AP News Summary at 11:57 p.m. EST
Democrats win in several states on abortion rights and other highlights from Tuesday’s elections
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats have plenty of good news to celebrate in Tuesday’s off-year election and more evidence that they can win races centered on the national debate over abortion. Abortion rights supporters won big in an Ohio ballot measure. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear was reelected in Kentucky after running television ads painting his challenger as extremist on abortion. And Virginia’s Senate will remain in Democratic control, preventing state Republicans from pursuing new abortion restrictions. The off-year elections provide a snapshot of American politics heading into 2024. But two big names — Joe Biden and Donald Trump — weren’t on the ballot this time.
Kentucky Gov. Beshear wins reelection. Ohio passes amendment on abortion rights. Follow live updates
Voters in Pennsylvania’s second-largest county have reelected a longtime district attorney who lost his Democratic primary and ran in the general election as a Republican. Steve Zappala bested progressive Democrat Matt Dugan on Tuesday in a rematch for district attorney of Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh. Zappala said last month that “in terms of my politics, I’m not a politician.” He said he didn’t care about Republicans or about Democrats. Zappala defended his record as DA and said his support came from the county. He also dismissed his opponent as having out-of-state financial support.
Fighting Hamas deep in Gaza City, Israel foresees control of the enclave’s security after the war
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli army says its forces are battling Hamas fighters inside Gaza’s largest city, signaling a major new stage a month into a war that has claimed thousands of lives and leveled swaths of the territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is likely to maintain control of security in Gaza once Hamas is defeated. The move into Gaza City risks a further escalation in casualties. Netanyahu’s comments point to the uncertainty surrounding the endgame of a war that Israel says will go on for some time until it destroys Hamas rule. A Hamas spokesperson speaking Tuesday from Beirut denied that Israeli forces were making any significant military gains or that they had advanced deep into Gaza City.
House votes to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib over her Israel-Hamas rhetoric in a stunning rebuke
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has voted to censure Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan for her rhetoric about the Israel-Hamas war. Tuesday night’s action was an extraordinary rebuke of the only Palestinian American in Congress. The resolution to censure Tlaib was introduced by Republican Rep. Rich McCormick of Georgia in response to what he called Tlaib’s antisemitic rhetoric. The debate on the censure resolution was emotional and intense. With other Democrats standing by her side, Tlaib defended her stance, saying she “will not be silenced and I will not let you distort my words.” Lawmakers who opposed censuring Tlaib cited free speech and warned of the precedent it would set.
Highlights of Donald Trump’s hours on the witness stand at his New York civil fraud trial
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump went off. Again and again. Making the witness stand at his New York civil trial his podium on Monday, the former president laid into the fraud case against him. He assailed the judge who’ll decide the lawsuit and the state attorney general who brought it. Amid the broadsides, Trump spoke at length defending his real estate empire and his billionaire reputation against Attorney General Letitia James’ allegations that he and his company exaggerated his wealth on financial statements. Trump testified for 3陆 hours.
October obliterated temperature records, virtually guaranteeing 2023 will be hottest year on record
October was the fifth straight month that Earth set a record for the hottest month in recorded history. And it did so by a big margin compared to the Octobers of pre-industrial times — 1.7 degrees Celsius. The Copernicus Climate Change service also said Wednesday that 2023 is now virtually certain to be the hottest year on record. Samantha Burgess, deputy director for the European agency, said the amount by which Earth is smashing temperature records is shocking. Extreme hot weather caused by human-caused climate change and coupled with a powerful El Nino this year has been shattering records around the world.
Special counsel in the Hunter Biden case insists he was the ‘decision-maker’ in rare testimony
WASHINGTON (AP) — The prosecutor overseeing the Hunter Biden investigation has testified for nearly seven hours before congressional investigators, saying he had ultimate authority over the yearslong case. The closed-door interview on Tuesday marks the first time a special counsel is appearing before Congress in the middle of a probe. It comes as House Republicans are aiming to ramp up their impeachment inquiry into the president and his family after weeks of stalemate. Members of the House Judiciary Committee questioned David Weiss on allegations that was not the decision-maker in the case into the president’s son and that the probe was influenced by political pressure. A spokesperson for Weiss calls his testimony “unprecedented.”
The Supreme Court seems likely to preserve a gun law that protects domestic violence victims
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seems likely to preserve a federal law that prohibits people under domestic violence restraining orders from having guns. The justices on Tuesday suggested they’ll reverse a ruling from an appeals court in New Orleans that struck down the 1994 ban on firearms for people under court order to stay away from their spouses or partners. It’s the court’s first guns case since last year’s expansion of gun rights. Liberal and conservative justices sounded persuaded by arguments from the Biden administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer that the prohibition is in line with the longstanding practice of disarming dangerous people. The case involves a Texas man who was accused of threatening to shoot his girlfriend.
Syphilis cases in US newborns skyrocketed in 2022. Health officials suggest more testing
NEW YORK (AP) — Syphilis cases in U.S. newborns again are on the rise. It has health officials calling for new measures to stop the increase, including encouraging millions of sexually active women of childbearing age and their partners to get tested. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than 3,700 babies were born with congenital syphilis in 2022. That’s 10 times more than a decade ago and a 32% increase from 2021. CDC officials say there needs to be expanded testing. The agency also suggests starting syphilis treatment as soon as a pregnant woman tests positive.
A Meta engineer saw his own child face harassment on Instagram. Now, he’s testifying before Congress
On the same day whistleblower Frances Haugen was testifying before Congress about the harms of Facebook and Instagram to children in the fall of 2021, Arturo B茅jar, then a contractor at the social media giant, sent an email to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the same topic. Two years later, after seeing little change, B茅jar is testifying before Congress on Tuesday about social media and the teen mental health crisis, hoping to shed more light on what Meta executives, including Zuckerberg, knew about the harms Instagram was causing and chose not to do anything about it.