An airstrike kills 20 in central Gaza and fighting rages as Israel’s leaders air wartime divisions
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli airstrike has killed 20 people in central Gaza, mostly women and children, and fighting raged across the north. Israel’s leaders are meanwhile airing divisions over who should govern Gaza after the war, now in its eighth month. Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s three-man War Cabinet, has threatened to leave the government if a plan is not formulated by June 8 that includes an international administration for postwar Gaza. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan is expected in Israel on Sunday to discuss an ambitious U.S. plan for Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel and help the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza in exchange for a path to eventual statehood.
Biden will deliver Morehouse commencement address during a time of tumult on US college campuses
ATLANTA (AP) — President Joe Biden is delivering the commencement address at Morehouse College, the historically Black, male-only institution in Atlanta. The speech on Sunday offers Biden an election-year appearance before a Black audience, a key voting bloc for Democrats. It also could directly expose Biden to the anger that some Morehouse and other college students around the country have been expressing over his support for Israel in its war against Hamas militants in Gaza. Morehouse’s announcement of Biden as the commencement speaker sparked a backlash among the school’s faculty and supporters who oppose Biden’s handling of the war. After the ceremony, Biden was flying to Detroit to speak at an NAACP dinner.
Trump receives NRA endorsement as he vows to protect gun rights
DALLAS (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has urged gun owners to vote in the 2024 election as he addressed thousands of members of the National Rifle Association, which officially endorsed him just before Trump took the stage at their annual meeting in Texas. Trump on Saturday pledged to continue to defend the Second Amendment and called himself “the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House.” The United States faces record numbers of deaths due to mass shootings. Last year ended with 42 mass killings and 217 deaths, making it one of the deadliest years on record.
As killings surge, Haitians struggle to bury loved ones and find closure in violent capital
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Finding closure for loved ones killed by gangs on a relentless rampage through Haiti’s capital and beyond is growing harder day by day in a country where burial rituals are sacred and the dead venerated. Victims of gang violence are increasingly left to decay on the street because some areas are too dangerous for people to retrieve the bodies. Still, there are people who brave the streets despite whizzing bullets so they can give their loved ones a proper burial. Death and life are tightly intertwined in Haiti, where many believe that bodies need a formal resting place so their spirits can drift into the afterlife.
Dominicans to vote in general elections with eyes on crisis in neighboring Haiti
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Voters in the Dominican Republic will take to the polls Sunday in general elections likely to reinforce the government’s crackdown on its shared border with crisis-stricken Haiti. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the violence stricken nation. President Luis Abinader has build a Trump-like wall along his country’s border with Haiti and has carried out mass deportations of Haitians. Such policies have fueled accusations of human rights abuses but have also been highly popular among voters.
Ohio voters approved reproductive rights. Will the state’s near-ban on abortion stand?
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A judge’s decision in a lawsuit against Ohio’s ban on most abortions could be near. Hamilton County Judge Christian Jenkins’ ruling could come as soon as Monday. It will take into account voters’ approval in November of a constitutional amendment assuring an individual’s right to make their own reproductive decisions. A 2019 bans most abortions once cardiac activity is detected. It has been mostly paused by the courts since it was enacted, except for a brief window in 2022 after Roe v. Wade was overturned. The state wants the law’s notification and reporting requirements to stay.
Hot weather poses new risk as thousands remain without power after deadly Houston storm
HOUSTON (AP) — As the Houston area works to clean up and restore power to hundreds of thousands after deadly storms left at least seven people dead, it will do so amid a smog warning and rising Texas heat. The National Weather Service in Houston warned people to know the symptoms of heat exhaustion as they begin cleanup. Temperatures of around 90 degrees are expected with heat indexes likely to climb to 100 degrees in the coming days. More than a half-million homes and businesses remained without power Saturday after Thursday’s storms whipped the area with thunderstorms and hurricane-force winds.
Ukraine and Russia exchange drone attacks while Russia continues its push in the east
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia says it shot down some 60 drones and several missiles over its territory while Ukraine in turn says it destroyed over 30 Russian drones. At least four people were reported killed in an attack on the outskirts of Kharkiv on Sunday as Russia pushed ahead with its renewed offensive in Ukraine’s war-ravaged northeast. Russian officials say air defenses shot down 57 Ukrainian drones over the southern Krasnodar region, while nine long-range ballistic missiles and a drone were destroyed over the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula. A further three drones were shot down over the Belgorod region. Ukraine says its air defenses shot down all 37 Russian drones launched overnight.
Congolese army says shootout in the capital is failed coup, perpetrators arrested
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo’s army says it has “foiled a coup” early Sunday morning and arrested the perpetrators, including several foreigners, following a shootout between armed men in military uniform and a top politician’s guards left three people dead in the capital, Kinshasa. Clashes were reported between men in military uniform and guards of a local politician at the politician’s house on Tshatshi Boulevard, about 1.2 miles from the presidential palace and where some embassies are also located. This came amid a crisis gripping President Felix Tshisekedi’s ruling party over an election for the parliament’s leadership which was supposed to be held Saturday but was postponed.
Usyk beats Fury by split decision to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 24 years
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury by split decision to become the first undisputed heavyweight boxing champion in 24 years. Usyk added Fury’s WBC title to his own WBA, IBF and WBO belts with a spectacular late rally Saunday highlighted by a ninth-round knockdown in a back-and-forth bout between two previously unbeaten heavyweight champs. Two judges favored Usyk, 115-112 and 114-113, while the third gave it to Fury, 114-113. Usyk started quickly, but then had to survive while the confident, charismatic Fury dominated the middle rounds. Usyk rallied in the final rounds, just as the Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist has done so many times in his career.
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