An Israeli airstrike on a Gaza school kills at least 80 people, Palestinian health officials say
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian health authorities say an Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter in central Gaza City, killing at least 80 people. The Israeli military acknowledged the strike on the Tabeen school, claiming it hit a Hamas command center within the school. Hamas denied using the school as a command center. According to the United Nations, 477 out of 564 schools in Gaza had been directly hit or damaged in the war as of July 6. Since the war began Oct. 7, more than 1.9 million of Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million have been driven from their homes.
Donald Trump headlines Montana rally after plane was diverted but landed safely
BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump traveled to Montana for a Friday night rally in hopes of ousting the state’s Democratic senator, but his plane first had to divert to an airport on the other side of the Rocky Mountains because of a mechanical issue, according to airport staff. Trump’s plane was en route to Bozeman, Montana, when it was diverted to Billings, 142 miles to the east. Trump eventually made it to the Bozeman rally, where he ripped in incumbent Sen. Jon Tester, mocking him for being overweight and for insinuating he sometimes sided with the former president. “That guy voted to impeach me,” Trump said of Tester.
Trump is putting mass deportations at the heart of his campaign. Some Republicans are worried
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is putting immigration at the heart of his campaign to retake the White House. He is pushing the Republican Party towards an aggressive strategy of deporting millions of people. The plans have raised the stakes of this year’s election beyond the border security that conservatives have typically prioritized to a fundamental change in the American approach to immigration. After the southern border saw a historic number of crossings during the Biden administration, Democrats have also moved rightward on the issue, often leading with promises of border security before talking about relief for the immigrants who are already in the country.
In Las Vegas, Kamala Harris sees a chance to improve her odds of winning
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is working to make Nevada look like less of a political gamble in November’s election. The Democratic presidential nominee visits the state on Saturday with her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. It’s the final stop of a battleground blitz in which Democratic voters are showing new energy after President Joe Biden exited the race and Harris replaced him at the top of the ticket. That new enthusiasm has enabled the party to boost turnout efforts in swing states such as Nevada and Arizona, which Harris visited Friday.
Brazilian authorities are investigating the cause of the fiery plane crash that killed 62
VINHEDO, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian authorities are working to piece together what exactly caused the plane crash in Sao Paulo state the previous day that killed all 62 people aboard. Local airline Voepass had an ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop headed for Sao Paulo’s international airport with 58 passengers and 4 crew members when it went down in the city of Vinhedo. Images recorded by witnesses showed the aircraft in a flat spin and plunging vertically before smashing to the ground inside a gated community. The plane’s fuselage was obliterated by fire, but the black box has been recovered. Initially, the company said its plane had 62 passengers, then it revised to 61 and early on Saturday it raised the figure once again after it found a passenger named Constantino ThĂ© Maia was not on its original list.
Seoul says North Korea has flown more trash balloons toward South Korea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military says North Korea is again flying balloons likely carrying trash toward the South, adding to a bizarre psychological warfare campaign amid tensions between the war-divided rivals. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Saturday that the winds could carry the balloons to regions north of the South Korean capital, Seoul. North Korea in recent weeks has flown more than 2,000 balloons carrying waste paper, cloth scraps, and cigarette butts toward the South in what it has described as a retaliation toward South Korean civilian activists flying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border. South Korea, in reaction to the North’s balloon campaign, activated its front-line loudspeakers to blast broadcasts of propaganda messages and K-pop songs.
Debby finally moves out of the US, though risk from flooded rivers remains
Debby has finally moved out of the U.S. after the storm spent the better part of a week unleashing tornadoes and flooding, damaging homes and taking lives as it moved up the East Coast after first arriving in Florida as a hurricane. Debby’s last day over the U.S. before blowing into Canada inundated south-central New York and north-central Pennsylvania with rain, prompting evacuations and rescues by helicopter Friday. The post-tropical cyclone continued dropping rain on New England and southern Quebec, Canada, on Friday night with conditions expected to improve Saturday morning as the system continued moving northeast.
Ukraine’s foray into Russia’s border region embarrasses Putin. How will it affect the course of war?
A swift Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region marks the largest such cross-border raid by Kyiv’s forces in the nearly 2½-year war, exposing Russia’s vulnerabilities and dealing a painful blow to the Kremlin. The surprise foray has prompted thousands of civilians to flee the region as the Russian military struggles to repel the attack. For Ukraine, the cross-border raid offers a much-wanted boost to public morale at a time when the country’s undermanned and under-gunned forces have faced relentless Russian attacks along the more than 620-mile front line.
Mars and Jupiter get chummy in the night sky. The planets won’t get this close again until 2033
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Mars and Jupiter are cozying up in the night sky for their closest rendezvous this decade. They’ll be so close Wednesday, at least from our perspective, that just a sliver of the moon could fit between them. In reality, our solar system’s biggest planet and its reddish neighbor will be more than 350 million miles apart. Their orbits haven’t brought them this close together, one behind the other, since 2018. And it won’t happen again until 2033. Known as planetary conjunctions, these cosmic pairings happen only every three years.
Meet Nacer Zorgani, the vision-impaired Para-judo athlete who doubles as boxing’s Olympic voice
PARIS (AP) — A visually impaired Para-judo athlete is captivating crowds at the Paris 2024 Olympics as a boxing announcer. Despite his blindness, Nacer Zorgani’s deep voice commands the attention of thousands of spectators at boxing events. Many are unaware of his disability. He seamlessly transitions between his roles as a judo competitor by day and a boxing announcer by night. He is training for the Paralympics in Paris that start later this month. His journey was inspired by a 2017 title fight between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko. Volunteers are helping him at the Olympics by acting as his eyes. That demonstrates how small adjustments can empower people with disabilities to be included in major events.
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