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GOP not always best for conservatives

I often get asked for my advice on how to vote. I’m the first to concede these requests come from a very niche slice of the electorate — that tiny remnant of people who know who I am, value my opinion and share my exasperation with both parties. I am going to answer the question. But first let me explain why I don’t like it. I think too many pundits on the left and right fall into the habit of confusing or conflating the fortunes of a party with that of their philosophy. Many come by this tendency honestly. As the parties have polarized ideologically, it’s a natural ...

Kennedy Center board votes to restore Trump’s name

WASHINGTON — The battle over the Kennedy Center’s future escalated Thursday as President Donald Trump’s allies on the board took new steps to commemorate him with physical changes to the iconic performing arts institution that could defy a federal court order. During an hourslong meeting that was conducted virtually, the board voted to add Trump’s name to the building’s facade so it would read “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump.” The plaza in front of the building would be named after Trump and most of ...

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Nation Nevada Jury selected in Tupac killing trial LAS VEGAS — A jury has been selected in the trial against the man charged in the 1996 killing of rapper Tupac Shakur. Duane “Keffe D” Davis is the first person to be charged in connection to the drive-by shooting in Las Vegas ...

Trump’s vaccine plan sees obstacles

WASHINGTON — Public health experts have been quick to condemn an executive order from President Donald Trump aimed at upending childhood vaccinations in the U.S., but the biggest obstacles may be the unprecedented financial and logistical challenges it would impose on parents, health providers and drugmakers. Monday’s announcement by the Republican president calls for separating combination shots — including the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine — into separate injections. Appointments for that and other vaccinations should be spaced out whenever possible, the order ...

Hiroshi Okuda, who led Toyota’s climb as a global automaker, dies at 93

TOKYO (AP) — Hiroshi Okuda, the former chief executive of Toyota, who led the Japanese automaker’s stellar rise in global markets, has died. He was 93. Company spokeswoman Shino Yamada confirmed Wednesday that Okuda had died but said the date and cause of his death were not immediately available. Major Japanese companies are on summer break this week. Okuda served as president then chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. from 1995 through 2006. In his 45-year career at Toyota, Okuda is especially remembered for having led the development of the gas-electric hybrid Prius, introduced in ...

Child, maternal deaths rise in Nepal

GAUR, Nepal — The young mother’s breath had grown ragged. Inside her mud home in rural Nepal, she hunched over in agony, pain pummeling her pregnant belly, her swollen legs scarcely able to support her. Kabita Mukhiya was in the midst of an emergency, but didn’t know it. For weeks, ...