BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — An Auburn University student from Alabama who vanished during a family trip in Japan was found dead in a mountainous area outside Kyoto, his family said Saturday, ending a dayslong search that drew attention across the United States and abroad. James “Weston” Higginbotham, 20, of Hoover, disappeared May 29 while traveling with…

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Two people were killed and five others were injured in a shooting Thursday night in Birmingham’s Sandusky neighborhood, where police said a gathering was underway when gunfire erupted. Officers responded shortly after 8:30 p.m. to the 100 block of Holley Avenue after reports that multiple people had been shot, according to the…

ROME — Pope Leo XIV has appointed Maria Montserrat Alvarado, president and chief operating officer of EWTN News, to lead the Vatican’s communications office, placing a top executive from the Alabama-born Catholic media giant in one of the Holy See’s most important media posts. Alvarado will become prefect of the Dicastery for Communication on Nov.…

BESSEMER, Ala. — A masked intruder cut through a wall to enter the Bessemer insurance office of Ken McFeeters, a former Republican candidate for Alabama governor, leaving the business ransacked but apparently taking nothing, according to local reporting and police. Authorities said there is no indication so far that the break-in was politically motivated. McFeeters,…

HOOVER, Ala. — The Riverchase Galleria, long one of Alabama’s best-known shopping destinations, is on the market as mall owners and local leaders confront a retail landscape that has changed dramatically around it, with shoppers increasingly favoring online purchases and more mixed-use destinations over traditional enclosed malls. The 39-year-old mall, Alabama’s largest enclosed shopping center,…

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Gov. Kay Ivey has declared June as “Strong Families Month” in Alabama, putting the state’s weight behind a proclamation that emphasizes traditional family structures as Pride Month gets underway. The governor’s office said Ivey signed the proclamation Friday and that it is intended to recognize the role of parents in child development.…