Kamala Harris is interviewing six potential vice president picks this weekend, AP sources say
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is interviewing a half-dozen potential running mates this weekend ahead of a formal announcement and a battleground tour with her new No. 2 next week. Her interview list includes Govs. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Tim Walz of Minnesota, as well as Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, according to two people with knowledge of Harris’ selection process. The people were granted anonymity to discuss private campaign deliberations. Shapiro and Kelly had been viewed as among the front-runners during her truncated selection process, which began with the vetting of about a dozen names.
Trump and Vance return to Georgia days after a Harris event in the same arena
ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Donald Trump returns Saturday to Georgia, which he lost four years ago, to campaign in a state that both Democrats and Republicans see as up for grabs yet again. Trump’s 5 p.m. EDT event alongside his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, comes just days after Vice President Kamala Harris rallied thousands in the same basketball arena at Georgia State University in Atlanta. Both parties are focusing on Georgia, a Sun Belt battleground that just two weeks ago, Democrats had signaled they would sideline in favor of a heavier focus on the Midwestern “blue wall” states.
Schumer predicts Democrats will keep control of the Senate now that Harris is atop the party ticket
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is predicting that Democrats will keep control of the Senate in the November election and he feels “exhilarated and gratified” by the surge of enthusiasm with Vice President Kamala Harris atop the party’s ticket. Schumer, who played a pivotal role in talking privately with President Joe Biden before the incumbent’s decision to end his reelection bid, appears more optimistic than Democrats have been in confronting a tough Senate map this election defending seats in states where Republican nominee Donald Trump is popular. “We are so enthusiastic about the prospects of winning the presidency, keeping the Senate and winning the House,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said in an interview with The Associated Press.
US to boost military presence in Mideast, sending fighter jet squadron and keeping carrier in region
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will move a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East and maintain an aircraft carrier in the region, the Pentagon said Friday, beefing up the American military presence to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies and safeguard U.S. troops. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has also ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the European and Middle East regions and is taking steps to send more land-based ballistic missile defense weapons there, the Pentagon said in a statement Friday evening. The shifts make good on a promise President Joe Biden made to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
US and Russia tout prisoner swap as a victory. But perceptions of the deal show stark differences
President Vladimir Putin strode along the red carpet between two rows of rifle-toting honor guards and warmly greeted intelligence operatives freed in the biggest prisoner swap with the West since the Cold War. “The Motherland hasn’t forgotten about you for a minute,” Putin said, embracing each of them after they walked down the steps of the jetliner that ferried them home. Putin, who rarely — if ever — travels to the airport to greet foreign heads of state these days, was delivering a clear, morale-boosting message to his security services: If you get caught, Russia will bring you home. For the Kremlin, Vadim Krasikov, the hitman imprisoned in Germany for killing a former Chechen militant in Berlin, was perhaps the most important component in the exchange that saw eight Russians swapped for 16 Westerners and Russian dissidents who had been imprisoned in recent years.
An assassin, a Putin foe’s death, secret talks: How a sweeping US-Russia prisoner swap came together
WASHINGTON (AP) — It was December 2022 and the U.S. government’s chief hostage negotiator had just delivered Brittney Griner back to America after her 10-month imprisonment in Russia. Roger Carstens went to his hotel room anticipating a quick snooze after several sleepless days and had just put his head on the pillow when the phone rang. On the other end was Paul Whelan from Russia, asking why the trade that brought home Griner had left him behind. The call was a reminder that a deal heralded for bringing home a celebrated professional athlete had left neither side fully satisfied. The U.S.
Israeli airstrike in northern West Bank kills 5, who army says were planning an attack
ZEITA, West Bank (AP) — An Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in the occupied West Bank killed five Palestinians, according to Israel’s army and Palestinian health authorities, as violence flares in the Israeli-occupied territory. The Israeli army said its forces struck a vehicle carrying five militants in a rural area northwest of the city of Tulkarem in the northern West Bank early Saturday morning, as the occupants were on their way to carry out an attack. The Health Ministry later confirmed that five men were killed in the strike and were taken to nearby Tulkarem hospital According to an Associated Press journalist and witnesses, the blast took place along a road connecting the Palestinian villages of Zeita and Qaffin.
AP review of Venezuela opposition-provided vote tallies casts doubt on government’s election results
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — An AP analysis of vote tally sheets released Friday by Venezuela’s main opposition indicates that their candidate won significantly more votes in Sunday’s election than the government has claimed, casting serious doubt on the official declaration that President Nicolás Maduro won. The AP processed almost 24,000 images of tally sheets, representing the results from 79% of voting machines. Each sheet encoded vote counts in QR codes, which the AP programmatically decoded and analyzed, resulting in tabulations of 10.26 million votes. According to the calculations, the opposition’s Edmundo González received 6.89 million votes, nearly half a million more than the government says Maduro won with.
Defense secretary overrides plea agreement for accused 9/11 mastermind and two other defendants
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday overrode a plea agreement reached earlier this week for the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and two other defendants, reinstating them as death-penalty cases. The move comes two days after the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, announced that the official appointed to oversee the war court, retired Brig. Gen. Susan Escallier, had approved plea deals with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two accused accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, in the attacks. Letters sent to families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the al-Qaida attacks said the plea agreement stipulated the three would serve life sentences at most.
China beats Puerto Rico in Olympic women’s hoops, puts itself in contention to advance to quarters
VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France (AP) — Li Meng scored 18 points and China topped Puerto Rico 80-58 on Saturday in the Olympic women’s basketball tournament to keep its chances alive of reaching the quarterfinals. Now China will have to wait until Sunday to see if it advances to the elimination round. The top two teams in each group as well as the next best two squads will advance to Paris for the quarterfinals on Wednesday. The tiebreaker to determine the final two slots is point differential. China has a point differential of minus-1 points in its three games. Spain faces Serbia later Saturday to determine the winner of Group A.
Most Popular
Comments / 0