AP News Summary at 11:15 p.m. EDT (2024)

Norway, Ireland and Spain say they will recognize a Palestinian state, deepening Israel's isolation

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Norway, Ireland and Spain say they will recognize a Palestinian state. The historic but largely symbolic move further deepens Israel’s isolation more than seven months into its grinding war against Hamas in Gaza. Israel immediately denounced Wednesday's decisions and recalled its ambassadors to the three countries. Palestinians welcomed the announcements as an affirmation of their decades-long quest for statehood in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israel seized those territories in the 1967 Mideast war and still controls them. While some 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state, the cascade of recognition announcements could build momentum at a time when even close allies of Israel have piled on criticism for its conduct in Gaza.

How 2 debunked accounts of sexual violence on Oct. 7 fueled a global dispute over Israel-Hamas war

JERUSALEM (AP) — The United Nations and other organizations have presented credible evidence that Hamas militants committed sexual assault during their Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel. But some accounts from that day proved untrue. Two testimonies by volunteers with the Israeli search and rescue organization ZAKA, have been debunked. Still, they have helped fuel a global clash over whether sexual violence occurred during the attack, and on what scale. Some allege the accounts of sexual assault were purposely concocted. ZAKA officials and others dispute that. Regardless, AP’s examination of ZAKA’s handling of the now-debunked stories shows how information can be clouded and distorted in the chaos of the conflict.

Nikki Haley says she will vote for Donald Trump following their disputes during Republican primary

Nikki Haley says she will be voting for Donald Trump in the general election, encouraging the presumptive GOP nominee to work hard to win support from those who backed her in the primary. Haley made the comment Wednesday during an event at the Hudson Institute in Washington. Haley shuttered her own bid for the GOP nomination two months ago but did not immediately endorse Trump. Both candidates were sharply critical of each other during the primary.

Heated hearing in classified documents case as lawyer for Trump co-defendant challenges prosecutors

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A lawyer for Donald Trump’s personal valet is accusing federal prosecutors of targeting his client for prosecution because he refused to cooperate against the former president in the classified documents case. Walt Nauta was charged alongside Trump last year in a federal case charging them with conspiring to conceal boxes of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s estate in Palm Beach, Florida,. Prosecutors called the claims by Nauta's lawyer “garbage” and “a fantasy.” The case, among four criminal prosecutions against Trump, had been set for trial on May 20 but U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon cited numerous issues she has yet to resolve as a basis for canceling the trial date.

5 dead and at least 35 hurt as tornadoes ripped through Iowa, officials say

GREENFIELD, Iowa (AP) — Officials say five people died and at least 35 were hurt as powerful tornadoes ripped through Iowa, with one carving a path of destruction through the small city of Greenfield. The Iowa Department of Public Safety says four were killed in the Greenfield area, and local officials say a fifth person — a 46-year-old woman whose car was blown off the road — was killed about 25 miles (40 kilometers) away. State officials say the number of people injured is likely higher. Officials have not released the names of those killed in Greenfield because they are still notifying relatives. The tornado that tore through Greenfield left a wide swath of obliterated homes, splintered trees and crumpled cars in the city.

Trump allies face skepticism as they try appealing to disaffected Arab Americans in Michigan

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — An adviser to Donald Trump's reelection campaign has met with close to 40 Arab American activists from across the country in Michigan. Many of the activists have grown angry at President Joe Biden’s response to the Israel-Hamas war and questioned Richard Grenell, Trump’s former ambassador to Germany, on what Trump would have done differently. At least one leader, Khaled Saffuri, left Tuesday's meeting feeling dissatisfied due to the lack of specifics. Some of the attendees already supported Trump and discussed ways to mobilize the Arab American vote for Trump. Also attending the meeting was Michael Boulos, who is Tiffany Trump’s husband, and his father, Massad Boulos, a wealthy Lebanese businessman.

In riot-hit New Caledonia, French President Macron says priority is return to calm amid unrest

President Emmanuel Macron has met with local officials in riot-hit New Caledonia, after crossing the globe in a high-profile show of support for the French Pacific archipelago gripped by deadly unrest. Macron, who briefly spoke to reporters after his arrival Thursday at La Tontouta International Airport, said he viewed a return to calm as the top priority. His trip comes amid the most severe violence to hit New Caledonia since the 1980s. The unrest was triggered by reforms passed by lawmakers in Paris that would change the voting system in New Caledonia, where Indigenous people have long sought independence from France.

Second flag carried by Jan. 6 rioters displayed outside house owned by Justice Alito, report says

WASHINGTON (AP) — A second flag of a type carried by rioters during the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was displayed outside a house owned by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. That's according to a report published Wednesday by The New York Times. An “Appeal to Heaven” flag was flown outside Alito’s beach vacation home last summer. An inverted American flag, another symbol carried by rioters, was seen at Alito’s home outside Washington less than two weeks after the violent attack on the Capitol. Alito and the court declined to respond to the newspaper's request for comment. He previously said the inverted American flag was placed by his wife.

Use of Wegovy and other weight-loss drugs soars among kids and young adults

Use of diabetes and obesity medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy and other so-called GLP-1 drugs has soared among teens and young adults. New research shows that the number of 12- to 25-year-olds who used the medications climbed from about 8,700 a month in 2020 to 60,000 a month in 2023. Overall, in 2023, nearly 31,000 children aged 12 to 17 and more than 162,000 people aged 18 to 25 received the drugs. The report was published Wednesday in the journal JAMA. It's the first look at the national uptake of these medications in those age groups.

Daily marijuana use outpaces daily drinking in the US, a new study says

Millions of people in the U.S. report using marijuana daily or nearly every day, and those people now outnumber those who say they are daily or nearly-daily drinkers of alcohol. The research was published Wednesday in the journal Addiction. It's based on data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a highly regarded source of self-reported estimates of tobacco, alcohol and drug use. High-frequency marijuana use overtook high-frequency drinking for the first time in 2022. Other research shows that high-frequency users are more likely to become addicted to marijuana and more likely to develop cannabis-associated psychosis, a severe condition where a person loses touch with reality.

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