AP-Newswatch

Israeli strikes across Gaza hit multiple homes

DEIR-AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes overnight killed at least 85 Palestinians across Gaza, hitting multiple homes according to local officials. Hamas fired three rockets at Israel in the first such attack since Israel ended the ceasefire with a surprise bombardment on Tuesday. The Israeli military ordered people to evacuate an area in central Gaza in response to the rocket fire. Israel has blamed the renewed fighting on Hamas because the militant group rejected a new proposal that departed from their agreement. 

A month-old girl is pulled from the rubble in Gaza after an airstrike killed her parents

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Rescuers have pulled a 25-day old baby girl alive from the rubble of her home in Gaza’s Khan Younis after an airstrike killed her parents and brother. The girl, Ella Osama Abu Dagga, was born in the midst of a tenuous ceasefire that many Palestinians in Gaza had hoped would mark the end of a war that has devastated the enclave, killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly its entire population. Israel resumed heavy strikes across Gaza on Tuesday. Nearly 600 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including more than 400 on Tuesday alone, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Military leaders discuss Ukraine peacekeeping force as partial ceasefire plans are worked out

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Senior military officers from countries across Europe and beyond are meeting outside London to flesh out plans for an international peacekeeping force for Ukraine as details of a partial ceasefire are worked out. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the coalition led by Britain and France is moving into an operational phase. But it’s unclear how many countries are willing to send troops, or whether there will be any ceasefire to protect. Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle to a limited ceasefire on Wednesday, though it remained to be seen when it might take effect and what possible targets would be protected.

Ceasefire talks put Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia on the spotlight. What’s next for the nuclear power plant

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — During a call between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, the U.S. leader apparently suggested Volodymyr Zelenskyy consider transferring ownership of Ukraine’s power plants to the U.S. for long-term security, according to a U.S. statement. Briefing the media later, Zelenskyy said the discussion with Trump had focused specifically on the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine. While the facility remains connected to Ukraine’s energy grid without producing electricity, it has been under Russian control since the early days of the war, making it unclear what future U.S. involvement could look like.

Taliban frees an American man who was abducted while traveling in Afghanistan more than 2 years ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio is praising Qatar for helping the U.S. secure the release of an American held by the Taliban for more than two years. Rubio said Thursday George Glezmann will be reunited with his wife. The airline mechanic from Atlanta is the third American detainee to be released by the Taliban since January. Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry confirms the release on “humanitarian grounds.” Glezmann is being accompanied back to the U.S. by Adam Boehler, who’s been handling hostage issues for President Donald Trump’s administration. Glezmann was abducted while traveling through Afghanistan as a tourist. Glezmann was seized by the Taliban’s intelligence services in December 2022 and was designated by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained.

Oklahoma executes the man who killed a woman 20 years ago in a home invasion and robbery

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma man has been executed for fatally shooting a woman during a home invasion and robbery 20 years ago. Wendell Grissom was declared dead by lethal injection at 10:13 a.m. Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. It was Oklahoma’s first execution of 2025. Grissom and a co-defendant were convicted of killing 23-year-old Amber Matthews and wounding another woman whose home they picked at random. Grissom’s attorneys did not dispute his guilt but argued during a clemency hearing last month that he suffered from brain damage that was never presented to a jury. The state’s Pardon and Parole Board denied the 56-year-old Grissom’s request to recommend clemency.

Finland is again ranked the happiest country in the world. The US falls to its lowest-ever position

HELSINKI (AP) — A new global report says that people in Finland are the happiest in the world. The northern European country is leading the world in happiness for the eighth year in a row. The World Happiness Report released on Thursday says the top 20 happiest countries include 14 Western industrial countries, two countries from Latin America and one from the Middle East. The United States has fallen to its lowest-ever position. Afghanistan is again ranked as the unhappiest country in the world. Afghan women say their lives are especially difficult.

Blood test for ovarian cancer misses some Black and Native American patients, study finds

A new study finds that a common blood test for ovarian cancer may miss some Black and Native American patients, delaying their treatment. It’s the latest example of medical tests contributing to health care disparities. The new study was published Thursday in JAMA Network Open. Researchers analyzed data from more than 200,000 women. Black and Native American patients were 23% less likely to have an elevated level on the blood test compared with white patients, suggesting the thresholds are too high. Recently, the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion has jeopardized research that uncovers bias in medicine.

Kirsty Coventry elected IOC president and is first woman, first African to lead global Olympic body

COSTA NAVARINO, Greece (AP) — Kirsty Coventry has been elected president of the International Olympic Committee. She’s the first woman and first African to get perhaps the biggest job in global sports, and aged just 41. The Zimbabwe sports minister is just the 10th leader in the IOC’s 131-year history after one of the most open Olympic elections in decades. She got a stunning win in first-round voting by IOC members in a seven-candidate contest. She gets an eight-year mandate into 2033. Key issues including steering the Olympics through politics and sports challenges toward the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles and picking a 2036 host.