AP-Newswatch

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to be health secretary advances in divided Senate committee vote

WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has cleared his first hurdle to become the nation’s top health official as the Senate finance committee voted to advance his nomination for a floor vote. After Tuesday’s 14-13 committee vote, the nomination of the controversial environmental lawyer turned public health critic now goes before a full Senate vote. Tuesday’s committee vote is a strong indication Kennedy’s nomination will succeed absent any last-minute vote switches. Kennedy is a longtime Democrat who ran for president but withdrew to support Donald Trump in exchange for an influential job in his Republican administration. As secretary, Kennedy would oversee vaccine recommendations and public health campaigns.

Middle East latest: Hamas officials say they’ve started talks on second phase of ceasefire

Hamas officials say they’ve begun talks with international mediators over the second phase of the ceasefire in Gaza that began last month. The accord mapped out three phases of negotiations to end the 15-month war. The first, which began Jan. 19, halted fighting, expanded the amount of humanitarian aid let into Gaza and exchanged Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages taken to Gaza during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday. Egypt, Qatar and the United States are mediating the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas.

China counters with tariffs on US products. It will also investigate Google

BEIJING (AP) — China has announced retaliatory tariffs on select American imports and an antitrust investigation into Google, just minutes after a sweeping levy on Chinese products imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump took effect. This isn’t the first round of tit-for-tat actions between the two countries. China and the U.S. engaged in a trade war in 2018 when Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods and China responded in kind. Analysts say China is much better prepared to counter this time around, but also wary about taking steps that could upset its own fragile and heavily trade-dependent economy.

Trump’s foreign aid freeze could prove to be a boon for the world’s authoritarian strongmen

MIAMI (AP) — When President Donald Trump froze foreign assistance for 90 days, he argued that such a drastic step was needed to eliminate waste and block what he derides as “woke” spending that doesn’t align with American interests. Experts say the suspension has a serious consequence: It could prove to be a boon to authoritarian leaders and their regimes. The billions that the U.S. spends annually on foreign aid — more than any other nation — include hundreds of grants for grassroots groups dedicated to fighting for democracy and against corruption.

Trump and Netanyahu meet as internal pressure to end truce mounts for Israeli prime minister

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are set to meet for talks in Washington. Tuesday’s White House meeting comes as the Israeli prime minister faces competing pressure from his right-wing coalition to end a temporary truce and resume the war against Hamas militants in Gaza and from war-weary Israelis who want to see remaining hostages come home and the 15-month war brought to an end. Trump is guarded about the long-term prospects for the truce, even as he takes credit for pressuring Hamas and Israel into the hostage and ceasefire agreement that went into effect on the day before he returned to power last month.

Recovery work resumes at the site of the deadly plane and chopper collision near Washington

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Crews are trying to recover the plane’s cockpit and the rest of the remains of the 67 people who died in the midair collision between a passenger jet and Army helicopter near the nation’s capital last week. They say their work on Tuesday might depend upon the wind and tidal conditions in the Potomac River, where the aircraft crashed last Wednesday after colliding as the American Airlines flight was about to land at nearby Ronald Reagan National Airport. As of midmorning, they were working to raise another large piece of the plane. The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to give a news update later Tuesday.

US aid freeze puts at risk Ukraine’s wartime help for frontline evacuees

PAVLOHRAD, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze for 90 days the humanitarian aid that the United States provides to countries overseas is being felt in places far from Washington. In eastern Ukraine, a concert hall requisitioned as a shelter houses people driven from their homes by the almost three-year war with Russia. The center in the town of Pavlohrad costs the equivalent of $7,000 a month to run, and 60% of that was being covered by U.S. funds sent to help Ukraine. Its coordinator says the news was abrupt and unexpected,” and “we have no idea what the future holds.”

Rubio says El Salvador’s offer to jail violent American criminals faces ‘legalities’

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio says “there are obviously legalities involved” in Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s offer to accept and jail violent American criminals. Rubio called it “a very generous offer” and said that it would allow the U.S. to outsource the cost of some of the most dangerous criminals in the United States. But he noted that “we have a Constitution” and the Trump administration “will have to make a decision.”

As hundreds of quakes rattle Greek islands, a few brave tourists have Santorini to themselves

SANTORINI, Greece (AP) — The hundreds of earthquakes that have rattled Greek islands on the Aegean Sea are a “seismic swarm” and could continue for weeks before eventually diminishing, the Santorini mayor told The Associated Press on Tuesday — pausing to chuckle as new tremors shook items on his desk. Mayor Nikos Zorzos said he was cautiously optimistic after speaking to seismologists who described the swarm as a series of tremors of similar magnitude occurring in clusters. Thousands of residents and seasonal workers have left the Cycladic Islands as quakes up to magnitude 5 have been recorded in the volcanic region since Friday.

Swedish police say about 10 people killed in shooting at adult education center

Swedish police say that about 10 people have been killed during a shooting at an adult education center. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the gunman was among the dead. He was believed to be among those hospitalized. Police didn’t immediately know how many people were wounded in the shooting on Tuesday. Authorities were working to identify the deceased. They didn’t immediately provide an exact number of fatalities.