a night of cheer as Mayor Sandy Stimpson will light up the night and celebrate the start of the holiday season. The annual Lighting of the Tree on Friday, Nov. 15 in Mardi Gras Park. The yearly event has become the annual launching point for the Holiday Season in Mobile.

Visitors to the McWane Science Center in Birmingham may be in for a trip down the Yellow Brick Road this weekend. The center’s IMAX theater will be hosting a Saturday screening of the 1939 movie classic The Wizard of Oz with the new movie musical Wicked to begin showings next week.

A thick, toxic smog has shut down life in Pakistan's second largest city, Lahore, home to more than 14 million residents.

Based on Donald Trump's first term and his campaign statements, the United States will become less predictable, more chaotic, colder to allies and warmer to some strongmen, and much more transactional in picking friends globally than before. Trump critics and supporters say America's place in world affairs and security will fundamentally change. One European country where all this seems okay is Serbia.

Republican senators, including Tommy Tuberville of Alabama are gathering behind closed doors to decide who will replace longtime Senate leader Mitch McConnell and lead their new majority next year — a decision that could shape the future of the Senate, and the party, as Donald Trump reclaims the presidency.

Transgender youth in the United States have been flooding crisis hotlines since the election of Donald Trump, who made anti-transgender themes central to his campaign. Many teens worry about how their lives could change once he becomes president. The Rainbow Youth Project, which serves LGBTQ+ young people, has received more than 5,500 calls to its crisis hotline in the past 10 days — nearly 2,000 more calls than it typically gets in an entire month. Trump's administration can swiftly start work on one major change: It can exclude transgender students from Title IX protections. Those affect school policies on students’ use of pronouns, bathrooms and locker rooms.

One credit union based in Mississippi, and one based in Louisiana, have announced plans for a merger. Jefferson Financial Federal Credit Union would be merged into Keesler Federal Credit Union. The organization would have assets of just under $5 billion, with more than 900 employees in 55 locations, including in Alabama.

Following the election, significant spikes in searches for moving out of America suggest heightened interest in international relocation, including in Alabama. The relocation tech company moveBuddha identifies the states with the highest interest in top international destinations and each state's top move-to country.