U.S./World category, Page 1205
Thousands of kindergartners unvaccinated without waivers
COLUMBUS, Ohio — States are heatedly debating whether to make it more difficult for students to avoid vaccinations for religious or philosophical reasons amid the worst measles outbreak in decades, but schoolchildren using such waivers are outnumbered in many states by those who give no excuse at all for lacking...
Normandy tries to keep alive ‘infinite gratitude’ for D-Day
SAINTE-MERE-EGLISE, France — At 10 years old, Henri-Jean Renaud watched U.S. paratroopers landing through the window of his Normandy home in the early hours of D-Day. Like other French who lived through the war, he’s trying to pass on to younger generations the gratitude he feels. With fewer veterans and...
Trump wishes ‘happy Memorial Day’ to U.S., Japanese troops
ABOARD THE USS WASP — President Donald Trump on Tuesday wished “Happy Memorial Day” to U.S. service members aboard an American assault ship docked in Japan. They shouted “U.S.A. U.S.A.” Trump called them a “tough bunch of people” and dubbed them “daring and mighty warriors in the Pacific.” The president...
Overnight Ohio tornadoes leave trail of destruction
BROOKVILLE, Ohio — A rapid-fire line of apparent tornadoes tore across Indiana and Ohio overnight, packed so closely together that one crossed the path carved by another. There were no immediate reports of any deaths or serious injuries in the twisters, among 52 tornadoes that may have touched down Monday...
Judge rules attacker of Brazil’s Bolsonaro is mentally ill
RIO DE JANEIRO — A Brazilian judge ruled Monday that the man charged with nearly killing far-right President Jair Bolsonaro during a campaign event last year should not be punished because he is mentally ill. Adelio Bispo de Oliveira was charged with stabbing the then presidential candidate in September at...
Romania ruling party boss gets 3½ years in prison for graft
BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania’s most powerful politician was sentenced Monday to 3½ years in prison for official misconduct in a graft case. The jail time for Liviu Dragnea, party leader of the ruling Social Democrats, came after a conviction last year for having two party members paid by a public...
Knife-wielding man attacks schoolgirls in Japan, killing 2
KAWASAKI, Japan — A man carrying a knife in each hand and screaming “I will kill you!” attacked a group of schoolgirls and adults as he walked toward a school bus parked at a bus stop just outside Tokyo on Tuesday, killing two and injuring 16 before killing himself, officials...
Conservatives helped radicalize Nazi sympathizer, lawyer says
After Nolan Brewer pleaded guilty to charges in connection with painting swastikas on an Indiana synagogue and setting the yard ablaze, his attorney argued in court documents that the 21-year-old man did not deserve prison time. He had been influenced heavily by his wife, Kyomi Brewer, his attorney wrote in...
Austria’s Kurz forced from office, loses no time to prepare comeback
VIENNA — Austria’s conservative leader Sebastian Kurz was ousted as chancellor in a no-confidence vote in parliament Monday, but launched his re-election campaign just hours later. “I am still here,” Kurz told a crowd of fans and cheering People’s Party officials that were bused to Vienna. The far right and...
Colorado climber dies after reaching top of Mount Everest
DENVER — A Colorado climber died shortly after getting to the top of Mount Everest and achieving his dream of scaling the highest peaks on each of the seven continents, his brother said Monday. Christopher Kulish, a 62-year-old Boulder attorney, died Monday at a camp below the summit during his...
Trump in Japan: Pomp and tense circumstance
TOKYO — All the pomp and pageantry in the world couldn’t paper over the tensions between President Donald Trump and Japan’s Shinzo Abe on two of their most pressing issues: North Korea and trade. The president and prime minister tried mightily to minimize their differences during Trump’s four-day state visit...
Preparing to sue, ex-Boy Scouts recall abuse by unit leaders
NEW YORK — Sharing their stories doesn’t come easily for these middle-aged men. At times, their eyes well up or their voices crack as they describe being sexually abused in the Boy Scouts and suffering from emotional damage long afterward. Looking back, they all remember vividly how excited they were...
Democratic-led states divided over approach on abortion
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A bill seeking to preserve abortion protections in state law fails to pass a key committee. Lawmakers cite God, church and faith in proclaiming their opposition to it. Abortion-rights groups protest outside a gathering of lawmakers. What sounds like a legislative fight in a state controlled by...
Sit. Study. Fetch a bachelor’s degree in dog training.
COBLESKILL, N.Y. — Luna the springer spaniel is learning to sniff out a troublesome golf course fungus in return for a tennis ball while helping her handler fetch a new breed of bachelor’s degree. The four-year program in “canine training and management” officially launches this fall at the State University...
Trump is first head of state to meet Japan’s new emperorVideo
TOKYO — President Trump made history Monday under a blazing, hot sun at Japan’s Imperial Palace, becoming the first world leader to meet the new emperor of Japan. Emperor Naruhito ascended to the throne on May 1, opening what is called the era of “Reiwa,” or “beautiful harmony.” Trump’s “state...
Dayton estimates Ohio Klan rally cost $650,000 for securityVideo
DAYTON, Ohio — An Ohio city is estimating it spent about $650,000 on security for a rally attended by a small group of Ku Klux Klan members and hundreds of protesters. Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein says the city spent about $250,000 on personnel and about $400,000 on materials ahead...
Europe-wide vote fragments center as far right, Greens gainVideo
BRUSSELS — Europe’s longtime political center appeared to shrink Sunday as exit polls and early results from the hardest-fought European Parliament elections in decades showed both the anti-immigrant far right and the pro-environment Greens gaining ground. The four days of balloting across the 28 European Union countries were seen as...
Victim killed by shark in Hawaii was California man, 65Video
MAUI, Hawaii — A California man who died after being attacked by a shark while swimming in Hawaii was pulled ashore missing a leg, according to a witness. Shark warning signs were posted Sunday in the Ka’anapali Beach Park area on Maui where the man died a day earlier. Witness...
137-year-old Winchester rifle found in Nevada has new home
BAKER, Nev. — A 137-year-old rifle found five years ago leaning against a juniper tree in Great Basin National Park in Nevada is now part of an exhibit dedicated to the “Forgotten Winchester” at the park visitor center near the Utah border. The weathered Winchester Model 1873 is in a...
Would overturning abortion rights turn back clock to 1973?
A wave of state abortion bans has set off speculation: What would happen if Roe v. Wade, the ruling establishing abortion rights nationwide, were overturned? Although far from a certainty, even with increased conservative clout on the Supreme Court, a reversal of Roe would mean abortion policy would revert to...
Tornado kills 2 people and injures 29 others in Oklahoma
EL RENO, Okla. — A tornado leveled a motel and tore through a mobile home park near Oklahoma City overnight, killing two people and injuring at least 29 others, authorities said Sunday. The twister touched down in El Reno, about 25 miles west of Oklahoma City, late Saturday night. It...
At the spelling bee, the most common sound is the toughest
The word that knocked runner-up Naysa Modi out of last year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee was “Bewusstseinslage” — one of those flashy, impossible-sounding German-derived words that make the audience gasp when they are announced. Naysa believes the seemingly mundane word that knocked her out the year before was just as...
Young homebuyers scramble as prices rise faster than incomes
For millennials looking to buy their first home, the hunt feels like a race against the clock. In the seven years since the housing crash ended, home values in more than three-quarters of U.S. metro areas have climbed faster than incomes, according to an Associated Press analysis of real estate...
Death toll for Mt. Everest climbers reaches 10 for this season
Officials say a British man died Saturday morning in an attempt to climb Mount Everest, bringing this season’s death toll to 10. Al Jazeera reports that 44-year-old Robin Haynes Fisher died after he “suddenly collapsed” while returning from the summit. Two other climbers died Friday, Irishman Kevin Hynes, 56, and...
Albinism pageant in Zimbabwe joyfully breaks down prejudice
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Ayanda Sibanda, a model with albinism, has invariably been called “yellow” or “white” by friends and even some relatives. But she hardly recalls anyone referring to her by her actual race. “I am black, that’s what I thought, but then I am always made to feel otherwise,”...
