AP Top News at 3:46 a.m. EDT

Police arrest Istanbul mayor, a key Erdogan rival, over alleged corruption and terror links

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish police on Wednesday arrested Istanbul’s mayor — a popular opposition leader and key rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — and several other prominent figures as part of investigations into alleged corruption and terror links. It was a dramatic escalation in an ongoing government crackdown on the opposition and dissenting voices in Turkey. The state-run Anadolu Agency said prosecutors issued detention warrants for the mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, and some 100 other people. Among those detained was Imamoglu’s close aide, Murat Ongun. Authorities also closed several roads around Istanbul and banned demonstrations in the city for four days in an apparent effort to prevent protests following the arrest.

Netanyahu says Israeli strikes across Gaza that killed hundreds are ‘only the beginning’

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday that killed more than 400 Palestinians, local health officials said, shattering a ceasefire in place since January as it vowed to force Hamas to release more hostages and relinquish control of the territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strikes after Hamas refused Israeli demands to free half of the remaining hostages as a precondition for extending the ceasefire. Israel’s deadliest bombardment of the territory in the 17-month war killed mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Netanyahu said the attack was “only the beginning” and that Israel would press ahead until it achieves all of its war aims — destroying Hamas and freeing all hostages held by the militant group.

Trump and Putin agree to an immediate ceasefire for energy infrastructure in Ukraine conflict

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during a lengthy call Tuesday to an immediate pause in strikes against energy infrastructure in the Ukraine war, but the Russian leader stopped short of backing a broader 30-day pause in fighting that the U.S. administration is pressing for. The White House described it as the first step in a “movement to peace” that it hopes will include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea and eventually a full and lasting end to the fighting. But there was no indication that Putin has backed away from his conditions for a prospective peace deal, which are fiercely opposed by Kyiv.

Judge rules DOGE’s USAID dismantling likely violates the Constitution

WASHINGTON (AP) — The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency likely violated the Constitution, a federal judge ruled Tuesday as he indefinitely blocked DOGE from making further cuts to the agency. The order requires the Trump administration to restore email and computer access to all employees of USAID, including those put on administrative leave, though it stops short of reversing firings or fully resurrecting the agency. In one of the first DOGE lawsuits against Musk himself, U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland rejected the Trump administration’s position that Musk is merely President Donald Trump’s adviser.

JFK assassination files released, sending history buffs hunting for new clues

DALLAS (AP) — More than 63,000 pages of records related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy were released Tuesday following an order by President Donald Trump, many without the redactions that had confounded historians for years and helped fuel conspiracy theories. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration posted to its website roughly 2,200 files containing the documents. The vast majority of the National Archives’ collection of over 6 million pages of records, photographs, motion pictures, sound recordings and artifacts related to the assassination have previously been released. Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and author of “The Kennedy Half-Century,” said it will take time to fully review the records.

Roberts rejects Trump’s call for impeaching judge who ruled against his deportation plans

WASHINGTON (AP) — In an extraordinary display of conflict between the executive and judiciary branches, Chief Justice John Roberts rejected calls for impeaching judges Tuesday, shortly after President Donald Trump demanded the removal of one who ruled against his deportation plans. The rebuke from the Supreme Court’s leader demonstrated how the controversy over recent deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members has inflamed tensions over the judiciary’s role, with a legal case challenging Trump’s actions now threatening to spiral into a clash of constitutional powers. “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts said.

Federal judge blocks Trump administration from banning transgender people from military service

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge blocked enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from military service on Tuesday, the latest in a string of legal setbacks for his sweeping agenda. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., ruled that Trump’s order to exclude transgender troops from military service likely violates their constitutional rights. She was the second judge of the day to rule against the administration, and both rulings came within hours of an extraordinary conflict as Trump called for impeaching a third judge who temporarily blocked deportation flights, drawing a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts.

Violent attacks on Tesla dealerships spike as Musk takes prominent role in Trump White House

SEATTLE (AP) — Cybertrucks set ablaze. Bullets and Molotov cocktails aimed at Tesla showrooms. Attacks on property carrying the logo of Elon Musk’s electric-car company are cropping up across the U.S. and overseas. While no injuries have been reported, Tesla showrooms, vehicle lots, charging stations and privately owned cars have been targeted. There has been a clear uptick since President Donald Trump took office and empowered Musk to oversee a new Department of Government Efficiency that is slashing government spending. Experts on domestic extremism say it’s impossible to know yet if the spate of incidents will balloon into a long-term pattern.

Iran celebrates ancient fire festival ahead of Persian New Year as tensions with US loom

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — I’ve worked for The Associated Press as a photographer since 1999. A lot of what I cover involves either Iran’s government or its relations with the West, but I also try to shoot on the streets of Tehran as well to show the world what life looks like here in my hometown. The fire festival offers a great opportunity for that. Known as “Chaharshanbe Souri” in Farsi, the festival comes in the hours just before the Wednesday before Nowruz, which is the Persian New Year. To celebrate, people light bonfires, set off fireworks and send wish lanterns floating off into the night sky.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams return to Earth after 9 months stuck in space

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Stuck in space no more, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Earth on Tuesday, hitching a different ride home to close out a saga that began with a bungled test flight more than nine months ago. Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico in the early evening, just hours after departing the International Space Station. Splashdown occurred off the coast of Tallahassee in the Florida Panhandle, bringing their unplanned odyssey to an end. Within an hour, the astronauts were out of their capsule, waving and smiling at the cameras while being hustled away in reclining stretchers for routine medical checks.