New Zealand digs graves as mosque shooting massacre toll rises to 50

Anguished relatives were anxiously waiting Sunday for authorities to release the remains of those who were killed in massacres at two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch, while authorities announced the death toll from the racist attacks had risen to 50. Islamic law calls for bodies to be cleansed and buried as soon as possible after death, usually within 24 hours. But two days after the worst terrorist attack in the country’s modern history, relatives remained unsure when... Read More

An uncommon dream came true on South Florida courts for Naomi Osaka

On the last tennis court on the right, before the apartment building where they lived, the big dream started small for Naomi Osaka and her family. “That was their court,’’ says Bill Adams, the tennis pro at Lakeshore Tennis Park in Miramar, who was Osaka’s first coach in South Florida. “They’d be there five, six hours a day. Every day.” Osaka’s father, Leonard Francois, first approached Adams in 2006 with his two, young daughters and the question he would ask coaches across... Read More

Keen on green: Thousands in right spirit for Fort Lauderdale’s St. Patrick’s Day fun

Gloomy skies did not dampen the sunny dispositions on thousands of smiling faces at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday. There seemed to be more people wearing the green than there were blades of grass in the downtown area. Pompano Beach Irishman Garrett Mooney was dressed in a giant inflatable shamrock suit, and if his wife Veronica, daughter Tori, 16, and son Austin, 11, were embarrassed, their blushing was green too. “All the floats that have... Read More

When gunman advanced on New Zealand mosque, one man ran at him

When the gunman advanced toward the mosque, killing those in his path, Abdul Aziz didn’t hide. Instead, he picked up the first thing he could find, a credit card machine, and ran outside screaming “Come here!” Aziz, 48, is being hailed as a hero for preventing more deaths during Friday prayers at the Linwood mosque in Christchurch after leading the gunman in a cat-and-mouse chase before scaring him into speeding away in his car. But Aziz, whose four sons and dozens of... Read More