AP-Newswatch

As war rages in Gaza, Israel’s crackdown on West Bank insurgency is killing Palestinian youths

JENIN, West Bank (AP) — As the world’s attention focuses on the far more deadly war in Gaza less than 80 miles away, the Israeli military has intensified its crackdown in the West Bank. Scores of teenagers have been killed, shot and arrested. Many have died in nearly daily raids by the Israeli army that Amnesty International says have used disproportionate and unlawful force. Some were members of militant groups. Others were killed during protests or when they or someone nearby threw rocks or home-made explosives at military vehicles. Still others appear to have been random targets. Taken together, the killings raise troubling questions about the devaluation of young lives in pursuit of security and autonomy.

Hundreds gather on a Seattle beach to remember an American activist killed by the Israeli military

SEATTLE (AP) — Hundreds of people turned out at a beach in Washington for a vigil remembering Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, the 26-year-old human rights activist from Seattle killed by the Israeli military during a protest in the occupied West Bank. Many attendees Wednesday night carried photographs of Eygi in her graduation cap. They laid roses, sunflowers or carnations at a memorial where battery-operated candles spelled out her name in the sand. Eygi, who also held Turkish citizenship, was killed last week while demonstrating against settlements in the West Bank. Her family has demanded an independent investigation. Turkey’s justice minister said Thursday his country is investigating Eygi’s death.

Tech billionaire pulls off first private spacewalk high above Earth

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A tech billionaire has performed the first private spacewalk hundreds of miles above Earth. It was a high-risk endeavor reserved for professional astronauts — until now. Tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman teamed up with SpaceX to test the company’s brand new spacesuits on his chartered flight. Thursday’s spacewalk also saw SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis going out once Isaacman was safely back inside. The whole thing lasted less than two hours. The crew of four launched on Tuesday from Florida, rocketing farther from Earth than anyone since NASA’s moonwalkers.

Georgia Republican leader seeks changes after school shooting, but Democrats want more

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s state House speaker says lawmakers in 2025 will consider new policies after a school shooting killed four at a high school northeast of Atlanta. The changes could include increased student access to mental health care, encouraging people to store guns safely, and information sharing among schools, police and health professionals. But Republican Jon Burns is stopping short of Democratic demands. They include universal background checks, a mandate to safely lock up guns and a “red flag” law letting the state temporarily take guns from someone in crisis. The proposals made Thursday by Burns are the first policy response to the Sept. 4 shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder.

South Koreans are starkly divided over North Korea’s nuclear threat

POHANG, South Korea (AP) — There are two Koreas, North and South. But there’s also more than one South Korea; it’s split into camps with often polar opposite views on the danger posed by their nuclear-armed neighbor to the north. This division in South Korean sentiment has lasted through a tumultuous history of war, dictatorship, poverty and, in recent decades, head-spinning though unevenly distributed economic growth. Spend some time in South Korea and you will see reminders everywhere of North Korea’s potential nuclear menace — and a whole range of ways residents read its actions. The Associated Press interviewed and photographed dozens of South Koreans to illuminate this unique, fragmented perception of their biggest enemy and closest neighbor, North Korea.

Death toll climbs to 199 in Vietnam as typhoon’s aftermath brings flash floods and landslides

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Nearly 200 people have died in Vietnam in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi and 128 are missing as flash floods and landslides take their toll. Vietnam’s VNExpress newspaper reported Thursday that 199 people have died while more than 800 have been injured. In the capital, flood waters from the Red River receded slightly but many areas were still inundated with water neck-high in some places. The death toll spiked earlier in the week as a flash flood swept away the entire hamlet of Lang Nu in northern Vietnam’s Lao Cai province Tuesday. Hundreds of rescue personnel worked tirelessly Wednesday to search for survivors, but as of Thursday morning 53 villagers remained missing.

Francine weakens moving inland as the storm leaves behind flooding and widespread power outages

MORGAN CITY, La. (AP) — Francine has weakened to a tropical depression after slamming into Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane, causing widespread power outages and sending a dangerous storm surge rushing into coastal communities. The National Hurricane Center predicted the sixth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season would continue weakening. It’s expected to slow down as it moves across Mississippi. Francine made landfall Wednesday evening with 100 mph winds, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of customers in Louisiana and dumping heavy rains around the state, including in New Orleans. Heavy rains and possible flash floods are in the forecast for Mississippi as well as parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

Dealers’ paradise? How social media became a storefront for deadly fake pills as families struggle

Fentanyl overdoses have become a leading cause of death for minors in the last 5 years or so — and social media, where tainted, fake prescription drugs can be obtained with just a few clicks, is part of the problem. Experts say companies like Snap, Telegram and Meta, which owns Instagram, are not doing enough to keep children safe. As recently as a decade ago, people looking to buy illicit drugs online would visit the dark web. But since then, using popular social media sites, encrypted chat platforms, legitimate payment platforms and shipping services, dealers moved into the light.