AP News Summary at 11:58 p.m. EDT

Official tells AP that Saudi Arabia will host a Ukrainian-organized peace summit in August

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia will host a Ukrainian-organized peace summit in early August seeking to find a way to start negotiations over Russia’s war on the country. That's what an official told The Associated Press on Saturday night. The kingdom and Kyiv did not immediately acknowledge the planned talks. The official says the summit will be held in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah. The official says the summit will include Ukraine, as well as Brazil, India, South Africa and several other countries. The official added that a high-level official from U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration also is expected to attend. Russia is not expected to attend. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as no authorization had been given to publicly discuss the summit.

Judge blocks Arkansas law allowing librarians to be criminally charged over ‘harmful’ materials

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal judge has temporarily blocked Arkansas from enforcing a law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing “harmful” materials to minors. U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks issued a preliminary injunction against the law on Saturday. The law was set to take effect Aug. 1. It also would have created a new process to challenge library materials and request they be relocated to areas children can’t access. The ruling comes as lawmakers in a number of conservative states are pushing for measures making it easier to ban or restrict access to books.

'The Few, the Proud' aren't so few: Marines recruiting surges while other services struggle

PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Marine Corps leaders say they'll make their recruiting goal this year, at a time when the active-duty Army, Navy and Air Force expect to fall short. All the services have struggled in the tight job market to compete with higher-paying businesses for the dwindling number of young people who can meet the military’s physical, mental and moral standards. So how are the Marines doing it? Recruiting leaders say a key to their success is the emphasis the Corps puts on selecting top-performing Marines to fill recruiting jobs. That's along with efforts to increase the number of recruiters, extend those who do well and then speed their return to high schools, where in-person recruiting stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Members of Congress break for August with no clear path to avoiding a shutdown this fall

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers broke for their August recess this week with many worried about whether they can avoid a partial government shutdown upon their return. Congress will have until Oct. 1, the start of the new fiscal year, to pass the spending bills needed to fund government agencies next year or a stopgap measure that keeps agencies running temporarily. It won’t be easy. Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware is worried about the road ahead, saying “we’re going to scare the hell out of the American people before we get this done." House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says he's confident "we can get this all done” by the end of September.

Fresh charges tie Trump even more closely to coverup effort. That could deepen his legal woes

WASHINGTON (AP) — New allegations in the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump deepen his legal jeopardy as he braces for possible additional indictments related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The latest criminal charges unsealed Thursday allege a more central role for the former president than previously known in a cover-up that prosecutors say was meant to prevent them from recovering top-secret documents he took with him after he left the White House. Experts say the new allegations strengthen special counsel Jack Smith’s already powerful case against Trump while undercutting potential defenses floated by the former president. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

Water is refreshing in the heat, right? In parts of Florida this past week, not so much

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) — When the ocean gets really hot, it's less refreshing. Earlier this week, sea surface temperatures rose above 100 degrees Fahrenheit at a spot off Florida's southern tip. In the prolonged heat wave smothering the Southwest, pools are so hot that they don't offer enough relief. One woman threw blocks of ice into her pool to lower the temperature. This is happening when large swaths of the United STates are suffering through a heat wave. Scientists recently declared that July was the hottest month ever recorded for the globe. Luckily in Florida, a storm finally helped sea surface temperatures fall where they were extremely high.

Do you believe in angels? About 7 in 10 U.S. adults do, a new AP-NORC poll shows

Compared with the devil, angels carry more credence in America. They even get more credence than hell. More than astrology, reincarnation, and the belief that physical things can have spiritual energies. In fact, about 7 in 10 U.S. adults say they believe in angels, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The widespread acceptance of angels made sense to one angel expert because they are malleable to an array of worldviews. Angels mean different things to different people. For example, the idea of loved ones becoming heavenly angels after death is neither an unusual belief nor a universally held one.

Election disinformation campaigns targeted voters of color in 2020. Experts expect 2024 to be worse

CHICAGO (AP) — Community organizations are gearing up for what they expect will be a worsening onslaught of disinformation targeting voters of color as the 2024 election approaches. They say the tailored campaigns challenge assumptions of what kinds of voters are susceptible to election conspiracies and distrust in voting systems. For example, immigrants from authoritarian regimes in countries like Venezuela or who have lived through the Chinese Cultural Revolution may be vulnerable to misinformation that claims politicians want to turn the U.S. into a Socialist state. Disinformation efforts often hinge on topics most important to each community, taking advantage of very real fears and past trauma.

30 days over 110 F in Phoenix. But expected monsoon rains could cool historically hot Southwest

PHOENIX (AP) — A historic heat wave that has blasted the U.S. Southwest throughout July is showing signs of abating with late-arriving monsoon rains. Forecasters expect that by Monday, people in metro Phoenix will begin seeing high temperatures under 110 degrees for the first time in a month. But the National Weather Service says the high temperature in the desert city Saturday has still climbed past 110 for the 30th straight day. Chances of cooling monsoon thunderstorms are expected to increase Sunday. But wet weather also can bring damaging winds and flash flooding. Temperatures are also expected to ease in Las Vegas; Albuquerque, New Mexico, and even Death Valley, California.

Violent crime is rising in the nation's capital. DC seeks solutions as Congress keeps close watch

WASHINGTON (AP) — Veteran law enforcer Pamela Smith is taking over as police chief in the nation's capital at a precarious time. Violent crime is rising sharply, fueled by more homicides and carjackings. The District of Columbia’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, and the D.C. Council have, at times, been at odds about crime legislation. On Capitol Hill, the Republican-led House has begun citing the city’s crime statistics while aggressively reviewing local public safety laws. Law enforcement and government officials repeatedly point out that overall crime numbers in Washington have stayed relatively stable. But the crimes that have increased the most — murders and carjackings — are the ones most likely to damage public confidence.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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