AP-Newswatch

Palestinians rush to buy food and struggle under strikes as Israel readies possible ground operation

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinians are lining up outside bakeries and grocery stores in Gaza after spending the night surrounded by the ruins of pulverized neighborhoods darkened by a near-total power outage. Israel launched new airstrikes Thursday and said it was preparing for a possible ground invasion. International aid groups have warned that the death toll in Gaza could mount after Israel stopped all deliveries of food, water, fuel and electricity to the tiny enclave while its crossing with Egypt is unusable. The war was ignited by a bloody and wide-ranging assault on Israel by Hamas militants. It has already claimed at least 2,600 lives on both sides.

Biden calls Hamas attacks the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust as US death toll ticks up

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says the weekend attack by Hamas militants on Israel was the deadliest against Jews since the Holocaust and called it a “campaign of pure cruelty.” Biden made the remarks while speaking Wednesday with Jewish leaders at the White House. The State Department says the number of U.S. citizens killed during the Hamas-Israel war has risen to 22, and at least 17 more Americans remain accounted for in a war that has already claimed more than 2,200 lives on both sides. In a sign of U.S. support for Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was traveling there for meetings.

The US is moving quickly to boost Israel’s military. A look at what assistance it’s providing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Within hours of the horrific attack by Hamas, the U.S. began moving warships and aircraft to the region to be ready to provide Israel with whatever it needs to respond. A second U.S. carrier strike group departs from Norfolk, Virginia, on Friday. Scores of aircraft are heading to U.S. military bases around the Middle East. And special operations forces are now assisting Israel’s military in planning and intelligence. The buildup reflects U.S. concern that the deadly fighting between Hamas and Israel could escalate into a more dangerous regional conflict.

Nominated to be House speaker, Steve Scalise is left searching for Republican votes to win the gavel

WASHINGTON (AP) — Having won the nomination to be the next House speaker, Rep. Steve Scalise is facing a familiar fight trying to shore up the votes. The House will gavel in at midday Thursday in anticipation of floor action to elect Scalise as speaker. But skeptical GOP colleagues are reluctant to give their support. It’s denying him the majority vote that will be needed to win the gavel. Scalise needs to peel off the more than 100 votes from his chief rival, Rep. Jim Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chairman favored by hardliners. It’s entering week two after Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the job and the House is essentially unable to function.

CIA publicly acknowledges 1953 coup it backed in Iran was undemocratic as it revisits ‘Argo’ rescue

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — While revealing new details about one of the most famed CIA operations of all times — the spiriting out of six American diplomats who escaped the 1979 U.S. Embassy seizure in Iran — the intelligence agency for the first time has acknowledged something else as well. The CIA now officially describes the 1953 coup it backed in Iran that overthrew its prime minister and cemented the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as undemocratic. While other American officials have made similar remarks in the past, the acknowledgment by the CIA in a podcast about the agency’s history comes as much of its official history of the coup still remains classified 70 years after the putsch.

More Americans support striking auto workers than car companies, an AP-NORC poll shows

More Americans sympathize with the striking auto workers than with the three big car companies that employ them. That’s one of the findings in a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research as the strike approaches the one-month mark. The poll finds that more than half of Americans sympathize with the workers or support the workers and the car companies equally. Only 9% favor the automakers over the workers. Workers went on strike Sept. 15 against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, which owns the Jeep, Dodge and Ram brands.

IMF and World Bank are urged to boost funding for African nations facing conflict and climate change

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Most of the population in conflict-affected countries like Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and northern Nigeria depends on climate-vulnerable agriculture. That makes action to combat climate change critical to their economies. But African leaders and experts argue that addressing the problem is costly for poor African countries with limited resources, and further that borrowing will worsen their financial situations. They’re calling for a rapid boost in International Monetary Fund and World Bank aid. It comes amid criticism that the lending institutions aren’t taking climate enough into account in funding decisions. Experts say acquiring funding also runs up against ruling military juntas that lack legitimacy and aren’t prioritizing the fight against the climate crisis.

Who witnessed Tupac Shakur’s 1996 killing in Las Vegas? Here’s what we know

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Duane “Keffe D” Davis is the last living suspect in one of hip-hop’s most enduring mysteries — the 1996 death of rapper Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas. Police say Davis orchestrated the killing in a drive-by shooting off the Las Vegas Strip. He is now jailed on a murder charge. On Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur was in a black BMW driven by Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight when a white Cadillac pulled up and gunfire erupted. Shakur died days later. Knight survived. Davis rode in the front seat of the Cadillac. Three other men were in the vehicle with him, including the suspected gunman.

An Oklahoma man used pandemic relief funds to have his name cleared of murder

GREENWOOD, Ark. (AP) — An Oklahoma man who was freed after being imprisoned for decades on a murder conviction says there are more cases like his. Ricky Dority used his pandemic relief money to hire a private investigator, who worked to free him along with students from Oklahoma City University’s Innocence Project. They found inconsistencies in the state’s account of a 1997 cold-case killing, and a judge vacated the 65-year-old’s conviction in June. A national database says thousands of people have been exonerated nationwide since 1989. The cases underscore a serious problem facing a judicial system in which many old convictions resulted from overworked defense attorneys, shoddy forensic work, overzealous prosecutors and outdated investigative techniques.

$1.765 billion Powerball jackpot goes to lucky lottery player in California

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A player in California has won a $1.765 billion Powerball jackpot, ending a long stretch without a winner of the top prize. The winning numbers drawn Wednesday night were: 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and the Powerball 10. Before someone won the giant prize, there had been 35 consecutive drawings without a big winner. That winless streak was due to the miserable odds of hitting the Powerball jackpot, at 1 in 292.2 million. The jackpot is the second-largest in the world, topped only by the $2.04 billion Powerball prize won by a player in California last November. The $1.765 billion prize is for a winner who is paid through an annuity over 30 years. Winners almost always choose the cash payout option, which for Wednesday night’s drawing was $774.1 million.