AP News Summary at 11:57 p.m. EDT
US fighter jets strike Iran-linked sites in Syria in retaliation for attacks on US troops
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon says U.S. fighter jets launched airstrikes early Friday on two locations in eastern Syria linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. The strikes come in retaliation for a slew of drone and missile attacks against U.S. bases and personnel in the region that began early last week. They reflect the Biden administration’s determination to maintain a delicate balance. The U.S. wants to hit Iranian-backed groups suspected of targeting the U.S. as strongly as possible to deter future aggression, while also working to avoid provoking a wider conflict. The U.S. does not have any information yet on casualties or an assessment of damage from Friday’s strikes.
Fearful Maine residents stay home amid massive search for suspect in killing of 18 people
LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Shocked and fearful Maine residents are keeping to their homes for a second night as hundreds of police and FBI agents search intently for Robert Card, a U.S. Army reservist authorities say fatally shot 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar. Wednesday’s attack in Lewiston was the worst mass killing in state history. On Thursday, heavily armed police surrounded a home in rural Bowdoin as they searched for Card but left hours later after searching the residence. Three of the wounded remain in critical condition. Meanwhile, schools and businesses are closed and people sheltered in their homes in communities as far as 50 miles away from Lewiston.
Maine passed a law to try to prevent mass shootings. Some say more is needed after Lewiston killings
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Barely four years before a gunman’s deadly rampage in Maine, the state’s governor signed a law to prevent mass shootings. It was called a “yellow flag” law, different from the “red flag” laws designed to seize guns from people viewed as threats. The law and permissive gun measures in Maine are coming under greater scrutiny in the aftermath of a massacre that authorities say was carried out by a man committed to a mental health facility who had reported hearing voices and threatened to shoot up a military base. Anti-gun violence groups have pushed for stronger laws, but failed in a state protective of gun rights. They’re vowing to try again.
Israeli troops briefly raid northern Gaza to ‘prepare’ for an expected full-scale incursion
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops and tanks launched an hourslong ground raid into northern Gaza overnight. The military said troops struck several militant targets in Thursday’s raid in order to “prepare the battlefield” ahead of a widely expected ground invasion. The raid came after the U.N. warned it is on the verge of running out of fuel in the Gaza Strip, forcing it to sharply curtail relief efforts in the besieged territory. Hospitals in Gaza are struggling to treat masses of wounded with dwindling resources. The war, sparked by Hamas’ bloody incursion into southern Israel on Oct. 7, is already the deadliest of five fought between Israel and Hamas in the last 15 years.
EXPLAINER: What is Gaza’s Ministry of Health and how does it calculate the war’s death toll?
JERUSALEM (AP) — As the Israel-Hamas war rages, international and local monitoring groups in Gaza have been unable to keep up. The only source reporting how many people have been killed in Hamas-ruled Gaza is the Ministry of Health. Over past wars, the ministry has largely maintained a track record of accuracy. Its death toll counts usually stand up to U.N. scrutiny, investigations and Israel’s own tallies. But an explosion at al-Ahli Hospital last week has called the health ministry’s credibility into question. Confusion over that toll has raised doubts over whether ministry numbers can be trusted. In the face of the doubts, the ministry has released a 212-page report listing every Palestinian killed so far, including names, ID numbers, ages and gender.
New US House speaker tried to help overturn the 2020 election, raising concerns about the next one
The new speaker of the U.S. House had a key role in trying to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election win. Republican congressman Mike Johnson of Louisiana spearheaded a legal brief in support of an unsuccessful lawsuit trying to overturn President Donald Trump’s loss. Johnson repeated baseless conspiracy theories about the election and voted against certifying its outcome after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Johnson’s role is significant because he’s now second in the line of presidential succession, after the vice president. And the House in January 2025 will have a key role in certifying the winner of next year’s presidential election.
Hurricane Otis survivors search for friends and necessities in devastated Acapulco
ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — Survivors of a Category 5 storm that killed at least 27 people as it devastated Mexico’s resort city of Acapulco are searching for acquaintances and necessities and hoping aid will come quickly in the wake of Hurricane Otis. The Pacific storm strengthened 聽with shocking swiftness before slamming into the coast early Wednesday. The Mexican government has deployed around 10,000 troops to deal with the aftermath. But equipment to move tons of mud and fallen trees from the streets has been slower in arriving. Resentment is growing in impoverished neighborhoods as residents worry that government attention will focus on repairing infrastructure for the city’s economic engine of tourism rather than helping the neediest.
Autoworkers reach a deal with Ford, a breakthrough toward ending strikes against Detroit automakers
DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers union says it has reached a tentative contract agreement with Ford that could be a breakthrough to end the nearly 6-week-old strikes against Detroit automakers. The four-year deal still has to be approved by 57,000 union members at the company. It could bring a close to the union’s series of strikes at targeted factories run by Ford, General Motors and Jeep maker Stellantis. The Ford deal could set the pattern for agreements with the other two automakers, although no other agreements were announced Wednesday.
Judge says Georgia’s congressional and legislative districts are discriminatory and must be redrawn
ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge says some of Georgia’s congressional, state Senate and state House districts are racially discriminatory, ordering the state to draw an additional Black-majority congressional district. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones on Thursday also ordered the state to draw two new Black-majority state Senate districts and five new Black-majority state House districts. Jones ordered the state to redraw maps before Dec. 8. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is responding by setting a Nov. 29 special session. One of Georgia’s 14 congressional seats could shift from Republican to Democratic control. The Georgia case is part of a wave of litigation after the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year stood behind its interpretation of the Voting Rights Act.
Former Premier Li Keqiang, China’s top economic official for a decade, dies at 68
BEIJING (AP) — Former Premier Li Keqiang, China’s top economic official for a decade, has died of a heart attack at 68. State media CCTV said he died Friday in Shanghai. Li was China’s No. 2 leader from 2013-23 and an advocate for private business but was left with little authority after President Xi Jinping made himself the most powerful Chinese leader in decades and tightened control over the economy and society. Li, an English-speaking economist, was considered a contender to become Communist Party leader in 2013 but was passed over in favor of Xi. The centralization of power by Xi left Li and others on the party’s ruling seven-member Standing Committee with little influence.