AP News Summary at 11:53 p.m. EDT
Israeli airstrikes crush apartments in Gaza refugee camp, as ground troops battle Hamas militants
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — A barrage of Israeli airstrikes leveled apartment buildings in a refugee camp near Gaza City, and footage showed rescuers pulling men, women and children out of the rubble. Israel said the strike destroyed a Hamas command center set up in civilian houses and a network of underground tunnels. The toll from the strikes in Jabaliya camp was not immediately known. The Israeli military said a large number of Hamas militants were killed. A Palestinian hospital director said hundreds of civilians were wounded or killed, but did not provide exact figures. Neither side’s account could be independently confirmed.
Has Israel invaded Gaza? The military has been vague, even if its objectives are clear
Over the past five days, Israeli ground troops have pushed deeper and deeper into Gaza in their war against Hamas, launched in response to a bloody Oct. 7 cross-border raid by the Islamic militant group. A growing array of units, including naval, air and ground forces, have joined the effort. The army says it has killed scores of militants and damaged Hamas’ strategic tunnel network. Yet even as the operation expands each day, the army refuses to call it an invasion. Its vague choice of words is more than an issue of semantics. It appears to be a deliberate strategy aimed at keeping its enemy off balance and preserving its options as a lengthy war unfolds.
House Speaker Mike Johnson was once the dean of a Christian law school. It never opened its doors
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mike Johnson does not typically mention one aspect of his work before being elected to Congress. He was once chosen to be the dean of a small Baptist law school. But the school ultimately collapsed without enrolling students or opening its doors. The episode is a reminder of how little is know about Johnson, who quickly rose from relative obscurity to suddenly become House speaker last week. His time at the law school offers insight into how Johnson navigated leadership challenges that echo the chaos, feuding and hard right politics that define the House Republican majority he now leads.
Two pastors worry for their congregants’ safety. Are more guns the answer or the problem?
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — Two pastors are each worried for their congregants safety. One believes the right to bear arms undermines the freedom to worship in peace. The other believes that the right to carry a gun is an essential means of protecting fragile religious liberty. As the Supreme Court has adopted an increasingly expansive interpretation of the Second Amendment, the right to guns is casting a shadow over many other freedoms Americans hold dear. That tension is becoming visceral in some houses of worship because, more and more, they feel like targets.
White House will develop an anti-Islamophobia strategy but faces skepticism from Muslim Americans
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is preparing to announce that it will develop a national strategy to combat Islamophobia even as it faces skepticism from the Muslim American community for its staunch support of Israel’s military assault on Hamas in Gaza. That’s according to people briefed on the matter. The White House announcement had originally been expected to come last week when Biden held a meeting with Muslim leaders. Two people say it was delayed due to concerns from the Muslim American community that the administration lacked credibility on the issue given its robust support for Israel’s military. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the White House plans.
Maine mass shooter’s troubling behavior raised concerns for months, documents show
Documents released by a Maine sheriff’s office give the most detailed timeline yet of the warning signs and failed efforts to stop the gunman who killed 18 people and wounded 13 others at a bowling alley and bar last week. The Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department says Robert Card’s son told authorities in May that his father had grown more angry and paranoid since January. In July, Card spent two weeks at a psychiatric facility after erratic behavior while training with his Army Reserve unit in New York. The new documents also show that deputies twice visited Card’s home in September, including once when they believed he was there but didn’t answer the door.
Expert says Trump could have defended Capitol on Jan. 6 as disqualification case enters new phase
DENVER (AP) — A professor who is an expert in national security has testified that then-President Donald Trump could have mobilized the National Guard and federal law enforcement to protect the U.S. Capitol once violence broke out on Jan 6, 2021. The testimony came Tuesday as a Colorado case to bar the former president from the 2024 ballot moved into a new phase. William Banks is a Syracuse University law professor who was called by lawyers for the Colorado voters trying to bar Trump from the 2024 ballot under the rarely used “insurrection” clause of the Constitution. Trump’s lawyers say the military had assured the then-president they had a plan for protest security.
Bodycam video shows police saving residents from Maui wildfire, keeping people out of burn zone
HONOLULU (AP) — Police who frantically tried to save people from the wildfire that devastated the historic Maui town of Lahaina this summer also faced another challenge: keeping people from heading back toward the flames. Hours of body camera footage released to The Associated Press under a public records request includes chaotic footage of officers trying to block people from entering the burning area, even as they were trying to evacuate those still inside. Those included residents desperate to learn the fates of their homes or relatives, or tourists just looking for a place to sleep. The Aug. 8 fire left at least 99 people dead and destroyed more than 2,000 buildings.
Natalee Holloway’s confessed killer returns to Peru to serve out sentence in another murder
LIMA, Peru (AP) — A Dutchman who recently confessed to killing American high school student Natalee Holloway in 2005 in Aruba has been returned from the U.S. to Peru to serve the remainder of his prison sentence for murdering a Peruvian woman. Joran van der Sloot arrived in Lima on Tuesday in the custody of law enforcement. The South American country’s government agreed in June to聽temporarily extradite聽him to the U.S. to face trial on extortion and wire fraud charges for extorting Holloway’s mother. He pleaded guilty to those charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In an interview with his attorney conducted in the U.S. after his extradition he admitted to killing Holloway.
Missouri appeals court rules against ballot summary language that described ‘dangerous’ abortions
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri appeals court has ruled against a Republican-written description of abortion-rights ballot measures, calling his summaries politically partisan. The Western District Court of Appeals on Tuesday largely upheld descriptions of the constitutional amendments that were rewritten by a lower court judge to be more impartial. The summaries are used on Missouri ballots to help voters understand sometimes lengthy and complex proposed policy changes. If supporters gather enough voter signatures, the abortion-rights constitutional amendments would go before Missouri voters in 2024. Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft had described the proposed constitutional amendments as allowing “dangerous and unregulated abortions until live birth.” He says he plans to appeal the ruling.