AP National News

By KRISTIN M. HALL AP Entertainment Writer NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tom T. Hall, the singer-songwriter who composed “Harper Valley P.T.A.” and sang about life’s simple joys as country music’s consummate blue collar bard, has died. He was 85. His son, Dean Hall, confirmed the musician’s death on Friday at his home in Franklin, Tennessee.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A former Alabama police officer has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 2018 shooting death of a suicidal man who was holding a gun to his own head. The sentence was handed down Friday for former Huntsville police officer William “Ben” Darby. Darby was convicted in May of

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD and KATHLEEN RONAYNE Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — A day after facing allegations that he emotionally mistreated a former fiancee, Republican Larry Elder scheduled two weekend rallies and showed no outward signs of altering the course of his campaign in the California recall election that could remove Democratic Gov. Gavin

By JOSHUA GOODMAN Associated Press Writer MIAMI (AP) — A former Miami congressman who was once roommates with Sen. Marco Rubio has countersued a U.S. affiliate of Venezuela’s state oil company in a politically charged dispute over a $50 million consulting contract he had with Nicolas Maduro’s government. David Rivera’s Interamerican Consulting filed the counterclaim

By BOB CHRISTIE Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Friday toured a small community where recent flooding inundated homes and led to two deaths, part of a trail of destruction in the state unleashed by a fierce monsoon season. The governor praised the resiliency of the people of Gila Bend, 50

WASHINGTON (AP) — ABC’s “This Week” — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin; Surgeon General Vivek Murthy; Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; retired Adm. Mike Mullen, a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman. __ NBC’s “Meet the Press” — White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan; Education Secretary Miguel Cardona; Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. ___ CBS’ “Face the

By CLAUDIA TORRENS The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Several parents who were separated from their children on the U.S.-Mexico border during former President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday asked the Homeland Security Secretary for permanent legal residency in the United States and compensation, said the mother of two of the children. Keldy Mabel

By RANDALL CHASE Associated Press DOVER, Del. (AP) — Attorneys for the Boy Scouts of America are postponing a key bankruptcy hearing that was scheduled to start next week following a court ruling that casts uncertainty on the future of the case.  Attorneys on Friday filed court papers postponing a hearing set to begin Wednesday

By DÉBORA ÁLVARES and MARCELO SILVA DE SOUSA Associated Press BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has asked the Senate to impeach a Supreme Court justice — a largely symbolic move that shows he has little desire to ease tensions between his administration and the judiciary. Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco will have to

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is temporarily halting a judge’s order that would have forced the government to reinstate a Trump administration policy forcing thousands to wait in Mexico while seeking asylum in the U.S. Justice Samuel Alito issued the temporary stay late Friday night. It will remain in effect until Tuesday night so

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — The legal battle over whether Texas communities can require students and others to wear masks in response to the current surge in COVID-19 cases remains entangled in a series of lawsuits, orders and appeals.  Ten counties and cities and 52 school districts or systems around the

HONOLULU (AP) — Sports teams at the University of Hawaii will open the fall season with no fans in the stands at home contests. Honolulu officials notified the university that fans won’t be allowed at season-opening events due to the state’s current surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitals being overwhelmed, the university said in a

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press The host of a program for the right-wing website Infowars, Owen Shroyer, has been charged in connection to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to court documents filed Friday. Shroyer, who hosts “The War Room With Owen Shroyer” for the website operated by conspiracy theorist Alex

FORT MILL, S.C. (AP) — Anne Springs Close who used her family’s textile fortune to give back to the community through education and land preservation has died. She was 95. Close’s family says she died Friday from injuries suffered when a tree branch fell on her at her property in Fort Mill, South Carolina, a

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The abrupt end of Texas Democrats’ 38-day walkout has put Republicans on a fast track to pass an election overhaul. It is also causing rifts among some Democrats who said Friday they felt “betrayed” by colleagues who returned to the state Capitol. exas is the

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — James W. Loewen, whose million-selling “Lies My Teacher Told Me” books challenged traditional ideas and knowledge on everything from Thanksgiving to the Iraq War, has died. He was 79. Loewen’s publisher, New Press, announced that the author died Thursday at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press Pennsylvania prosecutors dropped their case Friday against a jail guard accused of sexually abusing inmates, saying they were hamstrung by the recent state Supreme Court decision that freed Bill Cosby. The attorney general’s office had been seeking to prosecute John Shnipes on charges that he assaulted four female inmates at

By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Trustees of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium said Friday that financial abuses by four former executives cost the institution more than $630,000. A forensic analysis ordered by the zoo’s board of trustees showed money from a zoo levy that pays for animal care was not

By EVENS SANON and MATÍAS DELACROIX Associated Press LES CAYES, Haiti (AP) — Haitians left hungry and homeless by a devastating earthquake swarmed relief trucks and in some cases stole desperately needed goods Friday as leaders of the poor Caribbean nation struggled to coordinate aid and avoid a repeat of their chaotic response to a

By ACACIA CORONADO Report for America/Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas’ lieutenant governor is blaming unvaccinated Black people for rising COVID-19 hospitalization and death rates. His comments were quickly denounced as racist. Republican Lt. Governor Dan Patrick made the comments Thursday night on a Fox News segment. Patrick said the biggest group in most