Strikes on Gaza kill 12 and stabbing in Israel kills 2 as fears of wider war spike
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli strikes have killed at least 12 people in Gaza, including four who were sheltering in a tent camp for displaced people inside a hospital complex. Also, a stabbing attack carried out by a Palestinian killed two people in a Tel Aviv suburb. Tensions have soared following nearly 10 months of war in Gaza and the killing of two senior militants in separate strikes in Lebanon and Iran last week. Those killings brought threats of revenge from Iran and its allies and raised fears of an even more destructive regional war.
Horror at deaths of 12 children unites Druze across borders. But Mideast’s wars tear at their bonds
FARDIS, Lebanon (AP) — The strike a week ago in the Israeli-held Golan Heights that killed 12 Druze children unified Druze across the region in grief. It also laid bare the complex identity of the small, insular religious minority, whose members are spread across Israel, the Golan Heights, Lebanon, and Syria. Each part of the community has taken different paths historically. Israeli Druze have a large role in their country’s military, while Lebanese and Syrian Druze have fought Israel and backed Palestinians. They always tried to keep a common bond despite their differences, but that has been strained by fighting in Gaza and now by the threat of an all-out regional war.
After smooth campaign start, Kamala Harris faces a crucial week ahead
WASHINGTON (AP) — The crowds are psyched. The campaign donations are flooding in. Volunteers are showing up at field offices in droves. After a mostly smooth two weeks of campaign startup, Vice President Kamala Harris is preparing for a crucial week that includes her most critical decision yet — choosing a running mate. She’s also grappling with how to keep that early political momentum alive. Harris effectively has a deadline of Tuesday to select who will be her No. 2. It’s a high-pressure decision that usually spans several months, but in this case compressed into a matter of just weeks.
Trump again tears into Georgia’s Republican governor on the same day he campaigns in the state
ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Donald Trump picked a new fight with Georgia’s Republican governor as he campaigned in the key swing state where he’s looking to reverse his narrow 2020 loss to Joe Biden. In a Truth Social post Saturday just ahead of his Atlanta rally, Trump said Gov. Brian Kemp should turn his focus to fighting crime in his home state, not “fighting Unity and the Republican Party!” Kemp has been the rare national-level Republican who has remained popular after feuding with Trump. Kemp had his backing in 2018 but lost Trump’s support after defying the then-president’s demands to help overturn Trump’s narrow 2020 loss in his state.
Trump says he’ll skip an ABC debate with Harris in September and wants them to face off on Fox News
CHAPIN, S.C. (AP) — Donald Trump says he’s pulling out of a scheduled September debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC and wants them to face off on Fox News. That seems to make it increasingly unlikely that the candidates will confront each other on stage before the November election. In social media posts late Friday, Trump said his agreement to a Sept. 10 debate on ABC “has been terminated” because he’ll no longer face President Joe Biden. Trump says he’ll appear on Fox News on Sept. 4. Harris’ campaign says Trump “is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out.”
Opposition leader joins rally calling for Venezuela presidential election results to be overturned
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Thousands of people rallied in the streets of Venezuela’s capital, waving the national flag and singing the national anthem in support of an opposition candidate they believe won the presidential election by a landslide. The government has declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner of last Sunday’s poll, but have yet to produce voting tallies to prove he won. Opposition leaders say tally sheets they obtained from polling centers nationwide show Maduro clearly lost his bid for a third six-year term. Opposition leader MarĂa Corina Machado addressed the ecstatic crowd Saturday, saying “Never has the regime been so weak.”
Tropical Storm Debby moving through Gulf toward Florida with hurricane warnings
MIAMI (AP) — A tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico has strengthened into Tropical Storm Debby. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center say the storm has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph as it moves toward Florida. They predict it will become a hurricane before coming ashore. Debby is likely to bring drenching rain and coastal flooding to much of Florida’s Gulf Coast by Sunday night. Forecasters warn it also could drop heavy rains over north Florida and the Atlantic coasts of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina early next week. Debby is the fourth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season.
‘We’re going to survive and it’s going to come back’: A year after Maui wildfire, survivors press on
LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Hawaii residents have faced a year of challenges since the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century decimated the historic town of Lahaina, on Maui, on Aug. 8, 2023. They have combed the ashes for mementos, worried about where they’d sleep, questioned their faith and tried to find a way to grieve amid the unsettling devastation. To mark the anniversary, The Associated Press interviewed seven survivors its journalists first encountered in the days, weeks or months after the fire, as well as a first responder who helped fight the flames. Among their difficulties they also have found hope, resilience and determination.
Spanish journalist or Russian spy? The mystery around Pablo González’s double life
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Among the Russians freed in this week’s historic exchange of prisoners between Russia and the West was a Russian-born freelance journalist from Spain who had been based in Poland since 2019. He had worked for Spanish news agency EFE, the Voice of America and other outlets. Among Warsaw-based reporters, Pablo González was known as a sociable man who liked to drink beer in bars and sing karaoke into the wee hours of the morning. Poland says he was an intelligence agent working for the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency, but it’s never held a trial or published details of the allegations.
Katie Ledecky swims into history with 800 freestyle victory at the Paris Olympics
NANTERRE, France (AP) — Katie Ledecky has capped another stellar Olympics by becoming only the second swimmer to win the same event at four straight Summer Games, holding off Ariarne Titmus to win the 800-meter freestyle. It was Ledecky’s second gold medal in Paris and ninth of her remarkable career, which marked another milestone. She becomes only the sixth Olympian to reach that figure, joining swimmer Mark Spitz, track star Carl Lewis, Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina and Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi in a tie for second place. The only athlete to win more golds: swimmer Michael Phelps with 23. Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh claimed her third individual gold with a victory in the 200 individual medley. And the U.S. closed the night by setting a world record in the mixed medley relay.
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