Pakistan votes for a new parliament as militant attacks surge and jailed leader’s party cries foul
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistanis are braving cold winter weather and the threat of violence to vote for a new parliament. Security forces were deployed at polling stations and authorities suspended mobile phone services to prevent disruptions and flash protests. Voters lined up to cast ballots in major cities on Thursday, a day after twin bombings in a restive southwestern province claimed at least 30 lives. The balloting has also been marred by allegations from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan that its candidates were denied a fair chance at campaigning. The top contender is former Prime Minister Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League. He will likely seek another term in office after his past prison sentences were overturned.
Blinken says a Hamas-Israel deal is still possible even though the sides remain far apart
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says a cease-fire and hostage-release agreement between Israel and Hamas is still possible, despite the two sides being far apart on the central terms for a deal. Blinken was in the region trying to broker a deal that could bring some respite in Israel’s war against Hamas, which is entering its fifth month. Those efforts were rattled when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier rejected a detailed plan by Hamas that would effectively leave the group in power, a scenario contrary to Israel’s stated war aim.
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 Palestine, and what role outside groups should have in determining both.
US drone strike in Baghdad kills high-ranking militia leader linked to attacks on American troops
BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. military says a U.S. drone strike blew up a car in the Iraqi capital Wednesday night, killing a high-ranking commander of the powerful Kataib Hezbollah militia who is responsible for “directly planning and participating in attacks” on American troops in the region. The precision blast hit a main thoroughfare in the Mashtal neighborhood in eastern Baghdad. It came amid roiling tensions in the region, and will likely further anger Iraqi government leaders. U.S. officials say Baghdad was not notified in advance of the strike.
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.
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.
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.
How a grieving mother tried to ‘build a bridge’ with the militant convicted in her son’s murder
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new book describes a series of conversations between the mother of an American hostage who was brutally murdered by Islamic State militants in Syria and one of the men who contributed to his death. Diane Foley lost her son, James, in 2014. After Alexanda Kotey was brought to the U.S. in 2020 to face prosecution, he pleaded guilty in a deal that required him to meet with families of the victims. In an interview with The Associated Press, Foley said the conversations were meant as a “tiny step” toward reparation — “for him to begin to kind of understand where we were coming from and for me to try to hear him.”
Iceland volcano erupts north of a nearby settlement
LONDON (AP) — Iceland’s Meteorological Office says a volcano is erupting in the southwestern part of the country, north of a nearby settlement. The eruption of the Sylingarfell volcano began at 6 a.m. local time on Thursday, soon after an intense burst of seismic activity. The Met Office said the eruption is in roughly the same location as an earlier one in December. Icelandic national broadcaster RUV said the nearby Blue Lagoon thermal spa, one of Iceland’s biggest tourist attractions, was closed when the eruption began and guests evacuated to hotels.
Globe breaks heat record for 8th straight month. Golfers get to play in Minnesota’s ‘lost winter’
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The European climate agency says for the eighth straight month in January, Earth was record hot. That was obvious in the northern United States, where about 1,000 people were golfing last month in a snow-starved Minneapolis during what the state is calling “the Lost Winter of 2023-24.” For the first time, the global temperature pushed past the internationally agreed upon warming threshold for an entire 12-month period. The Copernicus Climate Change Service says February 2023 to January 2024 was running 1.52 degrees Celsius hotter than pre-industrial levels. January 2024 was also record warm, but not quite as record-shattering hot as the previous six months.