Renewed fighting tests Gaza ceasefire and Israel briefly halts aid
JERUSALEM (AP) — Gaza's fragile ceasefire faced its first major test Sunday as Israeli forces launched a wave of deadly strikes, saying Hamas militants had killed two soldiers, and an Israeli security official said the transfer of aid into the territory was halted.
The military later said it resumed enforcing the ceasefire, and the official confirmed that aid deliveries would resume Monday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to discuss the issue with the media.
A little over a week has passed since the start of the U.S.-proposed ceasefire aimed at ending two years of war. There was no immediate U.S. comment.
Health officials said at least 36 Palestinians were killed across Gaza, including children. Israel’s military said it struck dozens of Hamas targets after its troops came under fire.
A senior Egyptian official involved in the ceasefire negotiations said “round-the-clock” contacts were underway to de-escalate the situation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to reporters.
Trump calls Colombia's Petro an ‘illegal drug leader’ and announces an end to US aid to the country
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The United States will slash assistance to Colombia because its leader, Gustavo Petro, “does nothing to stop” drug production, President Donald Trump said Sunday, escalating the friction between Washington and one of its closest allies in Latin America.
In a social media post, Trump referred to Petro as “an illegal drug leader” who is “low rated and very unpopular.” The Republican president warned that Petro “better close up” drug operations “or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely.”
Hours later, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the latest U.S. strike on a vessel that was allegedly carrying “substantial amounts of narcotics.”
He said the vessel was associated with a Colombian rebel group — the National Liberation Army, or ELN — that has been in conflict with Petro’s government. He did not provide any evidence for his assertions, but he shared a brief video clip of a boat engulfed in flames after an explosion on Friday.
Petro, who can be as vocal on social media as his American counterpart, rejected Trump’s accusations and defended his work to fight narcotics in Colombia, the world’s largest exporter of cocaine.
George Santos says he's humbled but dismisses 'pearl clutching' critics
NEW YORK (AP) — Freed from the prison where he had been serving time for ripping off his campaign donors, former U.S. Rep. George Santos says he’s humbled by his experience behind bars but unconcerned about the “pearl clutching” of critics upset that President Donald Trump granted him clemency.
“I’m pretty confident if President Trump had pardoned Jesus Christ off the cross, he would have had critics," Santos said Sunday in an interview on CNN.
Santos, who won office after inventing a bogus persona as a Wall Street dealmaker, pleaded guilty to fraud and identity theft last year and began serving a 7-year sentence in July at a prison in New Jersey. But Trump ordered him released him Friday after he'd served just 84 days. Trump called Santos a “rogue,” but said he didn't deserve a harsh sentence and should get credit for voting Republican.
Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Santos said he had “learned a great deal” and had “a very large slice of humble pie, if not the whole pie” while in prison.
He also apologized to former constituents in his New York congressional district, saying he was “in a chaotic ball of flame" when he committed his crimes. Santos admitted last year to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of 11 people — including his own family members.
State emergency officials say new rules and delays for FEMA grants put disaster response at risk
State officials on the front lines of preparing for natural disasters and responding to emergencies say severe cuts to federal security grants, restrictions on money intended for readiness and funding delays tied to litigation are posing a growing risk to their ability to respond to crises.
It’s all causing confusion, frustration and concern. The federal government shutdown isn’t helping.
“Every day we remain in this grant purgatory reduces the time available to responsibly and effectively spend these critical funds,” said Kiele Amundson, communications director at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
The uncertainty has led some emergency management agencies to hold off on filling vacant positions and make rushed decisions on important training and purchases.
Experts say the developments complicate state-led emergency efforts, undermining the Republican administration’s stated goals of shifting more responsibility to states and local governments for disaster response.
How Americans are feeling about their chances on the job market, according to an AP-NORC poll
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are growing increasingly concerned about their ability to find a good job under President Donald Trump, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds, in what is a potential warning sign for Republicans as a promised economic boom has given way to hiring freezes and elevated inflation.
High prices for groceries, housing and health care persist as a fear for many households, while rising electricity bills and the cost of gas at the pump are also sources of anxiety, according to the survey.
Some 47% of U.S. adults are “not very" or “not at all confident” they could find a good job if they wanted to, an increase from 37% when the question was last asked in October 2023.
Electricity bills are a “major” source of stress for 36% of U.S. adults at a time when the expected build-out of data centers for artificial intelligence could further tax the power grid. Just more than one-half said the cost of groceries are a “major” source of financial stress, about 4 in 10 said the cost of housing and health care were a serious strain and about one-third said they were feeling high stress about gasoline prices.
The survey suggests an ongoing vulnerability for Trump, who returned to the White House in January with claims he could quickly tame the inflation that surged after the pandemic during Democratic President Joe Biden's term. Instead, Trump's popularity on the economy has remained low amid a mix of tariffs, federal worker layoffs and partisan sniping that has culminated in a government shutdown.
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Thieves steal crown jewels in 4 minutes from Louvre Museum
PARIS (AP) — In a minutes-long strike Sunday inside the world’s most-visited museum, thieves rode a basket lift up the Louvre ’s facade, forced a window, smashed display cases and fled with priceless Napoleonic jewels, officials said.
The daylight heist about 30 minutes after opening, with visitors already inside, was among the highest-profile museum thefts in living memory and comes as staff complained that crowding and thin staffing are straining security.
The theft unfolded just 250 meters (270 yards) from the Mona Lisa, in what Culture Minister Rachida Dati described as a professional “four-minute operation.”
One object, the emerald-set imperial crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie, containing more than 1,300 diamonds, was later found outside the museum, French authorities said. It was reportedly recovered broken.
Images from the scene showed confused tourists being steered out of the glass pyramid and adjoining courtyards as officers closed nearby streets along the Seine.
Ukrainian drones strike major Russian gas plant as Trump says Kyiv may have to trade land for peace
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian drones struck a major gas processing plant in southern Russia, sparking a fire and forcing it to suspend its intake of gas from Kazakhstan, Russian and Kazakh authorities said Sunday.
U.S. President Donald Trump meanwhile suggested that Kyiv may have to give up territory in exchange for an end to Moscow's more than 3 1/2-year invasion, in the latest of apparent reversals on how to pursue peace.
The Orenburg plant, run by state-owned gas giant Gazprom and located in a region of the same name near the Kazakh border, is part of a production and processing complex that is one of the world's largest facilities of its kind, with an annual capacity of 45 billion cubic meters. It handles gas condensate from Kazakhstan’s Karachaganak field, alongside Orenburg's own oil and gas fields.
According to regional Gov. Yevgeny Solntsev, the drone strikes set fire to a workshop at the plant and damaged part of it. The Kazakh Energy Ministry on Sunday said, citing a notification from Gazprom, that the plant was temporarily unable to process gas originating in Kazakhstan, “due to an emergency situation following a drone attack.”
Ukraine's General Staff said in a statement Sunday that a “large-scale fire” erupted at the Orenburg plant, and that one of its gas processing and purification units was damaged.
Limp Bizkit band members say bass player Sam Rivers has died
Sam Rivers, the bass player in the nu metal band Limp Bizkit, died on Saturday, according to social media posts by his band mates.
The band did not disclose where Rivers died or the circumstances, but praised him as “pure magic” and “the soul in the sound.”
“From the first note we ever played together, Sam brought a light and a rhythm that could never be replaced,” they wrote in a group Instagram post. “His talent was effortless, his presence unforgettable, his heart enormous.”
Fred Durst, the band's front man and lead vocalist, posted a video Sunday morning that recounted how they met at a club in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, and went on to music stardom and performances around the globe. Durst said he has shed “gallons and gallons of tears since yesterday.”
“He really did have an impact on the world and his music and his gift is the one that’s going to keep on giving,” Durst said. “I just love him so much.”
Police looking into whether Prince Andrew enlisted officer to dig up dirt on accuser Giuffre
LONDON (AP) — London police are probing whether Prince Andrew asked an officer assigned to him as a bodyguard to dig up dirt on sexual assault accuser Virginia Giuffre.
The Metropolitan Police said it was “actively looking into” media reports that Andrew in 2011 sought information to smear Giuffre by asking an officer on the force to find out if she had a criminal record.
The report by the Mail on Sunday followed Buckingham Palace's announcement Friday that Andrew agreed to relinquish use of Duke of York and other remaining royal titles after emails emerged showing he had remained in contact with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein longer than he previously admitted.
Giuffre's family welcomed news of the duke's demise but said King Charles III should go further and strip Andrew's title as prince. Giuffre died by suicide in April at the age of 41.
The emails were the last straw for the House of Windsor after years of tawdry headlines about Andrew’s dodgy friends and suspicious business deals.
AP Top 25 gets an overhaul behind No. 1 Ohio State; Vandy is a top-10 team for 1st time since 1947
Vanderbilt is a top-10 team in college football for the first time since 1947 in an Associated Press poll that got a nearly complete makeover Sunday after a weekend when nine Top 25 teams lost.
Ohio State was the only team to hold its spot, remaining No. 1 for an eighth straight week after shutting out Wisconsin 34-0 on the road.
Beyond the Buckeyes, significant revision was required with four top-10 teams losing in the same week for a third time this season. Nine Top 25 losing teams were the most since Week 5 in 2022, when 10 went down, according to Sportradar. Four of the losses this week were to unranked opponents.
The Buckeyes received 60 first-place votes, 10 more than a week ago. No. 2 Indiana pulled away from Michigan State, improved its program-record ranking by one spot and got the other six first-place votes.
Texas A&M's one-rung promotion to No. 3 gives the Aggies their highest ranking since 1995. No. 4 Alabama has its highest ranking of the season and No. 5 Georgia returned to the top five after a three-week absence.
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