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Alabama's secretary of state says he will not run for any elected office next year after saying he made poor choices that impacted his family. John H. Merrill is a prominent state Republican leader who was widely viewed as having higher political ambitions. He told The Associated Press by phone Wednesday that he made choices that were not in the best interest of his family. He didn't elaborate but had told media outlet al.com earlier that he had an inappropriate relationship with a woman outside his marriage. Merrill announced his decision in a statement issued from his office. He was elected Alabama's secretary of state in 2014. 

The embattled leader of the National Rifle Association says he put the powerful gun-rights group into bankruptcy without first informing most of its board members and top officials. NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre took the witness stand Wednesday in the group's high-stakes bankruptcy trial. The case is over whether it should be allowed to incorporate in Texas instead of New York, where a state lawsuit is trying to put the group out of business. Lapierre did not explain why the move to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January was mostly kept secret. He says the NRA filed for bankruptcy to escape “weaponized government” in New York. 

Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Rep. Mo Brooks in Alabama’s 2022 Senate race, siding with the conservative firebrand who whipped up the crowd before the Capitol riot in January. Brooks' campaign announced the endorsement Wednesday, a key prize as he and other rivals look ahead to Alabama's all-important Republican primary. Trump's endorsement should boost Brooks among Republicans hoping to replace six-term Sen. Richard Shelby. The opening sets up what could be a messy GOP primary at a time when the national Republican Party is trying to chart a direction following Trump’s departure. Brooks already has one declared rival in former Trump ambassador Lynda Blanchard. 

Gov. Jay Inslee has signed a bill automatically restoring voting rights to people who have been released from prison after committing felonies, even if they are still on parole. The measure was sponsored by Rep. Tarra Simmons, a Bremerton Democrat who herself was incarcerated before going to law school and being elected to the Legislature last fall. She and other supporters say the measure would help encourage former prisoners to reintegrate into society and that it was a matter of racial justice, as those on parole in Washington are disproportionately people of color. More than 20,000 people stand to regain their voting rights when the law takes effect next year.

The mayor of Portland, Oregon, and city commissioners have reached a deal on proposals intended to stem a spike in gun violence over the past year. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the compromise, approved Wednesday, would re-establish a proactive team of uniformed police officers tasked with preventing shootings. The team would operate with greater civilian oversight than its disbanded predecessor. The move represents an about-face after city leaders in June voted to cut nearly $16 million from the police budget, reductions that included the elimination of the gun violence unit. The cuts came amid racial justice protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has received a single-dose coronavirus vaccine. His office confirme Wednesday that the Republican governor got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires only a single dose. He was vaccinated last week out of the public eye — even as governors elsewhere across the political spectrum have been vaccinated publicly to reassure Americans that the shots are safe. DeSantis had recently said he would get vaccinated soon. The governor's administration has been working to get Floridians inoculated against a virus that has killed nearly 34,000 people statewide and infected more than 2 million others in the state.

A judge on Wednesday ordered the release of a former Dallas police officer accused of ordering two killings in 2017. That came after prosecutors said that they don’t have enough evidence to move forward with the capital murder case against him. Dallas County Criminal Court Judge Audrey Moorehead ordered the release of Bryan Riser, a 13-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department. Riser was released from jail late Wednesaday afternoon. He was taken into custody by his colleagues in March on charges in an alleged murder-for-hire scheme. During Wednesday's hearing, prosecutors disagreed with a police detective’s assessment that they had enough evidence to prosecute.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Finance officials of the world’s major economies on Wednesday agreed on a proposal to boost the resources of the International Monetary Fund by $650 billion as a way to provide more support to vulnerable countries struggling to…

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain joined other European nations on Wednesday in limiting the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the elderly due to concerns over links to extremely rare blood clotting. Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias announced after meeting…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The American military is warning that China is probably accelerating its timetable for capturing control of Taiwan, the island democracy that has been the chief source of tension between Washington and Beijing for decades and is widely…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Country songwriter Bill Owens, who was a mentor and early songwriting partner to his niece Dolly Parton and helped start her career in country music, has died. He was 85. Parton's publicist confirmed his death on…

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is facing allegations that he sexually harassed or behaved inappropriately toward a half-dozen women who worked with him. In an interview published by the Times Union of Albany on Wednesday, a woman who is still on his staff gave more details on her allegation that the Democrat groped her under her blouse in the governor’s mansion office in November. Other women's accusations range from unwanted kisses and other physical gestures to unwelcome personal questions about sex and dating. Cuomo has said that he never touched anyone inappropriately, that he didn't know anyone felt uncomfortable and that some allegations are false. 

A prosecutor has decided not to charge Detroit officers in the fatal shooting of a Black man who was man recorded by police body cameras as he shot at an officer. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy told reporters Wednesday that Hakim Littleton was shot July 10 in self-defense. The 20-year-old fired shots at an officer during the arrest of an acquaintance of Littleton's. Officers returned fire, striking Littleton. Soon afterward, dozens of protesters converged at the site of the shooting, yelling at police and chanting “Black Lives Matter” and “Defund DPD!” The shooting came as demonstrations were being held in Detroit and other cities following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.