Latest on church shooting: Charleston bans funeral protests
6:30 p.m. The Charleston City Council has unanimously passed a temporary ordinance that bans protests or picketing at funerals in advance of services this week for the nine people slain at a historic black church.

WikiLeaks: NSA eavesdropped on the last 3 French presidents
PARIS (AP) - WikiLeaks published documents late Tuesday that it says show the U.S. National Security Agency eavesdropped on the last three French presidents, releasing material which appeared to capture officials in Paris talking candidly about Greece's economy, relations with Germany - and, ironically, American espionage. There was no instant confirmation of the accuracy of the documents released in collaboration with French daily newspaper Liberation and investigative website Mediapart, but WikiLeaks has a track record of publishing intelligence and diplomatic material and the release appeared serious enough to prompt an emergency meeting of President Francois Hollande's defense council, according to a presidential aide. The council, meeting Wednesday morning, includes France's top security officials.

Searchers buoyed by fresh DNA comb woods for escaped inmates
BELLMONT, N.Y. (AP) - Hundreds of searchers spurred on by fresh evidence methodically combed through heavy woods in far northern New York on Tuesday hoping to finally close in on two elusive murderers who escaped from a maximum-security prison more than two weeks ago. Authorities began committing heavy resources to the remote woods days ago after leads from a hunting camp that was apparently broken into led to "good evidence, DNA data" regarding inmates David Sweat and Richard Matt, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Roadblocks were in place Tuesday around the remote hamlets of Owls Head and Mountain View in an area of rugged terrain about 20 miles west of Clinton County Correctional Facility.

Report: Autopsy finds 'high-energy injury' in Gray's death
BALTIMORE (AP) - A medical examiner found Freddie Gray suffered a "high-energy injury" while riding in a Baltimore police van and the failure of officers to follow procedures means the death is a homicide, according to an autopsy report obtained by The Baltimore Sun. Police arrested Gray, 25, on April 12 and he died a week later, prompting protests and rioting.

Federal agencies are wide open to hackers, cyberspies
WASHINGTON (AP) - Passwords written down on desks. Outdated anti-virus software. "Perceived ineptitude" in information technology departments. The federal government, which holds secrets and sensitive information ranging from nuclear blueprints to the tax returns of hundreds of millions of Americans, has for years failed to take basic steps to protect its data from hackers and thieves, records show.

Senate vote moves Obama's trade agenda to brink of enactment
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's long-pursued trade agenda took a giant step toward becoming law on Tuesday, and opponents grudgingly conceded they now must fight on less-favorable terrain. A key Senate vote greatly brightened Obama's hopes for a 12-nation Pacific-rim trade agreement, a keystone of his effort to expand U.S. influence in Asia. The trade pact would be a high point in a foreign policy that has otherwise been consumed by crisis management, and would give Obama a rare legislative achievement in the Republican-controlled Congress.

US won't threaten to prosecute hostages' families for ransom
WASHINGTON (AP) - Softening longstanding policy, the Obama administration will tell families of Americans held by terror groups that they can communicate with captors and even pay ransom without fear of prosecution. The shift comes as part of a broad review of U.S. hostage guidelines that will be released Wednesday. President Barack Obama ordered the review last fall after the deaths of Americans held hostage by the Islamic State. The families of some of those killed complained about their dealings with the administration, saying they were threatened with criminal prosecution if they pursued paying ransom in exchange for their loved ones' release.

Saudi cables suggest money links with media
BEIRUT (AP) - A financially troubled Lebanese TV network received a $2 million Saudi bailout in return for adopting a pro-Riyadh editorial policy. A news agency in Guinea got a $2,000 gift, while small publications across the Arab world received tens of thousands of dollars in inflated subscription fees. That's the picture that has emerged from Saudi diplomatic correspondence published by the WikiLeaks group, backing long-held suspicions the kingdom uses its oil wealth to buy influence with media and research centers across the Muslim world.

Kurds keep up offensive against extremists in northern Syria
BEIRUT (AP) - Backed by U.S.-led airstrikes and buoyed by battlefield successes, Kurdish fighters kept up an offensive through northern Syria on Tuesday, driving Islamic State militants out of a town near the extremists' de facto capital of Raqqa. The capture of Ein Issa came just hours after the Kurdish forces had overrun a nearby military base, increasing the pressure on the Islamic State group less than two weeks after it lost the strategically located town of Tal Abyad on the Turkish border, severing a vital supply line.

Brady appeal continues into evening at NFL offices
NEW YORK (AP) - With thunder clouds erupting over the city, Tom Brady and representatives from the players' union continued meeting with Commissioner Roger Goodell at NFL headquarters into the evening Tuesday as the New England quarterback appeals his four-game suspension. Brady was suspended by the league for his role in the use of deflated footballs in the AFC championship game win over Indianapolis. He arrived at the NFL's Park Avenue offices Tuesday morning, as did attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who is leading Brady's defense.