AP-Newswatch

Secret Service director steps down after assassination attempt against ex-President Trump at rally

WASHINGTON (AP) — The director of the Secret Service is stepping down from her job following the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump that unleashed intensifying outcry about how the agency tasked with protecting current and former presidents could fail in its core mission. Kimberly Cheatle had served as Secret Service director since August 2022. Cheatle announced her departure in an email sent to staff Tuesday and obtained by The Associated Press. Cheatle had faced growing calls to resign and several investigations into how the shooter was able to get so close to the Republican presidential nominee at an outdoor campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Trump says his right ear was pierced in the shooting. One rallygoer was killed.

Harris visits battleground Wisconsin in first rally as Democrats coalesce around her for president

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is making her first visit to a battleground state after locking up enough support from Democratic delegates to win her party’s nomination to challenge Republican former President Donald Trump. Two days after President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid and as the Democratic Party coalesces around Harris, she is traveling to Milwaukee on Tuesday. Harris will hold her first campaign rally since she launched her 2024 campaign on Sunday with Biden’s endorsement. Harris has raised more than $100 million since Sunday afternoon and has scored the backing of Democratic officials and political groups.

Biden will address the nation Wednesday on his decision to drop his 2024 Democratic reelection bid

REHOBOTH BEACH, Delaware (AP) — President Joe Biden will address the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday on his decision to drop his 2024 Democratic reelection bid. Biden posted on X he’ll speak “on what lies ahead” and how he’ll “finish the job for the American people.” Biden will speak at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday. The president is scheduled to return to the White House on Tuesday after isolating at his Delaware home after being diagnosed last week with COVID-19. Biden has not been seen publicly since July 17, but he called into a campaign meeting Monday to express support for Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid to replace him a day after announcing he would leave the race.

Kamala Harris is preparing to lead Democrats in 2024. There are lessons from her 2020 bid

ATLANTA (AP) — Kamala Harris stepped onto the national political stage as Barack Obama was leaving. The loftiest forecasts in 2017 suggested the California senator could reach the same heights as the barrier-breaking 44th president. Harris ran for president but ran out of money after struggling to break through and ended her campaign before the Iowa caucuses. Harris’ first effort showed potential on the debate stage but also involved a struggle to find a core message. Democrats say that was as much about the difficult scramble in a big primary field. Democrats argue in 2024 Harris will be able to leverage the best of her 2020 effort in a matchup against one man: Republican former President Donald Trump.

Biden passed that torch slowly, hanging on until the wheels finally came off

WASHINGTON (AP) — Insiders who were close to Joe Biden’s struggles are describing a president who was dogged in his determination to keep his candidacy alive — but ultimately not in denial about the odds. A number of firsthand observers of Biden’s crisis say he was privately contemplative during his days of decision, before announcing Sunday that he was quitting the presidential race. He is said to have told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on July 13 that he needed a week to decide what to do. Publicly, Biden never wavered from his vow to continue his candidacy — up until the day he ended it.

Rivals Hamas and Fatah sign a declaration to form a future government as war rages in Gaza

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah say they have signed a declaration in Beijing vowing to form a government together. It’s their latest attempt at resolving their long rivalry. The accord provides no guarantees or timeline. Both sides call it only an initial step. Previous such declarations have failed. Israel swiftly denounced the agreement. The U.S. and other Western countries have refused to accept any Palestinian government that includes Hamas unless it expressly recognizes Israel. The declaration comes at a sensitive time as Israel and Hamas weigh a cease-fire proposal. China is trying to have a growing role in Middle East diplomacy.

Iowa law banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy to take effect Monday

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s strict abortion law will take effect Monday, banning most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant. The law was passed last year, but a judge had blocked it from being enforced. When the Iowa Supreme Court reiterated in June that there’s no constitutional right to an abortion in the state, they ordered the hold be lifted. The district court judge’s orders Monday say the law will go into effect next Monday. Currently, 14 states have near total bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy and three states ban it after about six weeks. Iowa abortion providers have said they will continue to provide services in compliance with the law.

Death toll in southern Ethiopia mudslides rises to at least 157 as search operations continue

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Mudslides triggered by heavy rain in a remote part of Ethiopia have killed at least 157 people. Local authorities say many of the victims were killed while they were trying to rescue survivors of an earlier mudslide in the Kencho Shacha Gozdi district of southern Ethiopia. They say the death toll rose from 55 late Monday to 157 on Tuesday as search operations continued in the area. Landslides are common during Ethiopia’s rainy reason, which started in July and is expected to last until mid-September.

As doctors leave Puerto Rico in droves, a rapper tries to fill the gaps

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico has lost thousands of its doctors in the past decade, many having fled to the U.S. mainland for better pay. The island’s health care system is grappling with severe understaffing and power outages, and the flight of workers seeking better wages is expected to worsen. That’s why one doctor, Pedro Juan Vázquez, who is better known by his stage name PJ Sin Suela, is trying to fill the gaps. He has been treating patients during the day and performing his rap sets at night, singing about the many challenges Puerto Ricans on the island face.

Biles, Osaka and Phelps spoke up about mental health. Has anything changed for the Paris Olympics?

Athletes heading to the Paris Olympics have more access than ever to resources in the once-taboo realm of mental health and many sound more willing than ever to use them. That seems significant given that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s senior director of psychological services says about half of the country’s athletes at the past two Olympiads were flagged for at least one of the following: anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, eating disorders, substance use or abuse. Among the key questions at the Summer Games that start Friday is whether everyone will seek the help they need and is enough help available?