Tuesday morning news: April 30, 2019

Victim of synagogue shooting laid to rest » Members of the Jewish community are still trying to make sense of the second violent attack on a U.S. synagogue in the last six months.

60-year-old Lori Kaye, who died in the attack, was laid to rest on Monday.

Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein recalled the moment he turned around inside his synagogue and was suddenly staring down the barrel of rifle held by a man he’d never seen before. Kaye stepped in between them.

GOLDSTEIN: Lori took the bullet for all of us. She died to protect all of us. 

The attacker did shoot Goldstein, who lost the index finger on one hand. Two other people also suffered injuries. But Goldstein said the shooter’s rifle miraculously appeared to jam.  

A 19-year-old suspect is behind bars, being held without bail. He’ll face a judge later this week to hear the charges against him. They could include a hate crime.

The White House voiced support on Monday for the Jewish community. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told Fox News, the White House strongly condemns the attack.

SANDERS: We have to call out this type of anti-Semitic behavior, racism, bigotry. We have to call it out, and we have to call it out by name. 

Yisroel Goldstein said President Trump called him personally to offer his condolences.

Rod Rosenstein submits letter of resignation to Trump » Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein handed in his letter of resignation on Monday. After two years on the job, he told the president he’ll leave at the end of next week.

He’s had a complicated relationship with the White House. It was Rosenstein who appointed special counsel Robert Mueller to lead the Russia probe. And former acting FBI head Andrew McCabe claimed Rosenstein proposed invoking the 25th amendment to remove President Trump from office. Rosenstein denied that claim.

Rosenstein’s departure had been expected since the confirmation of William Barr as attorney general. The White House nominated a replacement for the department’s No. 2 slot weeks ago.

Sri Lanka enacts new emergency law » Amid an ongoing terror threat in Sri Lanka the government enacted an emergency law this week. WORLD Radio’s Paul Butler has details.

PAUL BUTLER, REPORTER: The new law bans all forms of face coverings, including the veils many Muslim women wear.

It’s the latest emergency measure in Sri Lanka, where security forces continue to hunt for terrorists. The military has set up checkpoints, blocking roads in some parts of the country.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the deadly Easter bombings. And on Sunday, the group said three terror suspects who blew themselves up on Friday after a shootout with police had also pledged loyalty to ISIS.

Reporting for WORLD Radio, I’m Paul Butler.

ISIS leader appears in video for first time in five years » Meantime, the shadowy leader of ISIS claimed to appear for the first time in five years in a video released on Monday. The man said to be Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi wore a black robe and a bushy grey and red beard. He sat with legs crossed and an assault rifle by his side. In the footage he speaks with three men seated opposite him whose faces were covered and blotted out.  

Al-Baghdadi reaffirmed the terror group’s role in last week’s bombings in Sri Lanka. He said they were “part of the revenge” that awaits the West. And he called specifically on his followers to intensify attacks on France.

Measles continues to spread in U.S. » Measles continues to spread in the U.S. Officials say since January the virus has infected more 700 people in nearly two-dozen states. That’s the highest number of cases in 25 years.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Monday that the Trump administration urges all Americans to get the measles vaccine.

AZAR: Most of us have never seen the deadly consequences that vaccine preventable diseases can have on a child, family or community, and that’s the way we want to keep it. Vaccine preventable diseases belong in the history books, not our emergency rooms. 

Most of those sickened with measles are children or teenagers. Thankfully, no deaths have been reported so far, but more than 60 patients were hospitalized.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says this year’s count includes 44 people who caught the disease while traveling in another country. Some of them triggered U.S. outbreaks, mostly among unvaccinated people.

Spanish Socialist party wins election, while right-leaning party gains ground » Voters went to the polls in Spain this week and the results have some on the left and the right celebrating. WORLD Radio’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s ruling Socialist party won the most votes, but fell short of a majority. It grabbed 123 seats in the 350-member Congress of Deputies.

Sánchez said he’ll soon sit down with leaders from other parties to try to form a coalition government.

Meanwhile, support for right-leaning parties is growing as Spain battles recession and an ongoing pro-independence movement in Catalonia. The recently formed Vox party won 10 percent of the vote, gaining 24 seats in parliament.

It calls for tighter controls on immigration, while protecting Spanish traditions. Vox leaders also criticize what they call “radical feminism” and multiculturalism.

Reporting for WORLD Radio, I’m Kristen Flavin.

(AP Photo/Gregory Bull) Menachem Levanoni, right, president of the Chabad of Poway synagogue, speaks Monday, April 29, 2019, at the funeral for Lori Kaye, who was killed Saturday when a gunman opened fire inside the synagogue in Poway, Calif. 

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