Strike in Israeli-controlled Golan Heights kills at least 12 and threatens to spark a wider war
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rocket strike at a soccer field in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights has killed at least 12 children and teens. It’s the deadliest strike on an Israeli target along the country’s northern border since the fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah began. It raised fears of a broader regional war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is warning that Hezbollah “will pay a heavy price for this attack, one that it has not paid so far.” Hezbollah has rushed to deny any role. Netanyahu is hurrying home from the United States. Israel says 20 other people were wounded.
An Israeli airstrike hits a school sheltering people in Gaza, killing at least 30 including children
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes have hit a school being used by displaced Palestinians in central Gaza and killed at least 30 people including seven children. Saturday’s attack occurred as negotiators prepare to meet international mediators on Sunday to discuss a proposed cease-fire. Thousands of people had been sheltering at the girls’ school in Deir al-Balah. Israel’s military said it targeted a Hamas command and control center used to store weapons and plan attacks. Hamas denied it. Meanwhile, Israel’s military has ordered another evacuation of part of a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza ahead of a planned strike on Khan Younis.
Harris raised $200M in first week of White House campaign and signed up 170,000 volunteers
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has raised $200 million since she emerged as the likely Democratic presidential nominee last week. The campaign announced the eyepopping fundraising total on Sunday for Harris, saying about 66% of the donations come from first-time contributors in the 2024 election cycle. Over 170,000 volunteers also have signed up to help the Harris campaign with phone banking, canvassing and other get-out-the-vote efforts. Election Day is 100 days away. Campaign communications director Michael Tyler says Harris has momentum, but ultimately the election will be decided by “a small number of voters in just a few states.”
Trump and Vance team up to campaign in Minnesota, a state that hasn’t backed the GOP in 52 years
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) — Donald Trump has wrapped up his rally in Minnesota as the presidential campaign enters a critical final 100-day stretch. The rally in St. Cloud on Saturday also featured his running mate, JD Vance. The rally was a gamble for Trump that could potentially force Democrats to devote resources to a state they might otherwise ignore. But it could also be a risk for the Republican nominee if he focuses on reach states instead of more traditional battlegrounds. Trump continued a pattern of escalating attacks against his likely opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, on crime and immigration. Harris spent Saturday fundraising in Massachusetts.
Firefighters helped by cooler weather battle blaze that has scorched area larger than Los Angeles
FOREST RANCH, Calif. (AP) — Thousands of firefighters battling a wildfire in northern California are getting some help from the weather just hours after the blaze exploded in size, scorching an area larger than Los Angeles. Officials said Saturday that cooler temperatures and an increase in humidity could help slow the Park Fire, the largest this year in California. Its intensity and dramatic spread led officials to make unwelcome comparisons to the monstrous Paradise fire in 2018, which killed 85 people and torched 11,000 homes. Paradise again is near the danger zone. The entire town was under an evacuation warning, one of several communities in Butte County.
Beijing pressures lawmakers from 6 countries not to attend conference in Taiwan
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese diplomats are pressuring lawmakers from at least six countries not to attend a China-focused summit in Taiwan in what they describe as efforts to isolate the self-governed island, participants told The Associated Press. Politicians in Bolivia, Colombia, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and one other Asian country that declined to be named, say they are getting texts, calls and urgent requests for meetings that would conflict with their plans to travel to Taiwan. The summit begins Monday and is being held by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group of lawmakers from 35 countries concerned about how democracies approach Beijing.
At least 12 killed by mudslide in China as heavy rains from tropical storm Gaemi drench region
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese state media say 12 people were killed after a mudslide hit a homestay house in a mountainous tourist area as heavy rains drenched southeastern China. Six injured people were rescued after the Sunday morning mudslide. Elsewhere in China, a digital news outlet said a delivery person on a scooter was killed Saturday after being hit by a falling tree in Shanghai. The deaths were the first in China that appear linked to Typhoon Gaemi, which weakened to a tropical storm after making landfall on Thursday. Authorities in Taiwan say the death toll there has risen to 10.
Venezuelan election could lead to seismic shift in politics or give President Maduro six more years
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The people of Venezuela are voting in a presidential election whose outcome will either lead to a seismic shift in politics or extend by six more years the policies that caused the world’s worst peacetime economic collapse. Whether it is President Nicolás Maduro who is chosen or his main opponent, former diplomat Edmundo González, Sunday’s election will have ripple effects throughout the Americas. That’s because government opponents and supporters alike have signaled their interest in emigrating if Maduro wins the election. More than 7.7 million people have already left the country. An estimated 17 million Venezuelans are eligible to vote.
Barcelona wants to get rid of short-term rental units. Will other tourist destinations do the same?
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Imagine planning a vacation and not being able to check Airbnb or another online booking site for an apartment in which to spend a few days living among the locals. Would a hotel do? That’s the future confronting visitors to Barcelona in four years. Local authorities want to rid the Spanish city known for its architecture, beaches and Catalan culture of the 10,000 apartments licensed as short-term rentals in order to safeguard the housing supply for full-time residents. Barcelona City Hall announced last month that it would not renew any tourist apartment licenses after 2028. Other cities are struggling to reconcile the needs of year-round residents with the economic allure of being a top tourist destination.
Olympics pre-race triathlon event in Seine River canceled over water quality concerns
PARIS (AP) — Concerns over the water quality of Paris’ Seine River have continued into the 2024 Olympics, with a pre-race triathlon event there canceled Sunday. Organizers said they nixed the swimming leg of the triathlon familiarization scheduled for Sunday morning after a meeting about water quality among authorities tasked with carrying out water quality tests. That included representatives of World Triathlon, as well as city and regional authorities.
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