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

Spending deal averts a possible federal shutdown and funds the government into December

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional leaders announced an agreement Sunday on a short-term spending bill that will fund federal agencies for about three months, averting a possible partial government shutdown when the new budget year begins Oct. 1 and pushing final decisions until after the November election.

Temporary spending bills generally fund agencies at current levels, but an additional $231 million was included to bolster the Secret Service after the two assassination attempts against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, and additional money was added to aid with the presidential transition, among other things.

Lawmakers have struggled to get to this point as the current budget year winds to a close at month’s end. At the urging of the most conservative members of his conference, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had linked temporary funding with a mandate that would have compelled states to require proof of citizenship when people register to vote.

But Johnson abandoned that approach to reach an agreement, even as Trump insisted there should not be a stop-gap measure without the voting requirement.

Bipartisan negotiations began in earnest shortly after that, with leadership agreeing to extend funding into mid-December. That gives the current Congress the ability to fashion a full-year spending bill after the Nov. 5 election, rather than push that responsibility to the next Congress and president.

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Hezbollah hits back with rockets as it declares an ‘open-ended battle’ with Israel

NAHARIYA, Israel (AP) — Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets early Sunday across northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa, as Israel launched hundreds of strikes on Lebanon. A Hezbollah leader declared an “open-ended battle” was underway as both sides appeared to be spiraling closer toward all-out war.

The overnight rocket barrage was in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon that have killed dozens, including a veteran Hezbollah commander, and an unprecedented attack targeting the group’s communications devices. Air raid sirens across northern Israel sent hundreds of thousands of people scrambling into shelters.

One struck near a residential building in Kiryat Bialik, a city near Haifa, wounding at least three people and setting buildings and cars ablaze. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said four people were wounded.

Avi Vazana raced to a shelter with his wife and 9-month-old baby before he heard the rocket hitting. Then he went back outside to see if anyone was hurt.

“I ran without shoes, without a shirt, only with pants. I ran to this house when everything was still on fire to try to find if there are other people,” he said.

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Harris raises $27 million in New York fundraiser, promises economic speech this week

NEW YORK (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris raised $27 million at a packed New York City fundraiser on Sunday, her largest fundraising haul since she took over at the top of the ticket from President Joe Biden, according to a Harris campaign aide.

Though Harris has far more money than former President Donald Trump, the money will be needed to compete with pricey advertising by deep-pocketed outside groups that support Trump, said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private fundraising details.

The blockbuster fundraiser was held at Cipriani Wall Street in a massive Greek Revival ballroom with over a dozen columns. Much of the crowd stood shoulder to shoulder as Harris needled Trump for refusing to debate her again.

“My opponent seems to be looking for an excuse,” Harris told the crowd. “I feel very strongly that we owe it to the American people, to the voters, to meet once more before Election Day.”

She reiterated that later, telling reporters after landing outside Washington, “We have more to discuss.”

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Trump says, if he loses, 2024 run will be his last

Former President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he doesn’t “think” he’d run again for president in 2028 if he falls short in his bid to return to the White House in 2024.

“No, I don’t. I think that will be, that will be it,” Trump said when journalist Sharyl Attkisson asked him if he’d run again.

The comment was notable both because Trump seemed to rule out a fourth bid for the White House and because he rarely admits the possibility he could legitimately lose an election. Trump normally insists that could only happen if there were widespread cheating, a false allegation he made in 2020 and he’s preemptively made again during his 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump would be 82 in 2028, a year older than President Joe Biden is now. Biden bowed out of the race in July following his disastrous debate performance and months of being hammered by Trump and other conservatives as being too old and erratic for the job.

Attkisson interviewed Trump for her show “Full Measure.” Also during the 22-minute interview, Trump defended his record on the coronavirus pandemic. He took credit for the development of the COVID-19 vaccines developed during his presidency while also saying “they’re doing studies on the vaccines and we’re going to find out” if they are safe.

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Several Mark Robinson campaign staffers quit as fallout over online posts continues

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Several top staffers in North Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s campaign for governor have quit their posts, marking more fallout from a CNN report outlining evidence that he made disturbing posts on a pornography website’s message board more than a decade ago.

The campaign said in a news release Sunday that senior adviser Conrad Pogorzelski III, campaign manager Chris Rodriguez, the campaign’s finance director and the deputy campaign manager “have stepped down from their roles with the campaign.” Information on new campaign staffers would be forthcoming soon, the release said.

“I appreciate the efforts of these team members who have made the difficult choice to step away from the campaign, and I wish them well in their future endeavors,” Robinson said in the release.

Pogorzelski, who helped Robinson get elected lieutenant governor in 2020 in his first bid for public office and later became his chief of staff, said separately on Sunday that additional staffers also left the campaign — the deputy finance director, two political directors and the director of operations.

Pogorzelski, in a text, said that he “along with others from the campaign have left of our own accord.”

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Ukraine’s Zelenskyy visits Pennsylvania ammunition plant to thank workers and ask for more

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — Under tight security, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday visited a Pennsylvania ammunition factory to thank the workers who are producing one of the most critically needed munitions for his country’s fight to fend off Russian ground forces.

Rep. Matt Cartwright, a Democrat who was among those who met with Zelenskyy at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, said the president had a simple message: “Thank you. And we need more.”

The Scranton plant is one of the few facilities in the country to manufacture 155 mm artillery shells and has increased production over the past year. Ukraine has already received more than 3 million of them from the U.S.

Zelenskyy said he expressed his gratitude to all the employees at the plant.

“It is in places like this where you can truly feel that the democratic world can prevail,” he wrote on X. “Thanks to people like these — in Ukraine, in America, and in all partner countries — who work tirelessly to ensure that life is protected.”

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As UN meets, Haitians express hopelessness at finding an international solution to gang crisis

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — As world leaders meeting in the United Nations this week discuss the future of efforts to rein in the gangs strangling Haiti, Haitians are expressing hopelessness that an international response can turn the tide of violence.

Thus far, a UN-backed force of 400 police from Kenya and about two dozen Jamaican officers have done little to quell the country’s gangs, which have terrorized the country since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. World leaders have been discussing the next steps in a convoluted efforts to restore order to the Caribbean nation, and Kenya this weekend pledged 600 more officers.

The United States has floated the idea of a U.N. peacekeeping force, but the idea was considered too controversial given the introduction of cholera and sexual abuse cases that occurred the last time U.N. troops were in Haiti.

The deployment of Kenyan forces was, in part, to avoid tensions that may be sparked by sending another U.N. peacekeeping mission.

But in a visit to Haiti by Kenya’s President William Ruto over the weekend – on his way to the United Nations General Assembly session, which began on Sunday – Ruto said he would be open to expanding Kenya’s operations into a larger U.N. peacekeeping mission.

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California governor signs law banning all plastic shopping bags at grocery stores

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — “Paper or plastic” will no longer be a choice at grocery store checkout lines in California under a new law signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom that bans all plastic shopping bags.

California had already banned thin plastic shopping bags at supermarkets and other stores, but shoppers could purchase bags made with a thicker plastic that purportedly made them reusable and recyclable.

The new measure, approved by state legislators last month, bans all plastic shopping bags starting in 2026. Consumers who don’t bring their own bags will now simply be asked if they want a paper bag.

State Sen. Catherine Blakespear, one of the bill’s supporters, said people were not reusing or recycling any plastic bags. She pointed to a state study that found that the amount of plastic shopping bags trashed per person grew from 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) per year in 2004 to 11 pounds (5 kilograms) per year in 2021.

Blakespear, a Democrat from Encinitas, said the previous bag ban passed a decade ago didn’t reduce the overall use of plastic.

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Long-forbidden French anti-riot force sent to Martinique as thousands defy bans on protests

MEXICO CITY (AP) — France has sent a group of special anti-riot police that’s been banned for 65 years to the French Caribbean island of Martinique, where protesters have gathered despite the government barring demonstrations in parts of the island.

The force arrived this weekend after the local representative of France’s central government in its overseas territory said in a statement that protests were forbidden in the municipalities of Fort-de-France, Le Lamentin, Ducos and Le Robert until Monday. The government also issued a curfew.

The restrictions came after violent protests broke out on the island last week over the high cost of living, with gunfire injuring at least six police officers and one civilian. Police launched tear gas and government officials said several stores were also looted.

Officials said the bans were meant “to put an end to the violence and damage committed at gatherings, as well as to the numerous obstacles to daily life and freedom of movement that penalize the entire population, particularly at weekends.”

But the measure was met by defiance by many on the island, with massive peaceful protests breaking out Saturday night. Videos from local media show crowds of thousands peacefully walking along highways overnight banging on drums and waiving flags.

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White Sox lose 120th game to tie post-1900 record by the 1962 expansion New York Mets

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Chicago White Sox tied the post-1900 MLB record of 120 losses by the 1962 expansion New York Mets on Sunday when the San Diego Padres won 4-2 by rallying for three runs in the eighth inning, capped by Fernando Tatis Jr.’s towering home run.

The White Sox (36-120) had taken a 2-1 lead on home runs by Korey Lee and Miguel Vargas off Yu Darvish, but that lead quickly disappeared in the eighth.

This defeat came a day after the White Sox tied the American League record of 119 losses set by the 2003 Detroit Tigers.

The 1899 Cleveland Spiders hold the major league record for losses at 20-134.

Interim manager Grady Sizemore didn’t address the team afterward.