COLU @ CONCEPTS

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Few college-bound kids lose their shot, and their slot, at their dream school once they get in, but it happened at one of the world’s most elite institutions and for a reason that has, until recently, hardly registered in the university admissions process: social media. Harvard University’s decision to rescind admission offers to 10 incoming freshmen because of offensive Facebook posts comes at a time of heightened attention to free speech and student conduct on U.S. college campuses, and has stirred debate far beyond the halls of the Ivy League school. Other schools say it’s an eye-opener for those involved in the admissions process. “We’re going to continue to watch how this unfolds and, with other higher ed institutions, learn from it,” said Janet Bonkowski, spokeswoman for the University of Wisconsin in Green Bay. Harvard rescinded the admission offers after discovering the students had traded offensive images and messages on a private Facebook group, ...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — After firing missiles targeting the Islamic State group in eastern Syria, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Monday issued a stark warning to IS militants, saying that any future attack against Iran will result in more powerful launches. The Guard said it launched the strikes on Sunday in retaliation for attacks in Tehran earlier this month that were claimed by the Islamic State group. Iran has been involved in Syria’s long-running civil war, in which it has backed embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad.  Iranian state television quoted Gen. Ramazan Sharif on Monday as saying that “if they (IS) carry out a specific action to violate our security, definitely there will be more launches, with intensified strength.” He spoke as part of a TV package about the missile launches, showing them shoot off into the night from the western province of Kermanshah. The Guard said it fired six missiles in total from Kermanshah and also from Iran’s Kurdistan province into...

YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) — The mother of a U.S. Navy sailor said her son kept diving to try to save his shipmates after a collision at sea until their flooded sleeping berth began running out of air pockets, while other survivors — believing their ship was under attack — hurried to man the guns. Mia Sykes of Raleigh, North Carolina, told The Associated Press on Sunday that her 19-year-old son, Brayden Harden, was knocked out of his bunk by the impact, and water immediately began filling the berth, after their destroyer, the USS Fitzgerald, collided with a Philippine-flagged container ship four times its size off the Japanese coast. The search for the U.S. Navy sailors who went missing after the USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship off the Japanese coast was called off after several bodies were found Sunday in the ship’s flooded compartments. (June 18) The ships collided about 2:20 a.m. Saturday, when the Navy said most of the 300 sailors on board would have been s...

LONDON (AP) — The Latest on a London crash in which a vehicle struck pedestrians (all times local): 8:30 a.m. London police say one suspect has been detained in an apparent early-morning attack on worshippers standing outside a mosque. Police say incident has all the “hallmarks” of a terrorist” incident. Police said a suspect was quickly and calmly turned over to the police, and that no one else was found in the van. One man was killed and eight people were seriously injured. A vehicle struck pedestrians on a north London road early Monday morning, causing several casualties, police said. One person has been arrested. (June 18) 8:00 a.m. The leader Britain’s opposition Labour Party says he was “totally shocked” by an apparent attack by a van driver which killed one man and eight people were seriously injured outside a mosque. Party leader Jeremy Corbyn says in a tweet that he has been in touch with mosques, the police, and the local council regarding the in...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will testify before a House panel as momentum builds on Capitol Hill for a package of new Russia sanctions aimed at punishing Moscow for meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Tillerson is scheduled to appear Wednesday before the Foreign Affairs Committee, just hours ahead of a vote in the Senate on the sanctions. Tillerson has warned lawmakers the U.S. relationship with Russia is at an all-time low and deteriorating further. And he’s also cautioned against taking steps that might close off promising avenues of communication between the two former Cold War foes. Tillerson was noncommittal about a package of new Russia sanctions during testimony Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said he’s still reviewing the proposed penalties that Senate Republicans and Democrats agreed upon after lengthy negotiations. But it’s important, he stressed, that President Donald Trump have the flexibility “to turn the he...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Criticism of special counsel Robert Mueller used to be off limits. No more. Some of President Donald Trump’s closest allies — including one of his sons — have begun questioning whether Mueller’s wide-ranging probe is becoming too political, as the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election intensifies. The White House finally said Tuesday evening that Trump has “no intention” of firing Mueller, amid speculation and concern that he was weighing that option. Deputy AG Rosenstein says he’s seen no basis to fire special counsel probing contacts between Trump campaign and Russia. (June 13) The effort to muddy the waters surrounding the investigation is coming amid growing White House concern that the probe could detract from the president’s agenda for months or years to come. Senators on Tuesday questioned both Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on how the inquiry is being handled. Until now, Mueller h...

BIDI BIDI, Uganda (AP) — At this kindergarten on the edge of the world’s largest refugee camp, there are no notebooks. When it’s time to practice writing skills, children sit under a tree to doodle in the dirt while teachers use a blackboard. “Maybe this term we will provide the books,” said Kevin Afura, who teaches at the school for 500 children operated by the aid group Save the Children. “They write on the ground.” Schooling is the latest challenge in this overcrowded refugee settlement where basic facilities like toilets are in short supply. This school’s only classroom is a tent in which dozens of kids swarm an overwhelmed teacher. She soon releases them to the playground, where they either swing and slide or simply go home. One recent morning, parent Reida Yeno pointed dismissively and said the children like her 4-year-old son are falling behind in their studies: “They are just only playing.” The sprawling Bidi Bidi refugee settlement in northern Uganda is home to ov...