AP News Summary at 11:49 p.m. EDT

By The Associated Press

A strengthening Ernesto is poised to become a hurricane after brushing past Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Ernesto is poised to become a hurricane after brushing past Puerto Rico as officials closed schools, opened shelters and moved dozens of the U.S. territory’s endangered parrots into hurricane-proof rooms. Ernesto is expected to become a hurricane overnight as the center of the storm moves just northeast of Puerto Rico on a path toward Bermuda. Forecasters issued a hurricane watch and tropical storm warning for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands as well as the tiny Puerto Rican islands of Vieques and Culebra, which are popular with tourists. The storm moved over the U.S. Virgin Islands on Tuesday night.

US approves $20 billion in weapons sales to Israel amid threat of wider Middle East war

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has approved $20 billion in arms sales to Israel, including scores of fighter jets and advanced air-to-air missiles. The State Department made the announcement Tuesday. Congress was notified of the impending sale, which includes more than 50 F-15 fighter jets, Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles, or AMRAAMs, 120 mm tank ammunition and high explosive mortars and tactical vehicles. It comes at a time of intense concern that Israel may become involved in a wider Middle East war.

US Rep. Ilhan Omar, a member of the progressive ‘Squad,’ wins Democratic primary in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar has won her primary race in Minnesota. Omar is one of the progressive House members known as the “Squad.” She successfully defended her Minneapolis-area 5th District seat against a repeat challenge from former City Council member Don Samuels in Tuesday’s primary. Meanwhile, conservative populist and former NBA player Royce White defeated Navy veteran Joe Fraser in Minnesota’s primary election for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar in November. And former federal prosecutor Joe Teirab won a contested GOP primary for Minnesota’s 2nd District seat held by Democratic Rep. Angie Craig.

Japan’s Kishida announces he will not run in September, paving the way for a new prime minister

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that he will not run in the upcoming party leadership vote. It means Japan will have a new prime minister when his three-year term expires in September. Kishida was elected president of his governing Liberal Democratic Party in 2021. His drop out of the race means a new leader will win the party vote and succeed him as prime minister because the LDP controls both houses of parliament. Kishida, stung by his party’s corruption scandals, has suffered dwindling support ratings as low as under 20%.

Initiative to enshrine abortion rights in Missouri constitution qualifies for November ballot

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri voters will decide in November whether to amend the state constitution to create a right to abortion. Election officials said Tuesday that an abortion-rights initiative received more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. If approved by a majority of voters, it would reverse the state’s near-total ban on abortions. At least a half-dozen states will be voting on abortion rights during the presidential election, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota. Officials in two other states are still determining whether measures will make the ballot. State votes on abortion surged after a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

UN expert panel sent to Venezuela blasts lack of transparency in presidential elections

MIAMI (AP) — A panel of experts from the United Nations said Venezuela’s recent presidential elections lacked “basic transparency and integrity.” The statement Tuesday by the U.N. group adds an important voice among those who have cast doubt on President Nicolas Maduro’s claim he won the contest after the Atlanta-based Carter Center said it could not verify the results announced by the government. While the U.N. team stopped short of validating claims by the opposition that its candidate trounced Maduro by a more than 2-to-1 margin, it said that the voting records the anti-Maduro coalition published online appeared to exhibit all of the original security features.

There’s an apostrophe battle brewing among grammar nerds. Is it Harris’ or Harris’s?

Whatever possessed Vice President Kamala Harris to pick Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, it probably wasn’t a desire to inflame arguments about apostrophes. But it doesn’t take much to get grammar nerds fired up. They’re all over social media debating rules for possessive proper names ending in S. Some agree with The Associated Press, which says just add an apostrophe to Harris to make it possessive. Others agree with The New York Times and other outlets that add an apostrophe S. Timothy Pulju, a senior lecturer in linguistics at Dartmouth College, says the AP guidance reflects how English was spoken and written centuries ago but a shift is underway. For now, he says both are acceptable.

Officer faces murder charge in shooting of pregnant Black woman who was accused of shoplifting

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio police officer was indicted Tuesday on charges including murder in the shooting of Ta’Kiya Young. The Black mother was 21 and pregnant when she was killed by police in a grocery store parking lot last August. A Franklin County grand jury indicted Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb on charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault. Young was suspected of shoplifting when another officer ordered her out of her car. Instead, she rolled toward Grubb, who fired a single bullet through her windshield into her chest. The daughter she was expecting three months later also died. A police union leader calls the indictment deeply disappointing.

Russia says it thwarted a Ukrainian charge to expand its incursion. Kyiv says it won’t occupy land

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Russian Defense Ministry says its forces have checked an effort by Kyiv’s troops to expand a stunning weeklong incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday that Kyiv has no intention of occupying Russian territory in the operation that has been shrouded in secrecy. The Russian Defense Ministry said army units, fresh reserves, army aircraft, drone teams and artillery forces stopped Ukrainian armored mobile groups from moving deeper into Russia. A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the cross-border operation was aimed at protecting Ukrainian land from long-range strikes launched from Kursk. He said that Ukraine isn’t interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region.

Google rolls out Pixel 9 phones earlier than usual as AI race with Apple heats up

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — Google has unveiled its next generation of Pixel phones. The launch Tuesday provides the maker of Android software a head start on the next iPhone in the race to bring more artificial intelligence-services to devices that have become people’s constant companions. The showcase held near Google’s Mountain View, California, headquarters occurred two months earlier than the company typically rolls out the next models in its Pixel phone line-up. And Google left little doubt that the Pixel 9 phones are meant to be a vessel for the AI technology that is expected to reshape society. The Pixel 9 phones are priced from $800 to $1,800. They will being shipping Aug. 22.