World/Nation
• Boy's death draws attention to immigration
EDINBURG, Texas - When authorities found an 11-year-old Guatemalan boy's body about a mile from Texas' southern border, they also discovered his brother's Chicago phone number scribbled on the inside of his belt buckle.
The boy, wearing "Angry Birds" jeans, black leather boots and a white rosary around his neck, had apparently gotten lost on his way north from his native country and was found about two weeks ago, alone in the brush less than a mile from the nearest U.S. home, a South Texas sheriff said Monday.
While hundreds of immigrants die crossing the border each year, the discovery of Gilberto Francisco Ramos Juarez's decomposed body in the Rio Grande Valley on June 15 highlights the perils unaccompanied children face as the U.S. government searches for ways to deal with record numbers of children crossing into the country illegally.
"Down here finding a decomposed body ... we come across them quite often," Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra said, adding that this was the first child immigrant his office has found since he became sheriff in April. "It's a very dangerous journey."
More than 52,000 unaccompanied children have been apprehended entering the U.S. illegally since October, creating what President Barack Obama has called an "urgent humanitarian situation." On Monday, Obama asked Congress for more money and additional authority to deal with the surge of youths, mostly from Central America. Obama wants flexibility to speed the youths' deportations and $2 billion to hire more immigration judges and open more detention facilities.
• Teen bodies found, Israelis vow revenge
JERUSALEM - The Israeli military found the bodies of three missing teenagers on Monday just more than two weeks after they were abducted in the West Bank - a grim discovery that ended a frantic search that led to Israel's largest ground operation in the Palestinian territory in nearly a decade and drew Israeli threats of retaliation.
"Hamas is responsible and Hamas will pay," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed, referring to the Islamic militant group that Israel has accused of carrying out the kidnappings.
The teenagers "were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by human animals," the Israeli leader said as he convened an emergency meeting of his Security Cabinet.
The three-hour session ended after midnight without any decisions, and officials were expected to resume deliberations today.
Early Tuesday, Israel carried out an especially intense series of airstrikes in Gaza, saying it had struck 34 targets across the Hamas-controlled territory. The military said the airstrikes were a response to a barrage of 18 rockets fired into Israel since late Sunday.
• Obama: Former CEO is right choice to fix VA
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama sought to turn the page Monday on a humiliating chapter in the history of the Veterans Affairs Department, tapping former Procter & Gamble CEO Robert McDonald to take over the sprawling agency.
A former Army captain, McDonald would bring a blend of corporate and military experience to a bureaucracy reeling from revelations of chronic, system-wide failure and veterans dying while on long waiting lists for treatment. His selection reflects Obama's desire to put a tested manager in charge as the White House calls for a top-to-bottom overhaul of the VA.
"What especially makes Bob the right choice to lead the VA right now is his three decades of experience building and managing one of the world's most recognizable companies," Obama said at VA headquarters. "In short, he's about delivering better results."
McDonald, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, was not likely chosen because of any past support for the president. He donated to Republican Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign to unseat Obama and has funded numerous other Republicans, including House Speaker John Boehner.
Joined by his wife and adult children, the 61-year-old said he planned to put veterans at the center of everything the VA does - a bureaucratic twist on the old adage that the customer is always right.
- The Associated Press