AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EDT

Several European leaders said they believed Russia was intentionally escalating the war, and NATO was discussing the incident in a meeting. It came three days after Russia's largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the war began, an attack that for the first time hit a key government building in Kyiv.

“Russia’s war is escalating, not ending,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. “Last night in Poland we saw the most serious European airspace violation by Russia since the war began, and indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental.”

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on social media that Polish airspace was violated by multiple Russian drones. “Those drones that posed a direct threat were shot down,” Tusk said.

Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on X that more than 10 objects crossed into Polish air space, but he did not specify an exact number. He thanked NATO Air Command and The Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force for supporting the action with F-35 fighter jets.

Qatar digs through the rubble of Israel's attack on Hamas leaders in Doha

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Qatari security forces and emergency fire personnel deployed Wednesday around the site of an Israeli attack the previous day on Hamas’ political leaders who had gathered in the capital of the energy-rich Middle East country to consider a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Tuesday's strike on a building in Doha killed at least six people in a neighborhood that is home to foreign embassies and schools.

The strike on the territory of a U.S. ally drew widespread condemnation from countries in the Mideast and beyond. It also marked a dramatic escalation in the region and risked upending talks aimed at ending the war and freeing hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.

From a distance beyond the security cordon, the buildings that had housed the Hamas leadership in Doha could be seen still standing. But one room in particular appeared to have been the target of the strike — its walls were collapsed, and gray rubble could be seen inside.

Security forces and emergency personnel surrounded the site and blocked traffic as additional civil defense vehicles arrived.

What to know about the Israeli strike aimed at Hamas leaders in Qatar

An Israeli strike that targeted top Hamas leaders Tuesday as they gathered in the Gulf nation of Qatar marked a major escalation against the militant group and could upend negotiations aimed at ending the war in Gaza and returning Israeli hostages.

It could also spark a diplomatic crisis with Qatar, a U.S. ally hosting thousands of American troops that has served as a key mediator between Israel and Hamas for several years, even before the latest war.

Hamas said its top leaders survived, while acknowledging the deaths of two lower-ranking members and three bodyguards. The militant group, which has sometimes only confirmed the killing of its leaders months later, offered no immediate proof that senior figures were still alive.

Qatar said a member of its internal security forces was killed and others were wounded.

The strike came as Hamas leaders based in the Qatari capital, Doha, were weighing a new ceasefire proposal from the Trump administration. The White House said Israel had informed the U.S. before the strike and that it had in turn warned the Qataris.

EU commission president seeks sanctions, partial trade suspension against Israel over war in Gaza

STRASBOURG, France (AP) — The European Commission president said Wednesday she would seek sanctions and a partial trade suspension against Israel over the war in Gaza, an announcement that marked a sharp turnaround for Ursula von der Leyen, a longtime supporter of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The 27-nation EU is deeply divided in its approach to Israel and the Palestinians, and it’s unclear whether a majority will be found to endorse the sanctions and trade measures.

Von der Leyen added that the commission “will set up a Palestine donor group next month,” part of which will focus on Gaza’s future reconstruction. She said the events in Gaza and the suffering of children and families “has shaken the conscience of the world.”

The Gaza Health Ministry says 126 Palestinians, including 26 children, have died of causes related to malnutrition since international experts announced famine in Gaza City on Aug. 22.

“Man-made famine can never be a weapon of war. For the sake of the children, for the sake of humanity. This must stop,” Von der Leyen said Wednesday, to applause in the European Parliament at its meeting in Strasbourg, France.

Russian glide bomb attack in eastern Ukraine kills 24 people collecting their pensions

DONETSK REGION, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian glide bomb struck a village in eastern Ukraine as people stood in line in the open air Tuesday morning to collect their monthly pension. The blast killed at least 24 people and injured 19 others, the Ukraine Emergency Service said.

In a related development, Poland's armed forces were on a heightened state of alert overnight Tuesday and early Wednesday because of what they described as “further massive airstrikes against targets located in Ukraine.”

“To ensure the security of Polish airspace, the operational commander of the Polish armed forces has activated all necessary procedures. Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, and ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest level of alert,” the Operational Command of Poland’s Armed Forces said in a statement posted on social media.

It said the actions were “preventative” and designed to secure the country's airspace and protect people in “areas adjacent to the threatened area.”

Warsaw's Chopin Airport warned passengers on its website that flight operations were on hold due to closure of the airspace over part of the country, but that the airport remained open.

Nepalese army moves to restore order after protest violence intensifies

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepalese soldiers guarded the streets of the country's capital on Wednesday and ordered people to stay at home as they moved to restore order after tens of thousands of protesters stormed and set fire to government buildings and attacked politicians.

Armed troops guarding the main areas of Kathmandu appeared to give some sense of control returning to the city that was engulfed in violence and chaos in the previous days. Soldiers told residents about the curfew in place as they checked vehicles and people.

The army warned late Tuesday that security forces were committed to preserving law and order. The military is rarely mobilized in Nepal and initially stayed in the barracks as police failed to control the situation. An army statement said 27 suspected looters have been arrested.

Soldiers fired into the air on Wednesday after prisoners overpowered police guards and tried to escape from the main jail in the heart of Kathmandu.

The prisoners set fire to buildings with cells and guard houses and broke down the main entrance before pouring into the streets. The soldiers were able to block the escape attempt and transferred the prisoners to different jails. There were no injuries reported.

South Korea sends plane to US to bring back workers detained in immigration raid

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean charter plane left for the U.S. on Wednesday to bring back Korean workers detained in an immigration raid in Georgia last week.

A total of 475 workers, more than 300 of them South Koreans, were rounded up in the Sept. 4 raid at the battery factory under construction at Hyundai’s sprawling auto plant. U.S. authorities released video showing some being shackled with chains around their hands, ankles and waists, causing shock and a sense of betrayal among many in South Korea, a key U.S. ally.

South Korea’s government later said it reached an agreement with the U.S. for the release of the workers.

South Korean TV footage showed the charter plane, a Boeing 747-8i from Korean Air, taking off at Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it was talking with U.S. officials about letting the plane return home with the released workers as soon as possible. But it said the plane cannot depart from the U.S. on Wednesday as South Korea earlier wished due to an unspecified reason involving the U.S. side.

The Korean workers are currently being held at an immigration detention center in Folkston in southeast Georgia. South Korean media reported that they will be freed and moved to Atlanta to take the charter plane.

Missouri Republicans advance Trump-backed plan to redraw US House districts

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri's Republican-led House turned aside Democratic objections Tuesday and passed a plan backed by President Donald Trump to redraw the state's congressional districts so that Republicans could win an additional seat in the closely divided chamber.

The rare mid-decade redistricting plan, which now heads to the state Senate, is aimed at bolstering Republicans' national prospects in next year’s U.S. House elections, where Democrats need to gain just three seats to take control. By reshaping a Democratic-held Kansas City district, Republicans could win seven of Missouri's eight congressional seats.

Missouri's effort comes after a similar move by Republican-led Texas and a counter-offensive in Democratic-led California, which still needs voter approval. Other states, including Republican-led Indiana and Florida and Democratic-led Maryland and New York, could follow with their own revisions in what's emerging as a national redistricting battle.

U.S. House districts were redrawn across the country after the 2020 census to account for population changes. The current redistricting push is being done for partisan advantage, a process known as gerrymandering.

“This is cheating,” said state Rep. Yolonda Fountain Henderson, one of many Democrats who denounced the measure. "It’s like when President Trump says, we jump.”

Man faces federal charge in killing of Ukrainian woman on Charlotte train

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Tuesday charged a man accused of fatally stabbing a Ukrainian refugee on a North Carolina commuter train last month with a federal crime that could carry the death penalty.

The federal charge comes amid growing questions about why Decarlos Brown Jr. was on the street despite 14 prior criminal arrests before he was accused of pulling out a knife and killing 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska in an apparently random attack captured on video.

The case has become latest flashpoint in the debate over whether cities such as Charlotte are adequately addressing violent crime, mental illness and transit safety. The Trump administration says the killing shows how local leaders, judges and policies in Democratic-led cities are failing to protect their residents from violent crime.

“Iryna Zarutska was a young woman living the American dream — her horrific murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “We will seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable act of violence — he will never again see the light of day as a free man."

Zarutska had been living in a bomb shelter in Ukraine before coming to to the U.S. to escape the war, according to relatives, who described her as determined to build a safer life.

Princeton doctoral student kidnapped in Iraq has been freed. 'We both started sobbing,' sister says

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Princeton University graduate student who was kidnapped in Iraq in 2023 while doing research there has been freed and turned over to U.S. authorities, her family and officials said Tuesday.

Elizabeth Tsurkov, who holds Israeli and Russian citizenship, spent more than 900 days in custody after disappearing in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, as she was pursuing a doctorate focused on sectarianism in the region.

She was turned over to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad after having been “tortured for many months,” President Donald Trump said in a social media post in which he identified her captors as from Kataib Hezbollah , part of a coalition of Iranian-backed militias that are officially part of Iraq’s armed forces but in practice often act on their own. The U.S. government listed the group, which has not claimed the kidnapping, as a terrorist organization in 2009.

Tsurkov's sister, Emma, a U.S. citizen who has campaigned for her release, said she was in Washington for meetings this week when she heard the news from Adam Boehler, the U.S. special presidential envoy for hostage affairs.

The sisters were able to connect by phone and expect to be reunited in the next 24 hours, though the details were still being worked out, Emma Tsurkov said.