LAWMAKERS WEIGHING VACCINE BILL
» Amid a
. measles outbreak that has sickened more than 50 people in the Pacific Northwest, Washington lawmakers heard testimony Friday on a bill that would remove parents’ ability to claim a personal or philosophical exemption to opt their school-age children out of the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.
Hundreds of people opposed to the measure lined up more than an hour before the start of the hearing before the House Health Care and Wellness Committee.
Care facility where rape occurred to stay open.
» The state will oversee the operations of a long-term care facility in Phoenix where an incapacitated woman was raped and later gave birth, in an agreement to keep it from closing.
A spokesman for Gov. Doug Ducey says Hacienda HealthCare officials agreed Friday afternoon to accept voluntary regulation from the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Greece backs Macedonia’s NATO accession.
EECE» Greece’s ATHENS, G R parliament on Friday approved a measure for Macedonia to join NATO, ending a decades-old dispute watched closely by Western allies wary of Russian influence in the region.
Lawmakers voted 153140 to back the NATO protocol that must now also be approved by all other alliance members.
The Greek vote means the former Yugoslav republic will now formally change its name to North Macedonia.
Rare tiger kills prospective mate in London.
For 10 days, the London Zoo kept its newly arrived male Sumatran tiger Asim in a separate enclosure from Melati, the female tiger who was supposed to become his mate.
Zoologists gave them time to get used to each other’s presence and smell. On Friday, they put the two tigers into the same enclosure — and Asim killed Melati.
Dog defends owner from rabid raccoon during Poconos hike.
Officials say a hiker in Pennsylvania’s Poconos Mountains was attacked by a rabid raccoon and was defended by his dog, who pulled the varmint off.
A spokeswoman for the Delaware Water Gap Recreation Center says the raccoon lunged at the 60-year-old man’s legs. Kathleen Sandt tells LehighValleyLive.com he fell and was bitten several times by the raccoon. — Denver Post wire services