Nation and World briefs for July 27

First lady’s apolitical image big part of her political draw

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Sorry, Democrats. #ElectMichelle will never be more than a wishful hashtag.

The same thing that made Michelle Obama such a powerful voice for Hillary Clinton at the Democratic convention makes it unlikely she’ll spend a huge amount of time on the campaign trail or, heaven forbid, run for president: She’s just not a political animal.

That’s sorry news to delegates who were moved to tears by the first lady’s nailed-it speech at the convention Monday night, where she delivered a compelling argument for Clinton’s election from the perspective of Sasha and Malia’s mom and also managed to skewer Donald Trump without uttering his name.

Democrats were still enthusing over Mrs. Obama’s speech the next day — and hoping the first lady’s message would help win over those who have yet to commit to Clinton.

“Imagine yourself being a Bernie-or-Bust person listening to that,” said Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., a prominent Bernie Sanders supporter during the primaries. “You’ve gotta kind of say, ‘Well, I guess Michelle has an important point to make here.’ This is how we get to unity.”

Rare mass killing raises questions about security in Japan

TOKYO (AP) — The killing of 19 people at a home for the mentally disabled raised questions about whether Japan’s reputation as one of the safest countries in the world is creating a false sense of security.

The deadliest mass killing in Japan in the post-World War II era unfolded early Tuesday in Sagamihara, a city about 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of central Tokyo, when authorities say a former employee broke into the facility and stabbed more than 40 people before calmly turning himself in to police.

The suspect, identified as 26-year-old Satoshi Uematsu, had worked at the facility from 2014 until February, when he was let go. He wrote to Parliament outlining the bloody plan and saying all disabled should be put to death.

While not immune to violent crime, Japan has a relatively low homicide rate of well under one per 100,000 people. Mass killings usually are seen half a world away on the nightly news, although seven Japanese were among the dead in a recent hostage-taking in Bangladesh that targeted non-Muslims.

Because such massacres are rare, Japan has become overconfident about its safety, a Japanese criminologist said.

Historic solar flight marks first round-the-world journey

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The world’s first round-the-world flight to be powered solely by the sun’s energy made history Tuesday as it landed in Abu Dhabi, where it first took off on an epic 25,000-mile journey that began more than a year ago.

Since its March 2015 take off, the Swiss-engineered Solar Impulse 2 has made 16 stops across the world without using a drop of fuel to demonstrate that using the plane’s clean technologies on the ground can halve the world’s energy consumption, save natural resources and improve quality of life.

After landing the plane, pilot Bertrand Piccard was greeted outside the cockpit by his Solar Impulse partner and fellow pilot Andre Borschberg. They hugged and pumped their fists in the air.

“The future is clean. The future is you. The future is now. Let’s take it further,” Piccard said, speaking through a microphone to applause and cheers from a crowd that included Prince Albert of Monaco.

The aircraft is uniquely powered by 17,248 solar cells that transfer energy to four electrical motors that power the plane’s propellers. It runs on four lithium polymer batteries at night. The plane’s wingspan stretches 236 feet to catch the sun’s energy.

Wish granted: Six-year-old boy is garbage man for a day

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Ethan Dean has always dreamed of being a garbage man. Tuesday, the 6-year-old lived that fantasy: riding shot gun in a booster seat through Sacramento in a truck labeled “Ethan’s Garbage Truck.”

Ethan, garbage man for the day, made a series of stops in Sacramento to collect trash and recyclables from places like the fire station and CalEPA, where his father works. It wasn’t a chore for Ethan, who has cystic fibrosis. When asked at one stop what his favorite part of the day had been, he said it was “cleaning up garbage.”

Throughout his trip, he wore a cape that said “Hero Ethan” and a big smile.

When Ethan visited the Make-A-Wish Foundation in February, he was asked a series of questions: What do you want to be? Who do you want to meet? What do you want to have? Where do you want to go?

In 2013, Make-A-Wish transformed San Francisco into Gotham for a 5-year-old boy who had battled leukemia for years and dreamed of being Batkid. Miles Scott traveled from one crime scene to another, rescuing a damsel in distress and thwarting the plans of The Riddler and The Penguin, as crowds of people cheered him on.

Fox News ousts 2 more executives

NEW YORK (AP) — Four days after the ouster of Roger Ailes as Fox News chief, two more executives at the network have been axed.

But the firing of Michael Clemente and his top deputy, Peter Boyer, were not related to the sexual harassment allegations that forced Ailes out at the network that he started two decades ago, two Fox executives said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss personnel issues.

Clemente was executive vice president of news at Fox until April, when he was demoted and put in charge of a new division for specials and long form programming. He worked at ABC News before coming to Fox.

Fox says it is reevaluating that division as it concentrates on the election over the next few months.

Ailes resigned Thursday after being sued by a former Fox anchor who alleged she was punished for resisting his sexual advances and complaining about an atmosphere of harassment at Fox. Other women have come forward, and published stories last weekend quoted a woman who said she was victimized by another Fox executive who had since left the network.