Majority of Americans say democracy is on the ballot this fall but differ on threat, AP poll finds
NEW YORK (AP) — Roughly 3 in 4 American adults believe the upcoming presidential election is vital to the future of U.S. democracy, although which candidate they think poses the greater threat depends on their political leanings, according to a new poll. The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that most Democrats, Republicans and independents see the election as “very important” or “extremely important” to democracy, while Democrats have a higher level of intensity about the issue. More than half of Democrats say the November election is “extremely important” to the future of U.S. democracy, compared to about 4 in 10 independents and Republicans.
The Walz record: Abortion rights, free lunches for schoolkids, and disputes over a riot response
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz and his fellow Democrats have enacted big changes in the two years that they’ve had full control of the Minnesota Legislature, from expansions of abortion and LGBTQ+ rights to tax credits and other initiatives aimed at making life easier for families. His record has delighted liberals and progressives and is a major reason why Vice President Kamala Harris chose him to be her running mate. He doesn’t try to claim all the credit — strong Democratic legislative leaders also played major roles. But his record continues to draw condemnation from Republicans, who say he squandered a huge budget surplus that should have been used for tax cuts, failed to prevent hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud, and acted too slowly to quell the violence that followed the murder of George Floyd.
Carles Puigdemont, ex-Catalan leader, returns to Spain after nearly 7 years as a fugitive
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Former Catalonia leader Carles Puigdemont, who fled Spain after organizing an independence referendum in the wealthy Spanish region nearly seven years ago that was declared illegal, returned to the country on Thursday despite a pending arrest warrant. Puigdemont defiantly appeared in Barcelona after traveling from Belgium and made a speech in front of a large crowd of supporters. He faces charges of embezzlement for his part in the attempt to break Catalonia away from the rest of Spain in 2017. Puigdemont appeared in a central Barcelona park where several thousand separatist supporters who had gathered in expectation of his arrival waved Catalan flags.
Chemical substances found at home of Austrian suspected of planning attack on Taylor Swift concerts
VIENNA (AP) — Three Taylor Swift concerts this week in Vienna have been canceled following arrests over an apparent plot to launch an attack in the area, potentially at the stadium itself, and at least one of the suspects has been linked to the Islamic State group. Chemical substances and technical devices were found at the house of that suspect, a 19-year-old Austrian, according to Franz Ruf, the public security director at Austria’s Interior Ministry. In an interview Thursday with public broadcaster ORF’s Oe1 program, Ruf said investigators are evaluating the evidence seized from the suspect’s home. Just a few weeks ago, the 19-year-old had uploaded an oath of allegiance to the current leader of the Islamic State group militia to an internet account, Ruf added.
Israel court hears bid to close prison where soldiers are accused of sexually assaulting Palestinian
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli Supreme Court considered a petition Wednesday to shutter a desert military prison where soldiers have been accused of abusing Palestinians, as a new video emerged purporting to show the sexual assault of a Palestinian detainee. Rights groups have been engaged in a legal battle since June to shut down the detention facility, known as Sde Teiman, where Israel has held many Palestinians detained in Gaza during the 10-month war with Hamas. The groups claim that conditions at the facility are grave and that abuse by Israeli soldiers is common, basing their claims on testimony from released detainees and Israeli whistleblowers.
July ends 13-month streak of global heat records as El Nino ebbs, but experts warn against relief
Earth’s string of 13 straight months with a new average heat record came to an end this past July as the natural El Nino climate pattern ebbed, the European climate agency Copernicus announced Wednesday. But July 2024 ’s average heat just missed surpassing the July of a year ago, and scientists said the end of the record-breaking streak changes nothing about the threat posed by climate change. “The overall context hasn’t changed,” Copernicus deputy director Samantha Burgess said in a statement. “Our climate continues to warm.” Human-caused climate change drives extreme weather events that are wreaking havoc around the globe, with several examples just in recent weeks.
Tropical Storm Debby makes 2nd landfall in South Carolina, heavy rain expected up the East Coast
HUGER, S.C. (AP) — Tropical Storm Debby has made a second landfall in South Carolina on its way up the East Coast, where residents as far north as Vermont could get several inches of rain this weekend. The National Hurricane Center says Debby came ashore early Thursday near Bulls Bay, South Carolina. The storm is expected to keep moving inland, spreading heavy rain and possible flooding all the way up through the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast by the weekend. Debby first made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane early Monday on the Gulf Coast of Florida. It is now a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds at 50 mph (80 kph).
Nobel laureate Yunus arrives in Bangladesh to take over as interim leader
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s next leader Muhammad Yunus arrived home Thursday from an overseas trip and will take office later in the day, as he looks to restore calm and rebuild the country following an uprising that ended the 15-year, increasingly autocratic rule of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Yunus landed at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Thursday afternoon and was welcomed by the country’s military chief, Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman, who was flanked by navy and air force heads. Some of the student leaders who led the uprising against Hasina were also present at the airport to welcome him. They had earlier proposed Yunus as interim leader to the country’s figurehead president, who is currently acting as the chief executive under the constitution.
An aid worker’s airport disappearance stirs fear of repression following disputed Venezuela election
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The last time anyone heard from Edni López was Sunday. The 33-year-old political science professor and award-winning poet was preparing to board a flight to Argentina to visit a friend when she texted from the airport that something was wrong with her passport. “Migration took my passport because it’s showing up as expired,” she wrote her boyfriend in the message shared with The Associated Press. “I pray to God I don’t get screwed because of a system error.” What happened next remains a mystery — one contributing to the climate of fear and repression that has engulfed Venezuela following its disputed presidential election, the most serious wave of human rights abuses since Latin America’s military dictatorships in the 1970s.
Lin Yu-ting advances to gold-medal Olympic bout, excelling amid misconceptions about her gender
PARIS (AP) — Boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan has advanced to the gold-medal bout in the women’s featherweight division, winning her third consecutive bout while dealing with widespread scrutiny regarding misconceptions about her gender at the Paris Olympics. One day after welterweight Imane Khelif of Algeria reached the women’s welterweight final with a third straight victory in Paris, Lin defeated Esra Yildiz Kahraman of Turkey 5:0 on Wednesday night for her third win. Lin will fight for gold on Saturday, taking on Julia Szeremeta of Poland. “I will use everything I’ve learned in my life to do my best in the next match,” Lin said through an interpreter.
Most Popular
Comments / 0