AP News Summary at 11:19 p.m. EDT
After blast kills hundreds at Gaza hospital, Hamas and Israel trade blame as rage spreads in region
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says a massive blast hit a Gaza City hospital packed with wounded and other Palestinians seeking shelter, killing hundreds of people. Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military said the hospital was hit by a rocket fired by Islamic Jihad, a smaller Palestinian militant group allied to Hamas. The health ministry said at least 500 people were killed. Video from the hospital showed the hospital’s grounds strewn with torn bodies, many of them children. The carnage sparked outrage across the region a day before President Joe Biden was set to arrive in the Mideast to show support for Israel and try to prevent the war from spreading.
Biden will stress humanitarian aid, avoiding deeper conflict in Israel but is scrapping Jordan stop
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s efforts to tamp down tensions in the escalating war between Israel and Hamas faced major setbacks even before he departed for the Middle East on Tuesday. Jordan called off the president’s planned summit with Arab leaders after a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital killed hundreds. Biden now will visit only Israel. The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza blamed the hospital explosion on an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli military said it had no involvement and pinned the blame on a misfired Palestinian rocket. Biden now plans to meet in Israel with the country’s top leaders as well as relatives of those killed.
How international law applies to war, and why Hamas and Israel are both alleged to have broken it
LONDON (AP) — Hamas and Israel have both been accused of breaking international law during their latest conflict. The rules of armed conflict are governed by a set of internationally recognized laws and resolutions, including the Geneva Conventions. They forbid the deliberate targeting of civilians and set out how prisoners of war and residents under occupation should be treated. Hamas killed hundreds of civilians and abducted scores more when it attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7. Israel has bombarded Gaza and told hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to leave their homes. The United Nations says it is collecting evidence of war crimes by all sides in the current conflict. But holding perpetrators to account for war crimes has often proved difficult.
Republicans reject Rep. Jim Jordan for House speaker on a first ballot, signaling more turmoil ahead
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans have rejected congressman Jim Jordan for House speaker on the first ballot. A second vote was shelved Tuesday as the staunch ally of Donald Trump works to shore up support, signaling more turmoil ahead. Clearly, not all Republicans are ready to elevate Judiciary Committee Chairman Jordan to a central seat of U.S. power, second in line to the presidency. Twenty Republicans voted against him. Some are still upset over Kevin McCarthy’s sudden ouster as speaker two weeks ago. Democrats say it’s time for a bipartisan path to reopen the House. But a win for the Ohio congressman would show just how far the GOP’s once far-right flank has moved into the party’s mainstream.
Trump returns to his civil fraud trial, hears an employee and an appraiser testify against him
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has returned to the New York civil fraud trial that imperils his real estate empire. He watched and deplored the case Tuesday as an employee and an outside appraiser testified that his company essentially put a thumb on the scale when sizing up his properties’ value. New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit alleges that Trump and his company deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets in financial statements used to make deals and get financing. Trump denies any wrongdoing. He says his assets were actually undervalued. He also says banks and other recipients were told to check out the numbers themselves.
Ukraine uses US-provided long-range ATACMS missiles against Russian forces for the first time
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that the United States quietly delivered a small number of the long-range ballistic missiles Ukraine said it urgently needed, and Ukraine has started using them on the battlefield against Russia. Zelenskyy on Tuesday said they were used effectively. He had been pressing the U.S. to provide the Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS. President Joe Biden had promised the missiles last month. Their delivery to the warfront gives Ukraine a critical ability to strike Russian targets that are farther away, allowing Ukrainian forces to stay safely out of range.
Congressional draft report in Brazil recommends charges for Bolsonaro over Jan. 8 insurrection
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A draft congressional report on Brazil’s Jan. 8 riots has accused ex-President Jair Bolsonaro of being the insurrection’s mastermind. It also recommends that he be criminally charged with attempting to stage a coup. The report released Tuesday by Sen. Eliziane Gama follows months of hearings by a committee investigating the insurrection in Brasilia. It cites evidence including phone records. It proposes charges against Bolsonaro including the violent overthrow of democratic rule. Bolsonaro has denied involvement in the rioting, which took place after he had quietly left the country to stay in Florida while refusing to attend the inauguration of incoming President Luiz In谩cio Lula da Silva.
Breast cancer is deadlier for Black women. A study of mammograms could help close the gap
A clinical trial is recruiting thousands of volunteers to try to figure out if 3D mammograms are better than standard 2D imaging for catching advanced cancers. The trial includes a large number of Black women who face disparities in breast cancer death rates. The study has enrolled nearly 93,000 women from several nations and 32 U.S. states. The newer 3D technique has been around for a decade, but there’s never been conclusive evidence that 3D is better than 2D at detecting advanced cancers. Previous studies did not randomly assign patients to a screening method, the gold standard for research.
Remains of at least 189 people removed from Colorado funeral home, up from 115, officials say
DENVER (AP) — Officials say the remains of at least 189 people have been removed from a Colorado funeral home. Authorities discovered the decaying bodies while responding to a foul odor at the site two weeks ago. The number announced Tuesday is up from about 115 initially reported. Officials say the figure could change but that all remains have been removed from the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose. The discovery came after the funeral home owners missed tax payments in recent months, got evicted from one of their properties and were sued for unpaid bills by a crematory that quit doing business with them almost a year ago.
Prosecutors seeking to recharge Alec Baldwin in fatal shooting on set of Western movie ‘Rust’
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Special prosecutors are seeking to recharge actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on a Western movie set in New Mexico in 2021. New Mexico-based prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis said Tuesday they’ll present evidence within two months to a grand jury in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust.” Baldwin was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal at a movie-set ranch when the gun discharged. Baldwin’s attorneys say that “a terrible tragedy” has been turned into a misguided prosecution, and that they will answer any charges in court. Prosecutors declined to elaborate on what information they’ll present to the grand jury.