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

Biden spotlights support for NATO as he looks to use summit to help reset stumbling campaign

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden welcomed NATO leaders to Washington on Tuesday by celebrating their unity against Russia’s Ukraine aggression and underscoring America’s ironclad commitment to the alliance under his watch — a message that seemed aimed at bucking up his own wobbly Democratic supporters as much as allies confronting the prospect of a return to the White House of NATO skeptic Donald Trump.

Biden has been straining to persuade U.S. voters and donors that he’s ready for reelection after a stumbling debate performance against Trump. He’s been making his case on the campaign trail, in a defiant letter to Democratic lawmakers and now at an international summit that he’s still up for four more grinding years in the White House.

“Today, NATO is more powerful than ever—32 nations strong, Biden said as he welcomed leaders at an evening event to mark the 75th anniversary of the alliance. ”It’s good we’re stronger than ever because this moment in history calls for our collective strength,” he declared head up and voice strong.

The summit comes at trying moment for Biden’s presidency. Several Democratic House members have publicly called on him to quit his campaign. Other lawmakers in private conversations have urged him to step aside, and several high-profile donors have raised concerns about his viability in the race against Trump.

Biden has no shortage of difficult substantive conversations ahead about global security over the course of the three-day NATO summit. But the White House is also looking to display to America that he has the stamina for crowded days and evenings of formal meetings, sideline chats with world leaders, long diplomatic dinners and receptions, and a summit-ending press conference.

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Democrats on Capitol Hill express concerns about Biden in private but stay quiet in public

WASHINGTON (AP) — After meeting for around two hours Tuesday to discuss whether President Joe Biden should remain at the top of their presidential ticket, Senate Democrats seemed to agree on one thing — it’s best not to talk about it publicly.

Behind closed doors, several Democrats expressed deep concerns about whether Biden can win. But no Democratic senators publicly called for him to drop his reelection bid, underscoring the deep bind facing the party at a crucial juncture in the campaign. Democratic lawmakers are reeling from Biden’s calamitous performance at the debate two weeks ago, yet the president has made clear, repeatedly and forcefully, that he has no plans to step aside.

Emerging from their meeting Tuesday, senators ducked into elevators, evaded questions, joked, and stated the obvious — that they all want to defeat former Republican Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee. But very few of them would comment on Biden’s future, whether they think he should remain the Democratic candidate, or what the Senate could potentially do about it. Some of them appeared resigned.

“People are all focused on winning right now,” said Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, who is in charge of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm.

Can you win with Biden? “He’s our nominee,” Peters said.

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Trump revels in Democratic turmoil as he returns to campaign trail and teases VP pick

MIAMI (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday reveled in the mounting turmoil surrounding President Joe Biden ’s campaign in the wake of their debate and teased the expected announcement of his Republican running mate with one of the top contenders, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, in attendance.

After days spent lying low, golfing and letting Democratic infighting play out in public, Trump used his return to the campaign trail in Florida to ratchet up his attacks on both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, indulging speculation that she could replace the president as the Democratic nominee this year and alleging, without evidence, that his son Hunter Biden is “running our government” and first lady Jill Biden “is helping.” Biden has repeatedly insisted he won’t withdraw from the race.

Trump rallied his supporters at one of his Miami-area golf courses as the presumptive Republican nominee nears a deadline to announce his running mate. But he appears in no rush, as much of the political world’s attention is still centered on questions about Biden’s ability to govern for another four-year term. Some Democrats have started calling for Biden to step down as their presumptive nominee following his dismal debate performance last month.

Trump, speaking from the 10th hole of his course, challenged Biden to another debate or even a “golf-off” reviving an offbeat argument from their debate. But mostly, he rubbed in how their meetup left Biden’s campaign facing a grim prognosis.

“Our victory was so absolute that Joe’s own party now wants him to throw in the towel and surrender the presidency after a single 90-minute performance,” Trump said Tuesday night. “They want ‘Crooked Joe’ out of the race. It’s a shame the way they’re treating him. But don’t feel sorry for him. He’s a very bad guy.”

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Zelenskyy says the world cannot wait until the US election in November to take action to repel Putin

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that decisive action must be taken before the U.S. presidential election in November to repel Russia’s offensive against his country, using an address on the sidelines of the NATO summit to press for greater support during a pivotal but tumultuous stretch in America’s political calendar.

“It’s time to step out of the shadows to make strong decisions to act and not wait for November or any other months to descend. We must be strong and uncompromising all together,” Zelenskyy said.

Speaking in Washington four months before an election beset by new uncertainty following President Joe Biden’s shaky debate performance, he aimed his message at Republicans, whose NATO-adverse leader looks to be in an improving position to win back the presidency.

The president of the United States, Zelenskyy added, must be “uncompromising in defending democracy, uncompromising against (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and his coterie.”

Zelenskyy has proven to be an adept navigator of international relations in defense of his war-ravaged country, publicly cajoling and sometimes loudly complaining to get the military assistance it needs to defend itself against Russia.

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Iran encourages Gaza war protests in US to stoke outrage and distrust, intelligence chief says

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Iranian government is covertly encouraging American protests over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza in a bid to stoke outrage ahead of the fall election, the nation’s top intelligence official said Tuesday.

Using social media platforms popular in the U.S., groups linked to Tehran have posed as online activists, encouraged protests and have provided financial support to some protest groups, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said in a statement.

“Iran is becoming increasingly aggressive in their foreign influence efforts, seeking to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions,” Haines said.

This effort noted by the top U.S. intelligence official is the latest evidence that America’s adversaries are harnessing the internet to warp domestic debates and widen political divides ahead of the election.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said it was important to warn Americans to help them “guard against efforts by foreign powers to take advantage of or coopt their legitimate protest activities.”

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Airstrike kills 25 in southern Gaza as Israeli assault on Gaza City shuts down medical facilities

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An apparent Israeli airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in southern Gaza killed at least 25 Palestinians on Tuesday, as heavy bombardment in the north forced the closure of medical facilities in Gaza City and sent thousands fleeing in search of increasingly elusive refuge.

Israel’s new ground assault in Gaza’s largest city is its latest effort to battle Hamas militants regrouping in areas the army previously said had been largely cleared.

Large parts of Gaza City and urban areas around it have been flattened or left a shattered landscape after nine months of fighting. Much of the population fled earlier in the war, but several hundred thousand Palestinians remain in the north.

“The fighting has been intense,” said Hakeem Abdel-Bar, who fled Gaza City’s Tuffah district to the home of relatives in another part of the city. He said Israeli warplanes and drones were “striking anything moving” and that tanks had moved into central districts.

The strike at the entrance to the school killed at least 25 people, according to an Associated Press reporter who counted the bodies at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Hospital spokesperson Weam Fares said the dead included at least seven women and children and that the toll was likely to rise.

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Vatican will prepare a document on the role of women in leadership in the Catholic Church

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican said Tuesday that its doctrine office will prepare a document on women in leadership roles in the Catholic Church, a new initiative to respond to longstanding demands by women to have a greater say in the church’s life.

The document will be written by the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith as its contribution to Pope Francis’ big church reform process, now entering its second main phase with a meeting of bishops in October, known as a synod.

The Vatican announced the details of the doctrinal document shortly after its news conference — led by four men — on the preparatory work for the October meeting, leaving journalists no chance to ask for more details about it.

A group pressing for women’s ordination promptly dismissed the significance of it as “crumbs,” noting that ordained men would once again be making decisions about women’s roles in the church.

The forthcoming document was announced in a list of the members of 10 “study groups” that are looking into some of the thorniest and legally complicated issues that have arisen in the reform process to date, including the role of women and LGBTQ+ Catholics in the life of the church.

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The body of an American climber buried by an avalanche 22 years ago in Peru is found in the ice

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Twenty two years ago, an avalanche buried American climber Bill Stampfl as he made his way up one of the highest peaks in the Andes mountains.

His family knew there was little hope of finding him alive, or even of retrieving his corpse from the thick fields of snow and the freezing ice sheets that cover the 6,700-meter (22,000-foot) tall Huascaran peak.

But in June, Stampfl’s son got a call from a stranger, who said he had come across the climber’s frozen, and mostly intact body, as he made his own ascent up Huascaran.

“It was so out of left field. We talk about my dad, we think about him all the time,” Joseph Stampfl said. “You just never think you are going to get that call.”

He then shared the news with his family.

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Jury is seated in Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial in New Mexico

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Sixteen jurors were seated Tuesday for Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial in New Mexico, where opening statements are set to start Wednesday.

Five men and 11 women were chosen by Santa Fe County special prosecutors and the actor’s team of defense attorneys. Twelve will be designated as the jury and four as alternates by the court only after they hear the case.

They’ll be tasked with deciding whether Baldwin committed the felony when, during a rehearsal in October 2021, a revolver went off while he was pointing it at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. They were on the set of the Western film “Rust,” at Bonanza Creek Ranch some 18 miles (29 kilometers) from where the trial is being held.

Media members were not allowed in the courtroom when attorneys used their challenges to strike jurors. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer swore in the jury, told them to avoid news about the case and to report Wednesday morning.

Baldwin, 66, could get up to 18 months in prison if the jurors unanimously find him guilty.

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Milk, eggs and now bullets for sale in handful of US grocery stores with ammo vending machines

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A company has installed computerized vending machines to sell ammunition in grocery stores in Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas, allowing patrons to pick up bullets along with a gallon of milk.

American Rounds said their machines use an identification scanner and facial recognition software to verify the purchaser’s age and are as “quick and easy” to use as a computer tablet. But advocates worry that selling bullets out of vending machines will lead to more shootings in the U.S., where gun violence killed at least 33 people on Independence Day alone.

The company maintains the age-verification technology means that the transactions are as secure, or more secure, than online sales, which may not require the purchaser to submit proof of age, or at retail stores, where there is a risk of shoplifting.

“I’m very thankful for those who are taking the time to get to know us and not just making assumptions about what we’re about,” CEO Grant Magers said. “We are very pro-Second Amendment, but we are for responsible gun ownership, and we hope we’re improving the environment for the community.”

There have been 15 mass killings involving a firearm so far in 2024, compared to 39 in 2023, according to a database maintained in a partnership of The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University.

The Associated Press