AP News in Brief at 9:04 p.m. EDT
Kamala Harris to invite voters to chart a 'new way forward' as Democrats conclude their convention
CHICAGO (AP) - Vice President Kamala Harris will tell voters they have a chance to chart a "new way forward" as Americans this November, as she looks to introduce herself to voters and prosecute her case against Republican Donald Trump Thursday night as she accepts her party's nomination at the Democratic National Convention.
Harris' address in Chicago caps a whirlwind eight weeks in American politics and manifests the stunning reversal of Democratic fortunes just 75 days until Election Day. Party leaders, who had publicly despaired over President Joe Biden's candidacy after his disastrous debate against Trump, were jubilant both at the historic nature of Harris' candidacy and their buoyed hopes for this November.
"With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past," Harris will say, according to excerpts released by her campaign. "A chance to chart a New Way Forward. Not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans."
Harris will be the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to accept a major party's presidential nomination, and if elected, she would be the first female U.S. president. And when she takes the stage, she will be looking out across a sea of female delegates and Democratic supporters wearing white - the color of women´s suffrage - the movement that culminated with American women securing the right to vote in 1920.
Just a month after Biden ended his reelection bid and endorsed her to replace him atop the Democratic ticket, Harris will look to make the most of her chance to define herself to voters on her own terms before an audience of millions.
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'The answer is no': Pro-Palestinian delegates say their request for a speaker at DNC was shut down
CHICAGO (AP) - Leaders of an "Uncommitted" movement, which garnered hundreds of thousands of votes in Democratic primaries across the nation in protest of the Israel-Hamas war, have been negotiating for weeks to secure a speaking slot for a Palestinian American at the Democratic National Convention this week.
The negotiations stalled late Wednesday when leaders with the Uncommitted National Movement say a Democratic National Committee official called and delivered a firm response: "The answer is no."
The leader, Abbas Alawieh, an "Uncommitted" delegate to the convention and co-founder of the movement, described the call as shocking after weeks of talks that he felt were positive. In response, he and other delegates decided to stage a sit-in outside Chicago´s United Center, where the convention is being held. They spent the night on the sidewalk on Wednesday, and vowed to remain until their request was granted or the convention ended Thursday night.
"When we ran out of options - doing everything we can and working from the inside, when we ran out of options as uncommitted delegates, we just sat down," Alawieh said in an interview Thursday.
The Harris campaign declined to comment.
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Trump uses a stretch of border wall and a pile of steel beams in Arizona to contrast with Democrats
SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (AP) - On a dirt road below the shrub-dotted hills of Arizona, Donald Trump used a stretch of wall and a pile of steel beams to draw a visual contrast between his approach to securing the border and that of his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump brought along grieving mothers, the sheriff of Cochise County and the head of the Border Patrol union to echo his tough-on-border security message at Thursday's visit, which was themed "Make America Safe Again."
"To my right is what we call Trump wall. This was wall that was built under President Trump," said Paul Perez, the president of the Border Patrol union. "To my left, we have what we call Kamala wall. It's just sitting there doing nothing, lying down."
The visit was the fourth in a series of events held in battleground states this week to try to draw the focus away from Democrats´ celebration of Harris´ presidential nomination in Chicago. Speakers at the convention on Wednesday night accused Trump of using the border to stir up his base by demonizing immigrants.
Joining Thursday´s border visit were the mothers of children who were killed during the Biden administration in cases where the suspects are immigrants in the country illegally. Trump frequently highlights attacks involving immigrants to fuel concerns about the Biden administration policies, though some studies have found that people living in the U.S. illegally are less likely than native-born Americans to have been arrested for violent, drug and property crimes.
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Canada forces arbitration in freight train labor dispute to avert economic crisis. Union cries foul
TORONTO (AP) - Freight trains are expected to start rolling again soon in Canada after the government forced the country´s two major railroads into arbitration with their labor union Thursday, averting potentially dire economic consequences across the country and in the U.S.
Canadian National said it ended its lockout immediately Thursday evening in an effort to get its trains running quickly. CPKC railroad did not say exactly when its lockout would end. The company said in a statement that it will follow the direction of the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which is overseeing the arbitration.
The union representing 10,000 engineers, conductors and dispatchers responded angrily to the order, accusing the railroads of intentionally creating a crisis to force the government to intervene. It also said it would keep its picket lines in place while reviewing the decision.
The government ordered the railroads into arbitration with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference to end the lockout that began at 12:01 a.m. Thursday after the two sides were unable to resolve the contract dispute.
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon announced the decision to order the arbitration at a news conference Thursday moments after The Associated Press broke the news, citing an official familiar with the situation who was not allowed to speak publicly before the statement.
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Sudden fame for Tim Walz's son focuses attention on challenges of people with learning disabilities
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - An unexpected highlight of the Democratic National Convention on Night Three was an outburst of pride from the son of vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.
"That´s my dad!" 17-year-old Gus Walz could be seen exclaiming Wednesday night. He stood, tears streaming down his face, and pointed to his father, the governor of Minnesota, who accepted the party nomination for vice president.
Gus wept through much of the 16-minute speech, and took the stage with his family afterward, wrapping his dad in a tight bear hug, burying his face in his shoulder.
The high school senior's joy quickly went viral. He was still trending Thursday on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. And his newfound fame is focusing attention on the challenges of people with learning disabilities. His parents recently revealed to People magazine that Gus has ADHD, an anxiety disorder and something called a non-verbal learning disorder. Searches on Google have spiked for the disorder and for the teen´s name.
There´s no standard definition for non-verbal learning disorder. It doesn´t mean people with it can´t talk. But according to the NVLD Project at Columbia University, people with it "struggle with a range of conditions that include social and spatial disabilities. Often they are marginalized and isolated; consequently, they can experience social barriers throughout their lives."
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FDA approves updated COVID-19 vaccines, shots should be available in days
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. regulators approved updated COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday, shots designed to more closely target recent virus strains -- and hopefully whatever variants cause trouble this winter, too.
With the Food and Drug Administration´s clearance, Pfizer and Moderna are set to begin shipping millions of doses. A third U.S. manufacturer, Novavax, expects its modified vaccine version to be available a little later.
"We strongly encourage those who are eligible to consider receiving an updated COVID-19 vaccine to provide better protection against currently circulating variants," said FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks.
The agency's decision came a bit earlier than last year's rollout of updated COVID-19 vaccines, as a summer wave of the virus continues in most of the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already has recommended this fall's shot for everyone age 6 months and older. Vaccinations could be available within days.
While most Americans have some degree of immunity from prior infections or vaccinations or both, that protection wanes. Last fall´s shots targeted a different part of the coronavirus family tree, a strain that´s no longer circulating -- and CDC data shows only about 22.5% of adults and 14% of children received it.
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Zelenskyy makes 1st visit to border area where Ukrainian forces launched offensive into Russia
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made his first visit Thursday to the border area where his forces launched their surprise offensive into Russia, saying that Kyiv's military had taken control of another Russian village and captured more prisoners of war.
While in Ukraine´s northern Sumy region, Zelenskyy said the new POWs from the Russian region of Kursk would help build an "exchange fund" to swap for captured Ukrainians.
"Another settlement in the Kursk region is now under Ukrainian control, and we have replenished the exchange fund," Zelenskyy wrote on the social media platform X after hearing a report from his country's top military commander, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Zelenskyy did not name the newly captured village and did not cross over into Russia, which would been regarded by Moscow as a provocation. He previously has said that Ukraine has no plans to occupy the area long term but wants to create a buffer zone to prevent further attacks from that area into Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said the Kursk operation launched Aug. 6 has reduced Russian shelling and civilian casualties in the Sumy region.
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Poorly trained recruits contribute to loss of Ukrainian territory on eastern front, commanders say
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) - Some new Ukrainian soldiers refuse to fire at the enemy. Others, according to commanders and fellow fighters, struggle to assemble weapons or to coordinate basic combat movements. A few have even walked away from their posts, abandoning the battlefield altogether.
While Ukraine presses on with its incursion into Russia´s Kursk region, its troops are still losing precious ground along the country's eastern front - a grim erosion that military commanders blame in part on poorly trained recruits drawn from a recent mobilization drive, as well as Russia´s clear superiority in ammunition and air power.
"Some people don´t want to shoot. They see the enemy in the firing position in trenches but don´t open fire. ... That is why our men are dying," said a frustrated battalion commander in Ukraine´s 47th Brigade. "When they don´t use the weapon, they are ineffective."
The accounts come from commanders and soldiers who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in order to speak freely about sensitive military matters. Others spoke on the condition that they be identified only by their call signs in keeping with Ukrainian military protocol.
Commanders say the recruits have contributed to a string of territorial losses that enabled Russia´s army to advance, including near the city of Pokrovsk, a critical logistics hub. If it falls, the defeat would imperil Ukraine´s defenses and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of capturing the Donetsk region. Russian soldiers are now just 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) away.
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US government indicts Guatemalan suspect on smuggling charges over deaths of 53 migrants in trailer
A suspect arrested in Guatemala has been charged with helping coordinate the 2022 smuggling attempt that ended in the deaths of 53 migrants in Texas, the Justice Department announced Thursday, marking what U.S. officials called a significant expansion of their investigation into the horrific discovery inside an abandoned tractor-trailer on a back road.
U.S. authorities they will seek the extradition of Rigoberto Román Miranda Orozco, who is charged with six counts of migrant smuggling resulting in death or serious injury in the deadliest human smuggling attempt across the U.S.-Mexico border. Authorities alleged he can be connected to four Guatemalan migrants in the trailer, three of whom died, and faces up to life in prison if convicted.
"We will pursue you, whether you are hiding in the United States or you´re hiding elsewhere," U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza said at a news conference in San Antonio.
Miranda Orozco, 47, is the first person arrested outside of the country to face charges in the U.S. in connection with the investigation. Esparza said seven people have been arrested in the U.S. Guatemalan officials announced the arrests of Miranda Orozco and six more people accused of helping smuggle the migrants Wednesday. Of those, only Miranda Orozco faces extradition to the U.S. and the others will be tried in Guatemala, Esparza said.
Carlos Merida, a lawyer for Miranda Orozco in Guatemala, said his client did not accept the charges, instead saying he was a regular citizen "who was a migrant in the north (U.S.) for 15 years."
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Europe offers clues for solving America's maternal mortality crisis
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Midwife Jennie Joseph touched Husna Mixon´s pregnant belly, turned to the 7-year-old boy in the room with them and asked: "Want to help me check the baby?"
With his small hand on hers, Joseph used a fetal monitor to find a heartbeat. "I hear it!" he said. A quick, steady thumping filled the room.
It was a full-circle moment for the midwife and patient, who first met when Mixon was an uninsured teenager seeking prenatal care halfway through her pregnancy with the little boy. Joseph has been on a decades-long mission to usher patients like Mixon safely into parenthood through a nonprofit that relies on best practices she learned in Europe, a place that experts say offers answers to an American crisis.
"I consider maternal health to be in a state of emergency here," said Joseph, a British immigrant. "It´s more than frustrating. It´s criminal."
The Biden administration, which in part is focusing on maternal mortality in this election year, acknowledges the U.S. has one of the highest rates of any wealthy nation - hovering around 20 per 100,000 live births overall and 50 for Black moms, according to the World Health Organization and U.S. health officials. Several European countries have rates in the single digits.
