MINNEAPOLIS — Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz spent Saturday morning tramping through tall grass on the opening day of Minnesota’s pheasant hunting season, giving the campaign a chance to highlight the governor’s rural roots and love of outdoor sports.

Neither Walz nor Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan managed to bag any pheasants as they hunted near Sleepy Eye, a town about 90 miles southwest of Minneapolis. But others in their parties shot six birds on a beautiful fall day, the governor’s office said.

“They can hide, they can get under the grass,” Walz could be heard saying as they searched for one downed bird.

The campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris has been openly confronting the question of whether some men are reluctant to vote for her because she’s a woman. Key supporters are starting to make more direct appeals to male voters, hoping to overcome sexism — and apathy — as Election Day approaches. Harris disclosed during her debate with former President Donald Trump last month that she’s a gun owner.

On Friday, the Democratic ticket announced the launch of Hunters and Anglers for Harris-Walz, a national organizing program to engage sportsmen and -women, conservationists and rural voters in key states.

The Trump campaign mocked the outing, accusing Walz of “desperately attempting to make up ground with male voters.” The campaign’s statement also falsely said there were no guns in sight during the hunt, calling it “a sign of the future under a Harris-Walz administration.”

While it’s true that a 36-second video clip from MSNBC tweeted by the Trump campaign didn’t show any guns, it was recorded before Walz and his party had donned their blaze-orange safety vests and hats and headed into the field.

While Walz had a top rating from the National Rifle Association during his 12 years in Congress, he changed his positions on gun issues after a series of school shootings. As governor, he signed legislation in 2023 expanding background checks for gun transfers and a “red flag law” allowing courts to temporarily take firearms away from people judged to be in imminent risk of harming themselves or others. His wife, Gwen, has been a champion of gun safety legislation.

Ex-soldier sentenced: A former soldier in the U.S. Army was sentenced Friday to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempting to provide information to Islamic State to help plan an ambush he thought would result in the deaths of U.S. soldiers in the Middle East, according to the Justice Department.

The soldier, Pvt. Cole Bridges, 24, of Stow, Ohio, also discussed potential locations for terrorist attacks in New York City with an undercover FBI agent whom he believed to be a supporter of the organization.

Bridges enlisted in the military in 2019 and joined an infantry division in Fort Stewart, Georgia. Before enlisting, he had already been persuaded by radical ideologies, according to the Justice Department.

Beginning in at least 2019, Bridges began researching jihadi propaganda and posted his support for the Islamic State group on social media. About a year after joining the Army, he began corresponding with an FBI agent who was posing as an Islamic State supporter. He was arrested in January 2021. He pleaded guilty in June 2023 to attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and attempting to murder U.S. military service members.

In addition to his prison sentence, Bridges was ordered to undergo 10 years of supervised release.

Ukraine conscription raids: Ukrainian military recruitment officers raided restaurants, bars and a concert hall in Kyiv, checking military registration documents and detaining men who were not in compliance, media and witnesses reported Saturday.

Officers descended on the Palace of Sports venue after a concert Friday night by Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy. Video footage aired by local media outlets appears to show officers stationed outside the doors of the concert hall intercepting men as they exit. In the footage, officers appear to forcibly detain some men.

Checks were also conducted at Goodwine, an upscale shopping center, and Avalon, a popular restaurant.

It is unusual for such raids to take place in the capital, and reflects Ukraine’s dire need for fresh recruits. All Ukrainian men ages 25 to 60 are eligible for conscription, and men ages 18 to 60 are not allowed to leave the country.

Chechnya blast: An explosion at a gas station in Russia’s southern region of Chechnya killed at least four people, officials said Saturday.

The explosion of a gas tank triggered a fire at the service station in the regional capital, Grozny, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said, and two children were among the dead.

Grozny is about 930 miles south of Moscow.

Regional authorities said a criminal investigation was opened.

Last month an explosion at a gas station in the neighboring region of Dagestan killed at least 13 people and injured 23.

Norway terror threat: Norway is introducing temporary border checks on its frontiers with other Western European nations after the domestic security agency raised the terror threat level, police said Saturday.

The checks will apply until Oct. 22, according to a police statement.

It cited “a challenging threat picture” and the Oct. 8 announcement by the security agency, PST, that it was increasing Norway’s threat level from “moderate” to “high,” the second-highest level on a five-tier scale. PST pointed to an increased threat to Jewish and Israeli targets in particular.

Norway isn’t a member of the European Union, but the country is part of the European ID-check free travel zone known as the Schengen Area. It has land borders with EU and Schengen members Sweden and Finland.

Brazil storm: More than 1.6 million people in Sao Paulo were without power Saturday, more than 16 hours after a brief but powerful storm swept through South America’s largest city.

Officials in Sao Paulo state said record wind gusts Friday night of up to 67 mph knocked down transmission lines and uprooted trees, causing severe damage in some parts. The storm also shut down several airports and interrupted water service in several areas, according to the Sao Paulo state government.

Authorities originally expected to restore power within a few hours. But several neighborhoods in the metropolitan area, which is home to 21 million people, were still in the dark Saturday and authorities were urging residents to limit their consumption of water.