AP Top News at 12:09 a.m. EDT

A 14-year-old student fatally shot 4 people in a rampage at a Georgia high school, officials say

WINDER, Ga. (AP) — A 14-year-old student opened fire at a Georgia high school and killed four people on Wednesday, authorities said, sending students scrambling for shelter in their classrooms — and eventually to the football stadium — as officers swarmed the campus and parents raced to find out if their children were safe. The dead were identified as two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder, about an hour’s drive from Atlanta. Killed were two other 14-year-olds, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and instructors Richard Aspenwall and Christina Irimie, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said in a nighttime news conference.

Right-wing influencers were duped to work for covert Russian influence operation, US says

NEW YORK (AP) — They have millions of followers online. They have been major players in right-wing political discourse since Donald Trump was president. And they worked unknowingly for a company that was a front for a Russian influence operation, U.S. prosecutors say. An indictment filed Wednesday alleges a media company linked to six conservative influencers — including well-known personalities Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson — was secretly funded by Russian state media employees to churn out English-language videos that were “often consistent” with the Kremlin’s “interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition” to Russian interests, like its war in Ukraine.

Israel’s Netanyahu demands open-ended control of Gaza’s border with Egypt

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel must keep open-ended control of Gaza’s border with Egypt, digging in on his stance on an issue that has threatened to derail cease-fire efforts. Netanyahu’s comments came as the United States is developing a new proposal for a cease-fire and hostage release, hoping to break a long deadlock and bring an end to the nearly 11-month-old war. The question of Israeli control of the Philadelphi corridor –- a narrow strip of land along Gaza’s border with Egypt, seized by troops in May –- has become a central obstacle in the talks.

For many investors and intellectuals leaving China, it’s Japan — not the US — that’s the bigger draw

TOKYO (AP) — One by one, the students, lawyers and others filed into a classroom in a central Tokyo university for a lecture by a Chinese journalist on Taiwan and democracy — taboo topics that can’t be discussed publicly back home in China. “Taiwan’s modern-day democracy took struggle and bloodshed, there’s no question about that,” said Jia Jia, a columnist and guest lecturer at the University of Tokyo who was briefly detained in China eight years ago on suspicion of penning a call for China’s top leader to resign. He is one of tens of thousands of intellectuals, investors and other Chinese who have relocated to Japan in recent years, part of a larger exodus of people from China.

Harris accepts rules for Sept. 10 debate with Trump on ABC, including microphone muting

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted the rules set forth for next week’s debate with former President Donald Trump, although the Democratic nominee says the decision not to keep both candidates’ microphones live throughout the matchup will be to her disadvantage. The development, which came Wednesday by way of a letter from Harris’ campaign to host network ABC News, seemed to mark a conclusion to the debate over microphone muting, which had for a time threatened to derail the Sept. 10 presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Harris’ acceptance of the debate rules came as Trump — using a night he had proposed as a debate with Harris on Fox News Channel — instead participated in a solo town hall with host Sean Hannity in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a version of debate preparation with a longtime ally who queried him about his plans to take on the Democratic nominee.

Harris visits New Hampshire to tout her small business tax plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris used a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Wednesday to propose an expansion of tax incentives for small businesses, a pro-entrepreneur plan that may soften her previous calls for wealthy Americans and large corporations to pay higher taxes. Describing small businesses as “an essential foundation to our entire economy,” Harris said she wants to expand from $5,000 to $50,000 tax incentives for startup expenses, with the goal of eventually spurring 25 million new small business applications over four years. The speech was part of Harris’ effort to strengthen her economic credentials with only two months until the end of the election.

Pope and imam of Southeast Asia’s largest mosque make joint call to fight violence, protect planet

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Pope Francis joined the grand imam of Southeast Asia’s largest mosque in pledging to work together to fight religiously inspired violence and protect the environment on Thursday, issuing a joint call for interfaith friendship and common cause at the heart of Francis’ visit to Indonesia. In an encounter rich with symbolic meaning and personal touches, Francis traveled to Jakarta’s iconic Istiqlal Mosque for an interfaith gathering with representatives of the six religions that are officially recognized in Indonesia: Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Catholicism and Protestantism. There, he and the grand imam, Nasaruddin Umar, stood at the ground-level entrance to the “Tunnel of Friendship,” an underpass which connects the mosque compound with the neighboring Catholic cathedral, Our Lady of the Assumption.

Students in Bangladesh forced out the country’s leader a month ago. Where do things stand now?

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A month ago, a student-led movement ousted Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, after weeks of protests and clashes that killed over 600 people and pushed the country to the brink of chaos. What began as student protests over government jobs became a large-scale revolt against the country’s longest-serving prime minister. Hasina, 76, fled to India on Aug. 5 as anger against her government swelled. But the ouster triggered more violence. Police went on strike and mobs rampaged across the country until a new interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus was sworn in. Here is where things stand now, a month after the country was roiled by its worst bloodshed in decades: Since he was sworn in, Yunus declared that his key tasks would be to restore peace and law and order, fight corruption, and prepare for new elections.

Takeaways from AP’s report on government programs tackling the US maternal death crisis

Across the U.S., programs at all levels of government — federal, state and local — are striving to reduce maternal mortality and erase the racial gap. Many are making headway in their communities and paving the way for other places. The Associated Press examined efforts that are focused on individual patient needs and efforts seeking to improve medical care generally. Here are key takeaways. Healthy Start is a federal program that has worked with vulnerable populations for decades. This year, the federal government gave out $105 million in grants to fund local projects. Officials say it’s essential part of the Biden administration’s plan for addressing maternal health.

US Open: Jessica Pegula upsets No. 1 Iga Swiatek to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal

NEW YORK (AP) — The questions wouldn’t stop for Jessica Pegula: Why was she 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals heading into her U.S. Open matchup against No. 1 Iga Swiatek? What could Pegula do to change that? Came up during her on-court interview after winning in the previous round. And again at the news conference that followed. And again during a brief TV interview right before striding onto the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night. If that all weighed on Pegula, the 30-year-old American hid it well, pulling off a big upset by easily beating Swiatek 6-2, 6-4 at Flushing Meadows and earning a debut trip to the semifinals at a major.