COLU @ CONCEPTS

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — The Latest on violent protests connected to a white nationalist rally in Virginia (all times local): 9:45 p.m. Student leaders at dozens of U.S. universities are decrying the weekend violence in Virginia in a statement that says campuses should be safe for students, not “places of violence, hate and racism.” The statement signed by the undergraduate student body president at Ohio State University and his counterparts at more than 120 schools in 34 states and Washington, D.C., stretching from California to Florida and New Jersey. It expresses support for University of Virginia students in Charlottesville, where a driver is accused of slamming into a crowd of people protesting a white nationalist rally. One woman died. The student leaders’ statement expresses support for “marginalized students” and advocates for what it describes as “peaceful resistance to violence, racism, white supremacy, bigotry and acts of terrorism.” People gathered ...

Pick 6: Transfers outside of QB who could have big impact MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Chris James has waited long enough to take a handoff at Wisconsin. The running back sat out a year after leaving Pittsburgh to move to Madison, looking for a better backfield opportunity. That moment has finally arrived. James is part of this year’s crop of Division I transfers who could make immediate impacts with their new teams. “It’s been such a long time coming,” the eager James said. The Badgers have had recent success with transfers, a run that started when quarterback Russell Wilson arrived from North Carolina State to lead the Badgers to the Rose Bowl in 2011. “Biggest thing is, are they a fit? It goes back to Russell,” said Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst, who was the team’s offensive coordinator in 2011. “We spent a lot of time ... with Russell getting to know him. Is this a good fit?” James certainly hopes so. The 5-foot-10, 219-pound junior ran for 437 yards and four scores...

WASHINGTON (AP) — It took President Donald Trump two days to do what both Republicans and Democrats said should have come fast and easy. In his carefully worded statement Monday, Trump condemned members of the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists as “repugnant.” He vowed that his administration would crack down on those who perpetrate “racist violence.” He called for national unity. It was the type of statement Americans have come to expect from their presidents after racially charged incidents, like the deadly violence that erupted Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia. But Trump struggled mightily to meet the moment, glaringly omitting any direct condemnation of white supremacists in his initial comments on the incident and decrying bigotry “on many sides.” As the most unconventional president in modern American history, Trump has at times thrived off low expectations. He is often cheered by Republicans when he fulfills basic functions of the office. And GOP lawm...

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — The driver charged with killing a woman at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville was previously accused of beating his mother and threatening her with a knife, according to police records released Monday. Samantha Bloom, who is disabled and uses a wheelchair, repeatedly called police about her son, James Alex Fields Jr., in 2010 and 2011, telling officers he was on medication to control his temper, transcripts from 911 calls show. Fields, 20, is accused of ramming his car into a crowd of counter-protesters on Saturday in Charlottesville, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. Fields, described by a former high school teacher as an admirer of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, was charged with second-degree murder. A judge denied him bail Monday after the public defender’s office said it couldn’t represent him because a relative of someone in the office was injured in Saturday’s protest. Fields was assigned a local attorney, and another hearing ...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The Latest on the North Korea crisis (all times local): 2:30 p.m. Guam officials are taking the latest missive from North Korea as a sign that the rhetoric is calming down. Lt. Gov. Ray Tenorio told the media Tuesday that North Korea appears to be holding off on an imminent launch of missiles into waters near the U.S. territory in the Pacific. North Korea’s state news agency KCNA reported earlier in the day that leader Kim Jong Un had examined plans for a launch. It quoted Kim as saying he would watch what he called the “foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees” a little more before deciding whether to order a test. Tenorio said “we’re happy that he has taken a look at their plans” and appears to be holding off on a launch. He added that there is no change in Guam’s threat assessment, and that the island is operating as usual. ___ 12:30 p.m. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says that he and President Donald Trump have agreed that prev...

NEW YORK (AP) — Short-lived White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci says if it were up to him, top adviser Steve Bannon would be gone from President Donald Trump’s administration. But, he notes, “it’s not up to me.” “The Mooch,” a few weeks removed from his spectacular flameout following an expletive-laden conversation with a reporter, appeared Monday on CBS’ “Late Show” with Stephen Colbert. Colbert has seen his ratings soar since Trump’s inauguration with his relentless comedic attacks. Colbert showed a picture of Scaramucci and former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus glaring at each other. Scaramucci said there was “no love lost” between the two. He said he and Priebus got along well when he was writing checks to the Republican National Committee, which Priebus once led. Scaramucci said he knows Trump “as a compassionate person,” while reiterating that he thought the president should have spoken more harshly than he did initially of the white sup...

DENVER (AP) — Immediately after a jury determined that Taylor Swift had been groped by a radio station host before a concert in Denver, the singer-songwriter turned to one of her closest allies — her mother — and later said she hoped the verdict would inspire other victims of sexual assault. Swift hugged her crying mother after the six-woman, two-man jury said in U.S. District Court on Monday that former Denver DJ David Mueller had groped the pop star during a photo op four years ago. Per Swift’s request, jurors awarded her $1 in damages — a sum her attorney, Douglas Baldridge, called “a single symbolic dollar, the value of which is immeasurable to all women in this situation.” Swift released a statement thanking her attorneys “for fighting for me and anyone who feels silenced by a sexual assault.” “My hope is to help those whose voices should also be heard,” she said, promising to make unspecified donations to groups that help victims of sexual assault. Nancy Leong, a law...

HIGASHISHIRAKAWA, Japan (AP) — The former U.S. Marine knew the calligraphy-covered flag he took from a fallen Japanese soldier 73 years ago was more than a keepsake of World War II. When Marvin Strombo finally handed the flag back to Sadao Yasue’s younger brother and sisters Tuesday, he understood what it really meant to them. Tatsuya Yasue buried his face into the flag and smelled it, then he held Strombo’s hands and kissed them. His elder sister Sayoko Furuta, 93, sitting in her wheelchair, covered her face with both hands and wept silently as Tatsuya placed the flag on her lap. Strombo said their reaction struck him. He reached out to Yasue’s elder sister and gently rubbed her shoulder. “I was so happy that I returned the flag,” Strombo said. “I can see how much the flag meant to her. That almost made me cry ... It meant everything in the world to her.” The flag is a treasure that will fill a deep void for Yasue’s family. It is the first trace of their brother. The Japa...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Expanding charter schools around the country is losing support among Americans, even as President Donald Trump and his administration continue to push for school choice, according to a survey released Tuesday. Trump campaigned on a promise to dramatically improve school choice — charter schools and private school voucher programs — and his Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has made it a priority. But so far the message does not appear to have hit home with the public. About 39 percent of respondents favor opening more charters — schools that are funded by public money, but usually operated independently of school districts — according to the survey by Education Next, a journal published by Harvard’s Kennedy School and Stanford University. That’s down from 51 percent last year. Supporters of charter schools had feared that Trump’s polarizing rhetoric could hurt the school-choice movement. But the authors of the report say the decline in support for char...

BEIJING (AP) — China criticized President Donald Trump’s order for a possible U.S. trade investigation of Beijing’s technology policies as a violation of global rules and said Tuesday it will “resolutely safeguard” Chinese interests. Trade groups for technology companies welcomed Trump’s order Monday but the Chinese Commerce Ministry said it violated the spirit of international trade and Washington’s World Trade Organization commitments. The ministry said Beijing will take “all appropriate measures” if Chinese companies are hurt but gave no details. Trump told U.S. trade officials to look into whether to launch a formal investigation into whether Beijing improperly requires foreign companies to hand over technology in exchange for market access. “If the U.S. side disregards the fact it does not respect multilateral trade rules and takes action to damage the economic and trade relations between the two sides, then the Chinese side will never sit back and will take all approp...

NORWOOD, Ohio (AP) — Herbie Mays is 3M proud, and it shows — in the 3M shirt he wears; in the 3M ring he earned after three decades at the company’s plant in suburban Cincinnati; in the way he shows off a card from a 3M supervisor, praising Mays as “a GREAT employee.” But it’s all nostalgia.  Mays’ last day at 3M was in March. Bent on cutting costs and refocusing its portfolio, the company decided to close the plant that made bandages, knee braces and other health care supplies and move work to its plant in Mexico. At 62, Mays is unemployed and wants to work, though on the face of it he has plenty of opportunities. Barely 10 miles from his ranch-style brick home in this blue-collar city, GE Aviation has been expanding — and hiring. In the state-of-the-art laboratory in a World War II-era building the size of 27 football fields, workers use breakthrough technology to build jet engines that run on less fuel at higher temperatures. Bright flashes flare out as GE worke...