AP Top News at 4:23 a.m. EDT

Ukraine gambled on an incursion deep into Russian territory. The bold move changed the battlefield

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s stunning incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region was a bold gamble for the country’s military commanders, who committed their limited resources to a risky assault on a nuclear-armed enemy with no assurance of success. After the first signs of progress, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy broke his silence and spelled out Kyiv’s daily advances to his war-weary public. By Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said they controlled 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of enemy territory, including at least 74 settlements and hundreds of Russian prisoners of war. But a week after it began, the overall aim of the daring operation is still unclear: Will Ukraine dig in and keep the conquered territory, advance further into Russian territory or pull back?

Mediators are set to hold new Gaza cease-fire talks, hoping to head off an even wider war

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — International mediators were set to hold a new round of talks Thursday aimed at halting the Israel-Hamas war and securing the release of scores of hostages, with a potential deal seen as the best hope of heading off an even larger regional conflict. The United States, Qatar and Egypt were to meet with an Israeli delegation in Qatar as the Palestinian death toll from the 10-month-old war nears 40,000, according to local health authorities. Hamas has not said whether it will participate, accusing Israel of adding new demands to a previous proposal that had U.S. and international support and to which Hamas had agreed in principle.

Trump scheduled to hold news conference at his New Jersey golf resort

BEDMINSTER, N.J. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump invited reporters to his New Jersey golf club Thursday for his second news conference in as many weeks as he adjusts to a newly energized Democratic ticket ahead of next week’s Democratic National Convention. Trump will meet the press as he steps up his criticism of Vice President Kamala Harris for not holding a news conference or sitting down for interviews since President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign and endorsed her to replace him. The vice president has barely engaged with reporters since becoming the Democratic nominee, though she travels with journalists aboard Air Force Two and sometimes answers shouted questions while boarding or leaving the plane for campaign stops.

Democrats trust Harris slightly more than Biden on climate change, AP-NORC poll finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the Democratic National Convention approaches, a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that Democrats have slightly higher trust in Vice President Kamala Harris’ ability to address the issue of climate change than President Joe Biden. The survey found that 85% of Democrats have “a lot” or “some” trust in Harris to address climate change, while about three-quarters say the same about Biden. That’s more true of Democrats under 45: about three-quarters of this group say they have “a lot” or “some” trust in Harris to handle climate issues, compared to about 6 in 10 who say that about Biden.

Iran police shot a woman while trying to seize her car over hijab law violation, activists say

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — On a darkened road beside the Caspian Sea, Iranian police officers opened fire last month on a 31-year-old woman who had tried to speed away likely knowing they wanted to seize her vehicle. Police had been ordered to impound her car, activists say, because of an earlier violation of Iran’s headscarf law for showing her hair in public while driving. Now unable to walk and confined to a bed at a police hospital, Arezou Badri — a mother of two — is the latest casualty of Iran’s renewed crackdown over headscarves, or hijabs. Her shooting occurred nearly two years after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died while in police custody over an alleged headscarf violation, sparking nationwide protests over women’s rights and against the country’s theocracy.

Taliban have deliberately deprived 1.4 million Afghan girls of schooling through bans, says UNESCO

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban have deliberately deprived 1.4 million Afghan girls of schooling through bans, a United Nations agency said Thursday. Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans female secondary and higher education. The Taliban, who took power in 2021, barred education for girls above sixth grade because they said it didn’t comply with their interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. They didn’t stop it for boys and show no sign of taking the steps needed to reopen classrooms and campuses for girls and women. UNESCO said at least 1.4 million girls have been deliberately denied access to secondary education since the takeover, an increase of 300,000 since its previous count in April 2023, with more girls reaching the age limit of 12 every year.

As fallout surges from Venezuela’s election crisis, the region fears another mass exodus

LIMA, Peru (AP) — President Nicolás Maduro’s contested claim of victory in last month’s election not only threw Venezuela into uncertainty but also spread anxiety from neighboring Colombia to faraway Chile as the region braced for a new migration surge. Over the past decade since Maduro became president, the United Nations estimates that a staggering 7.7 million Venezuelans have fled as the economy collapsed, sneaking across porous borders and crowding into nearby countries that increasingly fear they cannot accommodate another mass exodus. Now, as the crisis over Maduro’s widely disputed reelection raises the specter of deeper global isolation in Caracas, pollsters, politicians and members of the diaspora warn that more Venezuelans are packing their bags.

Hurricane Ernesto drops torrential rain on Puerto Rico as it strengthens heading toward Bermuda

TOA BAJA, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Ernesto dropped torrential rain on Puerto Rico and knocked out power for nearly half of all customers in the U.S. territory Wednesday as it threatened to strengthen into a major hurricane en route to Bermuda. The storm was over open water about 675 miles (1,085 kilometers) south-southwest of Bermuda early Thursday, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph) and moving northwest at 16 mph (26 kph). A hurricane watch was issued for Bermuda, where tropical storm conditions were possible Friday and hurricane conditions were possible Saturday. Tropical storm warnings were discontinued for Puerto Rico and its outlying islands of Vieques and Culebra and for the U.S.

Columbia’s president resigns after months of turmoil punctuated by clashes over Israel-Hamas war

NEW YORK (AP) — Columbia University President Minouche Shafik resigned Wednesday after a brief, tumultuous tenure that saw the head of the prestigious New York university face heavy scrutiny for her handling of protests and campus divisions over the Israel-Hamas war. The Ivy League school in upper Manhattan was roiled this year by student demonstrations, culminating in scenes of police officers carrying zip ties and riot shields storming a building that had been occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters. Similar protests swept college campuses nationwide, with many leading to violent clashes with police and thousands of arrests. 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.

Millions of kids are still skipping school. Could the answer be recess — and a little cash?

MEDFORD, Mass. (AP) — Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste missed so much school he had to repeat his freshman year at Medford High outside Boston. At school, “you do the same thing every day,” said Jean-Baptiste, who was absent 30 days his first year. “That gets very frustrating.” Then his principal did something nearly unheard of: She let students play organized sports during lunch — if they attended all their classes. In other words, she offered high schoolers recess. “It gave me something to look forward to,” said Jean-Baptiste, 16. The following year, he cut his absences in half. Schoolwide, the share of chronically absent students declined from 35% in March 2023 to 23% in March 2024 — one of the steepest declines among Massachusetts high schools.