Top UN court orders Israel to halt military offensive in Rafah, though Israel is unlikely to comply
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The top United Nations court has ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah — but stopped short of ordering a full cease-fire. While Israel is unlikely to comply with Friday’s order, it will ratchet up the pressure on the increasingly isolated country. Criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza has been growing, particularly once it turned its focus to Rafah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also under heavy pressure at home to end the war. The court rules Friday that Israel must “immediately halt its military offensive” in Rafah and anything else that might result in conditions that could cause the “physical destruction in whole or in part” of Palestinians there.
Egypt agrees to send aid trucks through Israeli crossing to Gaza but impact is unclear
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Egypt says it has agreed to send U.N. humanitarian aid trucks through Israel’s main crossing into Gaza. But it remains unclear if the aid will be able to enter the territory as fighting raged in the southern city of Rafah amid Israel’s escalating offensive there. Israel’s army says the bodies of three more hostages killed on Oct. 7 were recovered overnight from Gaza. The CIA chief met in Paris with Israeli and Qatari officials, trying to revive negotiations for a cease-fire and a hostage release.
Trump swaps bluster for silence, and possibly sleep, in his hush money trial
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump isn’t known for letting slights pass. Yet for weeks, the famously combative presumptive Republican presidential nominee has sat silently in a sterile lower Manhattan courtroom amid a barrage of insults and accusations. Through it all, Trump has spent the majority of his time as a criminal defendant sitting nearly motionless, for hours, leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed — so zen he often appeared to be asleep. Trump’s demeanor inside the courtroom has, in many ways, been dramatic for its very lack of drama. And it is at least, in part, a strategy in response to warnings that behaving like he has in past trials could backfire.
As the election nears, Biden pushes a slew of rules on the environment and other priorities
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has unleashed a flurry of election year rules on the environment as he tries to secure his legacy. The rules include a landmark regulation that would force coal-fired power plants to capture smokestack emissions or shut down. It’s among dozens of actions the Democratic president has taken in recent weeks to meet his climate goals and other priorities. The regulations are led by the Environmental Protection Agency but involve a host of federal agencies on issues including education, transportation and labor. The rules are being issued in quick succession as Biden rushes to meet a looming deadline to ensure they’re not overturned by a new Congress.
Hunter Biden gun trial set for June 3 could last up to 2 weeks amid disputes over evidence
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Hunter Biden’s trial on federal firearms charges in Delaware could last up to two weeks as his father’s reelection campaign unfolds. Prosecutors and defense attorneys sparred over evidence Friday during the final hearing before trial on June 3, including the authenticity of data from a laptop he allegedly dropped off at a Delaware repair shop. President Joe Biden’s son is charged with lying about his drug use in 2018 on a form to buy a gun he kept for about 11 days. Hunter Biden has acknowledged an addiction to crack cocaine during that period. But his lawyers say he didn’t break the law and the case is politically motivated.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to undergo procedure at Walter Reed, will transfer power to deputy
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will undergo a medical procedure Friday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and will transfer power temporarily. He is continuing to deal with bladder issues that arose in December following his treatment for prostate cancer. The Pentagon says the procedure is elective and minimally invasive, “is not related to his cancer diagnosis and has had no effect on his excellent cancer prognosis.”
Young missionary couple from US among 3 killed by gunmen in Haiti’s capital, family says
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A family member says a U.S. missionary couple and a Haitian man who led a religious organization were shot and killed by criminal gang members in Haiti’s capital who ambushed them as they left a youth group activity held at a local church. Police union head Lionel Lazarre says the attack happened Thursday evening in the community of Lizon in northern Port-au-Prince. The slayings occurred as the capital crumbles under the relentless assault of violent gangs that control 80% of Port-au-Prince while authorities await the arrival of a police force from Kenya as part of a U.N.-backed deployment aimed at quelling gang violence in the troubled Caribbean country.
Over 100 feared dead in landslide in remote part of Papua New Guinea, with rescue efforts underway
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — More than 100 people are believed to have been killed in a landslide that buried a village in a remote, mountainous part of Papua New Guinea. An emergency response is underway. The landslide hit at about 3 a.m. Friday in an area about 370 miles northwest of the South Pacific island nation’s capital of Port Moresby. Residents say current estimates of the death toll are above 100. But authorities haven’t confirmed that figure. Som villagers say the number of those killed could be much higher. Prime Minister James Marape says authorities are responding and he will release information about the destruction and loss of life when it’s available.
More severe weather moves through Midwest as Iowa residents clean up tornado damage
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Several tornadoes have been reported in Iowa and Illinois as storms downed power lines and trees. Friday’s severe weather comes days after a tornado devastated one small Iowa town, killing four people and injuring 35 others. The latest storm system began overnight in Nebraska before traveling across central Iowa and into Illinois. A weak tornado touched down in suburban Des Moines, according to the National Weather Service. It was also assessing damage from several other reported twisters south of Iowa City and near Moline, Illinois. No injuries or deaths were reported. In Oklahoma, a tornado was on the ground for about an hour Thursday evening.
Caleb Carr, military historian and author of bestselling novel ‘The Alienist,’ dies at 68
NEW YORK (AP) — Caleb Carr, the scarred and gifted son of founding Beat Lucien Carr who endured a traumatizing childhood and became a bestselling novelist, accomplished military historian and late-life memoirist of his devoted cat Masha, has died. “The Alienist” was his most famous book. His publisher, Little, Brown and Company says Carr died Thursday. Published in 1994, “The Alienist” combined fictional characters with historical figures ranging from financial tycoon J. P. Morgan to restaurateur Charlie Delmonico. Carr also featured the city’s police commissioner at the time, Theodore Roosevelt, with whom the author felt a surprising kinship. Carr’s last book was “My Beloved Monster,” about his cat. Carr was 68.
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