AP-Newswatch

Business News
February 8, 2024
AP Sports
February 8, 2024
AP-Newswatch

AP-Summary Brief News

February 8, 2024

Israeli strikes kill 13 in a southern Gaza town that could be the next target in the war

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes have killed over a dozen people overnight, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas’ cease-fire terms and vowed to expand the offensive into the southern Gaza town. More than half of Gaza’s population has fled to Rafah, on the mostly sealed border with Egypt. It is also the main entry point for humanitarian aid. Egypt has warned that any ground operation there or mass displacement across the border would undermine its four-decade-old peace treaty with Israel. Residents at the scene of one of the strikes early on Thursday used their cellphone flashlights as they dug through the rubble with pick-axes and their bare hands.

Blinken ends latest Mideast mission after new Israeli snub of proposed Gaza cease-fire plan

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has left the Middle East with public divisions between the United States and Israel at perhaps their worst level since Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza began in October. Wrapping up a four-nation Mideast trip — his fifth to the region since the conflict erupted — Blinken was returning to Washington after getting a virtual slap in the face from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a proposed cease-fire plan, Netanyahu said the war would continue until Israel is completely victorious and appeared to reject outright a response from Hamas to the cease-fire proposal. Yet Blinken and other U.S. officials said they remained optimistic that progress could be made.

The Supreme Court hears landmark election case seeking to kick Trump off ballot over Capitol attack

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s appeal to remain on the 2024 ballot is coming before the Supreme Court. On Thursday, in the justices’ biggest election case since Bush v. Gore, the court will be weighing arguments over whether Trump is disqualified from reclaiming the White House because of his efforts to undo his 2020 election loss, ending with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The case marks the first time the justices will be considering a constitutional provision that was adopted after the Civil War to prevent former officeholders who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office again. Colorado’s Supreme Court kicked Trump off the state’s Republican primary ballot in ruling that he incited the Capitol riot.

Biden determined to use stunning Trump-backed collapse of border deal as a weapon in 2024 campaign

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden was urgently seeking more money from Congress to aid Ukraine and Israel. He took a gamble by seizing on the GOP effort to simultaneously address one of his biggest political liabilities — illegal migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. Now the president is trying to make the best of it after a major congressional deal was scuttled once Republican front-runner Donald Trump got involved. And Biden is intent on showing that the former president and his “Make America Great Again” Republican acolytes in Congress aren’t really interested in solutions.

Broken Congress: It can’t fix the border, fund allies or impeach Mayorkas as GOP revolts.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas was not, in fact, impeached, by the House. A border security package instantly collapsed in the Senate. And foreign aid for Ukraine as it fights Russia is stubbornly stalled. The broken Congress, which failed in stunning fashion this week as Republicans revolted in new and unimaginable ways against their own agenda, will try to do it all over again – as soon as next week. The dysfunction shows just how deeply the Republican Party, under Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, is turning away from its traditional role as a working partner in the U.S.’s two-party system to a new one rooted in Donald Trump’s vision for the GOP.

5 Marines aboard helicopter that went down outside San Diego are confirmed dead, military says

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The military says U.S. Marines aboard a helicopter that went down during stormy weather in the mountains outside of San Diego are confirmed dead. The miliary made the announcement early Thursday. Authorities say the CH-53E Super Stallion vanished late Tuesday night while returning to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego after training at Creech Air Force Base, northwest of Las Vegas. The craft was discovered Wednesday morning near the mountain community of Pine Valley, an hour’s drive from San Diego. The names of the Marines were not immediately released. Efforts to recover the remains of the five have begun and an investigation into the crash is underway,

How the ‘squad’ is fighting back against pro-Israel PACs with record fundraising

WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of progressive lawmakers are fighting back against a multimillion-dollar campaign to push them out of Congress for their vocal opposition to Israel’s deadly bombardment of Gaza after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. The so-called “squad” is being singled out this election cycle by pro-Israel PACs like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, better known as AIPAC. As a result, the incumbents are raising a record number of contributions from Muslim and Arab American groups who are determined to keep their voice on Capitol Hill. It’s a struggle that raises questions about who can be a Democrat in Congress, what positions are permissible about Israel and and the Palestinians, and what role outside groups should have in determining both.

Ex-Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif strikes confident note in vote marred by rival’s imprisonment

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expressing confidence his party will win national elections. Thursday’s vote has been marred by violence, deep political tensions and the imprisonment of a popular contender. A day before the election, at least 30 were killed in bombings at political offices, and sporadic attacks on Thursday appeared aimed at disrupting the balloting. A total mobile phone shutdown across the country drew condemnation from rights groups. The violence, political feuding and a seemingly intractable economic crisis have left many voters disillusioned. They also raised questions about whether a new government can bring more stability to the troubled Western ally. But Sharif brushed off suggestions his party might not win an outright majority.

A volcano in Iceland is erupting for the 3rd time since December, spewing lava into the sky

GRINDAVIK, Iceland (AP) — A volcano in southwestern Iceland has erupted for the third time since December and sent jets of lava into the sky. The eruption on Thursday morning triggered the evacuation the Blue Lagoon spa which is one of the island nation’s biggest tourist attractions. The Icelandic Meteorological Office says the eruption has opened a 3-kilometer or nearly 2-mile fissure northeast of Mount Sýlingarfell. The eruption is about 4 kilometers or 2½ miles northeast of Grindavik. The coastal town of 3,800 people was evacuated before a previous eruption on Dec. 18. The Civil Defense agency says lava is heading for a pipe that supplies several communities with hot water from the Svartsengi geothermal plant.

The game. The ads. The music. The puppies. Here’s why millions are excited for Super Bowl Sunday

Millions of Americans will find something to be excited about when it comes to Super Bowl Sunday. That’s before even factoring in the influence of Taylor Swift. Four in 10 U.S. adults are extremely or very excited for at least one part of the Super Bowl day’s festivities. That could be the game, commercials, halftime show or the Puppy Bowl, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The Kansas City Chiefs will play the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas.