Hurricane Debby makes landfall in Florida as Category 1 storm and threatens catastrophic flooding
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Debby has made landfall in northern Florida as a Category 1 storm, bringing with it the potential for record-setting rains, catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storm surge. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Debby has maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. The storm made landfall Monday morning near Steinhatchee, a community of less than 1,000 residents in the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast. The storm made landfall in one of the least populated areas of Florida, but forecasters warned heavy rain could spawn catastrophic flooding in Florida, South Carolina and Georgia. Nearly 214,000 customers were without power in Florida on Monday morning.
Bangladesh’s PM resigns and flees country as protesters storm her residence capping weeks of unrest
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s prime minister has resigned and fled the country, after weeks of protests against a quota system for government jobs descended into violence and grew into a broader challenge to her 15-year rule. Thousands of demonstrators stormed her official residence Monday, a day after nearly 100 died in the unrest. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s departure threatens to create even more instability in the nation on India’s border already dealing with a series of crises, from high unemployment and corruption to climate change. Hours after the embattled leader was seen on TV boarding a military helicopter with her sister, the country’s military chief said he would seek the president’s guidance on forming an interim government.
Israel-Hamas war latest: Hezbollah says it launched a drone attack on northern Israel
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah says it launched a drone attack early Monday on northern Israel that the Israeli military said wounded two Israeli troops. The violence came amid fears of an all-out regional war following the killings last week of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas’ top political leader in Iran. The attack did not appear to be the more intense retaliation that’s expected from Iran and its allied militias. The head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has threatened Israel over the assassination of the Hamas leader, warning that Israel was “digging its own grave” with its actions.
Wall Street headed sharply lower again after Japan’s Nikkei index tumbles to worst loss since 1987
U.S. stocks are set to open sharply lower Monday, adding to steep declines in Asia and Europe and deepening a sell-off tied to worries about a recession in the U.S. economy. Japan’s main index plunged more than 12%, its worst day since 1987. S&P 500 futures are down 3% and Nasdaq futures are sinking 4.5%. Investors are fleeing the Big Tech names that until recently had powered the U.S. market higher: Apple fell more than 7% and chipmaker Nvidia tumbled 12.5%. A weaker than expected employment report Friday stoked fears the U.S. economy was finally bending under the pressure of high interest rates.
Focus on economy and answer the Harris ‘Freedom’ message: What GOP strategists think Trump should do
Republican strategists who have run campaigns against Donald Trump say they recognize what the former president is doing against Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris’ entry into the race after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid has changed basic assumptions about the campaign. Trump’s false attacks on Harris’ Black identity have top Republicans worried that Trump may lose a campaign they still see as favorable for him. They say he should focus on the economy and immigration. One former strategist for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio thinks Trump is road-testing messages and will eventually land on an effective attack line against Harris.
Harris once wanted to ban fracking. Trump wants voters in energy-rich Pennsylvania to remember
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Facing the need to win Pennsylvania, Vice President Kamala Harris has sworn off any prior assertion that she opposed fracking. But that hasn’t stopped Republican Donald Trump from wielding her now-abandoned position to win over working-class voters in the key battleground state where the industry means jobs. Last week, in his first appearance in Pennsylvania since Harris became the Democrats’ presumptive nominee, Trump repeatedly warned that Harris would ban fracking and devastate the economy in the nation’s No. 2 natural gas state. Harris called to ban fracking as a presidential primary candidate in 2019.
UK prime minister convenes emergency meeting to end days of far-right violence across Britain
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has held an urgent meeting with ministers and top law enforcement officials as he seeks to end days of street violence and attacks on hotels housing asylum seekers. Starmer has called such attacks thuggery. Lawlessness has swept the country over the past six days as right-wing activists use social media to whip up anger over a stabbing rampage at a dance class that left three girls dead and many more wounded. Many of the attacks have targeted immigrants and Muslims.
Voices across the globe express concern over increasing arrests in Venezuela after disputed election
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Voices across the globe are expressing concern over the growing number of arrests in Venezuela following last weekend’s disputed elections. Pope Francis said Venezuela is “living a critical situation” in his traditional homily Sunday at the Vatican. The remarks came hours after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced Saturday that the government has arrested 2,000 opponents. At a rally in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, Maduro pledged to detain more and send them to prison. A U.S. official said Sunday the Biden administration is concerned about the possibility of political instability if the arrests continue. The Pope appealed to all parties “to seek the truth, to avoid all kinds of violence.”
Olympics security means minorities and others flagged as potential terror threats can’t move freely
PARIS (AP) — French authorities are making broad use of discretionary powers during the 2024 Olympics and their run-up to keep hundreds of people they deem to be potential security threats away from the biggest event modern France has ever organized. Lawyers told The Associated Press that minorities are often among those targeted with orders not to leave their neighborhoods and to report daily to police. Fearing terror attacks, France has massively boosted security. Those now unable to leave the vicinities of their homes include Amine, a bank apprentice and student restricted to his Paris suburb except for daily check-ins at a police station. The France-born 21-year-old has no criminal record and has not been charged with any crime.
Simone Biles slips off the balance beam during event finals to miss the Olympic medal stand
PARIS (AP) — No medal for Simone Biles on the balance beam this time. The American gymnastics star slipped and fell off the apparatus at the end of her acrobatic series during the beam finals, denying her an opportunity to add to the bronzes she won on the event at the 2016 and 2020 Games.