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WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, Ohio — Stubborn drought in Ohio and the shifting weather patterns influenced by climate change appear to be affecting North America's largest native fruit: the pawpaw.  Avocado-sized with a taste sometimes described as a cross between a mango and banana, the pawpaw is beloved by many but rarely seen in grocery stores in the U.S. because of its short shelf life. The fruit grows in various places in the eastern half of North America, from Ontario to Florida. But in parts of Ohio, which hosts an annual festival dedicated to the fruit, and Kentucky, some growers this year are reporting earlier-than-normal harvests and bitter-tasting fruit, a possible effect of the extreme weather from the spring freezes to drought that has hit the region.  Take Valerie Libbey's orchard in Washington Court House, about an hour's drive from Columbus. Libbey grows 100 pawpaw trees and said she was surprised to see the fruit dropping from trees in the first week of August instead of mid-September.  "I had walked into the orchard to do my regular irrigation and the smell of the fruit just hit me," said Libbey, who added that this year's harvest period was much shorter than in previous years and the fruits themselves were smaller and more bitter.  While Libbey attributes the change to heat stress, it's not clear if drought alone — which is gripping parts of Ohio and Kentucky for the third year in a row — or increasingly extreme, unpredictable weather is affecting the fruit.  "Pawpaw growers are finding we just have to be prepared for more extreme weather events. Last year we were hit with late spring freezes that killed off a lot of the blossoms in the springtime period. This year we were hit by the drought," Libbey said.  That's in line with the effects human-caused climate change is having on the Midwest, according to the National Climate Change Assessment, a government report that comes out every four or five years. Last year's report said that both extreme drought and flooding were threatening crops and animal production in the region.  "We're definitely seeing kind of a change in our weather patterns here," said Kirk Pomper, a professor of horticulture at Kentucky State University in Frankfort. He added that the easiest way to observe the effect of changing weather patterns on pawpaws is when the trees flower, which tends to happen earlier now than before.  Swings in weather Chris Chmiel, who owns and operates a small farm in Albany, Ohio, about 90 minutes southeast of Columbus, said he used to have several hundred pawpaw trees but was down to about 100 this year because of erratic weather patterns, including extremely wet weather some years followed by severe drought.  Chmiel said that pawpaw trees, which are generally considered low maintenance, don't like to have their roots submerged in water for too long, which his trees experienced in 2018 and 2019 during particularly wet springs.  Since then, Chmiel has seen a large decline in his trees, especially the older ones, which produce ethanol when stressed and have attracted an invasive beetle that was damaging to the tree.  "For years, we had great crops year after year," said Chmiel, who described the invasive beetles as the biggest recent challenge. But, he added, some of his pawpaw trees come from the wild where the plants were exposed to several microclimates and habitats.  The pawpaw was domesticated by Native American tribes and has supplemented many communities' diets since then.  Because pawpaw trees are native to the region, they have long been considered hardy. Chmiel is hoping that will help his remaining trees survive unpredictable weather and invasive species.  "I feel like that is a resilient system," Chmiel said. 

MUNICH — The head brewmaster for Weihenstephan, the world's oldest brewery, has a secret: He really likes alcohol-free beer. Even though he's quick to say he obviously enjoys real beer more, Tobias Zollo says he savors alcohol-free beer when he's working or eating lunch. It has the same taste but fewer calories than a soft drink, he said, thanks to the brewery's process of evaporating the alcohol. "You can't drink beer every day — unfortunately," he joked last week at the Bavarian state brewery in the German town of Freising, about 30 kilometers north of Munich. Zollo isn't alone in his appreciation for the sober beverage. Alcohol-free beer has been gaining popularity in recent years as beer consumption shrinks. At Weihenstephan, which was founded as a brewery in 1040 by Benedictine monks, non-alcoholic wheat beer and lager now make up 10% of the volume. The increase over the last few years, since they started making alcohol-free drinks in the 1990s, mirrors the statistics for the rest of Germany's beer industry. "The people are unfortunately — I have to say that as a brewer — unfortunately drinking less beer," Zollo said Friday, the day before Oktoberfest officially started. "If there's an alternative to have the crisp and fresh taste from a typical Weihenstephan beer, but just as a non-alcoholic version, we want to do that." Even at Oktoberfest — arguably the world's most famous ode to alcohol — alcohol-free beer is on the menu. All but two of the 18 large tents at the festival offer the drink through the celebration's 16 days. The sober beverage will cost drinkers the same as an alcoholic beer — between 13.60 and 15.30 euros ($15.12 and $17.01) for a 1-liter mug — but save them from a hangover. "For people who don't like to drink alcohol and want to enjoy the Oktoberfest as well, I think it's a good option," Mikael Caselitz, 24, of Munich said Saturday inside one of the tents. "Sometimes people feel like they have more fun with alcohol, which is not a good thing because you can also have fun without alcohol." He added: "If you want to come and drink alcohol-free beer, nobody will judge you." This year marked the first time an alcohol-free beer garden opened in Munich. "Die Null," which means "the zero" in German, served non-alcoholic beer, mocktails and other alcohol-free drinks near the city's main train station this summer but was scheduled to close a few day before Oktoberfest opened. Walter König, managing director of the Society of Hop Research north of Munich, said researchers have had to breed special hops varieties for alcohol-free beer. If brewers use the typical hops for alcohol-free beer, the distinct aroma gets lost when the alcohol is reduced during the brewing process. But customers don't care about that, König said Friday as he prepared for Oktoberfest. "They only want to know that what they are tasting is as good as traditional beers with alcohol," he said.

DAKAR, Senegal — Extremist attacks in Sahel, an arid swath of land south of the Sahara in Africa, have proliferated in recent months: Last week, Islamic militants attacked Bamako, the capital of Mali, for the first time in almost a decade, demonstrating their capacity to carry out large scale assaults. And last month, at least 100 villagers and soldiers were killed in central Burkina Faso during a weekend attack on a village by al-Qaida-linked jihadis, as they were forcibly helping security forces dig trenches to protect security outposts and villages. Here's what we know about the security situation in Sahel: A region characterized by uprisings and coups Over the last decade, the region has been shaken by extremist uprisings and military coups. Three Sahelian nations, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, are now ruled by military leaders who have taken power by force, on the pledge of providing more security to citizens. But the security situation in Sahel has worsened since the juntas took power, analysts say, with a record number of attacks and a record number of civilians killed both by Islamic fighters and government forces. Over the first six months of this year, 3,064 civilians were killed by the violence, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a 25% increase compared to the previous 6 months. Extremist groups operating in Sahel, and what they want The main two groups operating in the region are the al-Qaida-linked militant group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), and the Islamic State in the Sahel. Over the last year, the JNIM has strengthened its presence in Mali and Burkina Faso, by becoming a more coherent political grouping. "The local populations support (JNIM) more than IS-affiliated groups," said analyst Shaantanu Shankar of the Economist Intelligence Unit. "They have integrated local rebel groups, which have close community ties." Unlike JNIM, Islamic State in the Sahel is a loose coalition of anti-government forces that is much less entrenched politically, he said. They are much more dominant in the Lake Chad region. These groups attack, terrorize and kill local populations and their actions likely amount to war crimes, according to rights organizations. In addition, there are also a number of local militia groups on the ground, which are not affiliated with IS or al-Qaida, as violence has exploded between rival ethnicities and local self-defense groups resulting in a self-perpetuating spiral of violence. Why the extremists in Sahel are getting stronger The military juntas in three countries have capitalized on popular discontent with the former democratically elected governments, which they saw as corrupt and propped up by France. After coming into power, all three juntas left the Economic Community of West African States, the nearly 50-year-old regional bloc known as ECOWAS, and created their own security partnership, the Alliance of Sahel States, in September. They have cut ties with the traditional Western allies, ousting French and American military forces, and instead sought new security ties with Russia. "There is a huge security vacuum after the withdrawal of the French and American military" from the region, said Shankar, which cannot be filled by Russia. Troops from the Wagner Group, the Russian private military company, present in the region are being financed by the junta governments, Shankar added, with fewer financial resources. But experts say the other factor fueling instability is the worsening economic situation, as well as the lack of job opportunities, which contribute to the rising popularity of extremist groups. In all three countries, Islamic extremists have been recruiting among groups marginalized and neglected by the central governments. "There are very few opportunities for people in rural Sahel, especially the youth," said Heni Nsabia, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project analysis coordinator for West Africa. "But the other aspect is that people whose families and communities were targeted by state forces seek security, status and vengeance." How the groups finance themselves Despite being affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, extremist groups in the Sahel mostly get financial resources within their own strongholds, analysts said. They impose taxes on the local population, take control of the management of natural resources, especially of gold, and steal cattle. They also impose sieges on towns and use kidnappings, improvised explosive devices and landmines as they seek to control supply routs and resources. The extremists are also involved in trafficking, especially of drugs, said Aaryaman Shah, a security analyst who specializes in the financing of extremist groups. And they profit from people smuggling — which might bring them even more money in the future. "We are concerned about the recent turmoil in Libya, and how that could actually affect the migrant flow," said Shah. "We are also looking at Niger, where the junta disbanded the law stopping people from crossing into Libya." The business model that these groups developed is very diversified, analysts said. "This is why it is difficult to destroy them economically," said Nsabia from ACLED. "If you target one aspect, they have other sources of revenues." The outlook for the future Analysts predict that the situation in the Sahel is going to worsen in the coming months, with the military governments becoming increasingly desperate as they focus on preserving their political existence, and no way of holding them accountable. "It's a very volatile phase, security is projected to get worse in the next two years," said Shankar of the Economist Intelligence Unit. And the violence has been spilling outside the Sahel borders: Extremists believed to be linked to al-Qaida have crossed into Benin and the north of Nigeria, the latest trend in the militants' movements to wealthier West African coastal nations. "It's undeniable that things are getting worse, and the scope of the threat has been expanding," said Nsabia. "Today, we should not be talking only about Sahel, but also about Benin and Togo, where the JNIM have done excursions as far as 200 kilometers inland." Europe and United States are seeking to support the governments of these coastal nations in their counter-terrorism efforts. Michael Langley, the top U.S. commander for Africa, told reporters last week the U.S. was in talks with Ivory Coast, Ghana and Benin as the country starts "to reset and recalibrate some of our assets." A major challenge has been, and will continue to be, access to information, experts said. All juntas significantly restricted journalism, so now they are in complete control of the narrative, including of who is defined as a jihadi. In Mali, the government branded all Touaregs an ethnic group which staged a rebellion against the government, as jihadis, although only some of them allied with JNIM.

Jerusalem — The Israeli military said Sunday it conducted strikes against "dozens" of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, two days after an air strike killed the group's chief Hassan Nasrallah. The Israel Defense Forces "attacked dozens of terrorist targets in the territory of Lebanon in the last few hours," the army said in a statement on Telegram. The statement said the strikes targeted "buildings where weapons and military structures of the organization were stored." Israel has attacked "hundreds" of Hezbollah targets in the last day, it added, as it aims to disable the group. On Friday, an Israeli air strike on a suburb of Beirut killed Hezbollah's longtime leader Nasrallah, sparking fears of an all-out war in the region. More than 700 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, according to health ministry figures, since the bombardment of Hezbollah strongholds began earlier this month. Hezbollah began low-intensity cross-border strikes on Israeli troops a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas staged its unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, triggering war in the Gaza Strip.

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal has shut schools for three days after landslides and floods triggered by two days of heavy rain across the Himalayan nation killed 100, with 67 missing, officials said Sunday. Flooding brought traffic and normal activity to a standstill in the Kathmandu valley, where 37 deaths were recorded in a region home to 4 million people and the capital. Authorities said students and their parents faced difficulties as university and school buildings damaged by the rains needed repair. "We have urged the concerned authorities to close schools in the affected areas for three days," Lakshmi Bhattarai, a spokesperson for the education ministry, told Reuters. Some parts of the capital reported rain of up to 32.2. centimeters, pushing the level of its main Bagmati river up 2.2 meters past the danger mark, experts said. But there were some signs of respite on Sunday morning, with the rains easing in many places, said Govinda Jha, a weather forecaster in the capital. "There may be some isolated showers, but heavy rains are unlikely," he said. Kathmandu weather officials blamed the heavy downpours on a low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal extending over parts of neighboring India close to Nepal. Haphazard development amplifies climate change risks in Nepal, say climate scientists at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development. "I’ve never before seen flooding on this scale in Kathmandu," said Arun Bhakta Shrestha, an environmental risk official at the center. In a statement, it urged the government and city planners to "urgently" step up investment in, and plans for, infrastructure, such as underground stormwater and sewage systems, both of the "grey," or engineered kind, and "green," or nature-based type. The impact of the rains was aggravated by poor drainage due to unplanned settlement and urbanization efforts, construction on floodplains, lack of areas for water retention, and encroachment on the Bagmati river, it added. The level in the Koshi river in Nepal's southeast has started to fall, however, said Ram Chandra Tiwari, the region's top bureaucrat. The river, which brings deadly floods to India's eastern state of Bihar nearly every year, had been running above the danger mark at a level nearly three times normal, he said.

WASHINGTON — Fall means it's time for just about everybody to get up to date on their flu and COVID-19 vaccines – and a lot of older adults also need protection against another risky winter virus, RSV. Yes, you can get your flu and COVID-19 shots at the same time. Don't call them boosters — they're not just another dose of last year's protection. The coronavirus and influenza are escape artists that constantly mutate to evade your body's immune defenses, so both vaccines are reformulated annually to target newer strains. "Right now is the best time" to get all the recommended fall vaccinations, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as she got her flu shot Wednesday. She has an appointment for her COVID-19 shot, too. It's "the single most effective thing you can do to protect yourself, your family, your community." While they're not perfect, vaccinations offer strong protection against a bad case of flu or COVID-19 — or dying from it. "It may not prevent every infection but those infections are going to be less severe," said CDC's Dr. Demetre Daskalakis. "I would rather have my grandmother or my great-grandmother have a sniffle than have to go to the emergency room on Thanksgiving." The challenge: Getting more Americans to roll up their sleeves. Last year, just 45% of adults got a flu vaccination and even fewer, 23%, got a COVID-19 shot. A survey released Wednesday by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases shows an equally low number intend to this fall. And the coronavirus still killed more Americans than flu last year. "Maybe we believe that it's not going to be me but let's not take a chance," said Dr. Michael Knight of George Washington University. "Why not get a vaccine that's going to help you reduce that risk?" Who needs a fall COVID-19 or flu vaccination? The CDC urges both an updated COVID-19 shot and yearly flu vaccine for everyone ages 6 months and older. If you recently had COVID-19, you can wait two or three months but still should get an updated vaccination because of the expected winter surge. Both viruses can be especially dangerous to certain groups including older people and those with weak immune systems and lung or heart disease. Young children also are more vulnerable. The CDC counted 199 child deaths from flu last year. Pregnancy also increases the chances of serious COVID-19 or flu – and vaccination guards mom plus ensures the newborn has some protection, too. What's new about the COVID-19 shots? Last fall's shots targeted a coronavirus strain that's no longer spreading while this year's are tailored to a new section of the coronavirus family tree. The Pfizer and Moderna shots are formulated against a virus subtype called KP.2 while the Novavax vaccine targets its parent strain, JN.1. Daskalakis said all should offer good cross protection to other subtypes now spreading. The Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines can be used by adults and children as young as 6 months. The Novavax shot is a more traditional protein vaccine combined with an immune booster, and open to anyone 12 and older. Which flu vaccine to choose? High-dose shots and one with a special immune booster are designed for people 65 and older, but if they can't find one easily they can choose a regular all-ages flu shot. For the shot-averse, the nasal spray FluMist is available for ages 2 to 49 at pharmacies and clinics — although next year it's set to be available for use at home. All flu vaccinations this year will guard against two Type A flu strains and one Type B strain. Another once-common form of Type B flu quit spreading a few years ago and was removed from the vaccine. What about that other virus, RSV? RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is a coldlike nuisance for most people but it, too, packs hospitals every winter and can be deadly for children under 5, the elderly and people with certain high-risk health problems. The CDC recommends an RSV vaccination for everyone 75 and older, and for people 60 to 74 who are at increased risk. This is a one-time shot, not a yearly vaccination – but only 24% of seniors got it last year. It's also recommended late in pregnancy to protect babies born during the fall and winter. And while "your arm may hurt and you may feel crummy for a day," it's also fine to get the RSV, flu and COVID-19 vaccines at the same time, Daskalakis said. What will it cost? The vaccines are supposed to be free under Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance plans if people use an in-network provider. About 1.5 million uninsured adults got free COVID-19 vaccinations through a federal program last year but that has ended. Instead, the CDC is providing $62 million to health departments to help improve access -- and states and large cities are starting to roll out their plans. Call your local health department to ask about options because in many areas, "availability of vaccine at lower or no cost is expected to trickle in over the next couple of weeks," advised Dr. Raynard Washington, who heads the Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, health department. Check the government website, vaccines.gov, for availability at local pharmacies.

PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wisconsin — Former President Donald Trump meandered Saturday through a list of grievances against Vice President Kamala Harris and other issues during an event intended to link his Democratic opponent to illegal border crossings. A day after Harris discussed immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump spoke to a crowd in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, about immigration. He blamed Harris for migrants committing crimes after entering the U.S. illegally, alleging she was responsible for "erasing our border." "I will liberate Wisconsin from the mass migrant invasion," he said. "We're going to liberate the country." Trump hopes frustration over illegal immigration will translate to votes in Wisconsin and other crucial swing states. The Republican nominee has denounced people who cross the U.S.-Mexico border as "poisoning the blood of the country" and vowed to stage the largest deportation operation in American history if elected. And polls show Americans believe Trump would do a better job than Harris on handling immigration. Trump shifted from topic to topic so quickly that it was hard to keep track of what he meant at times. He talked about the two assassination attempts against him and blamed the U.S. Secret Service for not being able to hold a large outdoor rally instead of an event in a smaller indoor space. But he also offered asides about climate change, Harris' father, how his beach body was better than President Joe Biden's, and a fly that was buzzing near him. "I wonder where the fly came from," he said. "Two years ago, I wouldn't have had a fly up here. You're changing rapidly. But we can't take it any longer. We can't take it any longer." Trump repeatedly brought up Harris' Friday event in Douglas, Arizona, where she announced a push to further restrict asylum claims beyond Biden's executive order announced earlier this year. Harris denounced Trump's handling of the border while president and his opposing a bipartisan border package earlier this year, saying Trump "prefers to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem." "I had to sit there and listen" to Harris last night Trump said, eliciting cheers. "And who puts it on? Fox News. They should not be allowed to put it on. It's all lies. Everything she says is lies." The Republican nominee also intensified his personal attacks against Harris, insulting her as "mentally impaired" and a "disaster." Trump professed not to understand what Harris meant when she said he was responsible for taking children from their parents. Under his administration, border agents separated children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in a policy that was condemned globally as inhumane and one that Trump himself ended under pressure from his own party. Harris, at a rally in San Francisco, told supporters there were "two very different visions for our nation" and voters see it "every day on the campaign trail." "Donald Trump is the same old tired show," she said. "The same tired playbook we have heard for years." She said Trump was "a very unserious man." "However, the consequences of putting him back in the White House are extremely serious." At Trump's event, on either side of the stage were poster-sized mug shots of men in the U.S. illegally accused of a crime, including Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, a case Trump cited in his speech. Wisconsin Republicans in recent days have cited the story of Coronel Zarate's arrest in Prairie du Chien as more evidence that people in the country illegally are committing crimes across the United States, not just in southern border states. Prosecutors charged Coronel Zarate on September 18 with sexual assault, child abuse, strangulation and domestic abuse. His lawyers declined to comment. 

Caracas, Venezuela — Small groups of opposition protesters rallied Saturday in Venezuela, joined by supporters outside the country, marking two months since the country's disputed election that President Nicolas Maduro claimed to have won.  Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, in hiding after denouncing the proclaimed results as fraudulent, called for smaller gatherings to avoid security crackdowns seen at earlier protests.  About 30 people shouted slogans at a Caracas plaza, including Leida Brito, known as "Red Helmet Grandmother" from her years of anti-government activism.   "Nicolas Maduro should leave because he lost," she said, holding a sign that read: "To defend the vote is a right."   "The freedom of Venezuela is in danger," Hidalgo Valero, a retired colonel, told AFP. "Today our people are afraid to be in the streets because there is tremendous repression."   Machado addressed supporters in a voice note released by her team: "Here we are standing firm, advancing every day with more strength and enthusiasm, gathered here as the brave and good Venezuela."  Dozens of opposition leaders have been arrested since the contested poll, along with more than 2,400 other Venezuelans accused of terrorism for allegedly taking part in protests.  Twenty-seven people were killed in the post-election clashes.   The opposition says its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, won the July 28 election with 67% of the vote, releasing its own tally of polling station results.  Maduro, however, was declared the winner with 52% of the vote by the pro-government National Electoral Council, which has yet to release detailed voting results, as required by law.  Gonzalez Urrutia, a 75-year-old retired diplomat, left Venezuela this month for asylum in Spain after spending weeks in hiding.  Larger protests also took place outside Venezuela, including in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Panama City and Montevideo. In Madrid, Gonzalez Urrutia greeted supporters who were waving the Venezuelan flag.  Meanwhile, hundreds of Maduro supporters marched in Caracas to proclaim victory in the election.  Maduro told the crowd the "supposed queen bee," in reference to Machado, "is beginning to pack her Gucci suitcases ... she is preparing to leave, too."  "We are not in Madrid, we are not hiding, we are in the street," he declared.  On Thursday, about 30 countries led by the United States and Argentina urged Maduro to engage in dialogue with the opposition.  In a joint statement, the countries called for "constructive and inclusive discussions" on a democratic transition and to immediately release Venezuelans detained in the election aftermath. 

beirut — Twelve pro-Iranian fighters have been killed in airstrikes in eastern Syria, a war monitor said Sunday, adding that a large number of people were wounded. Twelve pro-Iranian fighters were killed in airstrikes of unknown origin targeting their positions in the city of Deir El Zour and to the east of the city, as well as the Boukamal region, near the border with Iraq, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The strikes were not immediately claimed by any entity, according to the monitor. Five strikes targeted military positions near Deir El Zour airport, it added. Iran has been providing military aid to Syria since the civil war there began in 2011, while Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes targeting pro-Iranian groups in eastern Syria. The United States has also targeted such groups in the country's east. Israeli authorities rarely comment on individual strikes in Syria but have repeatedly said they will not allow archenemy Iran to expand its presence there. Israel has launched an intense bombing campaign against Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon in recent days, intensifying fears of a regional war. The Israeli army has also repeatedly targeted the movement's arms supply routes on the Syrian-Lebanese border, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 

VIENNA — Austrians elect a new parliament Sunday with the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) aiming to secure its first general election win in a neck-and-neck race with the ruling conservatives that has been dominated by economic worries and immigration. Having led opinion polls for months, the FPO's edge over the Austrian People's Party (OVP) has shrunk to almost nothing as Chancellor Karl Nehammer casts himself as a statesman and depicts his rival, FPO leader Herbert Kickl, as a toxic menace. Whoever wins will fall well short of an absolute majority, polls show but claim the right to lead a coalition government. Projections are due minutes after polls close at 5 p.m. (1500 GMT), with results being finessed over the ensuing hours. "What's at stake is whether the FPO will appoint the chancellor or not," said Kathrin Stainer-Haemmerle, political science professor at the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences. "Should that happen, then I have to say the role of Austria in the European Union would be significantly different. Kickl has often said that (Hungarian Prime Minister) Viktor Orban is a role model for him and he will stand by him." The Eurosceptic, Russia-friendly FPO, which is critical of Islam and pledges tougher rules on asylum-seekers, won a national vote for the first time in June when it beat the OVP by less than a percentage point in European elections. An FPO victory would make Austria the latest European Union country to register surging far-right support after gains in countries including the Netherlands, France and Germany. President Alexander Van der Bellen, who oversees the formation of governments, has voiced reservations about the FPO because of its criticism of the EU and its failure to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The party also opposes EU sanctions on Moscow, citing Austria's neutrality. He has hinted he might thwart Kickl, noting the constitution does not require him to ask the first-placed party to form a government, even though that has long been the convention. The OVP, which like the FPO backs tougher immigration rules and tax cuts, is the only party open to forming a coalition with the far-right party. Polls suggest they could muster a majority together, but Nehammer says his party won’t join a government with Kickl. "Ideally I would vanish into thin air for you, but I won't do you that favor, Mr. Nehammer," Kickl, 55, said this week when asked if he would stand aside to let his party be junior partner under the OVP. 'Fortress Austria' Kickl has relished the role of opposition firebrand but has at times appeared uncomfortable trying to moderate his tone to widen his leadership appeal. The FPO wants to stop granting asylum altogether and build a "fortress Austria" preventing migrants from entering, even though that would be widely viewed as illegal or impractical. In his closing campaign speech, Kickl said sanctions against Moscow were hurting Austria even more than Russia, adding, "if you look at Germany, VW for example, the threat of mass unemployment and everything that then spills over into Austria." Nehammer has sought to depict Kickl as a conspiracy theorist shouting from the sidelines while he is running Austria. The 51-year-old Nehammer has since 2021 led a coalition with the left-wing Greens, but the alliance has proved fractious with the economy struggling and inflation worrying voters. Some voters think Nehammer's crisis-management efforts against severe flooding that struck Austria this month probably helped him regain ground in the election race. Susanne Pinter, 55, a Greens supporter in Vienna said the floods had helped Nehammer look statesman-like, as she fretted about the prospect of a far-right victory. "If the FPO wins ... it'll have bad consequences for women, people of migrant origin and climate change," she said. 

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — SpaceX launched a rescue mission for the two stuck astronauts at the International Space Station on Saturday, sending up a downsized crew to bring them home but not until next year.  The capsule rocketed into orbit to fetch the test pilots whose Boeing spacecraft returned to Earth empty earlier this month because of safety concerns. The switch in rides left it to NASA's Nick Hague and Russia's Alexander Gorbunov to retrieve Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.  Because NASA rotates space station crews approximately every six months, this newly launched flight with two empty seats reserved for Wilmore and Williams won't return until late February. Officials said there wasn't a way to bring them back earlier on SpaceX without interrupting other scheduled missions.  By the time they return, the pair will have logged more than eight months in space. They expected to be gone just a week when they signed up for Boeing's first astronaut flight that launched in June.  NASA ultimately decided that Boeing's Starliner was too risky after a cascade of thruster troubles and helium leaks marred its trip to the orbiting complex. The space agency cut two astronauts from this SpaceX launch to make room on the Dragon capsule's return leg for Wilmore and Williams.  Wilmore and Williams watched the liftoff via a live link sent to the space station, prompting a cheer of "Go Dragon!" from Williams, NASA deputy program manager Dina Contella said.  Williams has been promoted to commander of the space station, which will soon be back to its normal population of seven. Once Hague and Gorbunov arrive Sunday, four astronauts living there since March can leave in their own SpaceX capsule. Their homecoming was delayed a month by Starliner's turmoil.  Hague noted before the flight that change is the one constant in human spaceflight.  "There's always something that is changing. Maybe this time it's been a little more visible to the public," he said.  Hague was thrust into the commander's job for the rescue mission based on his experience and handling of a launch emergency six years ago. The Russian rocket failed shortly after liftoff, and the capsule carrying him and a cosmonaut catapulted off the top to safety.  Rookie NASA astronaut Zena Cardman and veteran space flier Stephanie Wilson were pulled from this flight after NASA opted to go with SpaceX to bring the stuck astronauts home. Promised a future space mission, both were at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, taking part in the launch livestream. Gorbunov remained on the flight under an exchange agreement between NASA and the Russian Space Agency.  "Every crewed launch that I have ever watched has really brought me a lot of emotion. This one today was especially unique," a teary-eyed Cardman said following the early afternoon liftoff. "It was hard not to watch that rocket lift off without thinking, 'That's my rocket and that's my crew.'"  Moments before liftoff, Hague paid tribute to his two colleagues left behind: "Unbreakable. We did it together." Once in orbit, he called it a "sweet ride" and thanked everyone who made it possible.  Earlier, Hague acknowledged the challenges of launching with half a crew and returning with two astronauts trained on another spacecraft.  "We've got a dynamic challenge ahead of us," Hague said after arriving from Houston last weekend. "We know each other and we're professionals and we step up and do what's asked of us."  SpaceX has long been the leader in NASA's commercial crew program, established as the space shuttles were retiring more than a decade ago. SpaceX beat Boeing in delivering astronauts to the space station in 2020, and it is now up to 10 crew flights for NASA.  Boeing has struggled with a variety of issues over the years, repeating a Starliner test flight with no one on board after the first one veered off course. The Starliner that left Wilmore and Williams in space landed without any issues in the New Mexico desert on September 6, and has since returned to Kennedy Space Center. A week ago, Boeing's defense and space chief was replaced.  Delayed by Hurricane Helene pounding Florida, the latest SpaceX liftoff marked the first for astronauts from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. SpaceX took over the old Titan rocket pad nearly two decades ago and used it for satellite and station cargo launches, while flying crews from Kennedy's former Apollo and shuttle pad next door. The company wanted more flexibility as more Falcon rockets soared. 

UNITED NATIONS — European, Arab and Islamic nations have launched an initiative to strengthen support for a Palestinian state and prepare for a future after the war in Gaza and escalating conflict in Lebanon, Norway's foreign minister said Friday. Espen Barth Eide told The Associated Press that "there is a growing consensus in the international community from Western countries, from Arab countries, from the Global South, that we need to establish a Palestinian Authority, a Palestinian government, a Palestinian state — and the Palestinian state has to be recognized." Eide said many issues need to be addressed, including the security interests of Israel and the Palestinians, recognition and normalization of relations after decades of conflict and the demobilization of Hamas as a military group. "These are pieces of a bigger puzzle," Norway's chief diplomat said. "And you can't just come in there with one of these pieces, because it only works if all the pieces are laid in place." But even if the puzzle is completed, it's unlikely to gain traction with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Still, Eide believes that after decades of failed or stalled negotiations, "we need to take a new approach" to achieving an independent Palestinian state. To accelerate work on these issues, Eide said almost 90 countries attended a meeting Thursday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly's current gathering of world leaders. He and Saudi Arabia's foreign minister co-chaired the session to launch "The Global Alliance for the Implementation of a Palestinian State and a Two-State Solution." "We have to see how we can come out of this deadlock and try to use this deep crisis also as an opportunity to move forward," Eide told a U.N. Security Council meeting on Gaza later Friday. Norway is the guarantor of the 1993 Oslo Accords, hailed as a breakthrough in the decades-long conflict between Arabs and Jews, which created the Palestinian Authority and set up self-rule areas in the Palestinian Authority. Eide said more than 30 years later, Israel's "occupation" is continuing, and there are no negotiations leading to a final settlement and an independent Palestinian state, which led to Norway's decision in May to recognize a Palestinian state. Eide brought up the alliance again Saturday during his address to the annual meeting of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, stressing that "while cease-fires in Gaza and Lebanon are most urgently needed, ending hostilities must not be confused with lasting solutions." He again called on the 44 U.N. member nations that haven't done so to recognize the state of Palestine and allow it to become a full member of the United Nations. And he called on "everyone who can, to help to build Palestine's institutions, and on regional actors to help embed a political settlement in a broader regional framework." Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud told the U.N. Security Council on Friday that his country, the joint Islamic-Arab ministerial committee, Norway and the European Union launched the alliance "because we feel responsible to act to change the reality of the conflict without delay." He told the assembly Saturday that the coalition aimed "to promote the two-state solution," calling on all countries to join the group and to recognize the Palestinians as an independent state. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged all countries to take practical measures "to bring about the free Palestine next to a secure Israel." First meetings will be in Saudi Arabia and Belgium Eide said this new effort is built on the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, "but updated to today's reality." The 2002 initiative, endorsed by the Arab League and the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation, offered Israel normalized relations in exchange for a full withdrawal from territories captured in 1967. 

KIGALI, Rwanda — Rwanda has confirmed six deaths and 20 cases of Marburg disease, the country's health minister Sabin Nsanzimana said late on Saturday. The majority of victims are health workers in the intensive care unit, Nsanzimana said in a video statement posted on X. "We are counting 20 people who are infected, and six who have already passed away due to this virus. The large majority of cases and deaths are among healthcare workers, mainly in the intensive care unit," the health minister said. Marburg disease, a viral hemorrhagic fever, can cause death among some patients, with symptoms including severe headache, vomiting, muscle aches and stomach aches, the ministry has said. Institutions and partners are working to trace those who have been in contact with the virus-affected individuals, the minister added. With a fatality rate of as high as 88%, Marburg is from the same virus family as the one responsible for Ebola and is transmitted to people from fruit bats. It then spreads through contact with bodily fluids of infected people. Neighboring Tanzania had cases of Marburg in 2023, while Uganda had similar ones in 2017. 

Port Sudan, Sudan — Two days of attacks by Sudanese paramilitaries on the Darfur city of El Fasher killed 48 people, a medical source told AFP on Friday, after world leaders appealed for an end to the country's suffering. Artillery fire from the Rapid Support Forces killed 30 people and wounded dozens on Friday, a medical source at El Fasher Teaching Hospital told AFP, as the paramilitaries and regular army vie for control of the North Darfur state capital. The shelling comes a day after an assault on a market brought "18 dead to the hospital" on Thursday, "some of them burned and others killed by shrapnel," the source said, requesting anonymity for their protection in light of repeated attacks on health workers and hospitals. The plight of Sudan, and El Fasher in particular, has been under discussion this week at the U.N. General Assembly in New York after 17 months of devastating fighting between the RSF and the regular army. "We must compel the warring parties to accept humanitarian pauses in El Fasher, Khartoum and other highly vulnerable areas," the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said Wednesday. The Teaching Hospital is one of the last still receiving patients in El Fasher, where reports of a "full-scale assault" by RSF last weekend led U.N. chief Antonio Guterres to call for an urgent cease-fire. The paramilitaries have besieged El Fasher since May, and famine has been declared in Zamzam refugee camp near the city of 2 million. The war has killed tens of thousands of people. The World Health Organization has cited a toll of at least 20,000, but U.S. envoy Tom Perriello has said some estimates reach 150,000. U.S. President Joe Biden, who raised particular concern over the assault on El Fasher, on Tuesday urged all countries to cut off weapons supplies to the country's warring generals, armed forces chief Abdel Fattah Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. "The world needs to stop arming the generals," Biden told the U.N. General Assembly. On the sidelines of the U.N. talks, Guterres met with Burhan, expressing concern about escalation and the risk of "a regional spillover," the UN said. Both sides have been repeatedly accused of war crimes. The RSF, which has its origins in Darfur's notorious Arab tribal militias, the Janjaweed, has been specifically accused of crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. Darfur, a region the size of France, is home to around a quarter of Sudan's population but more than half of its 10 million people are internally displaced.

brussels — Pope Francis' burdensome trip through Belgium reached new lows Saturday when defiant Catholic university women demanded to his face a "paradigm change" on women's issues in the church and then expressed deep disappointment when Francis dug in.  The Catholic University of Louvain, the Francophone campus of Belgium's storied Catholic university, issued a scathing statement after Francis visited and repeated his view that women are the "fertile" nurturers of the church, inducing grimaces in his audience.  "UC Louvain expresses its incomprehension and disapproval of the position expressed by Pope Francis regarding the role of women in the church and society," the statement said, calling the pope's views "deterministic and reductive."  Francis' trip to Belgium, ostensibly to celebrate the university's 600th anniversary, was always going to be difficult, given Belgium's legacy of clerical sexual abuse and secular trends that have emptied churches in the once staunchly Catholic country.  Francis got an earful Friday about the abuse crisis starting with King Philippe and Prime Minister Alexander Croos and continuing on down to the victims themselves.  But it's one thing for the pope to be lambasted by the liberal prime minister for the church's mishandling of priests who raped children. It's quite another to be openly criticized by the Catholic university that invited him and long was the Vatican's intellectual fiefdom in Belgium.  Church needs 'paradigm shift,' say students The students made an impassioned plea to Francis for the church to change its view of women. It is an issue Francis knows well: He has made some changes during his 11-year pontificate, allowing women to serve as acolytes, appointing several women to high-ranking positions in the Vatican, and saying women must have greater decision-making roles in the church.  But he has ruled out ordaining women as priests and has refused so far to budge on demands to allow women to serve as deacons, who perform many of the same tasks as priests. He has taken the women's issue off the table for debate at the Vatican's upcoming three-week synod, or meeting, because it's too thorny to be dealt with in such a short time. He has punted it to theologians and canonists to chew over into next year.  In a letter read aloud on stage with the pope listening attentively, the students noted that Francis' landmark 2015 environmental encyclical Laudato Si (Praised Be) made virtually no mention of women, cited no women theologians and "exalts their maternal role and forbids them access to ordained ministries."  "Women have been made invisible. Invisible in their lives, women have also been invisible in their intellectual contributions," the students said.  "What, then, is the place of women in the church?" they asked. "We need a paradigm shift, which can and must draw on the treasures of spirituality as much as on the development of the various disciplines of science."  Francis said he liked what they said, but repeated his frequent refrain that "the church is woman," only exists because the Virgin Mary agreed to be the mother of Jesus, and that men and women were complementary.  "Woman is fertile welcome. Care. Vital devotion," Francis said. "Let us be more attentive to the many daily expressions of this love, from friendship to the workplace, from studies to the exercise of responsibility in the church and society, from marriage to motherhood, from virginity to the service of others and the building up of the kingdom of God."  Louvain said such terminology had no place in a university or society today. It emphasized the point with the entertainment for the event featuring a jazz rendition of Lady Gaga's LGBTQ+ anthem "Born This Way."  "UC Louvain can only express its disagreement with this deterministic and reductive position," the statement said. "It reaffirms its desire for everyone to flourish within it and in society, whatever their origins, gender or sexual orientation. It calls on the church to follow the same path, without any form of discrimination."  The comment followed a speech Friday by the rector of the Dutch campus of the university in which he ventured that the church would be a much more welcoming place if women could be priests.  The university's back-to-back criticism was especially significant as Francis was long held up in Europe as a beacon of progressive hope following the conservative papacies of St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.  Pope prays at king's tomb Yet Francis toed the conservative line earlier in the day too.  He went to the royal crypt in the Church of Our Lady to pray at the tomb of King Baudouin, best known for having refused to give royal assent, one of his constitutional duties, to a parliament-approved bill legalizing abortion.  Baudouin stepped down for one day in 1990 to allow the government to pass the law, which he would otherwise have been required to sign, before he was reinstated as king.  Francis praised Baudouin's courage when he decided to "leave his position as king to not sign a homicidal law," according to the Vatican summary of the private encounter, which was attended by Baudouin's nephew, King Philippe, and Queen Mathilde.  The pope then referred to a new legislative proposal to extend the legal limit for an abortion in Belgium, from 12 weeks to 18 weeks after conception. The bill failed at the last minute because parties in government negotiations considered the timing inopportune.  Francis urged Belgians to look to Baudouin's example in preventing such a law and added that he hoped the former king's beatification cause would move ahead. 

REHOBOTH BEACH, Delaware — The Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah was a "measure of justice" for victims of a four-decade "reign of terror," President Joe Biden said Saturday.  The comments came after Lebanon's Hezbollah group confirmed earlier Saturday that Nasrallah, one of the group's founders, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut the previous day.  Biden noted that the operation to take out Nasrallah took place in the broader context of the conflict that began with Hamas' massacre of Israelis on October 7, 2023.  "Nasrallah, the next day, made the fateful decision to join hands with Hamas and open what he called a 'northern front' against Israel," Biden said in a statement.  He also noted that Hezbollah under Nasrallah's watch has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans, Israelis and Lebanese.  Hezbollah attacks against U.S. interests include the truck bombing of the U.S. Embassy and multinational force barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the kidnapping of the Central Intelligence Agency chief of station in Beirut, who died while held captive. The U.S. said Hezbollah leaders armed and trained militias that carried out attacks on U.S. forces during the war in Iraq.  The White House sees the death of Nasrallah as a huge blow to Hezbollah. At the same time, the administration has sought to tread carefully as it has tried to contain Israel's war with Hamas, which, like Hezbollah, is backed by Iran, from exploding into an all-out regional conflict.  The White House and Pentagon were quick Friday, shortly after the strike, to say publicly that Israel offered it no forewarning of the operation.  "President Biden and I do not want to see conflict in the Middle East escalate into a broader regional war," Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement Saturday that echoed Biden's description of a "measure of justice." She added, "diplomacy remains the best path forward to protect civilians and achieve lasting stability in the region."  The confirmation of Nasrallah's death comes during a week that began with Biden's top national security aides working on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly to build support for a 21-day Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire that they hoped might also breathe new life into stalled efforts to secure a truce in Gaza.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a defiant speech Friday to the United Nations, vowing to keep up operations against Hezbollah until tens of thousands of Israeli citizens displaced by rocket attacks can return home. Shortly after, Israel carried out the strike that killed Nasrallah.  Biden reiterated Saturday that he wants to see cease-fires both in Gaza and between Israel and Hezbollah.  "It is time for these deals to close, for the threats to Israel to be removed, and for the broader Middle East region to gain greater stability," Biden said.  Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the United States of supporting the killing that took out Nasrallah and dozens of others.  "The world community will not forget that the order of the terrorist strike was issued from New York and the Americans cannot absolve themselves from complicity with the Zionists," Pezeshkian was quoted as saying in a statement read on Iranian state television. 

united nations — Russia's foreign minister reinforced the Kremlin's disagreements with the West in his United Nations General Assembly remarks Saturday and showed no interest in a genuine peace with Ukraine.  "I'm not going to talk here about the senselessness and the danger of the very idea of trying to fight to victory with a nuclear power, which is what Russia is," Sergey Lavrov said.  Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin revised his government's nuclear doctrine, in a clear attempt to discourage the West from lifting its restrictions on Ukraine using long-range weapons to strike inside Russian territory.  Lavrov dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's 10-point peace formula as "doomed," and said a resolution of the conflict is not possible unless the root causes of the crisis, as Moscow sees them, are addressed.  The veteran diplomat also took the opportunity to repeat complaints about NATO, Washington, London and the European Union.  His speech came a few hours after Lebanese Hezbollah acknowledged the death of their leader, Hassan Nasrallah, following a series of targeted Israeli airstrikes in Beirut.  "We are particularly concerned by the now almost commonplace practice of political killings, as once again, took place yesterday in Beirut," he told the assembly.  At a news conference following his speech, Lavrov expressed concerns about a wider regional war.  "A lot of people say that Israel wants to create the grounds to drag the U.S. directly into this," he said. "And so, to create these grounds, is trying to provoke Iran and Hezbollah. So the Iran leadership, I think, are behaving extremely responsibly, and this is something that we should take due note of."  War in Ukraine  In February 2022, Russia and China declared a "no limits partnership," just days before President Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.  The United States has repeatedly accused China of assisting the Kremlin with its war.  "China, another permanent member of this council, is the top provider of machine tools, microelectronics, and other items that Russia is using to rebuild, to restock, to ramp up its war machine and sustain its brutal aggression," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday at a high-level U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine that President Zelenskyy attended.  Beijing denies the charge and has sought to distance itself publicly from Moscow on the war.  "The top priority is to commit to no expansion of the battlefield, no escalation of fighting, and no provocation by any party, and push for de-escalation of the situation as soon as possible," Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the General Assembly on Saturday.  Beijing says it is committed to playing "a constructive role" in ending the conflict.  China and 'multipolar world'  On the margins of the annual U.N. meetings, China and Brazil launched what they are calling the group of friends for peace for Ukraine, which includes several other countries from the global south.  In a sign of China's desire to be recognized as a global economic and political power, Wang said international relations should be "more democratic."  "Gone are the days when one or two major powers call the shots on everything," he said. "We should advocate an equal and orderly multipolar world and see that all countries, regardless of their size, have their own place and role in the multipolar system."  Wang also called for full U.N. membership for the Palestinians and urged implementation of a two-state solution.  "There must not be any delay in reaching a comprehensive cease-fire, and the fundamental way out lies in the two-state solution," he said.  Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi asked the assembly how the international community could believe Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim on Friday that "Israel yearns for peace."    "Yesterday, while he was here, Israel conducted an unprecedented, massive air attack on Beirut. Prime Minister Netanyahu wants the war to continue. We must stop that! I repeat, we must stop that! We must pressure Israel to come back to a political solution for a two-state solution," she said to much applause.  Saudi Arabia's foreign minister also expressed concern about regional stability following the escalation in Lebanon.  "We call on all parties to show wisdom and to show restraint in order to avoid a true war breaking out in the region," Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud said.