Benghazi mistrial — A U.S. judge has declared a mistrial on 15 remaining charges against Mustafa al-Imam, a Libyan militant who was found guilty last week of playing an instrumental role in the 2012 Benghazi attacks. The mistrial was declared Monday in Washington after a jury could not reach a decision on 15 counts. The same jury last week found al-Imam guilty of two different counts, including conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. Al-Imam is the second militant to stand trial in connection with the attacks that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Ahmed Abu Khattala, the head of an Islamist extremist militia who directed the attacks, was convicted in 2017 on terrorism-related charges but acquitted of murder. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

Vatican opens door to some married priests — In a potentially groundbreaking move, the Roman Catholic Church on Monday cracked open the door to ordaining married, elderly men to the priesthood, to meet the pastoral needs of Catholics in remote areas of the Amazon. The proposal would respond to the dearth of priests in the region by ordaining “viri probati,” or men of proven character, as they are known in Latin. It is the kind of exception to the celibacy requirement that church experts say — and church traditionalists worry — could be a step toward the ordination of married men in other areas of the world. Pope Francis has said in the past he would entertain the possibility of ordaining viri probati in remote areas that are deprived of the sacraments. But he has also made clear the church’s broader commitment to celibacy for priests remains intact.

New allegation against Alex Jones: child porn — Lawyers representing several families of victims of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School said in court documents that Alex Jones, the host of the InfoWars website, sent them child pornography, which they reported to the FBI. The families have filed a defamation suit against Jones, who has spread the false claim that the shooting was a hoax. In a filing Monday, lawyers for the families said consultants reviewing documents submitted by Jones’ lawyers as part of the suit had found an image that “appeared to be child pornography.” Jones denied the allegation.

Navy SEAL goes on trial in war-crimes case — Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher walked into a military courtroom in San Diego on Monday to stand trial on war crimes charges. But what prosecutors initially believed would be a straightforward case has looked increasingly troubled, with delays caused by prosecutorial missteps and with signs that at least one prosecution witness had changed his story. Gallagher, a Navy SEAL platoon leader, is charged with shooting unarmed civilians in Iraq in 2017 and with killing a captured teenage ISIS fighter with a knife, among other crimes. The chief was turned in by members of his platoon, who told investigators he had become obsessed with killing. Gallagher has pleaded not guilty and denied all the charges.

Harvard rescinds Parkland grad’s admission — A survivor of the Parkland school shooting announced Monday that Harvard University withdrew his admission over racist comments he made in a shared Google Doc and text messages nearly two years ago. On Twitter, Kyle Kashuv shared several letters he received from the Ivy League school first notifying him that his admission offer was being reconsidered in light of the comments and, later, that it was being revoked. The decision stems from comments that have surfaced online recently and that Kashuv says were shared among friends when he was 16, months before the February 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Kashuv, now 18, has apologized for the comments and said he didn’t remember them until they spread online.

Buttigieg back in South Bend after police shooting — South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg pulled himself off the presidential campaign trail Monday after the fatal shooting of a black man by a white police officer in his hometown forced him to confront issues of race and policing. The Democrat canceled several days of campaign events after returning to South Bend, where he spent the day meeting with community members and faith leaders following the shooting of Eric Jack Logan, 54, early Sunday. Sgt. Ryan O’Neill had been responding to a call about a suspicious person going through vehicles when he spotted Logan leaning inside a car, St. Joseph County prosecutor Ken Cotter said. When confronted, Logan approached the officer with a 6- to 8-inch knife raised over his head, Cotter said. That’s when O’Neill fired twice, with the other shot hitting a car door, Cotter said.

U.S. restores some aid to 3 countries — The Trump administration said Monday it is easing previously announced cuts in hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Central American nations of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala but will not allow new funding until those countries do more to reduce migrant flows to the United States. The State Department said that after a review of more than $615 million in assistance that President Donald Trump ordered in March to be cut entirely, it would go ahead with $432 million in projects and grants that had been previously approved. The remaining amount will be held in escrow pending consultations with Congress, it said. That $432 million, which comes from the 2017 budget, is being spent on health, education and poverty alleviation programs as well as anti-crime efforts that many believe help reduce migrant outflows from the impoverished Northern Triangle region. About $370 million in money from the 2018 budget will not be spent and instead will be moved to other projects, the State Department said.

Russia warns U.S. actions could lead to cyberwar — The Kremlin warned on Monday that reported U.S. hacking into Russia’s electric power grid could escalate into a cyberwar with the United States, but insisted it was confident in the system’s ability to repel electronic attacks. Dmitri Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, also raised concerns that President Donald Trump was reportedly not informed about the effort, which was the subject of a New York Times report that detailed an elaborate system of cybertools deployed by the United States inside Russia’s energy system and other targets — a report that Trump called treasonous over Twitter. Trump and Congress gave new authority last year to the U.S. military’s Cyber Command, but two administration officials said they did not think the president had been told in detail about efforts to penetrate Russia’s energy systems.

School district testing students for nicotine — A school district in Nebraska will start randomly testing students who take part in extracurricular activities for nicotine, after educators noticed a sharp rise in the use of e-cigarettes, a school official said Monday. The new policy at Fairbury Public Schools reflected the growing recognition nationwide of the public health threat of e-cigarettes. Their soaring use among teenagers has worried health experts, parents and school administrators who point to nicotine’s highly addictive qualities. While smoking of any kind is already prohibited on school grounds, the new test means students may face repercussions for nicotine use outside school.

Children’s hospital halts complex heart surgeries — North Carolina Children’s Hospital announced it would suspend heart surgeries for the most complex cases, some of which had a mortality rate approaching 50% in recent years, pending investigations by state and federal regulators and a group of outside experts. UNC Health Care, which runs the hospital and is affiliated with the University of North Carolina, also introduced several initiatives, including creating an external advisory board of medical experts to recommend improvements, and committing to publicly release mortality data for that program, which it has refused to do in past years.