4-way phone call set on Ukraine peace

4-way phone call set on Ukraine peace

MOSCOW

Talks among the leaders of Russia, France and Germany on a peace initiative for Ukraine ended early today with an announcement that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart would discuss a proposal to end the fighting in a four-way telephone call this weekend.

The planned discussions Sunday involving Putin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the leaders of France and Germany came amid urgent shuttle diplomacy to halt the recent intensification of fighting in Ukraine and suggested that a cease-fire proposal was still on the table, although there was no firm announcement of progress.

Univ. of Calif. will require measles shots

LOS ANGELES

Students entering the University of California system in 2017 will have to be vaccinated against measles and other diseases under new immunization rules announced Friday.

The change, which had been in the works before the latest measles outbreak, has taken on new urgency after infections that originated at Disneyland in December spread to communities in half a dozen states and Mexico. Most who fell ill were not vaccinated.

GOP rep dies at 56; had cancer, stroke

JACKSON, Miss.

In the final months of his life, fighting a losing battle against the effects of brain cancer and a stroke, Republican U.S. Rep. Alan Nunnelee of Mississippi said he drew strength from a Bible verse about giving thanks to God in all circumstances.

“I am glad the Scripture in Thessalonians does not say to give thanks for all circumstances because I would have a difficult time being thankful for a tumor or a stroke, much less both,” he told supporters in an email last August. “I have learned the way to approach the difficulty of stroke rehabilitation is to give thanks in all circumstances.”

Nunnelee was 56 when he died Friday at his home in Tupelo, less than two weeks after being released from a local hospital and into hospice care.

Ex-wife kills prof, herself at university

COLUMBIA, S.C.

A professor who taught anatomy and physiology and was highly regarded by both his students and fellow faculty members was shot and killed by his ex-wife in an apparent murder-suicide at the University of South Carolina, a coroner said Friday.

Sunghee Kwon shot Raja Fayad several times in the upper body Thursday afternoon in a fourth-floor office at the university’s Public Health building, Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said in a news release.

Kwan then committed suicide with a gunshot to her stomach, the coroner said. A 9 mm pistol with an empty magazine was found near the bodies, State Law Enforcement Division spokesman Thom Berry said.

Fort Hood victims to get Purple Hearts

FORT WORTH, Texas

Purple Hearts will be awarded to victims of the shooting rampage at Fort Hood that left 13 people dead and more than two dozen wounded in 2009, the Army said Friday in a decision that many said was long overdue.

The honor is bestowed on troops wounded in battle, but it also means that combat-related services and increased retirement benefits will be available to victims. Many people wounded in the attack at the sprawling Texas military base have lingering injuries and have struggled to find work after leaving the military.

Associated Press