COLU @ CONCEPTS

BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on the developments in the Syrian civil war (all times local): 9:50 p.m. The U.S. State Department says it is “saddened and horrified” by the news of the killing of seven Syrian first responders in their base in the country’s rebel-held Idlib Province. Spokesperson Heather Nauert condemned the killings in a statement released Sunday. The Syrian Civil Defense, popularly known as the White Helmets, has been applauded globally for braving air strikes and artillery fire to rescue civilians in Syria’s unforgiving war zones. Dozens of its first responders have been killed in the line of duty. But seven were killed in their sleep early morning Saturday in Sarmin, Idlib. It was not immediately lear who was behind the killings. ___ 8:35 p.m.The head of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah says it is time for political leaders to accept the survival of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government. Hassan Nasrallah, addressing a rally on Sunday, advised t...

Confederate Army Gen. Robert E. Lee was vilified during the Civil War only to become a heroic symbol of the South’s “Lost Cause” — and eventually a racist icon. His transformation, at the center of the recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, reflects the changing moods in the United States around race, mythology and national reconciliation, historians say. Lee monuments, memorials and schools in his name erected at the turn of the 20th Century are now facing scrutiny amid a demographically changing nation. But who was Robert E. Lee beyond the myth? Why are there memorials in his honor in the first place? ___ THE SOLDIER A son of American Revolutionary War hero Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee, Robert E. Lee graduated second in his class at West Point and distinguished himself in various battles during the U.S.-Mexico War. As tensions heated around southern secession, Lee’s former mentor, Gen. Winfield Scott, offered him a post to lead the Union’s forces against the ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior U.S. national security officials said Sunday that a military confrontation with North Korea’s is not imminent, but they cautioned that the possibility of war is greater than it was a decade ago. CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, President Trump’s national security adviser, tried to provide assurances that a conflict is avoidable, while also supporting Trump’s tough talk. They said the United States and its allies no longer can afford to stand by as North Korea pushes ahead with the development of a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile. “We’re not closer to war than a week ago but we are closer to war than we were a decade ago,” McMaster said, adding that the Trump administration is prepared to deal militarily with North Korea if necessary. But he stressed that the U.S. is pursuing “a very determined diplomatic effort” led by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that’s coupled with new financial sanctions to dissuade N...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Teen Choice Awards, always a bubble of teenage celebration, took time out during Sunday night’s ceremony to consider the world its young audience will inherit. Hashtags, surfboards and loud shrieks dominated the Teen Choice Awards, as usual, with YouTube star Jake Paul presiding over a show designed to be tweeted, Snapchatted and put on Instagram. But with the two-hour broadcast coming a day after the violence at a rally of white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, some winners pleaded for teen viewers to do better than their elders. “With all the injustice and the hatred and everything that’s happened not only in the world but in our country right now, I need for you young people, I need you guys to be educated. I need you to listen. I need you to pay attention,” said “Spider-Man: Homecoming” actress Zendaya, accepting an award for best summer movie actress. “You are the future presidents, the future senators,” she added, clutching the show’s t...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and the weekend violence and death in Charlottesville, Virginia: all times local): 7:00 a.m. Attorney General Jeff Sessions says “too much has been read into” President Donald Trump’s statement Saturday amid violence at a protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, related to the removal of a Confederate monument. Sessions told NBC’s “Today” that Trump had “explicitly condemned” violence and that “he totally opposes” the values espoused by white supremacy organizations. Trump referenced violence “on many sides.” An excerpt of the interview was aired Monday. Sessions said he expects Trump to say more, saying “I think you’ll hear that again today.” He noted the White House had expressly condemned white supremacy-driven violence in a statement Sunday. Sessions told the network, “I think he will do what is correct. ... Facts have come out in the interim.” Sessions also said that he and FBI officials have a meeting scheduled ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The sun is about to spill some of its secrets, maybe even reveal a few hidden truths of the cosmos. And you can get in on the act next week if you are in the right place for the best solar eclipse in the U.S. in nearly a century. Astronomers are going full blast to pry even more science from the mysterious ball of gas that’s vital to Earth. They’ll look from the ground, using telescopes, cameras, binoculars and whatever else works. They’ll look from the International Space Station and a fleet of 11 satellites in space. And in between, they’ll fly three planes and launch more than 70 high-altitude  balloons  . “We expect a boatload of science from this one,” said Jay Pasachoff, a Williams College astronomer who has traveled to 65 eclipses of all kinds. Scientists will focus on the sun, but they will also examine what happens to Earth’s weather, to space weather, and to animals and plants on Earth as the moon totally blocks out the sun. The moon’s sh...

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Clergy in robes. A woman handing out flowers. Black Lives Matter activists. Armed militia members. Students. Angry anti-fascist protesters. The diverse group of people who came to oppose a weekend gathering of white nationalists in this Virginia college town seemed to outnumber the rally-goers. The counter-protesting groups didn’t organize collectively. Instead, it was a largely organic effort among groups who shared the same mission: showing that hate wasn’t welcome. “They just wanted to come out and say no. They wanted to come out and show a robust love for community and what America is meant to stand for,” said Lisa Woolfork, a University of Virginia professor and 17-year Charlottesville resident. “And I find that very heartening, very encouraging.” Officials have not provided a crowd estimate, but there appeared to be at least 500 people supporting the rally sparked by Charlottesville’s decision to remove a Confederate monument. At least twice...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Why doesn’t President Donald Trump just unequivocally condemn white supremacists? It’s a jarring question to ask about an American president. But it’s also one made unavoidable by Trump’s delayed, blame-both-sides response to the violence that erupted Saturday when neo-Nazis, skinheads and members of the Ku Klux Klan protested in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump has faced such a moment before — one that would have certainly drawn swift, almost predictable condemnations from his recent predecessors, regardless of party. As a candidate and now as president, when racial tensions flared or fringe groups rallied around his message, Trump has shown uncharacteristic caution and a reluctance to distance himself from the hate. At times, his approach has seemingly inflamed racial tensions in a deeply divided country while emboldening groups long in the shadows. On Saturday, as Trump read slowly through a statement about the clashes that left dozens injured and one ...

CARTAGENA, Colombia (AP) — Demonstrating the delicate balancing act that has come to define his vice presidency, Mike Pence tried to strike a balance Sunday in Colombia between Latin American opposition to possible U.S. military intervention in neighboring Venezuela, and President Donald Trump’s surprising refusal to rule out that option. Speaking during a joint news conference with Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos shortly after his arrival in Latin America, Pence also declined to rule out possible military action against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whose efforts to consolidate power in the country have drawn alarm. Still, Pence stressed the U.S. would much prefer what he called a “peaceable” solution to the growing political and humanitarian crisis. “President Trump is a leader who says what he means and means what he says,” Pence said. “But the president sent me here to continue to marshal the unprecedented support of countries across Latin America to achi...

UNION GROVE, Wis. (AP) — Three men were shot and killed during an auto racing event on Sunday, a Wisconsin sheriff said. Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said authorities responded to the Great Lakes Dragaway in Union Grove around 7 p.m. after receiving reports about shots being fired. The three men were shot by another man at point-blank range near a food vendor, Beth said at a news conference Sunday night. No suspects were arrested and no one else was injured. “They have no idea what happened, what caused this,” the sheriff said after getting a statement from friends of the victims. Two of the men died at the scene, and the third died while being transported to a hospital. Beth said at least two of the men were from Aurora, Illinois. The sheriff’s office estimated that more than 5,000 people were at the raceway for an event known as “Larry’s Fun Fest.” The track’s website shows the event included drag racing, tailgating, live entertainment and a car show. Union Gro...

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Radesh Singh’s grandfather was just 11 years old when he left his village in India’s Punjab province to move to Peshawar, in the far northwest of the country on the border with Afghanistan. The year was 1901: The British ruled the Indian subcontinent, Pakistan wasn’t even a glimmer in the eye of its founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and Peshawar held the promise of work and adventure. Singh’s grandfather would never return to his village, not even in 1947, when the Indian subcontinent was divided into majority Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan, generating one of the largest migrations in modern history and unleashing a brutality that left few untouched as mobs of Hindus and Muslims turned on each other. Singh’s family is neither Hindu nor Muslim but Sikh, a religious minority in both countries. In the 70 years since Partition they have waged a secessionist uprising in India demanding outright independence for India’s Punjab state where they dominate. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the coldest places on Earth is so hot it’s melting. Glaciers, sea ice and a massive ice sheet in the Arctic are thawing from toasty air above and warm water below. The northern polar region is heating up twice as fast as the rest of the planet and that’s setting off alarm bells. “The melting of the Arctic will come to haunt us all,” said German climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf. While global leaders set a goal of preventing 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) of man-made warming since pre-industrial times, the Arctic has already hit that dangerous mark. Last year, the Arctic Circle was about 3.6 degrees (6.5 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than normal. CAUSES OF WARMING Earth is getting hotter because of the buildup of heat-trapping gases spewed into the air by the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, according to decades of peer-reviewed research. Scientists have long predicted the Arctic would warm first and faster than t...

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Tourists haven’t been deterred from visiting the tropical island of Guam even though the U.S. territory has been the target of threats from North Korea during a week of angry words exchanged by Pyongyang and Washington. Chiho Tsuchiya of Japan heard the news, but she decided to come anyway with her husband and two children. “I feel Japan and Korea also can get danger from North Korea, so staying home is the same,” said the 40-year-old. Won Hyung-jin, an official from Modetour, a large South Korean travel agency, said several customers called with concerns, but they weren’t worried enough to pay cancellation fees for their trips. “It seems North Korea racks up tension once or twice every year, and travelers have become insensitive about it,” Won said. His company has sent about 5,000 travelers to Guam a month this year, mostly on package tours. The U.S. territory has a population of 160,000, but it attracted 1.5 million visitors last year. One-third of ...

SEATTLE (AP) — Protesters decrying hatred and racism converged around the country on Sunday, saying they felt compelled to counteract the white supremacist rally that spiraled into deadly violence in Virginia. The gatherings spanned from a march to President Donald Trump’s home in New York to candlelight vigils in several cities. In Seattle, police arrested three men and confiscated weapons as Trump supporters and counter-protesters converged downtown. Some focused on showing support for the people whom white supremacists condemn. Other demonstrations were pushing for the removal of Confederate monuments, the issue that initially prompted white nationalists to gather in anger this weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. Still other gatherings aimed to denounce fascism and a presidential administration that organizers feel has let white supremacists feel empowered. “People need to wake up, recognize that and resist it as fearlessly as it needs to be done,” said Carl Dix, a lead...