AP News Summary at 11:51 p.m. EST
Israel-Hamas fighting heats up in Gaza City, accelerating the exodus of Palestinians to the south
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Thousands of Palestinians are streaming out of northern Gaza on foot in an accelerating exodus. Residents said Wednesday that Israeli forces are closing in on the center of Gaza City from multiple directions and that heavy airstrikes continue. Ground forces were reported to be within a mile of Shifa Hospital. The Israeli military says Hamas’ main command center is located in and under the hospital. Hamas disputes that claim. With tens of thousands still in the north in the assault’s path, those fleeing said humanitarian conditions were rapidly deteriorating.
Hollywood actors strike is over as union reaches tentative deal with studios
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood’s actors union has reached a tentative deal with studios to end its strike. The contract agreement reached Wednesday still must be approved by the union’s board and its members, but the deal brings an end to the months of labor strife that has hobbled production in Hollywood. The union says the strike will be over on Thursday. Screenwriters ended their own strike on Sept. 26. It was the first time both writers and actors were on strike together since 1960. The details of the agreement were not immediately released, but are likely to be shared with the actors and the public in the coming days.
Donald Trump’s rivals vow to back Israel and argue over China and Ukraine at the third debate
MIAMI (AP) — The Republican presidential candidates at Wednesday’s debate all say they support Israel, but they are squabbling over China and Ukraine. Donald Trump was again absent, holding his own event nearby. At center stage were Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, who are fighting for a distant second place in the Republican field. Both traded allegations that the other had welcomed Chinese investment into their state. Tim Scott, Chris Christie and Vivek Ramaswamy were also onstage. They face new urgency to cut into Trump’s margins with the leadoff Iowa caucuses just two months away.
8 dead in crash after police chased a suspected human smuggler, Texas officials say
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Eight people died in a South Texas car crash Wednesday while police chased a driver suspected of smuggling migrants. Texas Department of Public Safety says it happened around 6:30 a.m. when the driver of a Honda Civic tried to outrun deputies from the Zavala County Sheriff’s Office. The department says the driver tried to pass semi truck. The Civic collided with a Chevrolet Equinox, killing two passengers in that car. Six people in Civice died, including the driver. It is the latest deadly vehicle crash involving police chasing migrants, and the deadliest since 13 people died in a collision in California, in 2021.
Ivanka Trump’s testimony: She worked on dad’s deals, not financial documents key to civil fraud case
NEW YORK (AP) — Ivanka Trump has testified that her family’s business has “overdelivered,” though she can’t shed light on the financial documents central to her father’s civil fraud trial. Former President Donald Trump’s elder daughter took the witness stand Wednesday in the trial that could reshape his real estate empire. She has been in her father’s inner circle in both business and politics. But she testified that she had no role in her father’s personal financial statements. New York Attorney General Letitia James claims they were fraudulently inflated and deceived banks and lenders. Donald Trump denies any wrongdoing.
House Republicans subpoena Hunter and James Biden as their impeachment inquiry ramps back up
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden’s attorney says subpoenas issued by House Republicans to members of President Joe Biden’s family are a “political stunt.” Wednesday’s subpoenas are the most aggressive step yet by Republicans in an impeachment inquiry bitterly opposed by Democrats. The move by House Oversight Committee chair James Comer to subpoena the Democratic president’s son Hunter and brother James comes as Republicans look to gain ground in their nearly yearlong investigation. The Republicans have thus far failed to uncover evidence directly implicating the president in any wrongdoing. The White House and the family’s lawyers say the investigation has been a political ploy but Hunter’s attorney indicated that he could be inclined to appear “at the right time.”
Democrats see abortion wins as a springboard for 2024 as GOP struggles to find a winning message
WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters have thrown their support behind abortion rights in races in Ohio, Virginia and elsewhere. And now, Democrats look to springboard off those wins by using the issue to drive turnout and shape next year’s races for the White House, Congress and other elections. Ohio sent the clearest sign of the issue’s importance more than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court ended the nationwide right to abortion. Voters in the increasingly Republican-leaning state resoundingly approved an amendment to the state constitution on Tuesday to protect access to abortion. Democrats also harnessed the issue in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Republicans struggled to find a message that will resonate with voters.
Funeral home stored bodies for 4 years, deceived families about loved ones’ ashes, prosecutors say
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The owners of a Colorado funeral home have been arrested on charges linked to the discovery of 190 sets of decaying remains at one of their facilities. Some apparently had been languishing there for four years. Jon and Carie Hallford were arrested Wednesday in Oklahoma. A federal affidavit says investigators entered the Return to Nature Funeral Home building in the Rocky Mountain town of Penrose in early October to find “abhorrent” conditions with dozens of stacked bodies. The document says some bodies had 2019 death dates. The Hallfords have been jailed on $2 million bond.
US launches airstrike on site in Syria in response to attacks by Iranian-backed militias
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon says the U.S. has carried out an airstrike on a weapons warehouse in eastern Syria. It targeted a facility linked to Iranian-backed militias, in retaliation for what has been a growing number of attacks on bases housing U.S. troops in the region for the past several weeks. In Wednesday’s strike, U.S. officials say two U.S. F-15 fighter jets dropped multiple bombs on the warehouse, which was known to be used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. This is the second time in less than two weeks that the U.S. has bombed facilities used by the militant groups, who U.S. officials say have carried out at least 40 such attacks since Oct. 17.
Israel says it will maintain ‘overall security responsibility’ for Gaza. What might that look like?
JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not elaborate when he said that Israel would maintain indefinite “overall security responsibility” in Gaza once it removes Hamas from power in response to the Islamic militant group’s cross-border raid. But experience suggests that any Israeli security role will be seen by the Palestinians and much of the international community as a form of military occupation. That could complicate any plans to hand governing responsibility to the Palestinian Authority or friendly Arab states, and bog Israel down in a lengthy and bloody war of attrition. Even if Israel succeeds in ending Hamas’ 16-year rule in Gaza and dismantling much of its militant infrastructure, the presence of Israeli forces is likely to fuel an insurgency.