TOKYO (AP) — North Korea said Monday it is ready to start mass-producing a new medium-range missile after a weekend test-launch confirmed its combat readiness. It called the missile, capable of reaching Japan and major U.S. military bases there, an “answer” to U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies. The solid-fuel Pukguksong-2 missile flew about 500 kilometers … Continue reading
The Supreme Court will take up transgender rights for the first time in the case of a Virginia school board that wants to prevent a transgender teenager from using the boys’ bathroom at his high school. The justices said Friday they will hear the appeal from the Gloucester County school board sometime next year. The … Continue reading
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — The hazing of four high school freshmen on a basketball trip has outraged authorities in their hometown: Police said three older teammates repeatedly shoved a pool cue at their backsides and into one boy’s rectum, causing internal injuries that required emergency surgery. But a police detective three hours away in … Continue reading
BEIJING (AP) — It has no membership in the United Nations. In the Olympics, it competes as “Chinese Taipei.” Most nations don’t recognize it as a country. The economically dynamic, self-governing island of Taiwan has struggled with diplomatic isolation and a conflicted identity that makes it not quite a sovereign nation — although many … Continue reading
SHYROKYNE, Ukraine (AP) — Fighting raged overnight and in the early hours on Tuesday on the outskirts of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine despite an agreement reached by the Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers a day earlier. The yearlong military conflict between Russian-backed rebels and government forces has claimed more than 6,000 … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 