Trump urges unity after assassination attempt while proposing sweeping populist agenda in RNC finale
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Donald Trump, somber and bandaged, has accepted his party’s presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention. His speech described in detail the assassination attempt that could have ended his life just five days earlier before laying out a sweeping populist agenda, particularly on immigration. The 78-year-old former president says: ““If I had not moved my head at that very last instant, the assassin’s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark. And I would not be here tonight.” Trump’s address, among the longest convention speeches in modern history, marked the climax and conclusion of a massive four-day Republican pep rally as voters weigh an election that currently features two deeply unpopular candidates.
Biden’s campaign faces critical moment, as Democrats encourage him to consider exiting 2024 race
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a critical weekend ahead for President Joe Biden. Isolated as he battles a COVID infection at his beach house in Delaware, he is confronting the stark reality that many Democrats at the highest levels want him to consider how stepping aside from the 2024 election could be the party’s best chance of preventing widespread losses in November. Biden’s small circle of advisers has grown smaller as he weighs whether to stay in the race. His campaign is calling an all-staff meeting for Friday. And the Democratic National Committee is pressing ahead Friday with planning for a virtual roll call to nominate the president ahead of the party convention in August.
Obama’s dilemma: Balancing Democrats’ worry about Biden and maintaining influence with president
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama has found himself in a vexing position as his old running mate Joe Biden negotiates one of the most sensitive political moments for the Democratic Party in decades. Obama in recent days has taken calls from congressional leaders, Democratic governors and key donors in which he has shared their uneasiness about the prospect of Biden’s campaign following his calamitous June 27 debate performance against Donald Trump. But even as Obama has listened to Democrats’ concerns, he has insisted in those conversations that the decision whether to remain in the race is only for Biden to make. That’s according to several people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss the private discussions.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim drone strike that leaves 1 dead, at least 10 injured in Tel Aviv
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Friday claimed responsibility for an early morning drone strike that hit a part of central Tel Aviv near the United States Embassy, leaving at least 10 injured and one dead. The strike rumbled through the streets causing shards of shrapnel to rain down and leaving a large explosion radius. The Houthis have repeatedly launched drones and missiles toward Israel throughout the nine-month-long war. But until Friday, all were intercepted by either Israel or Western allies with forces stationed in the region. The Houthis claimed its newest drones are capable of permeating Israel’s aerial defense system, but Israel attributed the hit to human error.
Mounting home demolitions and settler attacks plunge a Palestinian village into crisis
UMM AL-KHAIR, West Bank (AP) — First came the Israeli military bulldozers. They tore down a quarter of the homes in the West Bank Bedouin village of Umm al-Khair. Then came the settler attacks. In the aftermath, dozens of people were left homeless and without consistent access to water and electricity. Several were injured from pepper spray and sticks. And they said it all happened as Israeli soldiers looked on. Bedouin communities in the West Bank face rampant, unpunished Israeli settler violence and a frenzy of state-backed demolitions. Together, rights groups say, the two are pushing a growing number of Bedouin from their land and making any eventual independent Palestinian state a more distant reality.
Internet and mobile services cut off in Bangladesh amid violent protests that have killed 28 people
NEW DELHI (AP) — Internet and mobile services were cut off in Bangladesh on Friday following days of violent protests over the allocation of government jobs, with local media reports saying at least 28 people had been killed this week. Police and government supporters clashed with student activists on Thursday as they attempted to impose a complete shutdown in protest over a controversial quota system for government jobs. At least 22 people were killed on Thursday, a local TV station reported, following six deaths earlier this week. The protesters are demanding an end to a quota system that reserves up to 30% of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence.
Espionage trial of US journalist Evan Gershkovich in Russia reaches closing arguments
YEKATERINBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian court officials said closing arguments have begun in the trial of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who faces charges of spying that he, the Journal and the U.S. government have vehemently denied. U.S. officials and The Wall Street Journal have denounced the trial that began last month as a sham and illegitimate. Gershkovich has remained in custody since his arrest in March 2023 while on a reporting trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg. He is the first Western journalist arrested on espionage charges in post-Soviet Russia. Gershkovich’s arrest shocked foreign journalists in Russia, even though the country has enacted increasingly repressive laws on freedom of speech after sending troops into Ukraine.
Majority of Democrats think Kamala Harris would make a good president, AP-NORC poll shows
WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Joe Biden faces a growing drumbeat of pressure to drop his reelection bid, most Democrats think his vice president would make a good president herself. The new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 6 in 10 Democrats believe Kamala Harris would do a good job in the top slot. About 2 in 10 Democrats don’t believe she would, and another 2 in 10 say they don’t know enough to say. Since Biden’s massive debate debacle on June 27, many Democrats have privately and even openly looked to Harris to step in and succeed Biden as the party’s presidential nominee.
Some GOP voters welcome Trump’s somewhat softened tone at Republican National Convention
MILWAUKEE (AP) — For those conservative voters long turned off by former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric, his somewhat softened tone in accepting the Republican nomination is a welcome relief. Iowa farmer Dave Struthers calls Trump’s delivery “much improved.” Trump has a long history of divisive commentary. But on Thursday night in Milwaukee, he spoke in a quieter, more relaxed tone for at least the first part of the speech. He called for an end to discord in national politics. But his remarks became more ascerbic as the night wore on. He said Democrats are destroying the country and claimed without evidence that Central and South American countries are sending their muderers to the U.S.
Comedian Bob Newhart, deadpan master of sitcoms and telephone monologues, dies at 94
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bob Newhart has died at age 94. Jerry Digney, Newhart’s publicist, says the actor died Thursday in Los Angeles after a series of short illnesses. The accountant-turned-comedian gained fame with a smash album and became one of the most popular TV stars of his time. Newhart was a Chicago psychologist in “The Bob Newhart Show” in the 1970s and a Vermont innkeeper on “Newhart” in the 1980s. Both shows featured a low-key Newhart surrounded by eccentric characters. The second had a twist ending in its final show — the whole series was revealed to have been a dream by the psychologist he played in the other show.
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