GOP voters told to hold onto mail ballots until Election Day

ATLANTA (AP) — Republican activists who believe the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump have crafted a plan that, in their telling, will thwart cheating in this year’s midterm elections.

The strategy: Vote in person on Election Day or — for voters who receive a mailed ballot — hold onto it and hand it in at a polling place or election office on Nov. 8.

The plan is based on unfounded conspiracy theories that fraudsters will manipulate voting systems to rig results for Democrats once they have seen how many Republican votes have been returned early. There has been no evidence of any such widespread fraud.

If enough voters are dissuaded from casting ballots early, it could lead to long lines on Election Day and would push back processing of those late-arriving mailed ballots. Those ballots likely would not get counted until the next day or later.

“It just slows everything down,” said Noah Praetz, the former election clerk in Cook County, Illinois, who now advises local election offices on best practices and security. “In many places, if you don’t get mail ballots in hand until Election Day, you are not counting them until after Election Day.”

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Russian authorities advise civilians to leave Ukraine region

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian-installed authorities in Ukraine told all residents of the city of Kherson to leave “immediately” Saturday ahead of an expected advance by Ukrainian troops waging a counteroffensive to recapture one of the first urban areas Russia took after invading the country.

In a post on the Telegram messaging service, the pro-Kremlin regional administration strongly urged civilians to use boat crossings over a major river to move deeper into Russian-held territory, citing a tense situation on the front and the threat of shelling and alleged plans for “terror attacks” by Kyiv.

Kherson has been in Russian hands since the early days of the nearly 8-month-long war in Ukraine. The city is the capital of a region of the same name, one of four that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last month and put under Russian martial law on Thursday.

On Friday, Ukrainian forces bombarded Russian positions across the province, targeting pro-Kremlin forces' resupply routes across the Dnieper River and preparing for a final push to reclaim the city.

The Ukrainian military has reclaimed broad areas in the north of the region since launching a counteroffensive in late August. It reported new successes Saturday, saying that Russian troops were forced to retreat from the villages of Charivne and Chkalove in the Beryslav district.

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Illegal border crossings to US from Mexico hit annual high

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A surge in migration from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua in September brought the number of illegal crossings to the highest level ever recorded in a fiscal year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The year-end numbers reflect deteriorating economic and political conditions in some countries, the relative strength of the U.S. economy and uneven enforcement of Trump-era asylum restrictions.

Migrants were stopped 227,547 times in September at the U.S. border with Mexico, the third-highest month of Joe Biden's presidency. It was up 11.5% from 204,087 times in August and 18.5% from 192,001 times in September 2021.

In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, migrants were stopped 2.38 million times, up 37% from 1.73 million times the year before, according to figures released late Friday night. The annual total surpassed 2 million for the first time in August and is more than twice the highest level during Donald Trump's presidency in 2019.

Nearly 78,000 migrants from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua were stopped in September, compared to about 58,000 from Mexico and three countries of northern Central America that have historically accounted for most of the flow.

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Iran protests trigger solidarity rallies in US, Europe

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chanting crowds marched in the streets of Berlin, Washington DC and Los Angeles on Saturday in a show of international support for demonstrators facing a violent government crackdown in Iran, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of that country's morality police.

On the U.S. National Mall, thousands of women and men of all ages — wearing green, white and red, the colors of the Iran flag — shouted in rhythm. “Be scared. Be scared. We are one in this,” demonstrators yelled, before marching to the White House. “Say her name! Mahsa!”

The demonstrations, put together by grassroots organizers from around the United States, drew Iranians from across the Washington D.C. area, with some travelling down from Toronto to join the crowd.

In Los Angeles, home to the biggest population of Iranians outside of Iran, a throng of protesters formed a slow-moving procession along blocks of a closed downtown street. They chanted for the fall of Iran's government and waved hundreds of Iranian flags that turned the horizon into a undulating wave of red, white and green.

“We want freedom,” they thundered.

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Inflation protests across Europe threaten political turmoil

LONDON (AP) — In Romania, protesters blew horns and banged drums to voice their dismay over the rising cost of living. People across France took to the streets to demand pay increases that keep pace with inflation. Czech demonstrators rallied against government handling of the energy crisis. British railway staff and German pilots held strikes to push for better pay as prices rise.

Across Europe, soaring inflation is behind a wave of protests and strikes that underscores growing discontent with the spiraling cost of living and threatens to unleash political turmoil. With British Prime Minister Liz Truss forced to resign less than two months into the job after her economic plans sparked chaos in financial markets and further bruised an ailing economy, the risk to political leaders became clearer as people demand action.

Europeans have seen their energy bills and food prices soar because of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Despite natural gas prices falling from record summer highs and governments allocating a whopping 576 billion euros (over $566 billion) in energy relief to households and businesses since September 2021, according to the Bruegel think tank in Brussels, it's not enough for some protesters.

Energy prices have driven inflation in the 19 countries that use the euro currency to a record 9.9%, making it harder for people to buy what they need. Some see little choice but to hit the streets.

“Today, people are obliged to use pressure tactics in order to get an increase" in pay, said Rachid Ouchem, a medic who was among more than 100,000 people that joined protest marches this week in multiple French cities.

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Major Hurricane Roslyn heads for hit on Mexico's coast

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hurricane Roslyn grew to Category 4 force on Saturday as it headed for a collision with Mexico’s Pacific coast, likely north of the resort of Puerto Vallarta.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Roslyn’s maximum sustained winds remained at 130 mph (215 kph) late Saturday.

The storm was centered about 65 miles (105 kilometers) west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes — the point of land jutting into the Pacific south of Puerto Vallarta — and moving north at 12 mph (19 kph).

The forecast put Roslyn on a path that could take it close to Cabo Corrientes and the Puerto Vallarta region djring the night before making landfall in Nayarit state on Sunday.

Hurricane Orlene made landfall Oct. 3 a little farther north in roughly the same region, about 45 miles (75 kilometers) southeast of the resort of Mazatlan.

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City where George Floyd was killed struggles to recruit cops

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Inside the Minneapolis Police Academy's sprawling campus on the city's north side, six people sat soberly and listened to a handful of officers and city officials make their pitch about joining an understaffed department that is synonymous with the murder of George Floyd.

Officers would live in a bustling, vibrant metro area with a high quality of life, they said, working in a large department where they could choose a wide variety of career paths with comprehensive benefits.

But those who take the oath must understand it is a dangerous job and that they would be expected to protect the sanctity of human life — even if it means reining in a fellow officer. And everything they do must be aimed at rebuilding trust in a city left in tatters by the killing of Floyd and other Black men.

“There's still people who still value us,” Sgt. Vanessa Anderson told the potential recruits. “The community still values us. I really do think that.”

Crime rose in Minneapolis during the pandemic, as in many American cities. Homicide offenses nearly doubled from 2019 to 2021, aggravated assaults jumped by one-third, and car-jackings — which the city only began tracking in fall 2020 — exploded. And the city's crime problem has been compounded by a mass exodus of officers who cited post-traumatic stress after Floyd was killed, gutting the department of roughly one-third of its personnel.

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EXPLAINER: Why the British public is not choosing its leader

LONDON (AP) — Observers of Britain’s governing structure can be forgiven for scratching their heads in recent weeks as they watch the country reel through a succession of prime ministers without holding an election. While the opposition Labour Party is demanding an election, the governing conservatives are pushing on with choosing another prime minister from within their own ranks, which they have the right to do because of the way Britain's parliamentary democracy works.

BRITONS NEVER ACTUALLY VOTE FOR THEIR PRIME MINISTER

Britain is divided into 650 local constituencies, and people tick a box for the representative they want to become their local member of parliament, or MP. In most cases, this will be a member of one of the country's major political parties.

The party that wins the majority of seats gets to form a government, and that party's leader automatically becomes prime minister. While coalitions are possible, Britain's voting system favors the two largest parties and in most cases a single party will take an absolute majority of seats, as is the case for the Conservatives in the current Parliament.

HOW DO THE PARTIES CHOOSE THEIR LEADERS?

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Red Bull Formula One owner Dietrich Mateschitz dies at 78

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, the co-founder of energy drink company Red Bull and founder and owner of the Red Bull Formula One racing team, has died. He was 78.

Officials with the Red Bull racing team at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, announced Mateschitz's death Saturday. There was no immediate word where he died, or a cause of death.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of motor sports governing body FIA, said Mateschitz was “a towering figure in motor sport.”

“The thoughts of all the FIA family are with his loved ones at this time and he will be greatly missed.”

Mateschitz gained fame as the public face of Red Bull, an Austrian-Thai conglomerate that says it sold nearly 10 billion cans of its caffeine and taurine-based drink in 172 countries worldwide last year.

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Javier, Astros romp 5-0 over Yanks, Cole, take 3-0 ALCS lead

NEW YORK (AP) — Cristian Javier and the Houston Astros aren’t just beating the Yankees, they’re chomping them up. And now Dusty Baker’s team is on the verge of an astonishing four-game sweep.

Javier and Houston’s bullpen combined on a three-hitter, Chas McCormick followed a dropped flyball with an early two-run homer and the Astros beat Gerrit Cole and the Yankees 5-0 on Saturday night to take a 3-0 AL Championship Series lead.

“We’re not going to come out any slower than we did today,” McCormick said after setting off another round of the Chas Chomp celebration in Houston's dugout. “We’re going to be ready to play tomorrow and go for the sweep.”

Trying for their second straight AL pennant, the 106-win Astros improved to 6-0 this postseason and need one win for their fourth World Series trip in six years. Houston aims to close out the series on Sunday night when Lance McCullers Jr. starts against Nestor Cortes.

Only one of 39 teams has recovered from a 3-0 postseason series deficit to win, Boston against the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS. Thirty teams completed sweeps.

News from © The Associated Press, 2022