AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

An Israeli strike on a school kills at least 22 people, Gaza Health Ministry says

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli strike on a school in northern Gaza on Saturday killed at least 22 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, while the Israeli army said it targeted a Hamas command center in what used to be a school.

Another 30 were wounded in the strike on the school in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City, the ministry said in a statement. Most of the casualties were women and children, it said. It wasn’t immediately clear which hospital the dead and injured were taken to.

Video taken by The Associated Press showed dozens of people including children digging through the rubble of the building — its ceilings caved in, walls knocked out and a mess of wires and metal rods visible. Outside, others gathered around shrouded bodies. Some covered their faces as they wept for relatives killed in the strike.

“A missile, a missile from the plane hit us, and another missile,” said Ferial Deloul, who is displaced. “We saw the whole world covered with smoke and stones and we saw people and children cut up. … What should we do? What is our fault for this to happen to us?”

The Israeli army said earlier Saturday that it struck Hamas’ “command and control center, which was embedded inside a compound that previously served” as a school. It said steps were taken to limit harming civilians, including using precise munitions and aerial surveillance.

___

Israel raids and shuts down Al Jazeera’s bureau in Ramallah in the West Bank

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israeli troops raided the offices of the satellite news network Al Jazeera in the Israeli-occupied West Bank early Sunday, ordering the bureau to shut down amid a widening campaign by Israel targeting the Qatar-funded broadcaster as it covers the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Al Jazeera aired footage of Israeli troops live on its Arabic-language channel ordering the office to be shut for 45 days. It follows an extraordinary order issued in May that saw Israeli police raid Al Jazeera’s broadcast position in East Jerusalem, seizing equipment there, preventing its broadcasts in Israel and blocking its websites.

The move marked the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet operating in the country. However, Al Jazeera has continued operating in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, territories that the Palestinians hope to have for their future state.

There was no immediate acknowledgement of the shutdown by Israeli forces. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. Al Jazeera denounced the move as it continued broadcasting live from Amman in neighboring Jordan.

Israeli troops entered the office and told a reporter live on air it would be shut for 45 days, saying that staff needed to leave immediately. The network later aired what appeared to be Israel troops tearing down a banner on a balcony used by the Al Jazeera office. Al Jazeera said it bore an image of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist shot dead by Israeli forces in May 2022.

___

Hezbollah targets base near Haifa after Israeli strike in Beirut killed 37, including top commander

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah announced that it fired a barrage of missiles at a military base deep inside Israel early Sunday following an Israeli airstrike more than a day earlier that killed at least 37 people, including one of the militant group’s senior leaders as well as women and children.

It was not immediately clear if any of the rockets had hit their target. Israel’s emergency medical services reported that a man was lightly wounded by shrapnel from a missile that was intercepted in a village in the lower Galilee.

Local media reported that rockets shot from Lebanon were intercepted in the areas of Haifa and Nazareth. The Israeli military said only that it had monitored the launch of “about ten rockets” from Lebanon, of which most were intercepted.

Hezbollah said it had launched “dozens of Fadi 1 and Fadi 2 missiles” – a new type of weapon the group had not used before – at the Ramat David airbase, southeast of Haifa, “in response to the repeated Israeli attacks that targeted various Lebanese regions and led to the fall of many civilian martyrs.”

In July, the group had released a video with what it said was footage it had filmed of the base with surveillance drones.

___

Trump appeals to women in return to North Carolina without Mark Robinson, a top in-state supporter

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Donald Trump returned to North Carolina on Saturday, stumping in the southern battleground state with direct appeals to women, claiming he would be a better champion for them than Vice President Kamala Harris, who is vying to become the first female president.

Trump campaigned in Wilmington, along the state’s southern coast, without Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the GOP gubernatorial nominee and one of the former president’s top surrogates in the state, following a CNN report about his alleged posts on a pornography website’s message board. He did not mention Robinson during a speech that lasted just over an hour.

Robinson has denied writing the posts, which include lewd and racist comments, saying Thursday that he wouldn’t be forced out of the race by “salacious tabloid lies.” Trump’s campaign has appeared to distance itself from Robinson in the wake of the CNN reporting, which the AP has not independently verified, saying in a statement that Trump “is focused on winning the White House and saving this country” and calling North Carolina “a vital part of that plan,” without mentioning Robinson.

Democrats have seized on the opportunity to highlight Trump’s ties to Robinson, with billboards showing the two together, as well as a new ad from Harris’ campaign highlighting the Republican candidates’ ties as well as Robinson’s support for a statewide abortion ban without exceptions. According to Harris’ campaign, it’s their first ad effort related to tying Trump to a down-ballot race.

Both abortion rights and Robinson are electoral liabilities for Trump in a state he previously won twice. Already before CNN’s report, Robinson was trailing in several recent polls to Democratic nominee Josh Stein, the state’s attorney general. Polls show Trump and Harris locked in a close race here and nationally.

___

AI is helping shape the 2024 presidential race. But not in the way experts feared

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the 2024 election looming, the first since the mass popularization of generative artificial intelligence, experts feared the worst: social media flooded with AI-generated deepfakes that were so realistic, baffled voters wouldn’t know what to believe.

So far, that hasn’t happened. Instead, what voters are seeing is far more absurd: A video of former President Donald Trump riding a cat while wielding an assault rifle. A mustachioed Vice President Kamala Harris dressed in communist attire. Trump and Harris sharing a passionate embrace.

AI is playing a major role in the presidential campaign, even if the greatest fears about how it could threaten the U.S. presidential election haven’t materialized yet. Fake AI-generated images regularly ricochet around the web, but many of them are so cartoonish and absurd that even the most naïve viewer couldn’t take them seriously.

Still, even these memes can be problematic. Eye-catching AI-generated photos and videos, some striving to be funny, have become useful tools for spreading false, sometimes racist messages with a clear political bent — and candidates and their supporters are among those sharing them on social media.

For example, Trump and many of his allies not only repeatedly promoted the unfounded conspiracy theory that Haitian migrants are stealing and eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio, they also spread related AI-generated memes. One shared by Trump’s Truth Social account showed him on a luxury jet, surrounded by cats and white ducks. Another showed a group of kittens holding a sign that read, “DON’T LET THEM EAT US, Vote for Trump!”

___

Diddy faces public scrutiny over alleged sex crimes as questions arise about future of his music

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs created a hit-making empire with big name performers, earning his place as a savvy music mogul and becoming a three-time Grammy winner while securing high-profile deals across other industries.

But now, Combs’ kingdom is collapsing under charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. He was arrested in New York on Sept. 16 and accused in an indictment of using his “power and prestige” to induce female victims and male sex workers in “Freak Offs” along with allegations of abuse dating back to 2008.

If convicted, Combs could face at least 15 years in prison. He is awaiting trial after pleading not guilty.

Since several allegations surfaced last year, Combs’ public image has taken a nosedive as major deals slipped away: He stepped down as Revolt TV chairman then later sold off his majority stake in the company. He reportedly lost a reality show with Hulu and his influential fashion line Sean John no longer can be found on the Macy’s department store website.

After footage emerged from 2016 of Combs’ hotel hallway attack of then-girlfriend R&B singer Cassie, he lost the key to the city of New York, Peloton paused the usage of his music and he saw his honorary degree from Howard University evaporate in disgrace. His charter school, Capital Preparatory School in Harlem, also cut ties with him.

___

FBI agents have boarded vessel managed by company whose other cargo ship collapsed Baltimore bridge

BALTIMORE (AP) — Federal agents on Saturday boarded a vessel managed by the same company as a cargo ship that caused the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse, the FBI confirmed.

In statements, spokespeople for the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland confirmed that authorities boarded the Maersk Saltoro. The ship is managed by Synergy Marine Group.

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division and Coast Guard Investigative Services are present aboard the Maersk Saltoro conducting court authorized law enforcement activity,” statements from both the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office said Saturday morning.

Authorities did not offer further specifics. The Washington Post first reported on federal authorities boarding the ship.

The raid came several months after investigators conducted a similar search of the Dali, the cargo ship that crashed into the bridge.

___

Euphoric two years ago, US anti-abortion movement is now divided and worried as election nears

Just two years ago, leading anti-abortion activists were euphoric as the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, thus ending the nationwide right to abortion.

Now, with a presidential election fast approaching, their movement is disunited and worried. Within their own ranks, there is second-guessing and finger-pointing, plus trepidation that Election Day might provide new proof that their cause is broadly unpopular.

Michael New, an abortion opponent who teaches social research at The Catholic University of America, offered an overview of how the movement had fared since the Roe ruling in June 2022.

“Things have not necessarily unfolded as we would hope,” he wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “There is certainly a sense among pro-life leaders that we should have had a stronger post-Roe game plan in place.”

“I always remind fellow pro-lifers that we were never promised a smooth glide path to victory,” he added. “There will certainly be setbacks and disappointments along the way.”

___

Giant sinkholes in a South Dakota neighborhood make families fear for their safety

Stuart and Tonya Junker loved their quiet neighborhood near South Dakota’s Black Hills — until the earth began collapsing around them, leaving them wondering if their home could tumble into a gaping hole.

They blame the state for selling land that became the Hideaway Hills subdivision despite knowing it was perched above an old mine. Since the sinkholes began opening up, they and about 150 of their neighbors sued the state for $45 million to cover the value of their homes and legal costs.

“Let’s just say it’s really changed our lives a lot,” Tonya Junker said. “The worry, the not sleeping, the ‘what if’ something happens. It’s all of it, all of the above.”

Sinkholes are fairly common, due to collapsed caves, old mines or dissolving material, but the circumstances in South Dakota stand out, said Paul Santi, a professor of geological engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. The combination of such large sinkholes endangering so many homes makes the Hideaway Hills situation one to remember.

“I can say just from having taught classes about case histories with geologic problems that this would be a case that will end up in textbooks,” Santi said.

___

The Midwest could offer fall’s most electric foliage but leaf peepers elsewhere won’t miss out

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Fall is back, and bringing with it jack-o’-lanterns, football, pumpkin spice everything and — in some parts of the country — especially vibrant foliage.

Leaves around the northern U.S. are starting to turn orange, yellow and red, inspiring legions of leaf lovers to hop in their cars and travel to the countryside for the best look at fall’s fireworks. Leaf peeping — the act of traveling to witness nature’s annual kaleidoscope — contributes billions of dollars to the economy, especially in New England and New York.

But this year, some of the most colorful displays could be in the Midwest. AccuWeather, the commercial forecasting service, said in early September that it expects especially vibrant foliage in states such as Michigan and Illinois.

The service also said powerful, popping colors are expected in upstate New York and parts of Pennsylvania, while New England will follow a more typical color pattern. But that doesn’t mean New England travelers will miss out.

Maine, the most forested state in the country, had “an abundance of daily sunshine with just the right amount of rainfall to set the stage for a breathtaking foliage season,” said Gale Ross, the state’s fall foliage spokesperson. Color change and timing depend on the weather in the fall, but cooler nighttime temperatures and shorter days should enhance the colors, Ross said.

The Associated Press