AP-Newswatch

Harris wins Pelosi endorsement, claims many of the delegates she needs for the nomination

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 1,000 pledged delegates have told The Associated Press or announced that they plan to support Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention. That is over half of the pledged delegates she needs in order to clinch the nomination. On Monday, Harris also won the endorsement of House Speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi. In remarks at the White House, the vice president praised what she called Joe Biden’s “unmatched” legacy and said she is “deeply grateful for his service to our nation.” Additional endorsements Monday are leaving a dwindling list of potential Democratic rivals.

Biden’s withdrawal from the US presidential race spells new uncertainty for Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to end his campaign for reelection brings a new element of uncertainty for Ukraine. Questions about the future of American support are compounding the pain of its exhausting war against Russia’s invasion. Many Ukrainians worry about the prospect of victory for former President Donald Trump, the Republican contender. Kyiv fears he would choke off support and force Ukraine to sue for peace on terms that favor Russia. Democrats hope that Biden’s decision to drop out and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris will inject energy into U.S. Democrats’ campaign, but it’s unclear whether it makes Trump’s defeat more likely.

Secret Service director, grilled by lawmakers on the Trump assassination attempt, says ‘we failed’

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Secret Service’s director says the roof where a shooter opened fire at Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania rally was identified as a potential vulnerability days before the event. Director Kimberly Cheatle made the comments Monday as she was grilled by lawmakers over the July 13 assassination attempt of the Republican presidential nominee. Cheatle acknowledges the agency was told about a suspicious person “between two and five times” before the assassination attempt of the former president. Cheatle told lawmakers during a congressional hearing: “On July 13, we failed.” Cheatle was berated for hours by Republicans and Democrats, repeatedly angering lawmakers by evading questions about the investigation into the shooting.

Biden’s decision to drop out crystallized Sunday. His staff knew one minute before the public did

WASHINGTON (AP) — It was never President Joe Biden’s intention to leave the race. Up until he decided to step aside Sunday, he was all in. His campaign was planning fundraisers and events and setting up travel over the next few weeks. But even as Biden was publicly dug in and insisting he was staying in the race, he was quietly reflecting on the disaster of the past few weeks, on the past three years of his presidency and on the scope of his half-century career in politics. In the end, it was the president’s decision alone, and he made it quietly, from his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

GOP threatened to sue over November ballot if Biden dropped out. Experts call that ‘ridiculous’

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even before President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race, allies of former President Donald Trump floated the possibility of suing to block Democrats from having anyone other than Biden on the ballot in November. But election administration experts say the timing of Biden’s exit makes it unlikely that any Republican ballot access challenges will succeed, with some calling the idea “ridiculous” and “frivolous.” Democrats are on safe legal ground as they identify a new standard-bearer, they say, because the party hasn’t officially chosen its nominee. That typically occurs when delegates vote at the party’s convention. The Democratic National Convention begins Aug. 19.

Biden’s withdrawal injects uncertainty into wars, trade disputes and other foreign policy challenges

Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the U.S. presidential race injects greater uncertainty into the world at a time when Western leaders are grappling with wars in Ukraine and Gaza, a more assertive China in Asia and the rise of the far right in Europe. During a five-decade career in politics, Biden developed extensive personal relationships with multiple foreign leaders that none of the potential replacements on the Democratic ticket can match. The scope of foreign policy challenges facing the next U.S. president makes clear how consequential what happens in Washington is for the rest of the planet.

Israel orders evacuation of part of Gaza humanitarian zone as war’s toll passes 39,000 Palestinians

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli military has ordered the evacuation of part of a crowded area in Gaza it has designated a humanitarian zone. The military says Hamas militants have embedded themselves in the area and civilians should evacuate the zone’s eastern part. The announcement came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was traveling to the United States to meet with President Joe Biden and address Congress to make his case for the nine-month war against Hamas while cease-fire negotiations continue. Meanwhile, Gaza’s Health Ministry says new Israeli airstrikes have sent the death toll in the war to over 39,000 Palestinians.

CrowdStrike says more machines fixed as customers, regulators await details on what caused meltdown

AUSTIN, Tex. (AP) — Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike says a “significant number” of the millions of computers that crashed on Friday, causing global disruptions, are back in operation as its customers and regulators await a more detailed explanation of what went wrong. A defective software update sent by CrowdStrike to its customers disrupted airlines, banks, hospitals and other critical services Friday, affecting about 8.5 million machines running Microsoft’s Windows operating system. The painstaking work of fixing it has often required a company’s IT crew to manually delete files on affected machines. CrowdStrike said late Sunday in a blog post that it was starting to implement a new technique to accelerate remediation of the problem.

Too many pills? How to talk to your doctor about reviewing what’s needed

Swallowing a handful of pills is a daily ritual for many people, but taking too many meds can cause problems. Asking your doctor or pharmacist for a medication review can help if your daily pill routine is getting out of hand. Some drugs can cause harm if taken for years. Others stop working or interact poorly with a new drug. A drug tolerated well at first can cause side effects later, leading to cognitive decline and injuries from falls. Asking questions about your medications is an important step toward better health.

LeBron James selected as Team USA male flagbearer for Paris Olympics opening ceremony

LeBron James wasn’t totally sure what the opening ceremony was all about when he was picked for his first Olympics in 2004. This time, he’ll be one of the stars of the show. James has been picked by his fellow U.S. Olympians to serve as the male flagbearer for the Americans in Friday night’s opening ceremony for the Paris Games. He becomes the third basketball player to carry the U.S. flag at the start of an Olympics, joining Dawn Staley for the Athens Games in 2004 and Sue Bird for the Tokyo Games that happened in 2021.