French train lines hit by ‘malicious acts’ disrupting traffic ahead of Olympics, rail company says
PARIS (AP) — The French national rail company SNCF said Friday that high-speed lines were hit by several “malicious acts” that heavily disrupted traffic on the day of the high-risk Olympics opening ceremony. Lines in the west, north and east of France were affected, SNCF announced. Trains to neighboring Belgium and to London under the English Channel were also affected. Government officials denounced the incidents hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, which are happening around France, though there was no immediate sign of a link to the Games. National police said authorities are investigating what happened. French media reported a big fire on a busy western route.
Harris tries to thread the needle on Gaza after meeting with Netanyahu
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic nominee for president, is attempting to bridge divides within the party over the war in Gaza, emphasizing Israel’s right to defend itself while also focusing on alleviating Palestinian suffering. She delivered remarks after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that reflected a delicate balancing act on one of the country’s most divisive political issues. Some Democrats have been critical of President Joe Biden’s steadfast support for Israel despite the increasing death toll among Palestinians, and Harris is trying to unite her party for the election battle with Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Netanyahu will meet Trump at Mar-a-Lago, mending a years-long rift
WASHINGTON (AP) — As president, Donald Trump went well beyond his predecessors in fulfilling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top wishes from the United States. Yet by the time Trump left the White House, relations between the two had broken down after Netanyahu rapidly congratulated Joe Biden on his 2020 presidential victory. On Friday, the two men will meet face-to-face for the first time in nearly four years in a test of whether the relationship can be mended. Both have an interest in getting past their differences. For Trump, now the Republican presidential nominee, the meeting could cast him as an ally and statesman, as well as sharpen efforts by Republicans to portray themselves as the party most loyal to Israel.
Wounded in a strike that killed her family, a 2-year-old joins Gaza’s ranks of thousands of orphans
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The 2-year-old toddler lay on a foil blanket, her face covered with salve for her burns and her little body riddled with scars from shrapnel. She squirmed, her breath heaving, as doctors examined her and the tube in her chest. Siwar Abdel-Hadi is now an orphan. She’s the lone survivor of an Israeli strike that hit their family home in central Gaza, killing her parents, her two sisters and her brother, along with a brother of her mother. “The whole family was gathered around a table for lunch” when the missile struck Tuesday in the Bureij refugee camp, said Nour Abdel-Hadi, one of Siwar’s paternal aunts.
US arrests 2 leaders of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel: ‘El Mayo’ Zambada and son of ‘El Chapo’
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a longtime leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, and Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of another infamous cartel leader, were arrested by U.S. authorities in Texas on Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department said. A leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel for decades alongside Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Zambada is one of the most notorious drug traffickers in the world and known for running the cartel’s smuggling operations while keeping a lower profile. A Mexican federal official told The Associated Press that Zambada and Guzmán López arrived in the United States on a private plane and turned themselves in to authorities.
Venezuelan voters face crucial choice: Reelect Maduro or give opposition a chance after 25 years
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The future of Venezuela is on the line. Voters will decide Sunday whether to reelect President Nicolas Maduro, whose 11 years in office have been beset by crisis, or allow the opposition a chance to deliver on a promise to undo the ruling party’s policies that caused economic collapse and forced millions to emigrate. Historically fractured opposition parties have coalesced behind a single candidate, giving the United Socialist Party of Venezuela its most serious electoral challenge in a presidential election in decades. Maduro is being challenged by former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia, who represents the resurgent opposition, and eight other candidates.
Harris says she’s ready to debate Trump and accuses him of ‘backpedaling’ from Sept. 10 faceoff
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters on Thursday that she’s “ready to debate Donald Trump.” She accused him of “backpedaling” away from a previous agreement for a debate hosted by ABC News on Sept. 10. “I think the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on the debate stage,” she said after landing at Joint Base Andrews following a trip to Indiana and Texas. The Sept. 10 debate was one of two debates that President Joe Biden and Trump had agreed on. The first one was hosted by CNN on June 27, but Biden has since dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris as his successor.
Agreement with Russia is ‘deal with the devil,’ adviser to Ukrainian president says
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Signing an agreement with Russia to stop the war with Ukraine would amount to signing a deal with the devil, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as pressure mounts on the country to seek an end to more than two years of fighting. A deal would only buy time for Russian President Vladimir Putin to strengthen his army and usher in another, potentially more violent chapter in the war, Mykhailo Podolyak told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday. “If you want to sign a deal with the devil, who will then drag you to hell, well, go for it.
Video game performers will go on strike over artificial intelligence concerns
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood’s video game performers announced they would go on strike Thursday, throwing part of the entertainment industry into another work stoppage after talks for a new contract with major game studios broke down over artificial intelligence protections. The strike — the second for video game voice actors and motion capture performers under the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists — will begin at 12:01 a.m. Friday. The move comes after nearly two years of negotiations with gaming giants, including divisions of Activision, Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co., over a new interactive media agreement.
How to watch the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony
The opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics is set for Friday. Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). This will start the ceremony, not mark the end of it, another break from tradition. The ceremony starts at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and is expected to last more than three hours. The parade starts at the Austerlitz Bridge beside the Jardin des Plantes and follows the course of the Seine from east to west. It makes its way around two islands in the center of the city before passing under several bridges and gateways.
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