JD Vance introduces himself as Trump’s running mate and makes a direct appeal to his native Rust Belt
MILWAUKEE (AP) — JD Vance used his Wednesday night address to the Republican National Convention to share the story of his hardscrabble upbringing and make the case that his party best understands the challenges facing struggling Americans. The 39-year-old Ohio senator is a relative political unknown. In his first primetime speech since becoming the nominee for vice president, Vance spoke of growing up poor in Kentucky and Ohio, his mother addicted to drugs and his father absent, and how he later joined the military and went on to the highest levels of U.S. politics.
Multiple failures, multiple investigations: Unraveling the attempted assassination of Donald Trump
BUTLER, Pa. (AP) — Multiple investigations have been launched into the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. They include probes into the crime itself and how law enforcement allowed it to happen at all. But it’s becoming increasingly clear this was a complicated failure involving multiple missteps and at least nine different local, county, and federal law enforcement divisions that were supposed to be working together that day at the campaign rally in Pennsylvania. The gunman prepared for carnage. He was found with a detonator in his pocket to set off crude explosive devices that were stashed in his car parked nearby. That’s according to law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
President Joe Biden tests positive for COVID-19 while campaigning in Las Vegas, has ‘mild symptoms’
LAS VEGAS (AP) — President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling in Las Vegas and is experiencing “mild symptoms” from the infection. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says Biden will fly to his home in Delaware, where he will “self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time.” The news had first been shared by UnidosUS President and CEO Janet MurguĂa, who told guests at the group’s convention in Las Vegas that the president had sent his regrets and could not appear because he tested positive for the virus.
Nearly two-thirds of Democrats want Biden to withdraw, new AP-NORC poll finds
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly two-thirds of Democrats say President Joe Biden should withdraw from the presidential race and let his party select a different candidate, according to a new poll. It sharply undercuts his post-debate claim that “average Democrats” are still with him even if some “big names” are turning on him. The new survey by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, conducted two weeks after Biden’s debate flop, also found that only about 3 in 10 Democrats are extremely or very confident that Biden has the mental capability to serve as president, down from 40% in an AP-NORC poll from February. The findings underscore the challenges the 81-year-old president faces as he works to silence calls from within his own party to leave the race.
Prominent Democrat Schiff calls for Biden to withdraw, but party aims to nominate before convention
WASHINGTON (AP) — California Rep. Adam Schiff has become the highest-profile Democrat to call for President Joe Biden to drop his reelection bid, as the party pushes ahead with plans to hold a virtual vote to formally make Biden its nominee in the first week of August. That’s before the party’s convention opens in person two weeks later. The move to schedule the roll call vote comes after nearly 20 Democratic members of Congress have called on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race in the wake of his halting debate performance against Republican former President Donald Trump last month. Among Democrats nationwide, nearly two-thirds say Biden should step aside and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released Wednesday
House Oversight panel subpoenas Secret Service director to testify on Trump assassination attempt
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee has issued a subpoena to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle compelling her to appear before the committee on Monday for what is scheduled to be the first congressional hearing into the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general also says it’s investigating the Secret Service’s handling of security for Trump the day a gunman tried to assassinate him at a Pennsylvania rally. The agency said Wednesday the objective is to evaluate the Secret Service’s “process for securing” Trump’s Saturday event. The Secret Service has said it will participate with congressional committees looking into the shooting.
US military pier for carrying aid to Gaza will be dismantled after weather and security problems
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military-built pier to carry humanitarian aid to Gaza will be dismantled and brought home, ending a mission fraught with weather and security problems. As the military steps away from the sea route, questions remain about Israel’s plan to use the port of Ashdod as a substitute. There are also concerns about whether aid groups will have enough viable land crossings to get supplies into the territory besieged by the Israel-Hamas war. Critics call the pier a $230 million boondoggle. The military argues it got close to 20 million pounds of supplies to Gaza. The steel pier segments were shipped to the region from an Army base in Virginia.
John Deere ends support of ‘social or cultural awareness’ events, distances from inclusion efforts
NEW YORK (AP) — Farm equipment maker John Deere says it will no longer sponsor “social or cultural awareness” events, making the agricultural machinery manufacturer one of the latest U.S. companies to distance itself from diversity and inclusion measures after being targeted by conservative backlash. Deere’s move arrives just weeks after rural retailer Tractor Supply ended an array of its corporate diversity and climate efforts. While the companies’ responses differed, both arrive amid a wider backdrop of conservative backlash that has been targeting companies across industries.
Storms flood the Ozarks and strand drivers in Toronto. New York community is devastated by tornado
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Much of the U.S. and Canada is cleaning up or still dealing with a new wave of severe storms that have caused deaths and damage this week from the Plains to New England. Water rescues and evacuations took place in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas and Missouri on Wednesday after as much as 11 inches of rain fell overnight. A confirmed tornado was strong enough Tuesday to move an old B-52 bomber in Rome, New York. Some buildings in Rome are destroyed and streets are clogged with debris. Flooding left drivers stranded around Toronto. The East Coast from Maine to the Carolinas is being warned of dangerous heat.
Selena Gomez gets her due, Netflix and FX top HBO and 2 Queen Elizabeths get nominated for Emmys
The Emmy nominations are out and it’s good to be Netflix and FX. Netflix leads overall with 107 nods for shows like “Ripley” and “Reindeer Games.” FX follows, besting HBO, with 93 nominations for a roster that includes “Shogun” and “The Bear,” plus long-time critical favorites “Reservation Dogs” and “What We Do in the Shadows.” Other nomination surprises include historic nominations for Lily Gladstone and Kali Reis as the first female Indigenous actors to receive Emmy nominations. Selena Gomez also earned a best actress nomination for Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” after three seasons. The Emmy Awards will be handed out Sept. 15 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles and air on ABC.
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