While Biden campaigns in Pennsylvania, some Dem leaders in the House say he should step aside

ASSOCIATED PRESS

HARRISBURG, Pa. – President Joe Biden urged his supporters to stay unified during a series of stops in critical Pennsylvania on Sunday, even as some leading congressional Democrats privately suggested it was time for him to abandon his reelection bid because of intensifying questions about whether he’s fit for another term.

Addressing a rousing church service in front of stained glass windows bathed in sunshine at Philadelphia’s Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, the 81-year-old Biden joked, “I know I look 40” but “I’ve been doing this a long time.”

“I, honest to God, have never been more optimistic about America’s future if we stick together,” he said.

There and during a subsequent rally with union members in Harrisburg, Biden offered short speeches that touched on familiar topics. But he also left plenty of room for key backers to discuss standing by him. In that way, the Pennsylvania swing seemed meant to showcase support for the president from key political quarters more than proving he’s up to four more years.

His party, though, remains deeply divided.

Israeli protesters block highways, call for cease- re to return hostages 9 months into war in Gaza

TEL AVIV, Israel – Marking nine months since the war in Gaza started, Israeli protesters blocked highways across the country Sunday, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down and pushing for a cease-fire to bring back scores of hostages held by Hamas.

The demonstrations come as long-running efforts to broker a truce gained momentum last week when Hamas dropped a key demand for an Israeli commitment to end the war. The militant group still wants mediators to guarantee a permanent cease-fire, while Netanyahu is vowing to keep fighting until Israel destroys Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.

“Any deal will allow Israel to return and fight until all the goals of the war are achieved,” Netanyahu said in a statement Sunday that was likely to deepen Hamas’ concerns about the proposal.

Sunday’s “Day of Disruption” started at 6:29 a.m., the same time Hamas militants launched the first rockets toward Israel in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. Protesters blocked main roads and demonstrated outside of the homes of government ministers.

Near the border with Gaza, Israeli protestors released 1,500 black and yellow balloons to symbolize those fellow citizens who were killed and abducted.

Japan and Philippines to sign defense pact letting Tokyo’s forces train in Southeast Asian country

MANILA, Philippines – Japan and the Philippines are signing a key defense pact Monday that would allow the deployment of Japanese forces for joint military exercises, including live-fire drills, to the Southeast Asian nation that came under brutal Japanese occupation in World War II but is now building an alliance with Tokyo as they face an increasingly assertive China.

The Reciprocal Access Agreement, which will similarly allow Filipino forces to enter Japan for joint combat training, will be signed by Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in a Manila ceremony to be witnessed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. It would take effect after ratification by the countries’ legislatures, Philippine and Japanese officials said.

Kamikawa and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara are in Manila to hold talks with their Philippine counterparts on ways to further deepen relations, the Philippine government said in a statement.

The defense pact with the Philippines is the first to be forged by Japan in Asia. Japan signed similar accords with Australia in 2022 and with Britain last year.

Under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the Japanese government has taken steps to boost its security and defensive firepower, including a counterstrike capability that breaks from Japan’s postwar principle of focusing only on self-defense, amid threats from

North Korea and China’s growing assertiveness. It’s doubling defense spending in a five-year period to 2027 in a move to bolster its military power and make Japan the world’s third-biggest military spender after the United States and China.

A Ukrainian drone triggers warehouse explosions in Russia as a war of attrition grinds on

KYIV, Ukraine — A village in a border region of western Russia was evacuated Sunday following a series of explosions after debris from a downed Ukrainian drone set fire to a nearby warehouse, local officials said.

Social media footage appeared to show rising clouds of black smoke in the Voronezh region while loud explosions could be heard in succession.

Gov. Aleksandr Gusev said that falling wreckage triggered the “detonation of explosive objects.” No casualties were reported, but residents of a nearby village in the Podgorensky district were evacuated, he said. Roads were also closed with emergency services, military and government officials working at the scene.

A Ukrainian security official told The Associated Press that a strike had been carried out on a warehouse storing ammunition in the village of Serhiivka in the Voronezh region.

“The enemy stored surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, shells for tanks and artillery, and boxes of cartridges for firearms,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give the information to the media. “It is from this warehouse that the occupiers supply ammunition to their troops in Ukraine.”

The official also said that Ukraine’s State Security Service was behind a drone attack on an oil depot in Russia’s Krasnodar region the previous day. Russian emergency services had reported that falling drone debris had started a fire at the site, which was successfully extinguished Sunday morning.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense did not address either strike in their morning briefing, but said that air defense systems had destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the Belgorod region.