Biden delivers solemn call to defend democracy as he lays out his reasons for quitting race
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country’s democracy. In an address Wednesday he laid out his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden insisted “the defense of democracy is more important than any title.” He did not directly call out former President Donald Trump, whom he has called an existential threat to democracy. “Nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy,” Biden said in his 10-minute address from the Oval Office. “And that includes personal ambition.”
Trump turns his full focus on Harris at first rally since Biden’s exit from 2024 race
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Donald Trump has unleashed a barrage of attack lines against his likely new opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. At a rally in North Carolina on Wednesday he called her his “new victim to defeat” and accused Harris of deceiving the public about President Joe Biden’s ability to run for a second term before he withdrew his reelection bid. The rally was Trump’s first public campaign event since Biden dropped out of the 2024 matchup that both major parties had spent months preparing for. It signaled the next phase of the campaign may be especially brutal and personal. Harris’ campaign called the speech “unhinged” and “rambling.”
In fiery speech to Congress, Netanyahu vows ‘total victory’ in Gaza and denounces US protesters
WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged in a scathing speech to Congress to achieve “total victory” against Hamas and criticized American opponents of the war in Gaza as “idiots.” His combative stance comes in a visit the Biden administration hopes can yield progress in negotiations to end the fighting. Netanyahu used the high-profile address on Wednesday to a joint meeting of Congress to emphasize longstanding and close ties between the United States and Israel. But the speech put in sharp relief the divisions in American society stirred by the war, with dozens of Democratic lawmakers boycotting the address and thousands of protesters outside the Capitol condemning the war and the humanitarian crisis created by it.
Thousands fill Washington’s streets to protest Israel’s war in Gaza during Netanyahu visit
WASHINGTON (AP) — Police deployed tear spray and demonstrators were taken into custody as thousands of protesters against the war in Gaza converged on Washington to condemn Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit. Demonstrators filled several blocks as they weaved through the streets of the nation’s capital carrying Palestinian flags and signs with messages such as “arrest Netanyahu” and “end all U.S. aid to Israel.” Outside Washington’s Union Station, protesters removed American flags and hoisted Palestinian ones in their place to massive cheers in the crowd.
Trump rally gunman looked online for information about Kennedy assassination, FBI director says
WASHINGTON (AP) — The gunman in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump is believed to have done a Google search one week before the shooting of “How far away was Oswald from Kennedy?” That word comes from FBI Director Christopher Wray during testimony Wednesday before Congress. He’s revealing new details about a suspect who seems to have taken a keen interest in public figures but had otherwise not left behind clear clues of an ideological motive. The online search was recovered from a laptop tied to 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks. It’s a reference to Lee Harvey Oswald, the shooter who killed President John F. Kennedy from a sniper’s perch in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.
Harris asks for 2024 support from women of color during an address at a historically Black sorority
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris has told members of the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta that “we are not playing around,” and asked for their support in November. Voters in Indiana haven’t backed a Democratic presidential candidate in nearly 16 years. But the biennial meeting of roughly 6,000 people, mostly women, is part of a constituency she hopes will turn out for her in massive numbers: women of color. President Joe Biden stepped away from the race on Sunday. The Democratic campaign previously saw a narrow path for Biden but now sees a wider one for Harris, who’s of Black and South Asian descent.
Myanmar violence, South China Sea tensions are top issues as Southeast Asian diplomats meet in Laos
VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — Southeast Asian foreign ministers are gathering in the capital of Laos for the start of a regional forum that will run through Saturday. They will also be meeting with their counterparts from other nations to discuss their strategic partnerships in issues including the economy, security, climate and energy. Discussions on humanitarian assistance to war-torn Myanmar will continue to be part of the bloc’s efforts at a peace plan. A rare deal between the Philippines and China reached on Sunday to deescalate the tension in disputed territories in the South China Sea could spark hope that similar arrangements could be forged by Beijing and other countries to avoid clashes.
Oregon fire is the largest burning in the US. Thunderstorms and high winds are exacerbating it
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Powerful winds and hundreds of lightning strikes from thunderstorms rattled eastern Oregon and Idaho, cutting power and pushing wildfires that include an Oregon fire which is already the largest active blaze in the nation. The Durkee Fire is burning near the Oregon-Idaho border, about 130 miles west of Boise, Idaho, and has closed a long stretch of Interstate 84. The 500-person town of Huntington, Oregon, remains evacuated, and officials say the fire merged with another large blaze and also crossed the interstate on Wednesday afternoon. Flash flooding warnings were also issued in Huntington and other nearby areas.
A neurological disorder stole her voice. Jennifer Wexton takes it back on the House floor.
A rare neurological disorder robbed Rep. Jennifer Wexton of her ability to speak clearly. But with the help of a powerful artificial intelligence program, the Virginia Democrat will use a clone of her voice to deliver what is believed to be the first speech on the House floor ever given via a voice cloned by artificial intelligence, thrusting Wexton into a broader debate over artificial intelligence.
Body camera video focused national attention on an Illinois deputy’s fatal shooting of Sonya Massey
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A riveted nation watched video released this week of a sheriff’s deputy in Illinois fatally shooting Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who called 911 for assistance, in her home. Sean Grayson, 14 months into his career as a deputy sheriff for Sangamon County in the center of the state, is charged with murder. Massey’s death is the latest example of Black people shot in their homes by law enforcement in cities around the country. Grayson has pleaded not guilty and his defense attorney has declined requests to comment on the charges.
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