Here’s a look at Trump’s VP shortlist and why each contender may get picked or fall short
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump has narrowed his vice presidential shortlist to a handful of contenders as he prepares to announce his pick in the days before, or perhaps at, next month’s Republican National Convention. He told reporters Saturday that he already has made his decision and that that person will be in attendance Thursday night in Atlanta at the first debate of the general election campaign with Democratic President Joe Biden. Some of the names thought to be on the shortlist are North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Sens. JD Vance of Ohio, Marco Rubio of Florida and Tim Scott of South Carolina, former Trump Cabinet member Ben Carson and Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York and Byron Donalds of Florida.
Death toll at Hajj pilgrimage rises to 1,300 amid scorching temperatures
CAIRO (AP) — More than 1,300 people died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced soaring temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom. Saudi Health Minister Fahd bin Abdurrahman Al-Jalajel said that 83% of the fatalities were among unauthorized pilgrims who walked long distances in soaring temperatures. Egyptian officials said more than 660 of the dead were from Egypt. 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.
Democrats wrestle with whether to attend Netanyahu’s address to Congress as many plan to boycott
WASHINGTON (AP) — The last time Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the U.S. Congress, nearly 60 Democrats skipped his speech nine years ago. To them, it was a slap in the face to then-President Barack Obama as he negotiated a nuclear deal with Iran. With Netanyahu scheduled to address U.S. lawmakers on July 24, the number of absences is likely to be far greater. Congressional Democrats are wrestling with whether to attend. Many are torn between their long-standing support for Israel and their anguish about the way Israel has conducted military operations against Hamas in Gaza. Some Democrats say they’ll come out of respect for Israel. Others want no part of Netanyahu’s appearance.
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.
Millions in the US prepare for more sweltering heat as floodwaters inundate parts of the Midwest
Millions of Americans prepared to sweat through yet another scorching day, with the potential for rolling storms to bring relief from high temperatures for at least some. Floodwaters forced evacuations in parts of the Midwest, including a town in Iowa whose own water-level gauge was submerged. From the mid-Atlantic to Maine, across much of the Midwest and throughout inland California, public officials cautioned residents sweating through the heat and humidity. The National Weather Service warned of the potential for rare tornadoes in the Northeast later Sunday.
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.
‘Everything is at stake’ for reproductive rights in 2024, Harris says as Biden-Trump debate nears
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris says “everything is at stake” with reproductive health rights in November’s presidential election. Harris’ comments in an MSNBC interview come as the Biden campaign steps up its focus on contrasting the positions taken by Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump on the issue before their debate Thursday night. The Biden campaign plans more than 50 events in battleground states and beyond to mark Monday’s second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision that overturned the federal legal right to an abortion. Biden and his allies are trying to remind voters that the decision was made by a court that included three conservative justices nominated by Trump.
Netanyahu again claims the US is withholding arms shipments, days after Washington denies it
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet that there had been a “dramatic drop” in U.S. weapons deliveries for Israel’s war effort in Gaza. With his remarks Sunday, Netanyahu doubled down on accusations that his country’s top ally, the United States, was withholding weapons shipments, despite denials from the Biden administration. Netanyahu said the drop in arms shipments began four months ago, without specifying which weapons. The dispute underscores the strains between Israel and Washington throughout the war in Gaza. Netanyahu’s earlier claims over the weapons last week sparked an uproar among critics in Israel and was met with denial and confusion from White House officials.
Ukrainian drones and missiles kill 6 in Russia and Crimea, fresh bombing of Kharkiv leaves 1 dead
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian authorities say six people died and over 100 were wounded in Ukrainian drone and missile attacks while the second day of Russia’s aerial bombing of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine killed at least one person. The dead in Russia included five people killed by falling debris from Ukrainian missiles shot down Sunday in Sevastopol, a port city in Russia-annexed Crimea. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, citing the Health Ministry, said 124 people were wounded. The attacks came after Russia struck Kharkiv on Saturday with four aerial bombs, hitting a five-story residential building and killing three people.
It was meant to be a Christian utopia. Now this Nigerian community is helpless against rising seas
AYETORO, Nigeria (AP) — The coastal Nigerian community of Ayetoro has been nicknamed “Happy City,” founded decades ago as a Christian utopia. But now its residents can do little against the rising sea. Buildings have sunk into the Atlantic Ocean, an increasingly common image along the West African coast. For years, low-lying nations have warned the world about the existential threat. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, now struggles to respond. The traditional leader of Ayetoro says it’s painful to lose not only land but the community’s religious heritage. “Ayetoro was like a paradise,” one resident says.
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