LOS ANGELES, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Former President Donald Trump, who opted out of a Republican primary debate on Fox News (FOXA.O) on Wednesday, attracted millions of viewers who watched - or at least scrolled by - a rival interview on social media platform X.

The 46-minute conversation with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson drew more than 74 million views, according to statistics on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Republican presidential candidates vying to be the leading alternative to front-runner Donald Trump fought — sometimes bitterly — over abortion rights, U.S. support for Ukraine and the future of the party during the first primary debate of the 2024 campaign.

Live Updates: First 2024 Republican presidential debate is in the books

The 2024 Republican presidential candidates met for their first debate in Milwaukee. Here’s what happened.

24 August 2023; MEMO: A significant increase in the number of Israeli citizens seeking to obtain foreign passports or residence visas has been recorded in recent months, Ynet News said on Wednesday.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Tropical Storm Franklin unleashed heavy floods and landslides in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday after making landfall in the country’s southern region, killing at least one person and leaving two others missing.

The storm began to slowly spin away late Wednesday afternoon from the island of Hispaniola that the Dominican Republic shares with Haiti after dumping heavy rain for several hours.

WASHINGTON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Eight contenders for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination jockeyed for voters’ attention on Wednesday at the party’s first debate, while the front-runner Donald Trump, the former president, bypassed the event.

Here are four takeaways from the debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin:

NO BREAKOUT MOMENT FOR DESANTIS?

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stood at center stage, but he wasn’t at the center of the evening.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Computer chip maker Nvidia has rocketed into the constellation of Big Tech’s brightest stars while riding the artificial intelligence craze that’s fueling red-hot demand for its technology.

24 August 2023; MEMO: The US said, Wednesday, it is “alarmed” after a video appeared to show Israeli forces shooting a Palestinian in the back of his head during a raid in the Occupied West Bank, Anadolu Agency reports.

22 August 2023; MEMO: Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has opposed the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decision to intervene militarily against the coup leaders in Niger, warning that it would lead to instability in Africa. 

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led a brief armed rebellion against the Russian military earlier this year, was presumed dead Wednesday after a plane crash north of Moscow that killed all 10 people on board.

Prigozhin was on the plane, according to Russia’s civil aviation agency, which cited the airline. The crash immediately raised suspicions since the fate of the founder of the Wagner private military company has been the subject of intense speculation ever since he mounted the mutiny.

NEW DELHI (AP) — India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole on Wednesday — a historic voyage to uncharted territory that scientists believe could hold vital reserves of frozen water, and a technological triumph for the world’s most populous nation.

A number of rare ancient artefacts stolen from Yemen are to be auctioned in Israel, according to a report by Al-Quds Al-Arabi last week. Citing a Yemeni researcher who specialises in tracing looted antiquities online, Abdullah Mohsen, the report said that the public auction will take place in Tel Aviv in October.

In a Facebook post, Mohsen said that among the exhibits was a bronze frame featuring the embossed faces of two young men and it is “probably from Tamnu, Al-Awd, or Dhafar (referring to areas of ancient Yemeni civilisation).”

TRABUCO CANYON, Calif. (AP) — Three people were killed and five others were wounded in a shooting Wednesday at a Southern California biker bar, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said. The shooter also died.

The shooting occurred after 7 p.m. at Cook’s Corner in rural Trabuco Canyon in Orange County, a popular longtime watering hole for motorcycle riders and enthusiasts who gather for live music, open-mic nights or just a cold beer after a long ride.

Authorities didn’t immediately share details on how the shooting unfolded or about the assailant.