AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan dies at age 80

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Kofi Annan, a charismatic global diplomat and the first black African to become United Nations secretary-general who led the world body through one of its most turbulent periods, died early Saturday at age 80.

Tributes flowed in from around the world after his foundation announced his death in the Swiss capital, Bern, after a short and unspecified illness. The statement remembered the Nobel Peace Prize winner as “radiating genuine kindness, warmth and brilliance in all he did.”

He died “peacefully in his sleep,” the president of Ghana, where Annan was born, said after speaking to his wife.

At U.N. headquarters in New York, the U.N. flag flew at half-staff and a bouquet of flowers was placed under Annan’s portrait. Reflecting the widespread regard that won him a groundbreaking uncontested election to a second term, leaders from Russia, India, Israel, France and elsewhere expressed condolences for a man Bill Gates called “one of the great peacemakers of our time.”

Annan spent virtually his entire career as an administrator in the United Nations. His aristocratic style, cool-tempered elegance and political savvy helped guide his ascent to become its seventh secretary-general, and the first hired from within. His two terms were from Jan. 1, 1997, to Dec. 31, 2006, capped nearly midway when he and the U.N. were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001.

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Annan’s legacy of fighting for equality and rights lives on

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Kofi Annan left the United Nations far more committed than it had been to combating poverty, promoting equality and fighting for human rights — and until his death Saturday he was speaking out strongly for nations working together to solve problems and worried about the rise of nationalism.

As secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006, Annan saw as his greatest achievements the programs and policies he put in place to reduce inequality within and between countries, to combat infectious diseases and to promote human rights and protect civilians from war crimes including genocide.

He launched the U.N. Millennium Development Goals at a summit of world leaders in 2000 to cut extreme poverty by half, promote equality for women, ensure every child has a primary school education, reduce maternal and child mortality, and halt the spread of AIDS — all by 2015.

Those goals — only a few of which were fully achieved — were succeeded by an expanded list of U.N. Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 that adds issues such as climate action, affordable and clean energy, and promoting peace and justice. The updated list is a major focus of the U.N.’s current agenda.

As U.N. peacekeeping chief just before becoming secretary-general, Annan shared blame for the failure of U.N. troops he deployed to prevent the genocides in Rwanda in 1994 and in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in July 1995.

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Sex scandals fester at unhealthy organizations, experts say

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Of all the horrific details contained in the Pennsylvania grand jury report on child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, one sentence stands out: “The main thing was not to help children, but to avoid ‘scandal.'”

When sex-abuse cases dominate headlines, a familiar pattern often emerges. If it took place at a large organization — be it a church, a large state university or a group such as USA Gymnastics — misconduct is often covered up in hopes of saving the institution’s reputation, and the money that accompanies it.

Why is the role of institutions so powerful? Because they command emotion. They inspire loyalty. And they have established ways of doing things that rev up when problems surface.

Perhaps most relevantly, they often have a community built around them, geographically or otherwise. And preserving that community can become a priority — even over something as seemingly fundamental as protecting the youngest among us.

In short, when bad things happen inside institutions, the ingredients are already there to make things even worse.

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US school districts weigh duty to youth migrant shelters

When San Benito, Texas, school leaders learned of an influx of children to a migrant shelter in their small town near the U.S.-Mexico border, they felt obliged to help.

The superintendent reached out and agreed to send 19 bilingual teachers, mobile classrooms and hundreds of computers to make the learning environment resemble one of his schools.

While a government contractor bears responsibility for educating children at the highly guarded centre, local officials say they stepped up partly because of a law that calls on school systems to educate any child, anywhere within their district.

“This is not a political issue. This is not a racial issue. This is a moral obligation, and actually our legal obligation,” said Michael Vargas, who leads the board of the San Benito Consolidated Independent School District.

San Benito is one of a small number of U.S. school systems that are preparing for the first day of school on both their public campuses and in new classrooms set up at nearby federal youth migrant shelters. In neighbouring Brownsville, Texas, the superintendent is working on an agreement to deploy teachers and services to help educate 800 children housed in federal facilities in her district.

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When Ms. Franklin calls: Reporter reflects on Queen of Soul

NEW YORK (AP) — When I got the chance to interview Aretha Franklin for the first time in 2001, I was already a bundle of nerves: Even though it was just over the phone, I’d be talking to THE Queen of Soul! You could get no closer to rock ‘n’ roll royalty than the Queen herself.

So my trepidation was magnified when a colleague told me not to expect much: Franklin was famously guarded and known for giving short, to-the-point answers and little in the way of introspection.

Sure enough, when we spoke on the topic at hand — a VH1 Divas concert honouring her music — Franklin didn’t offer much at first. But then, I remembered that she was a huge “The Young and the Restless” fan, and in particular, of Victor Newman, as was I. So we chatted about that. And before long, she opened up a bit more, and while I didn’t get any big scoops that day, I got a bit of her flair, her personality and her regalness — when I asked her if she thought she was the ultimate diva, she retorted, “What do YOU think?”

Over the years, we’d have many more conversations. Sometimes, I’d get a note from her publicist, Gwendolyn Quinn, who’d let me know that Franklin would like to talk to me; she sometimes rang me on her own. She called me Ms. Moody, and I of course called her Ms. Franklin (though sometimes, just “Aretha” would pop out, revealing my lack of home training).

In some ways, our conversations weren’t particularly deep: She didn’t expound on the kind of life experiences that allowed her to convey emotion on a track like no other; we didn’t delve into the magic behind classics like “Ain’t No Way” or “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.”

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‘Dream or reality?’ Koreans to meet after decades apart

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Lee Soo-nam was 8 the last time he saw his older brother. Sixty-eight years ago this month the boy watched, bewildered, as his 19-year-old brother left their home in Seoul to escape invading North Korean soldiers who were conscripting young men just weeks after invading South Korea to start the Korean War.

An hour later his brother, Ri Jong Song, was snatched up by North Korean soldiers near a bridge across Seoul’s Han River. Lee always assumed Ri died during the three-year war that killed and injured millions before a cease-fire in 1953, but his mother prayed daily for her lost son’s return, only giving up a few years before her death in 1975.

But Ri survived the war, living in North Korea. The brothers, now 76 and 85, will be among hundreds of Koreans who will participate, starting Monday, in a week of temporary reunions of divided families. Many have had no contact with each other since the war cemented the division of the peninsula into the North and South.

The elderly relatives gathering at North Korea’s scenic Diamond Mountain resort know that, given the fickle nature of ties between the rival Koreas, this could be the last time they see each other before they die.

“I’m nervous. I’m still unsure whether this is a dream or reality. I just want to thank him for staying alive all these years,” Lee said in an interview in his home in Seoul, not far from where he last saw his brother.

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Italy’s leader demands safe roads; bridge toll rises to 43

GENOA, Italy (AP) — Italy’s president demanded guarantees Saturday that all the nation’s roads are safe following the Genoa highway bridge collapse, after he hugged and comforted mourners at a state funeral in the grieving port city.

President Sergio Mattarella spoke quietly to victims’ families before the ceremony began on Genoa’s fairgrounds. Usually reserved in demeanour, Mattarella was embraced tightly for a long moment by one distraught woman.

He then took his place with other Italian leaders, including Premier Giuseppe Conte and the transportation minister, in the packed yet cavernous hall.

Afterward, Mattarella called the funeral, which took place on a day of national mourning, “a moment of grief, shared grief, by all of Italy.”

One mourner, a local man who would only give his first name, Alessandro, held a placard that read: “In Italy, we prefer ribbon-cuttings to maintenance” — referring to the country’s dilapidated infrastructure.

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Another trial looms for ex-Trump campaign chairman Manafort

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — As jurors weigh Paul Manafort’s fate in a sprawling financial fraud case, the former Trump campaign chairman still has another trial looming in the nation’s capital — and prosecutors there have a whole new set of charges and a huge volume of evidence.

The trial now underway in Alexandria, Virginia, is the first case brought by special counsel Robert Mueller to go to trial. The jury will return Monday to begin a third day of deliberations on 18 counts, including tax and bank fraud and failure to disclose foreign bank accounts.

In the District of Columbia, Manafort is scheduled to go on trial in September on charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States, failing to register as a foreign agent, money laundering, witness tampering and making false statements.

Neither case involves allegations of Russian election interference or possible co-ordination by the Trump campaign, which are at the heart of Mueller’s larger investigation. But President Donald Trump has expressed a keen interest in Manafort’s fate as he seeks to publicly undermine Mueller’s probe.

The charges in D.C. could result in an even lengthier sentence than what Manafort faces in Virginia. In a status report filed back in February, prosecutors did a preliminary calculation of how federal sentencing guidelines would apply to Manafort if convicted on all charges. In Virginia, they calculated a sentence of roughly eight to 10 years on the tax fraud charges plus an additional four to five years on the bank fraud. In the District, they calculated a guidelines range of 15 to 20 years, and that was before prosecutors brought the witness tampering charge.

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Church group’s opposition stuns advocates of ‘tort reform’

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — So-called tort reform has been an easy sell in states controlled by Republicans, and backers of a lawsuit-limiting proposal on the ballot in Arkansas this fall expected little trouble winning passage until they ran into a surprising obstacle from a reliable conservative ally.

A Christian group has begun rallying churches and abortion opponents against the measure, saying that limiting damage awards in lawsuits sets an arbitrary value on human life, contrary to anti-abortion beliefs, and conflicts with biblical principles of justice and helping the poor.

Proponents of the measure are stunned by the opposition and worried that it could stir dissension among conservatives who must work together on numerous issues.

“The biggest problem is not the damage” to the tort reform proposal, said Republican Rep. Bob Ballinger, a sponsor of that measure. “The biggest hurdle is the damage to the pro-life cause.”

The religious argument also could offer tort reform opponents in other states a new weapon for fighting limits. The legal restrictions have been making headway in recent years as the GOP has won control of roughly two-thirds of state legislatures.

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Trump warnings grow from forgotten Republicans

NEW YORK (AP) — The ranks of forgotten Republicans are growing.

Some were forced out, such as Tim Pawlenty, a former two-term Minnesota governor who lost this week’s bid for a political comeback. Some, such as the retiring Republican Sen. Bob Corker, chose to leave on their own. Others still serve, but with a muted voice.

Whether members of Congress, governors or state party leaders, they are struggling to fit into President Donald Trump’s Republican Party.

The expanding list of marginalized GOP leaders underscores how thoroughly Trump has dominated — and changed — the Republican Party in the nearly two years since he seized the presidency. The overwhelming majority of elected officials, candidates and rank-and-file voters now follow the president with extraordinary loyalty, even if he strays far from the values and traditions many know and love.

The Republicans left behind are warning their party with increasing urgency, though it’s unclear whether anyone’s listening.

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