AP-Newswatch

Israel says another rocket barrage from Lebanon kills 2 in Israel, hours after 5 were killed

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s rescue service says projectiles fired from Lebanon killed two more people in northern Israel, raising death toll there to seven in what’s been the deadliest rocket barrage since the Israeli military’s invasion of southern Lebanon. Magen David Adom, Israel’s main emergency medical organization, said its medics confirmed the deaths of a 30-year-old man and 60-year-old woman in a suburb of the northern city of Haifa on Thursday. They also treated two other people who suffered mild injuries and were hospitalized. The Israeli military said that roughly 25 rockets crossed into Israel from Lebanon as part of the volley that struck an olive grove where people had gathered for the harvest.

A Lebanese family planning for a daughter’s wedding is killed in an Israeli strike on their home

BEIRUT (AP) — Maya Gharib was planning to get married in October, though she was worried her brother living abroad wouldn’t be able to make it back to Lebanon as tensions with Israel grew. On Sept. 23, Israel ramped up its bombardment of Lebanon in an escalating campaign to strike the Hezbollah militant group. One of its strikes directly hit the family’s apartment, killing Maya, her two sisters and their parents. Israel said it struck a site hiding Hezbollah rocket launchers and missiles. Maya’s brother said the family had no connection to the group.

The struggle for Senate control goes down to the wire as spending shatters records

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Billions of dollars in ads are raining down on voters across the Rust Belt, Rocky Mountains and American southwest as the two major political parties struggle for control of the U.S. Senate. Republicans need to pick up two seats to capture a surefire majority, and one of those — West Virginia — is all but in the bag for the GOP. Republican strategists say they’re targeting seven other states where Democrats are defending seats: Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Republicans are most confident about flipping the seats in deep-red Montana and reliably red Ohio. Democrats, conversely, say they are forcing competitive contests in two red states, Texas and Nebraska.

Spain searches for bodies after unprecedented flooding claims at least 158 lives

BARRIO DE LA TORRE, Spain (AP) — Crews are searching for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings as people try to salvage what they can from ruined homes following monstrous flash floods in Spain that claimed at least 158 lives, with 155 people killed in one region alone. The death toll could rise more as search efforts continue Thursday. An unknown number remains missing. Spain’s transport minister says dead bodies remain inside some of the hundreds of stranded vehicles. Wrecked vehicles, tree branches, downed power lines and household items are mired in a layer of mud covering the streets of Barrio de la Torre, just one of dozens of localities in the hard-hit eastern region of Valencia. Officials say 155 people have died in Valencia.

Ukrainian front-line school system goes underground to protect against bombs and radiation

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) — To be a parent in the Ukrainian front-line city of Zaporizhzhia means weighing your child’s life against the Russian weapons within striking distance. Most rain death in an instant: the drones, the ballistic missiles, the glide bombs, the artillery shells. But Russian soldiers control another weapon they have never deployed, with the potential to be just as deadly: The nearby Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. These twin dangers – bombs and radiation – shadow families in Zaporizhzhia. Most of the youngest residents have never seen the inside of a classroom, after first the COVID-19 pandemic and then the war halted in-person classes. So Zaporizhzhia is starting construction on a dozen subterranean schools capable of educating 12,000 students.

About 8,000 North Korean troops are near the Ukrainian border, US diplomat says at UN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says it has information that some 8,000 North Korean soldiers are now in Russia’s Kursk region near Ukraine’s border and preparing to help Russian forces fight against Ukrainian troops. In a dramatic moment during a U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations asked for more time to add to comments he made earlier condemning increasing the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea. robert Wood then said that “right now there are some 8,000″ North Korea troops in Kursk.” The Russian representative at the council meeting didn’t respond to the comment.

Google Maps adds AI features to help users explore and navigate the world around them

PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) — Google Maps is heading down a new road steered by artificial intelligence. The shift announced Thursday will bring more of the revolutionary AI technology that Google already has been baking into its dominant search engine to the widely used digital maps service that the internet company launched nearly 20 years ago as part of its efforts to expand into new frontiers. Google Maps recently surpassed 2 billion worldwide monthly users for the first time, a milestone that illustrates how dependent people have become on the service. With the introduction of Google’s AI technology, the maps are now being set up to become an entertainment guide in addition to a navigational tool.