COLU @ CONCEPTS

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Security remained heightened in airports around Australia with more intense screening of luggage after law enforcement officials thwarted what a police chief described on Monday as a “credible attempt to attack an aircraft.” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton declined to comment on newspaper reports that Islamist extremists planned to kill the occupants of a plane with poison gas and that a homemade bomb was to be disguised as a kitchen mincer. “Police will allege they had the intent and were developing the capability,” Turnbull told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Turnbull announced on Sunday that “a terrorist plot to bring down an airplane” had been disrupted, but revealed few details. Four men arrested in raids in Sydney late Saturday — two Lebanese-Australian fathers and their sons — had yet to be charged. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin said a court ruled Monday that the four coul...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s latest leader took office at an uneasy moment in his country’s history, inheriting the wreckage left by an ousted and excoriated predecessor. Among his lesser-noticed promises was a vow to improve quality of life in a society of long hours and hard work — to help break the chains to people’s desks, to let them take a breath and relax a bit. And what Moon Jae-in preaches, it seems, he also practices. Even if, in the aftermath of North Korea launching its second ICBM, that means telling the leader of the free world: I’ll get back to you. I’m going on vacation for a week. So while U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had an emergency phone call Monday, the South Korean leader’s office said Moon and Trump will likely talk after Moon enjoys some previously scheduled R&R, which ends this weekend. It might seem an odd decision by a relatively new president in the midst of arguably the world’s biggest crisis, ...

In the past decade or so, the U.S. Supreme Court and state legislatures have taken steps to scale back the most extreme punishments for juvenile criminals. Here’s how the laws have changed and some reasons why teens who were sentenced to life without parole are now getting a second chance: ___ WHY ARE JUVENILE LIFERS BEING RESENTENCED? Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions paved the way. In 2012, the court said mandatory life-without-parole sentences are unconstitutionally cruel and unusual for juvenile homicide offenders. Last year, the court weighed in again and said the ban applied to the more than 2,000 inmates already serving such sentences and that all but the rare irredeemable offender should have a chance at parole. The court didn’t eliminate all life-without-parole sentences for juveniles but said they should be rare and imposed only after a judge or jury considers factors including an offender’s age and development, potential for rehabilitation and level of involve...

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — “Pudge” Rodriguez stared out at his father, wiping away tears as he spoke. “I love you with all of my heart,” Rodriguez said. “If I’m a Hall of Famer, you’re a Hall of Famer — double.” Those words punctuated Rodriguez’s speech as he was inducted Sunday into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines, along with former commissioner Bud Selig and front-office guru John Schuerholz also were enshrined on a picture-perfect summer day in front of over 27,000 fans. “It’s always emotional when you see the fans cheering for you, and my whole family in front of me,” Bagwell said. “I’m an emotional person. It’s a dream just to be part of this beautiful group. Now I have that plaque forever. It’s unbelievable.” Before he started, Rodriguez received a standing ovation from hundreds of fans, many wearing red-and-white jerseys with Puerto Rico emblazoned on the front, and proceeded to give half his speech in Spanish. “This is such an incredible hono...

JASPER, Ala. (AP) — Authorities in Alabama say a manhunt is underway after 12 inmates escaped from a jail, including two who were incarcerated on charges of attempted murder. Eleven of those inmates were later recaptured, leaving one still at large. The Walker County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Facebook that the 12 inmates escaped from the Walker County Jail on Sunday. It’s unclear how the inmates were able to escape from the jail. The inmates are between 18 to 30 years old and were imprisoned on charges ranging from attempted murder to disorderly conduct. Source: www.apnews.com 

Figures” was the 14th highest grossing film of the year, but popular Hollywood films remained as white and male-dominated as ever. A new report from the Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism finds that the representation of women, minorities, LGBT people, disabled characters in films remains largely unchanged from the previous year, despite the heightened and attention to diversity in Hollywood. At the bottom of the wrung and most egregiously disproportionate to their U.S. demographics are women, Hispanics and disabled characters. Exclusion, the report says, is the norm in Hollywood, not the exception. For nine years since 2007, USC has analyzed the demographic makeup of every speaking or named character from each year’s 100 highest-grossing films at the domestic box office (with the exception of 2011), as well as behind-the-camera employment for those films including directors...

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — While North Korea’s second launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile dominated headlines late last week, Pyongyang quietly unveiled renovations around the capital’s biggest landmark: a futuristic, pyramid-shaped 105-story hotel, the world’s tallest unoccupied building. After decades of embarrassing delays and rumors that the building may not even be structurally sound, could this be Kim Jong Un’s next pet project? If nothing else, it at least has a new propaganda sign: “Rocket Power Nation.” Walls set up to keep people out of a construction area around the gargantuan Ryugyong Hotel were pulled down as the North marked the anniversary of the Korean War armistice. Revealed were two broad new walkways leading to the building and the big red propaganda sign declaring that North Korea is a leading rocket power. That, of course, is Kim’s other pet project. The day after Thursday’s anniversary, North Korea test-launched its second ICBM, which...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is insisting that the Senate resume efforts to repeal and replace the nation’s health care law, signaling that President Donald Trump stands ready to end required payments to insurers this week to let “Obamacare implode” and force congressional action. “The president will not accept those who said it’s, quote, ‘Time to move on,’” White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said. Those were the words used by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., after the stunning early Friday morning defeat of the GOP bill to repeal former President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement. McConnell is already moving to other business, having scheduled Senate consideration later Monday on a judicial nomination. Conway said Trump was deciding whether to act on his threat to end cost-sharing reduction payments, which are aimed at trimming out-of-pocket costs for lower-income people. “He’s going to make that decision this week, and that’s a decision ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s new chief of staff is entering a West Wing battered by crisis. Retired Gen. John Kelly, previously the Homeland Security secretary, takes over Monday from the ousted Reince Priebus. Trump hopes Kelly can bring some military order to an administration weighed down by a stalled legislative agenda, a cabal of infighting West Wing aides and a stack of investigations. Still, Kelly’s success in a chaotic White House will depend on how much authority he is granted and whether Trump’s dueling aides will put aside their rivalries to work together. Also unclear is whether a new chief of staff will have any influence over the president’s social media histrionics. Former Trump campaign manager Cory Lewandowski, who was ousted from the campaign in June 2016, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he expected Kelly would “restore order to the staff” but also stressed that Trump was unlikely to change his style. “I say you have to let Trump be Trum...

BERATZHAUSEN, Germany (AP) — The U.S. Army soldier took a deep breath before hitting the button that sent the email to more than 200 fellow troops. “All considered, I am, and have been, traversing what is essentially a personal matter, but is something I must address publicly,” the email stated. “I am transgender.” The April 13 email officially ended the secret that burned inside Capt. Jennifer Sims, who was known as Jonathan Sims. But the feeling of relief swiftly turned to unease last week after President Donald Trump tweeted that transgender people were no longer welcome in the U.S. military. “I read the tweets while I was at work and you know it was devastating because I still have work to do and here I am reading basically what sounds like the president of the United States — who is the commander in chief, he is the ultimate boss of the military — telling me and anybody else that is transgender that we are fired,” Sims said. Pentagon officials say the policy will rema...

DETROIT (AP) — Courtroom 801 is nearly empty when guards bring in Bobby Hines, hands cuffed in front of navy prison scrubs. It’s been more than 27 years since Hines stood before a judge in this building. He was 15 then, just out of eighth grade, answering for his role in the murder of a man over a friend’s drug debt. He did not fire the deadly shot, but when he and two others confronted 21-year-old James Warren, Hines said something like, “Let him have it,” words that sealed his conviction and punishment: mandatory life with no chance for parole. In the wake of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that states cannot impose mandatory no-parole sentences on juveniles convicted of murder, the AP surveyed all 50 states to see how judges, prosecutors, and parole boards are weighing these cases. (July 31) The judgment came during a tough-on-crime era in America. Stoked by fears of teen “superpredators,” many states enacted laws to punish juvenile criminals like adults and the U.S. b...

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan electoral authorities said more than 8 million people voted to create a constitutional assembly endowing President Nicolas Maduro’s ruling socialist party with virtually unlimited powers — a turnout more than double that estimated by outsiders and by opponents who derided the announcement. National Electoral Council President Tibisay Lucena announced just before midnight that turnout in Sunday’s vote was 41.53 percent, or 8,089,320 people. Members of the opposition said they believed between 2 million and 3 million people voted and one well-respected independent analysis put the number at 3.6 million. The electoral council’s vote counts in the past have been seen as reliable and generally accurate, but the widely mocked announcement appeared certain to escalate the polarization and political conflict paralyzing the country. Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, the governor of the central state of Miranda, urged Venezuelans to protest Mond...