AP-Newswatch

Strikes on Gaza’s southern edge sow fear in one of the last areas Palestinians are fleeing

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces struck the southern Gaza town of Rafah twice overnight, sowing fear in one of the last places where civilians can seek refuge. Israel has widened its offensive against Hamas from the devastated north to southern areas already packed with displaced people. United Nations officials say there are no safe places in Gaza. Heavy fighting in and around the southern city of Khan Younis has displaced tens of thousands of people and cut most of Gaza off from deliveries of food, water and other vital aid. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used a rarely exercised power to warn the Security Council of an impending “humanitarian catastrophe” and urged members to demand a cease-fire. The United States appeared likely to block any such effort.

Israel and US at odds over conflicting visions for postwar Gaza

JERUSALEM (AP) — The United States strongly supports Israel in its war against Hamas, but is increasingly at odds with its Middle East ally over what will happen to the Gaza Strip once the war winds down. Israel talks about having an open-ended security presence and imposing a buffer zone to keep Palestinians away from its border. It rules out any role for the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority. The United States lays out a different vision. Top officials say they will not allow Israel to reoccupy Gaza or shrink its territory and repeatedly have called for a return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza. These conflicting visions have set the stage for difficult discussions between Israel and the U.S.

House votes to censure Democratic Rep. Bowman for pulling a fire alarm in a Capitol office building

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has voted to censure Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman for triggering a fire alarm in one of the U.S. Capitol office buildings when the chamber was in session. The New York congressman Thursday became the third Democrat in the House to be admonished this year through the process. Censure is a punishment one step below expulsion from the House and has become routine in the last year. Republicans claim Bowman pulled the alarm in September to “cause chaos.” Bowman late Wednesday said he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and apologized for his mistake. The prominent progressive was surrounded by fellow Democrats, who criticized Republicans for what they called a “stupid” resolution.

Texas judge grants pregnant woman permission to get an abortion despite state’s ban

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas judge has granted a pregnant woman permission to obtain an abortion in an unprecedented challenge to the state’s ban that took effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned last year. It was unclear Thursday how quickly or whether Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two from the Dallas area, will be able to obtain an abortion. State District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble says she will grant a temporary restraining order that will allow Cox to have an abortion. That decision is likely to be appealed by the state. Cox is 20 weeks pregnant and doctors say her fetus has a fatal diagnosis. Her attorneys told Gamble that Cox went to an emergency room this week for a fourth time since her pregnancy.

Vegas shooter who killed 3 was a professor who recently applied for a job at UNLV, AP source says

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Three people are dead and a fourth in critical but stable condition after a gunman opened fire at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas before police killed him in a shootout. Wednesday’s attack had terrified students and professors cowering in classrooms. A law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation tells The Associated Press that the shooter was a professor who’d unsuccessfully sought a job at the school. The campus is only a couple of miles from the Las Vegas Strip, where the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place in October 2017. Police say lessons learned from that tragedy helped them confront Wednesday’s attack.

Centenarian survivors of Pearl Harbor attack are returning to honor those who perished 82 years ago

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — Pearl Harbor survivor Ira Schab is planning to return to the Hawaii naval base 82 years after Japan’s bombing propelled the U.S. into World War II. Schab is expected to be one of just six survivors at a remembrance ceremony for the more than 2,300 servicemen killed on Dec. 7, 1941. The actual number may fluctuate, depending on how many of the increasingly frail men are able to attend. The aging pool of Pearl Harbor survivors has been rapidly shrinking. There is now just one crew member of the USS Arizona still living. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs doesn’t have statistics for how many Pearl Harbor survivors are still living.

An appreciation: How Norman Lear changed television — and with it American life — in the 1970s

NEW YORK (AP) — Norman Lear, who died this week at age 101, changed American life with the candor and comedy of his creations. Television, still in its early days as the 1970s began, used its entertainment to escape from reality before Lear’s “All in the Family” burst onto the scene in 1971. Lear showed a world that was changing rapidly, as much as bigot Archie Bunker tried to resist, and gave Americans reason to laugh together. Through his remarkable run in the 1970s, he introduced television comedies that showed worlds that many hadn’t been exposed to: striving and struggling Black families and a single mom trying to raise two daughters.

Trump is back at his New York civil fraud trial as testimony nears an end

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has returned to his New York civil business fraud trial again. Trump showed up Thursday to watch an accounting professor discuss financial topics important to the case. Trump himself is scheduled to take the stand Monday, for a second time. The Republican 2024 presidential front-runner is devoting a lot of attention to the New York case. State Attorney General Letitia James’ suit accuses Trump, his company and some executives of misleading banks and insurers by giving them financial statements with inflated asset values. Trump denies any wrongdoing, and he posits that the statements’ numbers actually fell short of his wealth.

A nurse’s fatal last visit to patient’s home renews calls for better safety measures

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. (AP) — The killing of a visiting nurse in Connecticut is sparking renewed calls to better protect health care workers from what has been a rise in violence across the country. Joyce Grayson was slain Oct. 28 when she went to a halfway house for sex offenders for an appointment with a client with a violent past. Police say the patient, Michael Reese, is a suspect in the killing but no one has been charged with Grayson’s death yet. Visiting nurses and Connecticut Congressman Joe Courtney are calling for new state and federal laws to better protect health care workers.

What to know about the Hall & Oates legal fight, and the business at stake behind all that music

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — After more than a half-century of making music together, Daryl Hall is suing John Oates over a proposed sale of his share of a Hall & Oates business partnership that Hall says he hasn’t approved. Public court filings have revealed a wide rift between the famed duo whose hits spanned the 1970s and ’80s. Hall has accused Oates of blindsiding and betraying him, saying their relationship and his trust in Oates have deteriorated. Oates has said he is “deeply hurt” that Hall is making “inflammatory, outlandish, and inaccurate statements.” A Nashville judge recently paused the sale of Oates’ stake in Whole Oats Enterprises LLP to Primary Wave IP Investment Management LLC pending arbitration, or until Feb. 17.