Trump and Harris mark somber anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are marking the first anniversary of the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust as the presidential candidates approach the final weeks of the campaign during a widening conflict in the Middle East.

Political leaders across the spectrum were marking the killing of about 1,200 people, including 46 U.S. citizens, by Hamas-led militants in the Oct. 7 attack last year, and the taking of about 250 hostages. A year later, about 100 people, including several Americans, remain in captivity, as U.S.-led efforts to negotiate a cease-fire and hostage release deal have sputtered out.

Trump visited the New York City gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who led the Chabad-Lubavitch movement of Orthodox Judaism from 1951 until his death in 1994. Schneerson was the movement’s seventh leader, known as Lubavitcher Rebbe. Trump then will speak before Jewish community leaders at one of his Florida resorts in the Miami suburb of Doral.

Harris and her husband planted a pomegranate tree on the grounds of the vice president’s residence in honor of the those killed a year ago.

Earlier Monday, Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, recited a prayer for peace at an event to commemorate the anniversary hosted by the American Jewish Committee in Washington.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden also hosted a somber memorial ceremony at the White House Monday to mark the one-year anniversary of the attack. The Bidens looked on as Rabbi Aaron Alexander of Washington’s Adas Israel Congregation recited the Jewish remembrance prayer for the more than 1,200 people, including dozens of Americans, killed that day, listing the towns, villages and festival site that were the scenes of the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. The president then lit a lone memorial candle placed on a small table at the center of the Blue Room, before they observed a moment of silence.

Earlier in the day, Biden spoke with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the White House said.

The attack sparked a deadly war in Gaza, as Israel moved to root out Hamas' control over the territory and try to return those taken captive. Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, including many women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians.

Another Iran-backed group, Hezbollah, has fired thousands of rockets at Israeli territory in the same period from Lebanon, and Israel last month expanded a campaign of sabotage and assassination and launched a ground incursion into Lebanon to combat the threat from the group.

Iran, meanwhile, has fired large missile salvos at Israel, most recently a week ago, as the U.S. maintains troops and weaponry in the region to help Israel shoot them down.

Trump has blamed both Harris and Biden for the war, arguing their administration empowered Iran, and he has tried to take advantage of some of the divisions within the Democratic Party with progressives protesting Israel's war.

Some of Trump's statements on Israel overlook his association with people who spew antisemitic rhetoric such as far-right activist Nick Fuentes and rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.

Trump has repeatedly said that Jewish voters who vote for Democrats “should have their head examined” and recently said that if he loses the presidential election to Harris on Nov. 5 “the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that.”

“I did more for Israel than anybody. I did more for the Jewish people than anybody. And it’s not a reciprocal, as they say,” Trump said Monday in a radio interview with conservative host Hugh Hewitt. He also said developers could make Gaza “better than Monaco" because it has “the best location in the Middle East, the best water, the best everything.”

In a ballroom where the former president was scheduled to appear at the Trump National Doral hotel, banners hung with the images of the hundreds who were killed on Oct. 7. Rows of empty chairs arranged to the sides of the stage with the photo and name of those who are still held hostage by Hamas and a yellow rose on each seat.

In an excerpt released from an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that will air Monday night, Harris appeared to avoid answering a question about whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considered “a real close ally,” and said: “The better question is, Do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is yes.”

Trump’s own relations with Netanyahu have been rocky. They soured after the Israeli prime minister became one of the first world leaders to congratulate Biden for his 2020 victory, which Trump continues to deny. A few days after the Oct. 7 attack last year, Trump publicly criticized Netanyahu and said he “was not prepared” for the deadly incursion from Gaza. Trump said Netanyahu had let the U.S. down just before the U.S. killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

Since then, the two have met to talk about a cease-fire deal for Gaza.

Halie Soifer, head of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, said the conflict in the Middle East — including fighting with Hezbollah and Iran — has left Jewish voters “with a sense of vulnerability and concern for Israel’s future.” Soifer previously advised Harris on national security issues.

She said Harris has been consistent with a message of commitment to Israel’s defense for the last year, and said Harris and Biden have directed U.S. forces to shoot down Iranian missiles targeting Israel on multiple occasions.

Megerian reported from Washington.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump talks with members of the Chabad Lubavitch after visiting the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as second gentleman Doug Emhoff looks on before planting a memorial tree on the grounds of the Vice President's residence in Washington on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, to honor the victims and mark one year since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump poses for photos with family members of Edan Alexander, a hostage held by Hamas, after visiting the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff look at memorial tree after they planted it on the grounds of the Vice President's residence in Washington on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, to honor the victims and mark one year since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at Ohel Chabad-Lubavitch to visit the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A boy awaits the arrival of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at Ohel Chabad-Lubavitch, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at Ohel Chabad-Lubavitch to visit the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at Ohel Chabad-Lubavitch to visit the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, center, visits the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson at Ohel Chabad-Lubavitch, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, center, visits the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson at Ohel Chabad-Lubavitch, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff plant a memorial tree on the grounds of the Vice President's residence in Washington on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, to honor the victims and mark one year since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff stand after planting a memorial tree on the grounds of the Vice President's residence in Washington on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, to honor the victims and mark one year since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

President Joe Biden, center, standing with first lady Jill Biden, left, and Rabbi Aaron Alexander of the Adas Israel Congregation, participates in a memorial candle-lighting in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, to mark the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel that left about 1,200 people dead. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden, center, standing with first lady Jill Biden, left, and Rabbi Aaron Alexander of the Adas Israel Congregation, lights a memorial candle in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, to mark the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel that left about 1,200 people dead. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge on Monday ordered Google to tear down the digital walls shielding its Android app store from competition as punishment for maintaining an illegal monopoly that helped expand the company's internet empire.

The injunction issued by U.S. District Judge James Donato will require Google to make several changes that the Mountain View, California, company had been resisting. Those include a provision that will require its Play Store for Android apps to distribute rival third-party app stores so consumers can download them to their phones, if they so desire.

The judge’s order will also make the millions of Android apps in the Play Store library accessible to rivals, allowing them to offer up a competitive selection.

Donato is giving Google until November to make the revisions dictated in his order. The company had insisted it would take 12 to 16 months to design the safeguards needed to reduce the chances of potentially malicious software making its way into rival Android app stores and infecting millions of Samsung phones and other mobile devices running on its free Android software.

The court-mandated overhaul is meant to prevent Google from walling off competition in the Android app market as part of an effort to protect a commission system that has been a boon for one of the world's most prosperous companies and helped elevate the market value of its corporate parent Alphabet Inc. to $2 trillion.

Google said in a blog post that it will ask the court to pause the pending changes, and will appeal the court’s decision.

Donato also ruled that, for a period of three years ending Nov. 1, 2027, Google won't be able to share revenue from its Play Store with anyone who distributes Android apps or is considering launching an Android app distribution platform or store. It also won't be allowed to pay developers, or share revenue, so that they will launch an app in the Google Play Store first or exclusively, and can't make deals with manufacturers to preinstall the Google Play store on any specific location on an Android device. It also won't be able to require apps to use its billing system or tell customers that they can download apps elsewhere and potentially for cheaper.

The Play Store has been earning billions of dollars annually for years, primarily through 15% to 30% commissions that Google has been imposing on digital transactions completed within Android apps. It's a similar fee structure to the one that Apple deploys in its iPhone app store — a structure that prompted video game maker Epic Games to file antitrust lawsuits four years ago in an effort to foster competition that could help drive down prices for both app makers and consumers.

A federal judge mostly sided with Apple in a September 2021 decision that was upheld by an appeals court. Still, a jury favored Epic Games after the completion of a four-week trial completed last year and delivered a verdict that tarred the Play Store as an illegal monopoly.

That prompted another round of hearings this year to help Donato determine what steps should be taken to restore fair competition. Google argued that Epic Games was seeking some extreme changes, saddling the company with costs that could run as high as $600 billion. Epic contended Google could level the playing field for as little as $1 million. It's unclear how much the changes ordered by Donato will cost Google.

Although Epic lost its antitrust case against Apple, Donato's ruling could still have ripple effects on the iPhone app store as another federal judge weighs whether Apple is making it easy enough to promote different ways that consumers can pay for digital transactions. Apple was ordered to allow in-app links to alternative payment systems as part of U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers' decision in that case, but Epic contends the provision is being undermined with the creation of another commission system that stifles consumer choice.

The forthcoming Play Store shakeup could be just the first unwelcome shock that antitrust law delivers to Google. In the biggest antitrust case brought by the U.S. Justice Department in a quarter century, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in August declared Google's dominant search engine to be an illegal monopoly, too, and is now getting ready to start hearings on how to punish Google for that bad behavior. Google is appealing Mehta's ruling in the search engine case in hopes of warding off a penalty that could hurt its business even more than the changes being ordered in the Play Store.

“Provided the ruling survives the appeals process, Google will almost certainly take a revenue hit,” said Emarketer analyst Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf. “No doubt some of the largest app developers like Epic Games will start encroaching on Google Play Store’s market share, meaning Google will lose out on its usual cut of subscription and in-app purchases.”

The analyst added that, while the Google Play Store will likely continue to benefit from brand recognition since it was the default Android app store for so long, “some consumers may defect if they can get better deals on their favorite apps elsewhere.” And app developers will likely take advantage of the opportunity to let consumers know about direct downloads.

“So Google may see fewer Play Store revenues even among the Android users that stick to the default,” Mitchell-Wolf said.

Alphabet's shares fell $4.08, or 2.4%, to close Monday at $162.98.

FILE - A sign is shown on a Google building at their campus in Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)