An attorney with ties to Xenia, Ohio, near Dayton, and a law practice in Lebanon, Tenn., has died along with two other people when the small plane he was piloting crashed Saturday near Huntsville, Ala. The Dayton Daily News reports that Robert "Tim" Hatton, 52, practiced law in Kentucky at one time. Later, he put his legal career on hold and wrote books. But later he returned to the law and opened a practice near Nashville, the Ohio paper reported.

Prospective caregivers for some of Kentucky’s most vulnerable citizens may soon be subject to extensive criminal record searches, thanks to a $3 million grant to establish a comprehensive statewide system for thorough background checks.

The World Bank says wheat prices have more than doubled since June 2010. Corn, rice and oil prices have also spiked, which means there are millions more hungry people worldwide. The dire situation brings together agriculture secretaries and ministers from the top 20 economies in the world. They convene today and tomorrow. Host Michel Martin discusses the meeting with David Nabarro, United Nations Special Representative on Food Security and Nutrition.

Last week, the United Nations passed a resolution recognizing the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people for the first time. However, many Muslims and African countries voted against the resolution. To learn more about it, host Michel Martin speaks with Suzanne Nossel, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of International Organization Affairs.

Two nights in a row of riots in Belfast, Northern Ireland, — the most intense such violence in several years — are largely being blamed by authorities on members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, The Guardian and other news outlets report.

Now there's some more evidence that taking cholesterol-lowering drugs can raise the risk for diabetes. But doctors say the small increase seen doesn't mean people at risk for serious heart trouble should stop taking the medicines.

Larry Yaden, 74, looks over his Casey County grape crop. It consists of 34 rows of grapes - each row is 400 feet long. But it will be next year before his grapes are ready for harvest and the trip to a winery. As Yaden will tell you, this has been a project of research, determination and a fair amount of trial and error.

Mexican federal police said Wednesday that they had dealt a lethal blow to one of the country's most notorious drug cartels following an operation that nabbed the alleged leader of the cultlike, pseudo-Christian La Familia cartel.

Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas, nicknamed El Chango, or "The Monkey," was apprehended Tuesday in the central state of Aguascalientes, officials said. La Familia terrorized western Mexico from its headquarters in Michoacan province, and Mendez is accused of moving tons of cocaine, methamphetamines and marijuana to the U.S.