AP News Digest 6 p.m.

Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT. Find the AP’s top photos of the day in Today’s Photo Collection. For up-to-the-minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan in AP Newsroom.

Time is running short to join our exclusive U.S. election webinars! Click here to join the AP Customer Zone group “You’re Invited” to register for our webinar series that will help your newsroom prepare for the General Election. You also can view recordings of other election webinars, as well as recordings of our ongoing series.

——————————————

NEW/DEVELOPING

——————————————

Adds: MIDEAST-WARS-UNRWA-EXPLAINER; MCDONALD’S-OUTBREAK-VICTIM; ELECTION-2024-FALSE-INFORMATION-FACT-FOCUS; MED-TUBERCULOSIS; ELECTION-2024-FLORIDA-ABORTION; PELOSI-HUSBAND-ATTACKED; CHINA-SPACE; JAYWALKING-LEGALIZED-NEW-YORK; GEORGIA-ELECTION-INDICTMENT-THREATS; SUPREME-COURT-KENNEDY; ELECTION 2024-PENNSYLVANIA-VOTING; BEGGAR’S NIGHT-DES MOINES

——————————

TOP STORIES

——————————

ELECTION-2024-TRUMP — Urged by some allies to apologize for racist comments made by speakers at his weekend rally, Donald Trump has taken the opposite approach, saying it was an “honor to be involved” in such an event and calling the scene a “lovefest” — the same term he has used to describe the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. By Adriana Gomez Licon and Michelle L. Price. SENT: 990 words, photos, video, audio. With ELECTION-2024-THE-LATEST.

ELECTION-2024-HARRIS — Kamala Harris will promise to “put country above party and above self” in the closing argument of her presidential campaign, to be delivered from the same site where Donald Trump fomented the Capitol insurrection, in the hopes that it offers a stark visualization of the choice voters face. By Zeke Miller. SENT: 1,050 words, photos, audio. Eds: Speech scheduled for 7:30 p.m. With ELECTION-2024-TRUMP-JAN. 6 — Harris is speaking at the same spot where Trump fanned anger on Jan. 6, 2021. Here’s what happened;: ELECTION-2024-EXTREMISTS — Election threats from extremists persist four years after Jan. 6 attack; ELECTION-2024-FALSE-INFORMATION-FACT-FOCUS — A look at false and misleading claims surrounding the 2024 election (all sent)

ELECTION-2024-ELECTORAL-COUNT — This presidential election, the first since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, will be a stress test of the new systems and guardrails that Congress put in place to ensure America’s long tradition of the peaceful transfer of presidential power. By Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 1,010 words, photos.

MIDEAST WARS — Two Israeli airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip have killed at least 88 people, including dozens of women and children, health officials say, and the director of a hospital says life-threatening injuries were going untreated because a weekend raid by Israeli forces led to the detention of dozens of medics. By Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy and Bassem Mroue. SENT: 1,210 words, photos. video, audio. With MIDEAST-WARS-THE-LATEST;ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-UN-REFUGEES-EXPLAINER — Israel approves two bills that could halt UNRWA’s aid delivery to Gaza. What does that mean?; MIDEAST-WARS-UNRWA-EXPLAINER — Israel’s move to ban a UN agency raises alarm about aid to Gaza even as the implications are unclear (all sent).

JAYWALKING-LEGALIZED-NEW YORK —Jaywalking -- that time-honored practice of crossing the street outside of the crosswalk or against the traffic light -- is now legal in New York City. Legislation passed by the City Council last month officially became law over the weekend after Mayor Eric Adams declined to take action -- either by signing or vetoing it -- after 30 days. The new law permits pedestrians to cross a roadway at any point, including outside of a crosswalk. It also allows for crossing against traffic signals and specifically states that doing so is no longer a violation of the city’s administrative code. SENT: 530 words, photo.

BBO-WORLD-SERIES — The Los Angeles Dodgers look to sweep the New York Yankees in the World Series and win their second time in five years. By Baseball Writer Ronald Blum. UPCOMING: 900 words, photos, starts 8:08 p.m. With BBO-WORLD-SERIES-OHTANI’S-HOMETOWN — Shohei Ohtani’s rural hometown honors its superstar son. (sent).

——————————————

MIDEAST WARS

———————————————-

LEBANON-HEZBOLLAH'S-NEW-LEADER — Hezbollah says it has chosen cleric Naim Kassem to lead the Lebanese militant group after the killing of its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb in late September. The group said in a statement on Tuesday that Hezbollah’s decision-making Shura Council elected 71-year-old Kassem as its new secretary-general and vowed to continue Nasrallah’s policies “until victory is achieved.” SENT: 930 words, photos.

—————————————————-

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

——————————————————-

RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that the thousands of North Korean soldiers expected to reinforce Russian troops on the front line in Ukraine are pushing the almost three-year war beyond the borders of the warring parties. SENT: 800 words, photos.

————————————————-

SPOTLIGHTING VOICES

————————————————-

ELECTION-2024-ARAB-AMERICANS — Arab Americans in Michigan are making their final decisions in the presidential election after a year of political turmoil in the nation’s largest Arab American community. Voters in Muslim-majority cities like Dearborn have voted overwhelmingly Democratic in recent elections. But they’ve warned for months that they won’t back Kamala Harris’ presidential bid due to the U.S.’s support of Israel in the Middle East conflict. By Joey Cappelletti. SENT: 1,430 words, photos, video.

ELECTION-2024-ALASKA-NATIVE-VOTING — The polling place in the tiny Arctic village of Kaktovik never opened when Alaska had its primary election this summer because there was no trained staff to run the precinct. Voters also didn’t get a chance to vote in person in Wales, a whaling community on the Bering Strait. The developments might have shocked voters or politicians elsewhere in the U.S. But they represent just the latest example of frustratingly persistent challenges to voting in Alaska’s remote Native villages. By Mark Thiessen, Becky Bohrer and Gene Johnson. SENT: 1,620 words, photos, video, audio.

—————————

MORE NEWS

—————————

BEGGAR’S NIGHT-DES MOINES -- In a first since 1938, Des Moines, Iowa, kids will trick-or-treat on Halloween. SENT: 310 words, photos.

MCDONALD'S-OUTBREAK-VICTIM — Colorado teen fights kidney failure after eating McDonald’s Quarter Pounders. SENT: 610 words, photos.

MED-TUBERCULOSIS — More than 8 million people were diagnosed with tuberculosis last year, the World Health Organization says, the highest number recorded since the U.N. health agency began keeping track. SENT: 300 words, photos.

CHINA-SPACE — China has launched a new three-person crew to its orbiting space station as the country seeks to expand its exploration of outer space with missions to the moon and beyond. SENT: 460 words, photos, video.

——————————————————

WASHINGTON/POLITICS

——————————————————

ELECTION-2024-FLORIDA-ABORTION — A federal judge who recently chastised Florida officials for “trampling” on free speech rights continued to block the head of the state’s health department from taking any more steps to threaten TV stations that air commercials for an abortion rights measure on next week’s ballot. SENT: 930 words, photo.

ELECTION-2024-BIDEN — The Biden administration is awarding nearly $3 billion to boost climate-friendly equipment and infrastructure at ports across the country, including Baltimore, where a bridge collapse killed six construction workers in March and disrupted East Coast shipping routes for months SENT: 940 words, photos.

ELECTION 2024-PENNSYLVANIA-VOTING — Pennsylvania’s lack of an early in-person voting system leads to frustration, with voters swamping some county election offices as they try to apply for and cast mail-in ballots. UPCOMING: 990 words, photos by 7 p.m.

SUPREME-COURT-KENNEDY — The Supreme Court has rejected an emergency appeal to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from the presidential ballot in two battleground states. SENT: 280 words, photo.

For more AP election coverage plans, click here.

—————————-

NATIONAL

——————————

PELOSI-HUSBAND-ATTACKED — The man who was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for attacking the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a hammer in their California home Is given a life term without the possibility of parole following a separate state trial. SENT: 790 words, photos.

GEORGIA-ELECTION-INDICTMENT-THREATS — An Alabama man who left threatening phone messages for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and the county sheriff last summer because he was angry over an investigation into former President Donald Trump is sentenced to nearly two years in prison. SENT: 540 words, photo.

————————————

INTERNATIONAL

————————————

REL-VATICAN-ABUSE-REPORT — Pope Francis’ child protection board has issued its first-ever global assessment of the Catholic Church’s efforts to address the clergy sex abuse crisis. The board called for victims of clergy abuse to have greater access to information about their cases and the right to compensation. SENT: 940 words, photos.

REL-MEXICO-DAY-OF-THE-DEAD-BREAD — Pan de muerto”, or “bread of the dead”, is freshly baked in Mexico ahead of Day of the Dead celebrations. Shaped like a bun, decorated with bone-like bread pieces and covered in sugar, it’s a delight for locals until the first week of November, when Mexicans build altars or “ofrendas” and visit local cemeteries to remember their departed loved ones. SENT: 820 words, photos.

GEORGIA-ELECTION — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has given a boost to Georgia’s ruling party, saying its victory in a parliamentary election in the South Caucasus nation was free and democratic despite a massive opposition protest that denounced the vote as rigged and illegitimate. SENT: 970 words, photos, video.

———————————————

HEALTH & SCIENCE ———————————————

CLIMATE-OCTOBER-LESS-RAIN — It’s as if Mother Nature shut off the rain faucet in the United States in October. More than 100 cities across the nation are reporting their driest October so far. In June, less than 12% of the US was in drought. Now it’s nearly half and growing. Meteorologists say the country is going through a flash drought, something the world is seeing more of as Earth’s climate changes. SENT: 790 words, photos.

——————————————

ENTERTAINMENT

——————————————

OBIT-TERI-GARR — Teri Garr, the quirky comedy actor who rose from background dancer in Elvis Presley movies to co-star of such favorites as “Young Frankenstein” and “Tootsie,” has died. She was 79. SENT: 960 words, photos.

———————

SPORTS

———————

BKC-T25-WORLD’S-TALLEST-TEENAGER — Florida freshman Olivier Rioux is the world’s tallest teenager, according to the Guinness record book. The 7-foot-9 walk-on center from Canada is an intriguing basketball prospect who will make basketball history when he plays for the 21st-ranked Gators this season. By Mark Long. SENT: 990 words, photos.

Find a selection of related photos in the World Series photo collection in AP Newsroom.

——————————————

HOW TO REACH US

——————————————

The Nerve Center can be reached at 800-845-8450, ext. 1600. For photos, Donald E. King ext. 1900. For graphics and interactives, ext. 7636. Expanded AP content can be obtained from AP Newsroom. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 844-777-2006.

Botswana's President and Democratic Party leader Mokgweetsi Masisi dances during his election rally, a day before elections in Gaborone, Botswana, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

A man observes several cars being swept away by the water, after floods preceded by heavy rains caused the river to overflow its banks in the town of Alora, Malaga, Spain, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Marrero)

Pedestrians walk along a road blanketed with stones placed by supporters of Bolivian former President Evo Morales to prevent him from facing a criminal investigation over allegations of abuse of a minor and to demonstrate against an alleged assassination attempt, in Parotani, Bolivia, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar arrives to a press conference at the new embassy still under construction, in Mexico City, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, center, listens to a lawmaker after speaking on his next year's budget bill in an open session of parliament, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Neighbors examine the damaged house where one person was killed after a projectile launched from Lebanon slammed into Maalot-Tarshiha, northern Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to a campaign event at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Two Israeli airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday killed at least 88 people, including dozens of women and children, health officials said, and the director of a hospital said life-threatening injuries were going untreated because a weekend raid by Israeli forces led to the detention of dozens of medics.

Israel has escalated airstrikes and waged a bigger ground operation in northern Gaza in recent weeks, saying it is focused on rooting out Hamas militants who have regrouped after more than a year of war. The intense fighting is raising alarm about the worsening humanitarian conditions for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians still in northern Gaza.

Concerns about not enough aid reaching Gaza were amplified Monday when Israeli lawmakers passed two laws to cut ties with the main U.N. agency distributing food, water and medicine, and to ban it from Israeli soil. Israel controls access to both Gaza and the occupied West Bank, and it was unclear how the agency known as UNRWA would continue its work in either place.

“The humanitarian operation in Gaza, if that is unraveled, that is a disaster within a series of disasters and just doesn’t bear thinking about," said UNRWA spokesperson John Fowler. He said other U.N. agencies and international organizations distributing aid in Gaza rely on its logistics and thousands of workers.

In Lebanon, the militant group Hezbollah said Tuesday it has chosen Sheikh Naim Kassem to succeed longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike last month. Hezbollah, which has fired rockets into Israel since the start of the war in Gaza, vowed to continue with Nasrallah’s policies “until victory is achieved.”

A short while later, eight Austrian soldiers serving in the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon were reported lightly injured in a midday missile strike.

The peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, said the rocket that struck its headquarters in Lebanon was “likely” fired by Hezbollah, and that it struck a vehicle workshop.

The Gaza Health Ministry's emergency service said at least 70 people were killed and 23 were missing in the first of Tuesday's strikes in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya. More than half of the victims were women and children, the ministry said. A mother and her five children — some of them adults — and a second mother with six children, were among those killed in the attack on a five-story building, according to the emergency service.

A second strike on Beit Lahiya on Tuesday evening killed at least 18 people, according to the Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its count.

The nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital was overwhelmed by a wave of wounded women and children, including many who needed urgent surgeries, according to its director, Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya. The Israeli military raided the hospital over the weekend, detaining dozens of medics it said were Hamas militants.

“The situation is catastrophic in every sense of the word," Safiya said, adding that the only remaining doctor at the hospital was a pediatrician. "The health care system has collapsed and needs an urgent international intervention.”

U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller referred to the “horrifying incident” in Beit Lahiya in comments to reporters. He said Israel's yearlong campaign against Hamas has ensured it cannot repeat the type of attack that started the war in Gaza, but that “getting to here came at a great cost to civilians.”

The Israeli military said it was investigating the first Beit Lahiya strike; it did not immediately comment on the second.

Israel’s recent operations in northern Gaza, focused in and around the Jabaliya refugee camp, have killed hundreds of people and driven tens of thousands from their homes.

The Israeli military has repeatedly struck shelters for displaced people in recent months. It says it carries out precise strikes targeting Palestinian militants and tries to avoid harming civilians, but the strikes often kill women and children.

On Tuesday, Israel said four more of its soldiers were killed in the fighting in northern Gaza, bringing the toll since the start of the operation to 16, including a colonel.

As the fighting raged, Hamas signaled it was ready to resume cease-fire negotiations, although its key demands — a permanent cease-fire and full withdrawal of the Israeli military — do not appear to have changed, and have been dismissed in the past by Israel. Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said on Tuesday the group has accepted mediators’ request to discuss “new proposals.”

Hezbollah said in a statement that its decision-making Shura Council elected Kassem, who had been Nasrallah's deputy leader for over three decades, as the new secretary-general.

Kassem, 71, a founding member of the militant group established following Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, had been serving as acting leader. He has given several televised speeches vowing that Hezbollah will fight on despite a string of setbacks.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel, drawing retaliation, after Hamas’ surprise attack out of Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. Iran, which backs both groups, has also directly traded fire with Israel, in April and then again this month.

The tensions with Hezbollah boiled over in September, as Israel unleashed a wave of heavy airstrikes and killed Nasrallah and most of his senior commanders. Israel launched a ground invasion into Lebanon at the start of October.

Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets into northern Israel on Tuesday, killing one person in the northern city of Maalot-Tarshiha, authorities said. Israeli strikes in the coastal city of Sidon killed at least five people, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

UNRWA and other international groups continued to express outrage Tuesday about the Israeli parliament's decision to cut ties to the agency.

Israel says UNRWA has been infiltrated by Hamas and that the militant group siphons off aid and uses U.N. facilities to shield its activities, allegations denied by the U.N. agency.

Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer vowed that aid will continue to reach Gaza, as Israel plans to coordinate with aid organizations or other bodies within the U.N. “Ultimately, we will ensure that a more efficient replacement for UNRWA takes its role, not one which is infiltrated by the terrorist organization,” he said.

Multiple U.N. agencies rallied Tuesday around UNRWA, calling it the “backbone” of the world body’s aid activities in Gaza and other Palestinian areas. UNRWA provides education, health care and emergency aid to millions of Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation and their descendants. Refugee families make up the majority of Gaza’s population.

Israel has sharply restricted aid to northern Gaza this month, prompting a warning from the United States that failure to facilitate greater humanitarian assistance could lead to a reduction in military aid.

In its attack on Israel last year, Hamas killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 as hostages. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. Around 90% of the population of 2.3 million have been displaced from their homes, often multiple times.

Magdy reported from Cairo and Mroue from Beirut. Associated Press writers Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, Matthew Lee in Washington, and Jamey Keaten in Geneva, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Rescue workers search for victims at a destroyed building hit in an Israeli airstrike, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Rescue workers use a bulldozer to remove rubbles as they search for victims at a destroyed building hit in an Israeli airstrike, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

An Israeli drone flies over Beirut, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Neighbors clean blood stains from the ceiling of a damaged house where one person was killed after a projectile launched from Lebanon slammed into Maalot-Tarshiha, northern Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Neighbors examine the damaged house where one person was killed after a projectile launched from Lebanon slammed into Maalot-Tarshiha, northern Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People react at the site where one person was killed after a projectile launched from Lebanon slammed into Maalot-Tarshiha, northern Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People react at the site where one person was killed after a projectile launched from Lebanon slammed into Maalot-Tarshiha, northern Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Members of the Israeli police bomb squad work at the site where one person was killed after a projectile launched from Lebanon slammed into Maalot-Tarshiha, northern Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Hezbollah's deputy leader Sheik Naim Kassem, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man walks past the east Jerusalem compound of UNRWA, the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

FILE - Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, listens to a speech by then-leader Hassan Nasrallah on a screen in southern Beirut, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)