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Israeli strikes across Gaza kill at least 326 Palestinians and shatter ceasefire with Hamas

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli strikes across the territory have killed at least 326 people. The wave of strikes that began early Tuesday is among the deadliest since the start of the 17-month war. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, killing at least 254 Palestinians, including women and children, according to hospital officials. The surprise bombardment shattered a ceasefire in place since January and threatened to fully reignite the 17-month-old war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strikes after Hamas refused Israeli demands to change the ceasefire agreement.

What to know about why Israel launched dozens of attacks across Gaza, raising fears of all-out war

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The relative calm of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came to an abrupt end on Tuesday, when Israel launched dozens of attacks on targets across the Gaza Strip. Palestinian hospital officials say more than 250 people have been killed, including women and children. Israel says the operation is open-ended and expected to expand, raising fears of the 17-month-old war fully reigniting. Here’s what to know about how the strikes came about and what might come next. The ceasefire agreed to in mid-January was a three-phase plan, the first of which actually ended two weeks ago.

Trump and Putin to hold call on ceasefire, but Zelenskyy is skeptical that Russia is ready for peace

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is set to hold talks on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin as he looks to get buy-in on a U.S. ceasefire proposal that he hopes can create a pathway to ending Russia’s devastating war on Ukraine. The White House is optimistic that peace is within reach even as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains skeptical that Putin is doing much beyond paying lip service to Trump as Russian forces continue to pound his country. The engagement is just the latest turn in dramatically shifting U.S.-Russia relations as Trump has made quickly ending the conflict a top priority, even at the expense of straining ties with longtime American allies who want Putin to pay a price for the invasion.

The $300 billion question: What to do with Russia’s frozen central bank money?

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — With U.S. support for Ukraine in doubt, Kyiv’s European allies are weighing whether to seize $300 billion in frozen Russian assets and use the money to compensate Ukraine, support its military and help rebuild shattered homes and towns. For now, the assets are still on ice, with opponents of seizure warning that the move could violate international law and destabilize financial markets. Here are key things to know about the debate surrounding the Kremlin assets that were frozen shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion in early 2022: Originally, the money was in short-term government bonds held as reserves for the Russian central bank.

NASA’s stuck astronauts are finally on their way back to Earth after 9 months in space

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s two stuck astronauts headed back to Earth with SpaceX on Tuesday to close out a dramatic marathon mission that began with a bungled Boeing test flight more than nine months ago. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams bid farewell to the International Space Station — their home since last spring — departing aboard a SpaceX capsule alongside two other astronauts. The capsule undocked in the wee hours and aimed for a splashdown off the Florida coast by early evening, weather permitting. The two expected to be gone just a week or so after launching on Boeing’s new Starliner crew capsule on June 5.

Judge questions Trump administration on whether it ignored order to turn around deportation flights

A federal judge on Monday questioned whether the Trump administration ignored his orders to turn around planes carrying deportees to El Salvador, a possible violation of the decision he’d issued minutes before. District Judge James E. Boasberg was incredulous over the administration’s contentions that his verbal directions did not count, that only his written order needed to be followed, that it couldn’t apply to flights that had left the U.S. and that the administration could not answer his questions about the deportations due to national security issues. “That’s one heck of a stretch, I think,” Boasberg replied, noting that the administration knew as the planes were departing that he was about to decide whether to briefly halt deportations being made under a rarely used 18th century law invoked by Trump about an hour earlier.

Residents pick up the pieces after devastating storms scour the US South and Midwest

PLANTERSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Kim Atchison was hunkered down in her grandmother’s storm shelter with her 5-year-old grandson Saturday night in their tiny Alabama hometown of Plantersville when her husband and son raced in. “Get down; get all the way down to the bottom of the cellar,” they told her, saying they could see a twister coming. Atchison said she remembers first the “dead silence” and then hearing the wind that felt like a funnel and things outside hitting against each other. “All was quiet after that because it was that fast,” she said. “Like a snap of a finger and it was gone.” Atchison and her family were among the fortunate ones to avoid being killed in the three-day outbreak of severe weather across eight states that kicked up a devastating combination of wildfires, dust storms and tornadoes — claiming at least 42 lives since Friday.

Texas midwife accused by state’s attorney general of providing illegal abortions

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas midwife has been arrested and accused of providing illegal abortions, marking the first time authorities have filed criminal charges under the state’s near-total abortion ban, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Monday. Maria Margarita Rojas has been charged with the illegal performance of an abortion, a second-degree felony, as well as practicing medicine without a license, which is a third-degree felony. Paxton alleges that Rojas, 48, illegally operated at least three clinics in the Houston area where illegal abortion procedures were performed in direct violation of state law. “In Texas, life is sacred. I will always do everything in my power to protect the unborn, defend our state’s pro-life laws, and work to ensure that unlicensed individuals endangering the lives of women by performing illegal abortions are fully prosecuted,” Paxton said in a statement.

Hong Kong’s leader swipes at Trump but avoids criticism of tycoon’s deal to sell Panama Port assets

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s leader has waded into a controversy over a prominent conglomerate’s decision to sell its Panama Canal port assets to a consortium including American investment bank BlackRock Inc., a deal that has angered Beijing and highlights how escalating tensions between Beijing and Washington can leave the Chinese financial center’s business leaders trapped in the middle. Chief Executive John Lee told reporters at a weekly news briefing that CK Hutchison Holdings’ in-principle agreement to sell its controlling stake in a company operating ports at both ends of the Panama Canal was being discussed extensively and concerns raised about the deal deserve serious attention.

Sho-time in Tokyo: Ohtani, Dodgers prepare to open MLB season vs. Cubs on Tuesday

TOKYO (AP) — The Major League Baseball season kicks off Tuesday night at the Tokyo Dome when Shohei Ohtani and the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers face the Chicago Cubs. It’s the first of a two-game series and features five Japanese players. Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and rookie Roki Sasaki pitch for the Dodgers while the Cubs have outfielder Seiya Suzuki and left-handed pitcher Shota Imanaga. The two MLB teams have been in Tokyo for several days, playing exhibition games against two Japanese teams — the Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants. All four exhibition games had a capacity crowd of roughly 42,000.