As of Saturday, eight Killeen residents had filed to serve the remainder of the term for a vacant seat on the Killeen City Council.
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Saudi Arabia and the United States have urged Sudan’s warring parties to agree to and “effectively implement” a cease-fire amid renewed fighting in the northeastern African nation. In a joint statement on Sunday, Washington and Riyadh urged both sides to agree to a new cease-fire following the latest one which expired late Saturday. Sudan descended into chaos after fighting broke out in mid-April between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. For weeks, Saudi Arabia and the United States have been mediating between the warring parties. Their efforts were dealt a blow when the military announced on Wednesday it would no longer participate in the cease-fire talks held in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah.
AP
The Pakistani Taliban or TTP has claimed responsibility for an attack in northwest Pakistan that left two soldiers and two militants dead. The army said in a statement that militants opened fire on a security checkpoint Saturday evening in the Jani Khel area of Bannu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, leading to a shootout with Pakistani troops. A search operation was underway to track the militants behind the attack. TTP spokesman Mohammad Khorasani said — in a statement on their website— that the group carried out the “joint attack” in collaboration with another faction of the Pakistani Taliban, the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group. The Pakistani Taliban are a separate group but are allied with the Afghanistan Taliban, who took over Afghanistan in August 2021.
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The proposal to help finance a new ballpark for Major League Baseball's Athletics in Las Vegas has revived nationwide debates about public funding for private stadiums, pitting Nevada’s powerful tourism industry and labor unions against some progressive groups raising concerns about ceding tax revenue when services such as public schools are funded below the national average. Proponents say the proposal could create new jobs, increase the state’s general revenue and further diversify the city's casino and gaming-based economy — all without raising taxes. But skeptics warn that’s a tried-again argument with empty promises, citing growing evidence that minimal dollars generated from the new stadium would not otherwise be spent among nearby resorts and restaurants.
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Donald Trump skipped a motorcycles-and-barbecue fundraiser that’s the marquee Republican political event of the early summer in Iowa, ceding the stage to a gaggle of contenders led by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
AP
Amid plates of sliced pork, statement-making leather ensembles and piles of political T-shirts, eight Republican presidential hopefuls descended on Iowa to pitch themselves to voters and, in Mike Pence’s case, hop on a motorcycle. The former vice president and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were among the White House contenders appearing at a rally at the state fairgrounds near Des Moines hosted by U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst. Her annual political event, the “Roast and Ride” — a combination barbecue-rally and motorcycle ride — kicks off a busy summer campaign season heading into the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses early next year.
AP
Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has suggested that United States forces “need to align” with non-European countries including Russia to enhance global security, a remark that comes amid the Biden administration’s approval for millions more in military aid to assist Ukraine in fending off Russia’s invasion. Haley's response came Wednesday to a question from a WMUR-TV reporter on regions of the world to which she felt the U.S. could pay more attention. A campaign spokesman said Haley misspoke. The U.S. has been upping its military aid to Ukraine as Russia’s invasion enters its 16th month. In late May, President Joe Biden approved a new aid package that totals up to $300 million.
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As of Saturday, eight Killeen residents had filed to serve the remainder of the term for a vacant seat on the Killeen City Council.
AP
Concerns around civilian safety have spiked in Ukraine, as officials announced that an inspection had found nearly a quarter of the country's air-raid shelters locked or unusable, just days after Russian missiles allegedly killed a woman in Kyiv as she waited outside a shuttered shelter. The Ukrainian interior ministry said through its press service that of the “over 4,800” shelters it inspected, 252 were locked and a further 893 “unfit for use.” That same day, the Kyiv regional prosecutor's office reported that four people were detained in a criminal probe into the 33-year-old woman's death on Thursday.
AP
Tim Scott made his second appearance in Iowa as a presidential candidate, arguing that he can unify the Republican Party by projecting an optimism that will not only lead to victory in 2024 but guide the U.S. into the future.
AP
With just two days to spare, President Joe Biden has signed legislation that lifts the nation’s debt ceiling. That averts an unprecedented default on the federal government’s debt. The Treasury Department had warned that the country would start running short of cash to pay all of its bills on Monday, a development that would have sent shockwaves through the U.S. and global economies. To mark the signing, Biden could have held a public ceremony at the White House with lawmakers from both parties, showcasing the bipartisanship he'd cited in an Oval Office address Friday evening. But the president signed the legislation Saturday in private in a reflection of the tight deadline facing the nation.
AP
Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was sworn into his third presidential term, has reappointed an internationally respected former banker as finance minister in a sign that his new government might pursue more conventional economic policies. Erdogan on Saturday announced Mehmet Simsek would return to the Cabinet as treasury and finance minister. Erdogan won a new five-year term in a runoff presidential race last week that could stretch his 20-year rule, in the key NATO country that straddles Europe and Asia, into a quarter-century. He took the oath in a session in parliament before an inauguration ceremony attended by dozens of foreign dignitaries.
AP
American Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin says Washington would not stand for any “coercion and bullying” of its allies and partners by China, while assuring Beijing that the United States remains committed to maintaining the status quo on Taiwan and would prefer dialogue over conflict. Speaking Saturday at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, an annual forum bringing together top defense officials, diplomats and leaders, Austin lobbied for support for Washington’s vision of a “free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific” as the best course to counter increasing Chinese assertiveness in the region. A senior Chinese official accused Austin of making false accusations against China and says the U.S. is “deceiving and exploiting” Asia-Pacific nations to advance its own self-interests.
AP
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is seizing on the debt limit deal he negotiated as an opening argument for reelection, though he faces a tough sell with voters who are skeptical of his performance in office.
AP
A slate of gun control measures is headed to Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s desk. The state Senate debated through the night and voted early Saturday to approve the state’s most wide-ranging gun legislation since the laws that followed the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting. The Democratic governor plans to sign the measure. Among other things, the changes would ban openly carrying firearms and prohibit selling more than three handguns within 30 days to any one person, with some exceptions for instructors and others. Other provisions include imposing new safe-storage rules and stiffening penalties for possession of large-capacity magazines.
AP
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is wrapping up his first tour of early voting states as a presidential candidate, showcasing his personal side in South Carolina with a lighthearted sit-down with his wife and an emotional moment with a military spouse. DeSantis, whose whirlwind tour this week included stops in Iowa and New Hampshire, used his first stop Friday morning in Bluffton to respond to knocks from Donald Trump, who boasted that he could accomplish in six months what would take the governor eight years. DeSantis told voters it can't be done “in 24 hours or six months or anything like that” but described the mission of the next Republican president as “trench warfare.”
AP
Donald Trump’s lawyers are demanding that the judge in his New York City criminal case step aside, echoing the former president’s complaints that he’s “a Trump-hating judge” with a family full of “Trump haters.” Trump's lawyers said Friday that Judge Juan Manuel Merchan has shown anti-Trump bias in previous cases related to the businessman-turned-politician. They also say he has a conflict of interest arising from his daughter’s work for some of Trump’s Democratic rivals. The decision on recusal is up to Merchan himself, and judges seldom exit cases over such requests. A message seeking comment was left with Merchan. A court spokesperson said “it would be inappropriate for any further comment” since the case is pending.
AP
The FBI has offered to show top lawmakers next week a bureau document that purports to relate to President Joe Biden and his family following weeks of demands by congressional Republicans and a contempt threat against Director Christopher Wray. In a statement, the FBI said it would produce the document in a secure location inside the U.S. Capitol for the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. James Comer, and the panel’s top Democrat, Jamie Raskin of Maryland. Comer responded to the FBI concession by suggesting it would not be sufficient to prevent him from moving forward with contempt.
AP
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green has signed legislation that will allow more people to carry concealed firearms. At the same time, the measure prohibits people from taking guns to a wide range of places, including beaches, hospitals, stadiums, bars that serve alcohol and movie theaters. Private businesses allowing guns will have to post a sign to that effect. The legal overhaul comes in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from last year that expanded gun rights by saying Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense. New York and New Jersey adopted similar laws last year that quickly met legal challenges that are making their way through federal courts.
AP
Republican presidential candidates will need to meet polling and fundraising requirements and agree to back the eventual nominee to join the first primary debate on Aug. 23, raising questions about how many will qualify and whether frontrunner Donald Trump will participate.
AP
The Arkansas Supreme Court says it won't block a judge's order preventing the state from enforcing Republican Gov. Sarah Sanders' education overhaul. Justices on Friday denied the state's request to stay a judge's order against the law. But they said the Supreme Court will move quickly on an appeal of the order. Opponents of the law have argued that legislators did not follow the correct procedures for it to be enacted immediately. The lawsuit is challenging a contract approved under the law for a charter school group to run an east Arkansas school district. The court gave both sides until the middle of next week to file briefs in the appeal.
AP
An independent review has found no problems with workplace culture in the Maine Attorney General's office. The review was launched after the disclosure of a relationship between Attorney General Aaron Frey and a worker he supervises. Deb Whitworth owns a human resources firm and was hired to do the assessment. She wrote that she found a positive workplace, but noted that the case was an opportunity to strengthen policy and awareness of disclosing relationships like Frey's. Frey acknowledged in April that he’d been in a relationship with the worker for months before disclosing it. He said his delay in reporting the relationship was an “error in judgment.”
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The Bell County Democratic Party will publicly support two candidates in runoff races for Harker Heights City Council. The party is set to have a rally and barnstorm event at 1 p.m. Saturday for Lynda Nash and Stacey Wilson at Carl Levin Park.
AP
Republicans schedule 1st presidential debate for Aug. 23, but there's no guarantee Trump will attend
The first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle will be held Aug. 23, and candidates participating must pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee. The Republican National Committee on Friday announced the requirements to take part in the debate in Milwaukee. The organization says a second debate will be held the following night should it be needed. The debate stage can provide the largest audience yet for many presidential hopefuls, but it also can trip up candidates. Already, there have been questions about who will take part. Former President Donald Trump has questioned why he would participate in the debate given his commanding lead in early polls.
AP
ORLANDO, Fla. — As he hits the presidential campaign trail, Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t quitting his day job leading the third-largest state in the country.
AP
Across Florida, workers didn’t show up at construction sites and tomato fields, and scores of restaurants, shops and other small businesses never opened their doors. That's because they were protesting a new state law that imposes restrictions on undocumented immigrants on Thursday, a day protest organizers dubbed “a day without immigrants.” The legislation Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law last month bolsters his migrant-relocation program and limits social services for immigrants lacking permanent legal status. DeSantis launched a campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination last week. LULAC, a Latino civil rights group, has issued a travel advisory, warning Hispanics about risks to visiting Florida.
AP
BLUFFTON, S.C. — Polling shows Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has a steep hill to climb against his top rival Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination. But those numbers didn’t dampen the spirits of nearly a thousand Beaufort County supporters as they packed onto the Okatie Ale Hou…
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