AP National News

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African president Cyril Ramaphosa faced a grilling by lawmakers in Parliament as they demanded answers from him on his handling of the theft of millions of dollars from his farm. Ramaphosa faced loud heckling on Tuesday from opposition members who called for him to answer questions

By MICHAEL HILL, MAYSOON KHAN and BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Amid the bright lights and electronic billboards of New York’s Times Square, city authorities are posting signs proclaiming the bustling crossroads a “Gun Free Zone.” The sprawling Manhattan tourist attraction is one of scores of “sensitive” places — including parks,

CANDO, N.D. (AP) — Sheriff’s deputies are investigating the deaths of four people found shot in a wheat field in rural northeast North Dakota as a murder-suicide. The Towner County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were dispatched to the field south of Cando, the county seat, about 6 p.m. Monday for a report of four unresponsive

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A former counselor testified that Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz struggled academically and behaviorally in middle school. Jessica Clark Flournoy testified Tuesday at Cruz’s penalty trial that he laughed uncontrollably and blurted out inappropriate comments in class. He destroyed a bathroom sink and got low

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Associated Press and other news organizations are suing officials in Uvalde, Texas, after months of refusal to publicly release records related to the May massacre at Robb Elementary School. The lawsuit filed in Uvalde County on Monday asks a court to force the city,

By KEN MILLER Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has reinstated the murder conviction and life sentence of a man featured in the book and television series “The Innocent Man.” In a ruling dated Friday, the court overturned a judge’s ruling that reversed the conviction because prosecutors and police

By TOM DAVIES and ARLEIGH RODGERS Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana abortion clinic operators filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block the state’s near-total ban on abortions before it takes effect in about two weeks. . The lawsuit filed in a Monroe County court claims the ban “strips away the fundamental rights of people

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the Food and Drug Administration says a government review of prescription opioid medications, including their risks and contribution to the U.S. overdose epidemic, is still underway. Dr. Robert Califf said Tuesday that the FDA is still studying “what revisions are needed to support

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks are down on Wall Street in afternoon trading Tuesday, extending the market’s late August skid on investor worries that high interest rates aren’t going away any time soon as the Federal Reserve fights inflation. The S&P 500 fell 1.3% as of 1:57 p.m. Eastern.

Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Angola’s opposition party has filed a complaint against the election victory of the ruling MPLA party in which President Joao Lourenco won a second term and the party got a reduced majority in the legislature. The main opposition party known as UNITA said Tuesday that it has submitted an objection

HAVANA (AP) — A son of revolutionary leader Ernesto “Che” Guevara and director of a center dedicated to studying him has died, Camilo Guevara March was 60. Cuba’s Prensa Latina news agency says he died during a visit to Venezuela of “pulmonary thrombosis which led to a heart attack.” He was the third of four

By MARK PRATT Associated Press A Rhode Island judge has ruled in favor of the congregation currently worshiping at the nation’s oldest synagogue. The judge on Monday dismissed an effort by the New York congregation that owns the Newport building to evict the Rhode Island-based congregation. The New York congregation denied trying to evict the

MONROE, Mich. (AP) — Severe storms that brought damaging winds, heavy rains and flash flooding to parts of the Midwest and the South were blamed for the deaths of three people, including two children in Michigan and Arkansas as well as a woman in Ohio. Monday’s storms also knocked out electrical service to hundreds of

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. Navy says Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard seized and later let go of a U.S. sea drone in the Persian Gulf. A spokesman of the Mideast-based 5th Fleet said a Revolutionary Guard ship intercepted a Saildrone Explorer and was towing the drone behind

By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has wrapped up two days of closed-door meetings with about 180 cardinals including the newest ones. Many of them are younger than 80 and currently eligible to elect a future pontiff. The sessions focused on the implications of a new Apostolic constitution that Francis hopes

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate, has logged more than 10 times as many hours of security as his predecessor, an issue that Republican Sen. Ron Johnson is raising in the hotly contested race. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Tuesday that Barnes averaged more than 13½ hours of

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS and MICHAEL GOLDBERG Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi’s capital city is grappling with multiple water problems — there’s been too much on the ground after heavy rainfall in the past week, and not enough safe water coming through the pipes for people to use. Parts of Jackson were without

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press PRAHOVO, Serbia (AP) — The worst drought in Europe in decades hasn’t only scorched farmland and hampered river traffic, it also has exposed a part of almost forgotten World War II history: The hulks of dozens of World War II German battleships have emerged from the Danube River as its

PRAGUE (AP) — The Dutch defense minister has expressed concern about gun violence in the United States in the aftermath of a shooting in Indianapolis over the weekend that left one Dutch soldier dead and two wounded. Kajsa Ollongren said Tuesday that many Dutch military personnel train in the United States “and we really don’t

By SAMYA KULLAB and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — Armed supporters of a powerful Iraqi cleric who clashed with security forces in the capital have begun to withdraw from the streets. That restored a measure of calm following a serious escalation of the political crisis gripping the nation. Following two days of deadly