AP Top News at 11:46 p.m. EDT

Hamas seeks amendments to Gaza ceasefire proposal but US envoy calls it ‘unacceptable’

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Hamas is seeking amendments to the latest U.S. ceasefire proposal for Gaza, a senior official with the group told The Associated Press on Saturday, but U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff called the Hamas response “totally unacceptable.” The latest friction in negotiations comes as the fighting nears 20 months of war, and as desperation grows among hungry Palestinians and relatives of hostages in Gaza. The Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks, said proposed amendments focused on “the U.S. guarantees, the timing of hostage release, the delivery of aid and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.” There were no details.

2 killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine as prospects for talks remain uncertain

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine on Saturday killed at least two people, including a 9-year-old girl, officials said, as uncertainty remains about whether Kyiv diplomats will attend a new round of peace talks proposed by Moscow for early next week in Istanbul. Russian troops launched some 109 drones and five missiles across Ukraine overnight and into Saturday, the Ukrainian air force said. Three of the missiles and 42 drones were destroyed and another 30 drones failed to reach their targets without causing damage, it said. The girl was killed in a strike on the front-line village of Dolynka in the Zaporizhzhia region, and a 16-year-old was injured, Zaporizhzhia’s Gov.

Iran has amassed even more near weapons-grade uranium, UN watchdog says

VIENNA (AP) — Iran has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, a confidential report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Saturday. In a separate report, the agency called on Tehran to urgently change course and comply with its years-long probe. The report comes at a sensitive time, as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump seeks to reach a deal with Tehran to limit its nuclear program. The two sides have held several rounds of talks, so far without agreement. The report by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency — which was seen by The Associated Press — says that as of May 17, Iran has amassed 408.6 kilograms (900.8 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%.

The Black hair industry imports products from China. Here’s what tariffs mean for braids and wigs

ATLANTA (AP) — Before the oppressive summer heat descends on Atlanta, therapist Brittanee Sims usually gets her thick, curly hair braided at a salon to preserve her healthy mane. But it’s more expensive this year. So she’ll only pay for her teenage daughter and son to get their summer hairdos. Not having braided hair “creates more of a hassle for everything,” said Sims, who counts herself among the tens of millions of women that regularly spend on the Black hair care industry. Now, she said, she has to “go home and figure out what I’m gonna do to my hair in the morning, after I went to the gym and it’s messed up with sweating and frizz.” President Donald Trump’s tariffs are driving up prices for products many Black women consider essential, squeezing shoppers and stylists even more as they grapple with inflation and higher rents.

Trump fast-tracks Utah uranium mine, but industry revival may wait for higher prices

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — In the southeastern Utah desert famous for red rock arches and canyon labyrinths, the long-dormant uranium mining industry is looking to revive under President Donald Trump. Hundreds of abandoned uranium mines dot the West’s arid landscapes, hazardous reminders of the promise and peril of nuclear power during the Cold War. Now, one mine that the Trump administration fast-tracked for regulatory approval could reopen for the first time since the 1980s. Normally it would have taken months, if not years, for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to review plans to reopen a project like Anfield Energy’s Velvet-Wood mine 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Moab.

Death toll reaches 151 in north-central Nigerian town submerged in floods, with thousands displaced

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The death toll from devastating flooding in a market town in Nigeria’s north-central state of Niger rose to at least 151 on Saturday, the local emergency service said, amid efforts to find more victims. Torrents of predawn rainfall early Thursday unleashed the devastating flood on Mokwa, nearly 380 kilometers (236 miles) west of Abuja and a major trading and transportation hub where northern Nigerian farmers sell beans, onions and other food to traders from the south. The spokesperson for the Niger State emergency service, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, confirmed the updated fatality count to The Associated Press on Saturday.

Deep cuts erode the foundations of US public health system, end progress, threaten worse to come

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Americans are losing a vast array of people and programs dedicated to keeping them healthy. Gone are specialists who were confronting a measles outbreak in Ohio, workers who drove a van to schools in North Carolina to offer vaccinations and a program that provided free tests to sick people in Tennessee. State and local health departments responsible for invisible but critical work such as inspecting restaurants, monitoring wastewater for new and harmful germs, responding to outbreaks before they get too big — and a host of other tasks to protect both individuals and communities — are being hollowed out.

A growing number of New Orleans fugitives’ friends and family arrested for aiding in jail escape

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The 10 men who escaped from a New Orleans jail more than two weeks ago by cutting out a hole behind a toilet received help from at least 15 people, many of them friends and family who provided food, cash, transport and shelter according to court documents. Records reviewed by The Associated Press show how some of the fugitives received aid before and after their escape — including from a number of people named in police reports but not yet facing charges. A former jail employee is accused of driving escapee Lenton Vanburen to a relative’s home and helping him FaceTime family the day of the escape, while another friend later offered him a hiding place in a vacant apartment he had been hired to repaint.

Key moments from the third week of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ sex trafficking trial

NEW YORK (AP) — Some of Sean “Diddy” Combs ’ ex-employees took a central role in the third week of his sex trafficking trial, including personal assistants who testified that the hip-hop mogul was capricious, controlling and violent. The week began with Capricorn Clark, a personal assistant who was later a global brand director for Combs’ company. She recalled witnessing Combs beating his longtime girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, and said he raged about wanting to kill rapper and romantic rival Kid Cudi. It ended with another ex-assistant, testifying under the pseudonym “Mia,” who alleges Combs raped her during a torturous eight-year tenure working for the rap star.

Pacers beat Knicks 125-108 in Game 6 to reach NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton made sure the Indiana Pacers gave their fans a celebration they waited 25 years to see again. Siakam had 31 points and Haliburton scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, carrying the Pacers to a 125-108 victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday night for a 4-2 series win and their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2000. It’s just the second time in franchise history that they’ll play for the championship. The series begins Thursday at Oklahoma City. “Pascal and Tyrese put us on their backs and made sure we would not lose,” coach Rick Carlisle told the gold-clad crowd that was on its feet for the waning minutes and the postgame party.