National

wellesenterprises/iStockBy MEREDITH DELISO, ABC NEWS(TOPEKA, Kan.) -- As school districts across the country grapple with how and when to reopen safely during the coronavirus pandemic, the Kansas State Board of Education rejected Gov. Laura Kelly's executive order delaying the start of the school year despite rising cases of COVID-19 in the state.In a virtual meeting on Wednesday, the 10-person board effectively blocked the order, which would have barred any public […]

kali9/IStockBy ELLA TORRES, ABC NEWS(SAINT LOUIS, Mo.) -- One person is dead and another injured after a shooting Wednesday at a mall in suburban St. Louis, police said.The person who died was identified only as a man in his early 20s, police said. The age of the person, also a man, who was injured was not immediately clear.A suspect is still on the loose.A spokesman for the St. Louis County […]

JHVEPhotography/iStockBy AARON KATERSKY, ABC NEWS(WASHINGTON) -- A Raytheon engineer who "endangered national security" was sentenced Wednesday to 1 1/2 years in prison.Ahmed Serageldin had worked on a radar system used to defend against ballistic missiles and had pleaded guilty to keeping classified national defense documents about that system at his home without authorization.Serageldin apologized for his behavior in court Wednesday."I was sloppy, but I have always been loyal to my […]

ABCBy KRISTOFER RIOS, MARJORIE MCAFEE, NEIL GIARDINO, ZOE LAKE, JOHN KAPETANEAS, and ANTHONY RIVAS(PORTLAND) -- Garrison Davis, a 17-year-old videographer and citizen journalist in Portland, Oregon, has documented the city's Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality nearly every night since they began more than 50 days ago following the death of George Floyd.Over the weekend, he posted images on Twitter of a group of moms who had created what […]

narvikk/iStockBy JON HAWORTH and EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News(NEW YORK) -- The novel coronavirus pandemic has now killed more than 617,000 people worldwide.Over 14.9 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, […]

ABC News/KXXVBY: ELLA TORRES(KILLEEN, Texas) -- An investigation is underway into the death of a 26-year-old Fort Hood soldier found unresponsive in a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir, government and local officials said.Pvt. Mejhor Morta was found July 17 after a fisherman called 911 to report seeing what he believed to be a body at the base of the dam, according to a statement from the Bell County Sheriff's […]

ABC NewsBY: JON HAWORTH, AARON KATERSKY, MARK CRUDELE, and IVAN PEREIRA(NEW YORK) --  Roy Den Hollander, whom the FBI has called the "primary subject" in the shooting at Judge Esther Salas' New Jersey home, was also the leading suspect in the murder of a like-minded attorney in California earlier this month, the FBI said.Hollander, an attorney who took on cases against feminist causes, was found dead by police Monday from […]

iStock/Anton_HerringtonBY: KARMA ALLEN(LIVONIA, Michigan) -- At least 13 nuns from a single convent in Livonia, Michigan, have died since the COVID-19 pandemic began nearly three months ago.A dozen nuns in the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Felix of Cantalice died after contracting the virus between April 10 and May 10, religious officials said. Another nun from the congregation died on June 27, according to the Global Sisters Report.Family and […]

iStock/coscaronBY: GENEVIEVE SHAW BROWN(WASHINGTON) -- If there's one conversation dominating parent groups right now -- online, in person or in a rapid flurry of group texts -- it's this: What will the upcoming school year look like?There's the possibility of a full return. There's the possibility of a full return but with kids in smaller "pods." There's potentially a part-time return where kids attend school a few days a week. […]