Flooding forces people from homes in some parts of Iowa while much of US broils again in heat
Floodwaters have forced people out of their homes in parts of Iowa, the result of weeks of rain. Meanwhile, much of the United States is longing for relief from yet another round of extraordinary heat Saturday. Sirens blared after midnight in Rock Valley, Iowa. People in hundreds of homes were told to get out as the Rock River could no longer take rain. Elsewhere in the U.S., the miserable grip of heat and humidity continues. The National Weather Service says roughly 15 million people are under a heat warning while another 90 million are under a heat advisory.
Over 1,000 pilgrims died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, officials say
CAIRO (AP) — More than 1,000 people died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced intense high temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom. Saudi Arabia has not commented on the death toll amid the heat during the pilgrimage, required of every able Muslim once in their life. An Egyptian official said Sunday that more than half of the dead were from Egypt. The Egyptian government has revoked the license of 16 travel agencies that facilitated the travel of unauthorized pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. The fatalities included 165 pilgrims from Indonesia, 98 from India and dozens more from Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Malaysia, according to an Associated Press tally. Two U.S. pilgrims were also reported dead.
At least 39 people killed in Israeli strikes across northern Gaza, officials say
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian and hospital officials said at least 39 people have been killed by Israeli strikes across northern Gaza. The deaths Saturday come a day after at least 25 people were killed in strikes on tent camps and 50 wounded near the southern city of Rafah. Fadel Naem, director of the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, told The Associated Press that more than three dozen bodies arrived at the hospital. The Palestinian Civil Defense, an emergency group active in Gaza, said they pulled approximately the same number of bodies from a building hit by an Israeli strike in an eastern neighborhood of Gaza City.
FBI offers reward for information about deadly southern New Mexico wildfires
RUIDOSO, N.M. (AP) — Federal authorities have offered a reward for information about those responsible for igniting a pair of New Mexico wildfires that killed two people and destroyed hundreds of homes. The FBI on Saturday offered up to $10,000 for information in connection with the South Fork Fire and Salt Fire in southern New Mexico, which forced thousands to flee. Rain and cooler weather have helped firefighters gain ground on the wildfires near Ruidoso. Officials have urged the public to be aware of downed power lines, damaged water, sewer and gas lines, flooding in burn scars and other hazards. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has met with New Mexico’s governor, Ruidoso’s mayor and the president of the Mescalero Apache Tribe and pledged support for recovery efforts.
With its new pact with North Korea, Russia raises the stakes with the West over Ukraine
Behind the pageantry of President Vladimir Putin’s visit to North Korea, a strong signal came through: In the spiraling confrontation with the U.S. and its allies over Ukraine, the Russian leader is willing to challenge Western interests like never before. The pact he signed with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un envisions mutual military assistance between Moscow and Pyongyang. Putin also said Russia could provide weapons to the isolated country, a move that could destabilize the Korean Peninsula and reverberate far beyond. He described the arms shipments as a response to NATO providing Ukraine with longer-range weapons to attack Russia. And he bluntly declared Moscow is prepared to go “to the end” to achieve its goals in Ukraine.
US aircraft carrier arrives in South Korea as a show of force against nuclear-armed North Korea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier has arrived in South Korea for a three-way exercise involving Japan as they step up military training to cope with North Korean threats, which have escalated following a security pact with Russia. The arrival of the USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group in Busan on Saturday came a day after South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador to protest a major deal between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this week. The agreement pledges mutual defense assistance in the event of war. South Korea says the deal poses a threat to its security.
Thousands of Iran-backed fighters offer to join Hezbollah in its fight against Israel
BEIRUT (AP) — Iran-backed groups in the Middle East say thousands of their fighters are offering to come to Lebanon to join with the militant Hezbollah group in its battle with Israel. The offer comes amid fears the situation could escalate into a full-blown war along Israel’s northern frontier with Lebanon that has seen almost daily exchanges since the Hamas attack on southern Israel in early October. Iran-backed groups from Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and other countries fought alongside Syrian government forces during Syria’s 13-civil war. Hezbollah’s leader says it has enough fighters and doesn’t need foreigners to join. Israeli officials have threatened a military offensive in Lebanon if there is no negotiated end to push Hezbollah away from the border.
As U.S.-supplied weapons show impact inside Russia, Ukrainian soldiers hope for deeper strikes
KHARKIV REGION, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine is having some success in halting Russia’s new push along the northeast front weeks after the decision allowing the country to use U.S.-supplied weapons for limited strikes in Russian territory. Deteriorating battlefield conditions forced the U.S. to permit Ukraine to use Western-supplied artillery and rocket systems to defend the eastern city of Kharkiv by targeting border regions where the Kremlin’s forces assemble and launch attacks. The impact was swift: Ukrainian forces pushed Russian positions back, won time to better fortify their own positions and even mounted small offensive actions. But commanders say their hands are tied without the ability to use long-range guided missiles, such as ATACMS.
Trump endorses Ten Commandments in schools, implores evangelical Christians to vote in November
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has told a group of evangelicals that they “cannot afford to sit on the sidelines” of the 2024 election, imploring them at one point to “go and vote, Christians, please!” He also endorsed displaying the Ten Commandments in schools and elsewhere. Trump, speaking to a group of politically influential evangelical Christians in Washington on Saturday, drew cheers as he invoked a new law signed in Louisiana this week requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom, calling it “a crazy world” that people would be opposed to it.
Abortion access has won when it’s been on the ballot. That’s not an option for half the states
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Abortion-rights supporters in several states have used the citizen initiative process to protect access in the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a constitutional right to the procedure. But voters in half the states don’t have that right, including many of the Republican-controlled states in the South that have passed near total abortion bans since the court ruling. Citizen initiatives are avenues of direct democracy that have allowed voters to circumvent their legislatures and preserve abortion and other reproductive rights in a number of states over the past two years.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
