In the news today: Presidential campaigns kick off their intense sprint to Election Day; the U.K. suspends some arms exports to Israel; and sex education in Paraguay has conservative lobbyists thrilled. Also, if you have pruning remorse, we’ve got some tips for filling in those bare spaces. |
Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
| Presidential campaigns kick off an intense sprint to Election Day
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After a summer of historic tumult, the path to the presidency for both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump this fall is becoming much clearer. Both camps acknowledge that victory is no sure thing as they begin the eight-week sprint to Election Day. Read more. |
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The Democratic vice president and the Republican former president will devote almost all of their remaining time and resources to just seven states. Those states are Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada, and across them all, both candidates are locked in close races.
Candidates will also spend hundreds of millions of dollars targeting voters who, in many cases, have just begun to pay attention to the election. The candidates will debate in one week in what will be their first meeting ever. The nation’s premier swing state, Pennsylvania, begins in-person absentee voting the week after.
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By the end of the month, early voting will be underway in at least four states with a dozen more to follow by mid-October. In just 63 days, the final votes will be cast to decide which one of them will lead the world’s most powerful nation.
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UK says it’s suspending some arms exports to Israel
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U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government said Monday that it’s suspending exports of some weapons to Israel because they could be used to break international law — a move with limited military impact intended to increase pressure by Israel’s frustrated allies for an end to the war in Gaza. Read more.
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Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the U.K. government has concluded there is a “clear risk” some items could be used to “commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.” But he also added that the decision wasn’t “a determination of innocence or guilt” about whether Israel had broken international law, and wasn’t an arms embargo.
British firms sell a relatively small amount of weapons and components to Israel compared to major suppliers such as the U.S. and Germany. But the U.K. is one of Israel’s closest allies, so the decision carries symbolic significance. -
The United Kingdom is among a number of Israel’s long-standing allies whose governments are under growing pressure to halt weapons exports because of the toll of the nearly 11-month-old conflict in Gaza. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the local health ministry.
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In Paraguay’s first sex ed program, condoms can’t be trusted and love is forever
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In Catholic Paraguay, which has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in South America, many young mothers explained their teen pregnancies to The Associated Press as the result of growing up in a country where national sex education is indistinguishable from a hygiene lesson. Read more. |
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For the first time, the Ministry of Education has endorsed a national sex ed curriculum. But in a surprising twist, it’s the sexual health educators and feminists who are panicked. Conservative lobbyists are thrilled.
The curriculum, a copy of which was obtained by the AP, promotes abstinence, explains sex as “God’s invention for married people,” warns about the inefficacy of condoms and says nothing of sexual orientation or identity. Critics say the teachings also perpetuate sexist stereotypes: “Men conquer, not seduce,” “girls have smaller and lighter brains,” “boys don’t cry easily,” “girls don’t like taking risks.”
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As a new generation of activists campaigning for legal abortion and gay rights scores victories across Latin America, a conservative backlash has gathered in Paraguay. The rise of the far right in Latin America has given the governing party’s platform of religion, family and “patria,” or fatherland, newer resonance — emboldening conservative culture warriors with evangelical ties to take their battles to classrooms.
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A man trims trees in a small garden in Kawasaki, Japan. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
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Got pruning remorse? Here’s how to fill in those bare spaces
You hope it doesn't happen. But sometimes you can let those evergreens get so big that you have to prune back parts of the branches, leaving bare spots that will never grow back. In those cases, we have some tips on how to fill in those gaps. |
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Please let us know what you think of this newsletter. You can sign up for more and invite a friend here. For news in real time visit APNews.com. - Sarah
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Please let us know what you think of this newsletter. You can sign up for more and invite a friend here. For news in real time visit APNews.com. - Sarah
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