AP National News

By PETER SMITH Associated Press A top committee of the Southern Baptist Convention has agreed to open up legally protected records to investigators who will examine how it handled — or mishandled — cases of sexual abuse. Tuesday’s vote reverses two previous ones in recent weeks by the denomination’s Executive Committee that would have maintained

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks rose broadly on Wall Street Tuesday as the technology sector reversed direction after a sell-off a day earlier. The S&P 500 rose 1.3%, with technology companies and banks leading the gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2% and the Nasdaq rose 1.5%. The

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A trial has begun to assess damages that the U.S. Air Force owes to survivors and families of those killed in a 2017 mass shooting at a Texas church. U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez began to hear testimony Monday in the damages phase of the case, which is expected to last

By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A final settlement has been reached in a 2017 lawsuit over New Orleans prosecutors’ use of hardball tactics. Those tactics included the issuance of fake subpoenas and the jailing of crime victims who wouldn’t cooperate with investigators. The suit centered on practices of the staff under

By MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The six-hour outage of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp on Monday was a headache for many casual users. But the outage was far more serious for many people worldwide who rely on the social media sites to communicate with relatives, friends and neighbors and run their

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A longtime Alabama sheriff removed from office after being convicted of theft and ethics violations is giving five-star reviews to the jail where he spent more than two weeks in custody. But perhaps he should: He ran it for decades. Ousted Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely addressed the news media on

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The former Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot a woman who called 911 to report a possible rape behind her home is being resentenced this month, after the Minnesota Supreme Court threw out his murder conviction. Mohamed Noor was initially convicted of murder and manslaughter in the 2017 death of Justine Ruszczyk

By ALEX DANIELS of The Chronicle of Philanthropy Chronicle of Philanthropy A fund created by a group of social-justice-minded foundations including Ford and Rockefeller and donors like Jack Dorsey and MacKenzie Scott shortly after COVID hit has more than quadrupled in size to $51 million and is now pouring money into activities and advocacy to

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — In a story published October 4, 2021, about New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s speech to a group of oil and gas executives, The Associated Press erroneously reported about the governor’s regulation of methane production sites in her state. The regulations cover drilling sites, not mining sites.

By SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders have met with U.K. officials for the first time since taking power, a move the group hopes will pave the way for the country to refill cash-starved coffers as it teeters on the brink of economic collapse. The Taliban’s meeting with British diplomats

By BRIAN WITTE Associated Press ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s former chief of staff has been indicted in federal court for allegedly defrauding a state agency he led. The Maryland U.S. attorney announced the indictment against 52-year-old Roy McGrath on Tuesday. Prosecutors say McGrath devised a scheme through which the Maryland Environmental

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right bloc has sought to win over the environmentalist Greens for a possible new governing coalition in Germany. The parties that hope for a share of power on Tuesday wrapped up their first meetings on forming Germany’s next government. The Union bloc’s

By DAVID KEYTON and SETH BORENSTEIN Associated Press STOCKHOLM (AP) — Three scientists have won the Nobel Prize for physics for work that found order in seeming disorder. They helped to explain and predict complex forces of nature, including expanding our understanding of climate change. Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann were cited for their work

Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A friend of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz has asked a judge to postpone his sentencing until next year so he can continue cooperating with authorities. Joel Greenberg on Tuesday asked the federal judge in a court filing to move his sentencing date from mid-November to next March. Greenberg pleaded

By MICHAEL TARM and TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A judge has declined to dismiss a weapons charge against an Illinois man accused of shooting three people during a protest against police brutality in Wisconsin last year. Prosecutors charged Kyle Rittenhouse with homicide and other crimes, including being a minor in possession

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The share of single people in the U.S. has grown over the past three decades. That’s a concern for some researchers since the unpartnered population earns less, is less likely to be employed and has less education than those who are married or living with a

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ Associated Press VARADERO, Cuba (AP) — Little by little, vacationers are returning to one of the Caribbean’s most iconic beaches, which has been a nearly abandoned strip of glittering sand and turquoise seas for more than a year. Varadero is slowly getting ready for Cuba’s planned Nov. 15 formal reopening to global

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin says that “the hysteria” engulfing European energy markets recently has been driven by insufficient investment in energy industries. He argues that the world needs a smoother transition to green energy technologies. Speaking Tuesday during a Cabinet meeting, Putin claimed that soaring natural gas

By JOSH FUNK Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Work has halted at all of the Kellogg Company’s U.S. cereal plants as roughly 1,400 workers went on strike. It wasn’t immediately clear how much the supply of Frosted Flakes or other iconic brands would be disrupted. The strike includes plants in Omaha, Nebraska; Battle Creek,

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Activists seeking compensation for Black people whose right to live in Britain came under question say they blocked from freely attending the governing Conservative Party’s annual conference despite being accredited for the event. Anthony Brown of the group Windrush Defenders said he was denied unfettered access to