1. In show of defiance, thousands run Boston Marathon
BOSTON (AP) — Under heavy security that included an array of surveillance cameras and police officers on rooftops, nearly 36,000 runners hit the streets Monday in the first Boston Marathon since last year’s deadly bombing, sending a powerful message of resilience.
In what some saw as altogether fitting, an American won the men’s division for the first time in more than 30 years, dominating a field that included many athletes who were prevented from completing the race by the explosions April 15, 2013.
The two pressure-cooker bombs that went off near the end of the 26.2-mile course killed three people and wounded more than 260 in a traumatic spectacle of torn limbs, smoke and broken glass.
This year, police were deployed in force along the route, with helicopters circling above and bomb-sniffing dogs checking trash cans.
A total of 35,755 athletes were registered to run, the second-largest field in its history, with many coming to show support for the city and its signature sporting event. “Boston Strong” — the unofficial slogan adopted after the terrorist attack — was everywhere.
2. Biden in Ukraine to show support as tensions rise
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden on Monday launched a high-profile visit to demonstrate the United States’ commitment to Ukraine and push for urgent implementation of an international agreement aimed at de-escalating tensions even as violence continues. The U.S. will decide within “days, not weeks” whether Russia is abiding by the accord, a U.S. diplomat said.
Biden planned to meet today with government leaders who took over after pro-Russia Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February following months of protests. The White House said President Barack Obama and Biden agreed he should make the two-day visit to the capital city to send a high-level signal of support for reform efforts being pushed by the new government.
Biden will hold talks with Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Oleksandr Turchynov, the acting Ukrainian prime minister and president. He also is scheduled to meet with legislators from across the country and democracy activists before returning to Washington tonight.
Meanwhile, the State Department said photos available from social media and other sites show Russia has sent forces into eastern Ukraine. The alleged “concerned citizens” who want more autonomy in eastern Ukraine are similarly dressed and carry the same kind of RPG-30 rocket launchers that are issued to Russian army troops.
There was no way to immediately tell if the descriptions of photographs were legitimate or to independently confirm them. None of the people in the photographs were identified, and there were few indicators to prove where the pictures were taken.
3. Families’ hopes for ferry victims painfully humble
JINDO, South Korea (AP) — Lee Byung-soo says he knew, when he saw his 15-year-old son’s body in the tent. It could not have been more horrifically obvious. But he wanted so much for him to be alive.
“Stop sleeping!” the truck driver yelled as he hugged Lee Seok-joon. “Why are you sleeping so much? Daddy will save you!”
He pumped his son’s chest and blew into his mouth, trying to resuscitate him, “but I could only smell a rotting stench.”
This is the kind of heartbreak that awaits the families of about 220 people still missing from the submerged ferry Sewol, or at least those whose relatives’ bodies are ultimately recovered. Families who once dreamed of miraculous rescues now simply hope their loved ones’ remains are recovered soon, before the ocean does much more damage.
“The parents’ only wish right now is to find the bodies before they are badly decomposed,” said Woo Dong-suk, a construction worker and uncle of one of the students.
The pace of recovering bodies has accelerated in recent days, since divers finally succeeded in entering the vessel. There were 86 confirmed fatalities as of Monday night.
After the bodies are pulled from the water, police and doctors look for forms of ID and take notes on the body’s appearance, clothing and any identifying physical marks such as moles, said a Health Ministry official who was helping coordinate the effort and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
4. Syria elections set for June 3 amid civil war
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria called a presidential election for June 3, aiming to give President Bashar Assad a veneer of electoral legitimacy in the midst of a civil war that has killed more than 150,000 people and driven a third of the population from their homes.
The opposition and the United States denounced the vote as a farce, and a U.N. spokesman said it will “hamper the prospects for a political solution.” But Assad’s government appears determined to hold the election as a way of exploiting its recent military gains.
The announcement Monday by Parliament Speaker Jihad Laham raises questions about how the government intends to hold any kind of credible vote within the deeply divided country, where large areas lie outside government control and where hundreds of thousands of people live in territory that is either contested, held by rebels or blockaded by pro-government forces.
“There will not be any voting centers in areas controlled by the gunmen,” Syrian lawmaker Sharif Shehadeh told The Associated Press. He said the Syrian army was present in many provinces across Syria, “and this will make up for the areas outside of government control.”
5. Stowaway teen stirs concern about airport security
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A 16-year-old boy scrambled over an airport fence, crossed a tarmac and climbed into a jetliner’s wheel well, then flew for five freezing hours to Hawaii — a misadventure that stirred concern about possible weak spots in the security system that protects the nation’s airline fleet.
The boy, who lives in Santa Clara, Calif., and attends a local high school, hopped out of the wheel well of a Boeing 767 on the Maui airport tarmac Sunday. Authorities found him wandering around the airport grounds with no identification. He was questioned by the FBI and taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he was found to be unharmed.
FBI spokesman Tom Simon in Honolulu said the teen did not remember the flight from San Jose.
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