A 14-year-old student fatally shot 4 people in a rampage at a Georgia high school, officials say

WINDER, Ga. (AP) — A 14-year-old student opened fire at a Georgia high school and killed four people on Wednesday, authorities said, sending students scrambling for shelter in their classrooms — and eventually to the football stadium — as officers swarmed the campus and parents raced to find out if their children were safe.

The dead were identified as two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder, about an hour’s drive from Atlanta. Killed were two other 14-year-olds, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and instructors Richard Aspenwall and Christina Irimie, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said in a nighttime news conference.

At least nine other people — eight students and one teacher — were taken to hospitals with injuries. All were expected to survive, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said.

The words “hard lockdown” appeared on a screen in junior Layla Ferrell's health class and lights began flashing. She and her frightened classmates piled desks and chairs in front of the door to create a barricade, she recalled.

Sophomore Kaylee Abner was in geometry class when she heard the gunshots. She and her classmates ducked behind their teacher’s desk, and then the teacher began flipping the desk in an attempt to barricade the classroom door, Abner said. A classmate beside her was praying, and she held his hand while they all waited for police.

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Right-wing influencers were duped to work for covert Russian influence operation, US says

NEW YORK (AP) — They have millions of followers online. They have been major players in right-wing political discourse since Donald Trump was president. And they worked unknowingly for a company that was a front for a Russian influence operation, U.S. prosecutors say.

An indictment filed Wednesday alleges a media company linked to six conservative influencers — including well-known personalities Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson — was secretly funded by Russian state media employees to churn out English-language videos that were “often consistent” with the Kremlin's “interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition" to Russian interests, like its war in Ukraine.

In addition to marking the third straight presidential election in which U.S. authorities have unveiled politically charged details about Russia’s attempted interference in U.S. politics, an indictment indicates how Moscow may be attempting to capitalize on the skyrocketing popularity of right-wing podcasters, livestreamers and other content creators who have found successful careers on social media in the years since Trump was in office.

The U.S. Justice Department doesn’t allege any wrongdoing by the influencers, some of whom it says were given false information about the source of the company's funding. Instead, it accuses two employees of RT, a Russian state media company, of funneling nearly $10 million to a Tennessee-based content creation company for Russia-friendly content.

After the indictments were announced, both Pool and Johnson issued statements on social media, which Rubin retweeted, saying they were victims of the alleged crimes and had done nothing wrong.

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For many investors and intellectuals leaving China, it's Japan — not the US — that's the bigger draw

TOKYO (AP) — One by one, the students, lawyers and others filed into a classroom in a central Tokyo university for a lecture by a Chinese journalist on Taiwan and democracy — taboo topics that can't be discussed publicly back home in China.

“Taiwan’s modern-day democracy took struggle and bloodshed, there’s no question about that,” said Jia Jia, a columnist and guest lecturer at the University of Tokyo who was briefly detained in China eight years ago on suspicion of penning a call for China's top leader to resign.

He is one of tens of thousands of intellectuals, investors and other Chinese who have relocated to Japan in recent years, part of a larger exodus of people from China.

Their backgrounds vary widely, and they're leaving for all sorts of reasons. Some are very poor, others are very rich. Some leave for economic reasons, as opportunities dry up with the end of China’s boom. Some flee for personal reasons, as even limited freedoms are eroded.

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Israel's Netanyahu demands open-ended control of Gaza's border with Egypt

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel must keep open-ended control of Gaza’s border with Egypt, digging in on his stance on an issue that has threatened to derail cease-fire efforts.

Netanyahu’s comments came as the United States is developing a new proposal for a cease-fire and hostage release, hoping to break a long deadlock and bring an end to the nearly 11-month-old war.

The question of Israeli control of the Philadelphi corridor –- a narrow strip of land along Gaza’s border with Egypt, seized by troops in May –- has become a central obstacle in the talks. Hamas has demanded an eventual full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in the multi-phase truce deal.

Egypt, a mediator in the talks along with the U.S. and Qatar, has also demanded a concrete timeline for Israeli troops to leave the Philadelphi corridor. And on Wednesday, the United Arab Emirates, which established formal ties with Israel in the 2020 Abraham Accords, also criticized the Israeli stance.

Speaking to foreign journalists, Netanyahu repeated his stance that Israel must maintain its hold on the border to prevent Hamas from rearming by smuggling weapons into Gaza. He said it was a vital part of the war goal of ensuring Hamas cannot repeat its Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

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Harris accepts rules for Sept. 10 debate with Trump on ABC, including microphone muting

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted the rules set forth for next week's debate with former President Donald Trump, although the Democratic nominee says the decision not to keep both candidates' microphones live throughout the matchup will be to her disadvantage.

The development, which came Wednesday by way of a letter from Harris' campaign to host network ABC News, seemed to mark a conclusion to the debate over microphone muting, which had for a time threatened to derail the Sept. 10 presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

Harris’ acceptance of the debate rules came as Trump — using a night he had proposed as a debate with Harris on Fox News Channel — instead participated in a solo town hall with host Sean Hannity in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a version of debate preparation with a longtime ally who queried him about his plans to take on the Democratic nominee.

President Joe Biden’s campaign had made the muting of microphones, except for the candidate whose turn it is to speak, a condition of his decision to accept any debates this year. Some aides have said they now regret that decision, saying voters were shielded from hearing Trump’s outbursts during the June debate. A disastrous performance for the incumbent Democrat fueled his exit from the campaign.

Once Harris rose in Biden's stead and became their party's pick for president, her campaign had advocated for live microphones for the whole debate, saying previously that the practice would “fully allow for substantive exchanges between the candidates.”

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Harris visits New Hampshire to tout her small business tax plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris used a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Wednesday to propose an expansion of tax incentives for small businesses, a pro-entrepreneur plan that may soften her previous calls for wealthy Americans and large corporations to pay higher taxes.

Describing small businesses as "an essential foundation to our entire economy,” Harris said she wants to expand from $5,000 to $50,000 tax incentives for startup expenses, with the goal of eventually spurring 25 million new small business applications over four years.

The speech was part of Harris' effort to strengthen her economic credentials with only two months until the end of the election.

“You’re not only leaders in business. You’re civic leaders,” Harris said. She added, “You are part of the glue and the fabric that holds communities together.”

The vice president spoke at the Throwback Brewery in North Hampton, outside Portsmouth, and met with co-founders Annette Lee and Nicole Carrier. Their brewery got support to open its current location through a small business credit and installed solar panels using federal programs championed by the Biden administration.

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Pope and imam of Southeast Asia's largest mosque make joint call for peace, environmental protection

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Pope Francis joined the grand imam of Southeast Asia’s largest mosque in pledging to work together to promote peace and protect the environment on Thursday, issuing a joint call for interfaith friendship and common cause at the heart of Francis’ visit to Indonesia.

In an encounter rich with symbolic meaning, Francis traveled to Jakarta’s iconic Istiqlal Mosque for an interfaith gathering with representatives of the six religions that are officially recognized in Indonesia: Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Catholicism and Protestantism.

There, he and the grand imam, Nasaruddin Umar, stood at the ground-level entrance to the “Tunnel of Friendship,” an underpass which connects the mosque compound with the neighboring Catholic cathedral, Our Lady of the Assumption.

Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, has held out the tunnel as a tangible sign of its commitment to religious freedom, which is enshrined in the constitution but has been challenged by repeated instances of discrimination and violence against religious minorities.

Approaching the elevator to the tunnel, Francis too said it was a potent sign of how different religious traditions “have a role to play in helping everyone pass through the tunnels of life with our eyes turned towards the light.”

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Takeaways from AP's report on government programs tackling the US maternal death crisis

Across the U.S., programs at all levels of government — federal, state and local — are striving to reduce maternal mortality and erase the racial gap.

Many are making headway in their communities and paving the way for other places.

The Associated Press examined efforts that are focused on individual patient needs and efforts seeking to improve medical care generally. Here are key takeaways.

Healthy Start is a federal program that has worked with vulnerable populations for decades. This year, the federal government gave out $105 million in grants to fund local projects. Officials say it's essential part of the Biden administration’s plan for addressing maternal health.

It “manages women through their pregnancy,” said Corrina Jackson, who heads up a local Healthy Start project in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “You try to get them in their first trimester and then work with them to delivery day, and then we also work with the babies to make sure that they reach their milestones.”

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Iraqi women fear rise in child marriages as lawmakers consider giving conservative clerics more say

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Shaimaa Saadoun is haunted by her memory of being forced into an abusive marriage to a 39-year-old man just after she turned 13.

Her impoverished family near the southern Iraqi city of Basra hoped that the dowry of gold and money would help improve their circumstances. Her husband presented a bloodstained piece of linen to prove her virginity after their wedding night.

“I was expected to be a wife and mother while I was still a child myself. No child or teenager should be forced to live what I have lived and experienced,” said Saadoun, who divorced her husband when she was 30 and is now 44.

Saadoun’s marriage was illegal, though a judge — who was related to the husband — signed off on it. Iraqi law sets 18 as the minimum age of marriage in most cases.

But such child marriages of girls might be state-sanctioned soon. Iraq’s parliament is considering controversial legal changes that would give religious authorities more power over family law matters, a move that rights groups and opponents warn could open the door to the marriage of girls as young as 9.

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US Open: Jessica Pegula upsets No. 1 Iga Swiatek to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal

NEW YORK (AP) — The questions wouldn't stop for Jessica Pegula: Why was she 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals heading into her U.S. Open matchup against No. 1 Iga Swiatek? What could Pegula do to change that?

Came up during her on-court interview after winning in the previous round. And again at the news conference that followed. And again during a brief TV interview right before striding onto the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night.

If that all weighed on Pegula, the 30-year-old American hid it well, pulling off a big upset by easily beating Swiatek 6-2, 6-4 at Flushing Meadows and earning a debut trip to the semifinals at a major.

“There have been so many freaking times, and I just kept losing,” said Pegula, who has won 14 of her past 15 matches, all on hard courts. "I know everyone keeps asking me about it, but I was like, ’I don’t know what else to do. I just need to get there again and, like, win the match.' So thank God I was able to do it. And finally — finally! — I can say, ‘Semifinalist.’”

She will face unseeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic on Thursday for a berth in the final.

News from © The Associated Press, 2024