Battles continue in Ukrainian town

Battles continue in Ukrainian town

LUHANSKE, Ukraine

Under a near-constant barrage of artillery fire, Ukrainian forces and separatist rebels fought fierce street battles Tuesday for control of the strategic railway hub of Debaltseve, a battle impeding implementation of a peace plan.

Ukraine denied rebel claims to have taken control of the town but acknowledged the separatists had seized parts of it. The battle came despite a weekend cease-fire that obliged both sides to start moving back their big guns Tuesday.

A key railroad junction between the separatist east’s two main cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, Debaltseve has been the focus of fighting over the past two weeks, and capturing it would be a prize for the Russia-backed rebels.

More measles cases tied to Disneyland, Illinois day care

NEW YORK

The number of U.S. measles cases this year has risen to 141, with most of the new illnesses tied to outbreaks at Disneyland in California and an Illinois day-care center.

Twenty new cases were added Tuesday to the tally by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: 10 in California from the Disneyland outbreak, eight from the suburban Chicago outbreak at a day-care center, and two unrelated cases in Nevada.

Most of the people who have gotten measles this year were not vaccinated, the CDC has said.

Mother testifies in sniper trial

STEPHENVILLE, Texas

The mother of the former Marine accused of killing “American Sniper” author Chris Kyle and another man testified that she didn’t know after asking Kyle to help her troubled son that they’d be going to a shooting range.

Jodi Routh, defendant Eddie Ray Routh’s mother, said under cross-examination by prosecutors Tuesday she didn’t know Kyle’s plan. Asked if she regretted not telling Kyle of threats Routh had made to kill himself and his family, she said she just wanted help for him.

Routh is charged in the 2013 deaths of the former Navy SEAL and his friend, Chad Littlefield, at the range.

Police: Mom, son searched for vehicle before shooting

LAS VEGAS

A Las Vegas mother of four killed in a road-rage shooting last week got in her car with her adult son and his gun and drove around their neighborhood looking for the assailant who ended up shooting her in a residential cul-de-sac, police said Tuesday.

In a change from earlier accounts, police Lt. Ray Steiber said 44-year-old Tammy Meyers had her teenage daughter run in the house to fetch her armed son, who then went with her as she drove to find the driver who had earlier stopped his car in front of hers, got out and approached her with angry words.

Ferguson protests

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.

St. Louis area authorities planning for a grand jury announcement had proposed stationing Missouri National Guard troops and armored Humvees in a Ferguson neighborhood where Michael Brown had been shot by a policeman, according to records released Tuesday detailing the state’s preparations.

The Guard wasn’t preemptively deployed to Ferguson’s most troubled spots, however, because Gov. Jay Nixon preferred to place police on the front lines for the Nov. 24 announcement that Darren Wilson, a white officer, wouldn’t be charged for killing the unarmed black 18-year-old.

Associated Press