HIROSHIMA, Japan — For nearly 70 years, until he turned 85, Lee Jong-keun hid his past as an atomic bomb survivor, fearful of the widespread discrimination against blast victims that has long persisted in Japan. But Lee, 92, is now part of a fast-dwindling group of survivors, known as hibakusha,...
Auschwitz Survivors Warn of Rising Anti-Semitism 75 Years On
OSWIECIM, Poland — Survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp recalled their suffering as they marked the 75th anniversary of its liberation, returning to the place where they lost entire families and warning about the ominous growth of anti-Semitism and hatred in the world. “We have with us the last living survivors, the...
California Must Finally End the Backlog of Unprocessed Rape Kits. Here’s How
After a sexual assault, survivors undergo an incredibly invasive procedure, typically involving being examined, swabbed and photographed for several hours. The specific purpose is to collect DNA and other evidence used to identify the perpetrator. It is the ultimate injustice to discover that thousands of sexual assault evidence kits collected...
Mass Shootings Transform How America Talks, Prays, Prepares
CHICAGO — Pardeep Singh Kaleka has surveyed the landscape of an America scarred by mass shootings. Seven years ago, a white supremacist invaded a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and killed six worshippers — among them Kaleka's father, who died clutching a butter knife he'd grabbed in a desperate attempt to...
PG&E Offers $105M ‘Wildfire Assistance’ Plan
SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas & Electric says it will set up a $105 million fund to help survivors of recent California wildfires started by the utility's equipment. In a court filing Wednesday, PG&E says the wildfire assistance program will provide relief for people who lost property during huge blazes...
Linked by Pain: 2 School Massacre Survivors, Dad Kill Selves
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Tragedies like the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High and Sandy Hook Elementary school massacres eventually fade from view, blunted by other mass shootings and the passage of time. But for the survivors, the pain can never end. The father of a Sandy Hook victim killed himself Monday,...
At Least 23 Dead as Tornadoes, Severe Storms Ravage South
BEAUREGARD, Ala. — A tornado roared into southeast Alabama and killed at least 23 people and injured several others Sunday, part of a severe storm system that caused catastrophic damage and unleashed other tornadoes around the Southeast. "Unfortunately our toll, as far as fatalities, does stand at 23 at the...
What Happens When the Next Big Wildfire Hits?
Don’t be fooled by the precipitation, the snowpack, the wildflowers. When winter ends, it’s unlikely that California’s iconic landscape will sustain the moisture to withstand the 100-degree summer and fall. California has yet to recover from the 5-year drought that began in 2012. For four years, record wildfires have ravaged...
Hundreds Missing in Fire’s Wake Ahead of Trump Visit
CHICO — With the confirmed death toll at 63, authorities in Northern California on Friday continued to search for those who perished and those who survived the fiercest of wildfires ahead of a planned visit by President Donald Trump. The president on Saturday is expected to get a look at...