“I’m not here as a celebrity, I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother,” Beyoncé said at a Houston rally for Kamala Harris' presidential campaign Friday night. “A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided.”
“Imagine our daughters growing up seeing what’s possible with no ceilings, no limitations," she continued. “We must vote, and we need you.”
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Musical artist Beyonce, right, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, left, embrace on stage during a campaign rally Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)
Musical artists Beyonce, right, and Kelly Rowland, left, on stage at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)
Musical artists Beyonce, right, and Kelly Rowland, left, on stage at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)
Musical artist Beyonce on stage at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)
Tina Knowles, mother of entertainer Beyonce, speaking at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in Houston, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
This combination photos shows Beyonce at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, March 14, 2021, left, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a CNN town hall in Aston, Pa., Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo)
Musical artists Beyonce, right, and Kelly Rowland, left, on stage at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in Houston, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
At the end, Beyoncé — who was joined onstage by her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland — introduced Harris with, “Ladies and gentlemen, please give a big, loud, Texas welcome to the next president of the United States, Vice President Kamala Harris.”
She did not perform — unlike in 2016, when she performed at a presidential campaign rally for Hilary Clinton in Cleveland.
Houston is Beyoncé's hometown, and Harris’ presidential campaign has taken on Beyonce’s 2016 track “Freedom,” a cut from her landmark 2016 album “Lemonade," as its anthem.
Harris first used the song in July during her first official public appearance as a presidential candidate at her campaign headquarters in Delaware. That same month, Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, publicly endorsed Harris for president.
Beyoncé gave permission to Harris to use the song, a campaign official who was granted anonymity to discuss private campaign operations confirmed to The Associated Press.
Arriving in the back-half of “Lemonade,” “Freedom” samples two John and Alan Lomax field recordings, which document Jim Crow-era folk spirituals of Southern Black churches and the work songs of Black prisoners from 1959 and 1948, respectively. It also features Pulitzer Prize winner Kendrick Lamar.
Kinitra D. Brooks, an academic and author of “The Lemonade Reader,” says the song “‘Freedom" is so important because it shows that freedom isn’t free. The freedom to be yourself, the political freedom ... it’s the idea that you must fight for freedom, and that it is winnable."
The Harris rally in Houston highlighted the perilous medical fallout from the state’s strict abortion ban and putting the blame squarely on Donald Trump.
Since abortion was restricted in Texas, the state’s infant death rate has increased, more babies have died of birth defects and maternal mortality has risen.
Musical artist Beyonce, right, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, left, embrace on stage during a campaign rally Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)
Musical artists Beyonce, right, and Kelly Rowland, left, on stage at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)
Musical artists Beyonce, right, and Kelly Rowland, left, on stage at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)
Musical artist Beyonce on stage at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Annie Mulligan)
Tina Knowles, mother of entertainer Beyonce, speaking at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in Houston, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
This combination photos shows Beyonce at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, March 14, 2021, left, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a CNN town hall in Aston, Pa., Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo)
Musical artists Beyonce, right, and Kelly Rowland, left, on stage at a campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in Houston, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel pounded Iran with a series of airstrikes early Saturday, saying it was targeting military sites in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired upon Israel earlier this month. Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, though the Islamic Republic insisted they caused only “limited damage.”
The attack risks pushing the archenemies closer to all-out war at a time of spiraling violence across the Middle East, where militant groups backed by Iran — including Hamas in Gaza, and Hezbollah in Lebanon — are already at war with Israel. It also marked the first time Israel's military has openly attacked Iran, which hasn't faced a sustained barrage of fire from a foreign enemy since its 1980s war with Iraq.
Israel's hourslong attack ended just before sunrise in Tehran, with the Israeli military saying it targeted “missile manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at the state of Israel over the last year.” It also said it hit surface-to-air missile sties and “additional Iranian aerial capabilities.”
Israel offered no initial damage assessment.
Initially, nuclear facilities and oil installations all had been seen as possible targets for Israel’s response to Iran’s Oct. 1 attack, but in mid-October the Biden administration believed it had won assurances from Israel that it would not hit such targets, which would be a more severe escalation.
“The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since Oct. 7 … including direct attacks from Iranian soil,” Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a prerecorded video statement early Saturday. “Like every other sovereign country in the world, the state of Israel has the right and the duty to respond.”
The United States warned against further retaliation, indicating that the overnight strikes should end the direct exchange of fire between the Israel and Iran.
Iran’s military said the strikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces and caused “limited damage,” without elaborating.
Iran’s state-run media acknowledged blasts that could be heard in Tehran and said some of the sounds came from air defense systems around the city.
But beyond a brief reference, Iranian state television for hours offered no other details and even began showing what it described as live footage of men loading trucks at a vegetable market in Tehran in an apparent attempt to downplay the assault.
A Tehran resident told The Associated Press that at least seven explosions could be heard in the first wave of attacks, which rattled the surrounding area. The resident spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
As explosions sounded, people in Tehran could see what appeared to be tracer fire light up the sky. Other footage showed what appeared to be surface-to-air missiles being launched.
Iran closed the country’s airspace early Saturday, and flight-tracking data analyzed by AP showed commercial airlines had broadly left the skies over Iran, and across Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
The White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed and would continue to receive updates.
In Syria, the state news agency SANA, citing an unnamed military official, reported missile fire targeting military sites in the country’s central and southern region. It said that Syria’s air defenses had shot some of the missiles down. There was no immediate information on casualties.
But Iran's move to quickly downplay the attack may offer an avenue for it not to respond, which could risk a further escalation.
“The Israel Defense Forces has fulfilled its mission,” Hagari said in a later video. “If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond.”
Iran fired a wave of missiles and drones at Israel last April after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike in Syria on an Iranian diplomatic post. The missiles and drones caused minimum damage, and Israel — under pressure from Western countries to show restraint — responded with a limited strike it didn't openly claim.
Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel on the evening of Oct. 1, sending Israelis scrambling into bomb shelters but causing only minimal damage and a few injuries. Iran said the barrage was retaliation for attacks in recent months that killed leaders of Hezbollah, Hamas and the Iranian military. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately said Iran had “made a big mistake.”
Before Iran’s October attack, Israel had landed a series of devastating blows against Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets into Israel near-daily for over a year — ever since the deadly Hamas attack against Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
Dozens were killed and thousands wounded in September when pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded in two days of attacks attributed to Israel. A massive Israel airstrike the following week outside Beirut killed Hezbollah’s longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.
Israel then ratcheted up the pressure on Hezbollah by launching a ground invasion into southern Lebanon. More than a million Lebanese people have been displaced, and the death toll has risen sharply as airstrikes continue to hit in and around Beirut.
Israel has said it will continue to strike Hezbollah until it is safe for Israeli citizens displaced from their homes near the Lebanon border to return. Hezbollah has vowed to keep firing rockets into Israel until there is a cease-fire in Gaza.
The White House indicated that Israel’s strikes on Iran should end direct exchange of fire between the two enemy countries, while warning Tehran of “consequences” should it respond.
A senior White House official said the administration believed the Israeli operation should “close out” the direct military exchange between Israel and Iran, and said other allies were in agreement.
United States President Joe Biden was updated throughout the day on Friday as the operation was developing and by his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, as the operation was carried out by the Israelis, the official said.
The official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said the Israeli operation “was extensive, it was targeted, it was precise.” The official underscored that the U.S. had no involvement in the strike.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, about Israel’s strikes on military targets in Iran, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said late Friday. Austin reiterated that the U.S. was committed to its ally’s security and that Israel has a right to defend itself, the Pentagon press secretary said in a statement. Austin also noted that the U.S. was determined to prevent expanding conflict in the region, Ryder said.
When Hamas and other militants attacked Israel last Oct. 7, they killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took some 250 hostages into Gaza. In response, Israel launched a devastating air and ground offensive against Hamas, and Netanyahu has vowed to keep it up until all of the hostages are freed. Some 100 remain and roughly a third are believed to be dead.
More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to local health officials who don’t delineate between civilians and combatants but say more than half of the dead are women and children.
Israel's strikes on Iran Saturday happened just as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was arriving back in the U.S. after a tour of the Middle East where he and other U.S. officials had warned Israel to respond in a way that would not further escalate the conflict in the region.
Two U.S. officials said the U.S. was notified by Israel in advance of the strikes. They said there was no U.S. involvement in the operation. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing operation.
Israel and Iran have been bitter foes since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Israel considers Iran to be its greatest threat, citing its leaders’ calls for Israel’s destruction, their support for anti-Israel militant groups and the country’s nuclear program.
Israel and Iran have been locked in a yearslong shadow war. A suspected Israeli assassination campaign has killed top Iranian nuclear scientists. Iranian nuclear installations have been hacked or sabotaged, all in mysterious attacks blamed on Israel.
Meanwhile, Iran has been blamed for a series of attacks on shipping in the Middle East in recent years, which later grew into the attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on shipping through the Red Sea corridor.
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, the shadow war has increasingly moved into the light.
Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel; Abby Sewell in Beirut; and Lolita C. Baldor, Farnoush Amiri and Zeke Miller in Washington; and Aamer Madhani in Wilmington, Delaware, contributed to this report.
A view of Tehran capital of Iran is seen, early Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A view of Tehran capital of Iran is seen, early Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A view of Tehran capital of Iran is seen, early Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A view of Tehran capital of Iran is seen, early Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
In this image taken from video released by the Israel Defense Forces early Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari announces that the IDF is conducting strikes on military targets in Iran. (Israel Defense Forces via AP)
Palestinians sift through the rubble of a building destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo)
Palestinians check a body bag of a relative killed in Israeli airstrikes, in a morgue in the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo)
Family members unzips a body bag of children killed by by Israeli airstrikes in the morgue in the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo)
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - A Palestinian kisses a relative killed in Israeli airstrikes, in a morgue in the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo)
Palestinians check a building destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo)
Palestinians sift through the rubble of a building destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo)
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - A Palestinian kisses a relative killed in Israeli airstrikes, in a morgue in the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo)
People observe a mosque destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in the city of Khan Younis, sothern Gaza Strip, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo)
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in London, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool photo via AP)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in London Britain, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool photo via AP)
A journalist carries the flack jacket, at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
People observe the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A Druze man walks by the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A flack jacket and other items left inside a destroyed car, at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
An injured cameraman flashes victory sign as he moved by the Lebanese Red Cross to a hospital after he injured at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
An injured cameraman is moved by the Lebanese Red Cross to a hospital, at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A destroyed journalists car is seen at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
People observe the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A policeman checks a destroyed journalists' car, at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A journalist observes the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Journalists' items on the ground next to a destroyed vehicle, at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Destroyed vehicles used by journalists at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A destroyed journalists' car at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing journalists, killing three media staffers from two different news agencies according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, in Hasbaya village, southeast Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Mansouri village, as it seen from the southern city of Tyre, south Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
