Amid 2016 speculation, Hillary Clinton attending steak fry in Iowa next month; Bill going, too
DES MOINES, Iowa — Hillary Rodham Clinton will headline a high-profile fundraiser next month in the nation’s first presidential caucus state of Iowa, creating a big campaign splash as Democrats scramble to hold a key Senate seat in November and the former secretary of state considers a campaign of her own in 2016.
Former President Bill Clinton and Mrs. Clinton will attend retiring Sen. Tom Harkin’s annual steak fry in Indianola on Sept. 14, Iowa Democrats said Monday. It will be the former first lady’s first appearance in Iowa since 2008 when she finished a disappointing third in the state’s presidential caucuses.
Clinton has urged Democrats to mobilize for November’s midterm elections and party officials said she would likely appear at other events around the country to help the party’s major fundraising committees.
And Harkin’s steak fry, an event that draws thousands of grassroots activists each year, and future presidential campaign staff and volunteers, could be among the biggest, potentially serving as the unofficial start of Clinton’s second presidential bid. Early polls show her as the leading candidate to succeed President Barack Obama.
Egypt: No deal yet on Gaza cease-fire, talks to continue for 24 hours
CAIRO — Egypt late Monday announced a 24-hour extension in talks between Israel and the Hamas militant group aimed at salvaging a long-term arrangement that would allow reconstruction of the Gaza Strip following a monthlong war that killed more than 2,000 people.
The announcement came just minutes before a temporary truce was set to expire at midnight, averting a resumption of the fighting that has caused devastating damage across Gaza and disrupted life throughout southern Israel.
“Palestinians and Israelis agreed on extending the cease-fire by 24 hours to continue current negotiations,” the Egyptian government said in a statement. Palestinian and Israeli officials confirmed they had accepted Egypt’s request for an extension.
A Palestinian negotiator said the sides had exchanged draft proposals for a long-term truce that were to be addressed during the 24-hour extension in talks.
Ukraine: Dozens of civilians killed when convoy shelled; Rebels say no attack occurred
KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine accused pro-Russia separatists of killing dozens of civilians in an attack early Monday on a convoy fleeing a besieged rebel-held city. The rebels denied any attack took place, while the U.S. confirmed the shelling of the convoy but said it did not know who was responsible.
The refugees were attacked with Grad rockets and other weapons imported from Russia as their convoy traveled on the main road leading from Russia to the rebel-held city of Luhansk, Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security Council, told reporters.
“Many people were killed, among them women and children,” Lysenko said of the attack, which occurred between the towns of Khryashchuvate and Novosvitlivka. “We are not able to count the death toll at this point.”
When asked about a rough estimate of deaths, he said “dozens.”
Oleksiy Dmytrashkivsky, a spokesman for the Ukrainian government’s military operation in the east, later told The Associated Press that 15 bodies had been recovered from the smoldering vehicles and servicemen were collecting the body parts of at least 10 more people.
No arrest warrant coming after Perry indictment as presidential bid explored
AUSTIN, Texas — A judge isn’t issuing an arrest warrant for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a court official said Monday, and the Republican is planning to continue galloping around the country gearing up for a possible 2016 presidential run — despite being indicted on two felony counts of abuse of power back home.
Perry on Friday became the first Texas governor since 1917 to be indicted, and is facing charges that carry a maximum sentence of 109 years in prison for carrying out a threat to veto funding for the state’s public integrity unit last summer.
Perry has emphatically denied all wrongdoing. His attorneys scheduled a Monday afternoon news conference in Austin to discuss their next moves.
Linda Estrada, a Travis County grand jury clerk, said that the judge overseeing the case, Bert Richardson, decided against issuing an arrest warrant.
Instead, Perry will receive a summons which has not been issued yet. He eventually will have to be booked and fingerprinted.
By wire sources