A top Hamas official says the group is losing faith in the US as a mediator in Gaza cease-fire talks
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — A top Hamas official says the Palestinian militant group is losing faith in the United States’ ability to mediate a cease-fire in Gaza ahead of a new round of talks scheduled for this week. They come amid mounting pressure to bring an end to the 10-month-old war with Israel. Osama Hamdan told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that Hamas will only participate if the talks focus on implementing a proposal detailed by U.S. President Joe Biden in May and endorsed internationally. Hamas is especially resistant to Israel’s demand that it maintain a lasting military presence in two strategic areas of Gaza after any cease-fire. Those conditions were only made public in recent weeks.
Trump’s campaign called it an economic address. He made big promises but mostly veered off topic
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Donald Trump made little effort to stay on message at a rally in North Carolina that his campaign billed as a big economic address. He mixed pledges to slash energy prices and “unleash economic abundance” with familiar off-script tangents on Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ laugh, the mechanics of wind energy and President Joe Biden’s son. The 75-minute speech featured a litany of broad policy ideas and even grander promises to end inflation, bolster already record-level U.S. energy production and raise Americans’ standard of living. But those pronouncements were often lost in the former president’s typically freewheeling, grievance-laden style that has made it difficult for him to answer the enthusiasm of Harris’ nascent campaign.
Presented with rise in border crossings, Kamala Harris chose a long-term approach to the problem
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris was never the “border czar,” as her critics claim. Biden administration officials say she was assigned to tackle the “root causes” of migration from the Central American nations of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras that were responsible for a large chunk of border crossers. The vice president took a long-term approach to the problem, helping persuade multinational corporations and Latin American businesses to invest in the region. That, she argued, would create additional jobs and give locals more reason to stay at home rather than take the arduous trek north.
Columbia's president resigns after months of turmoil punctuated by clashes over Israel-Hamas war
NEW YORK (AP) — Columbia University President Minouche Shafik has resigned after a brief, tumultuous tenure. The school in upper Manhattan was roiled this year by student protests, culminating in scenes of police officers carrying zip ties and riot shields storming a building that had been occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters. She has acknowledged the campus protests factored into her decision to resign. The announcement also comes just days after the school confirmed that three deans had resigned after officials said they exchanged disparaging texts during a campus discussion about Jewish life and antisemitism. Katrina Armstrong, the CEO of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, has agreed to serve as interim president.
Hunter Biden reportedly sought US government help for Ukrainian gas company Burisma
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden reportedly asked the U.S. ambassador to Italy for help with an energy project a Ukrainian gas company was pursuing while his father was vice president. First reported in The New York Times, Biden wrote a letter to the ambassador in 2016 seeking assistance for the Ukrainian company Burisma, the paper reported, citing newly released records and interviews. A businessman told the Times that Burisma was having trouble getting regulatory approval for a geothermal project in Italy it was pursuing at the time.
Hurricane Ernesto drops torrential rain on Puerto Rico while pummeling northeast Caribbean
TOA BAJA, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Ernesto has dropped torrential rain on Puerto Rico and knocked out power for nearly half of all customers in the U.S. territory as it threatens to grow into a major hurricane en route to Bermuda. The hurricane was over open water about 690 miles south-southwest of Bermuda late Wednesday with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph and moving northwest at 16 mph. Heavy flooding has been reported in Puerto Rico, where up to 10 inches of rain was expected in some places. Ernesto is forecast to strengthen in the coming days and possibly become a major hurricane by Friday. Its center is expected to pass near Bermuda on Saturday. Forecasters also warn of heavy swells along the U.S. East Coast.
Gena Rowlands, acting powerhouse and star of movies by her director-husband, John Cassavetes, dies
Gena Rowlands, hailed as one of the greatest actors to ever practice the craft and a guiding light in independent cinema as a star in groundbreaking movies by her director husband, John Cassavetes, and who later charmed audiences in her son’s tear-jerker “The Notebook,” has died. She was 94. Rowlands’ death was confirmed Wednesday by representatives for her son, the filmmaker Nick Cassavetes. He revealed earlier this year that his mother had Alzheimer’s disease. Operating outside the studio system, the husband-and-wife team of John Cassavetes and Rowlands created indelible portraits of working-class strivers and small-timers in such films as “A Woman Under the Influence,” “Gloria” and “Faces.”
Wally Amos, 88, of cookie fame, died at home in Hawaii. He lost Famous Amos but found other success
HONOLULU (AP) — The creator of the Famous Amos cookie empire has died. Wally Amos' children say he died Tuesday at his home in Honolulu from complications with dementia. He was 88. Amos eventually lost ownership of the company and rights to use the catchy Amos name. He later became a children’s literacy advocate and proprietor of a cookie shop called Chip & Cookie in Hawaii. He was also co-founder of Uncle Wally’s Muffin Co. Amos also was active in promoting reading. His shop had a reading room with dozens of donated books, where he usually spent Saturdays reading to children.
Ruling: Fetus can be referred to as 'unborn human being' in Arizona abortion measure voter pamphlet
PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that an informational pamphlet for voters can refer to a fetus as an “unborn human being.” That language will be used in a description for a November ballot measure that would guarantee the constitutional right to an abortion. The justices on Wednesday sided with Republican lawmakers over proponents of the ballot measure. Arizona voters will get to decide in November whether to add the right to an abortion to the state constitution. Democrats have made abortion rights a central message since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, and it is a key part of their efforts in this year’s elections.
WHO declares mpox outbreaks in Africa a global health emergency as a new form of the virus spreads
LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization has declared the mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency. Cases are confirmed among children and adults in more than a dozen countries, and a new form of the virus is spreading. Few vaccine doses are available on the African continent. Earlier this week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared the mpox outbreaks a public health emergency, with more than 500 deaths among over 14,000 cases. It has called for international help to stop the virus’ spread. The WHO chief says the potential for further spread beyond Africa is "very worrying.”
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