Reuters: World

Fighting rages across Gaza amid revival of truce talks Israeli strikes killed 77 Palestinians in Gaza in the past 24 hours, health authorities said on Sunday, as Egypt hosted an Israeli delegation for a new round of talks in a bid to secure a truce with Gaza's Hamas rulers. The Israeli military said it killed a senior Islamic Jihad militant in a strike on a command centre in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza. "The command centre and terrorists were struck precisely, intended on minimising harm to uninvolved civilians in the area of the hospital," the military said. "The Al-Aqsa Hospital building was not damaged and its functioning was not affected." read more

Foreign diplomats lay flowers in memory of Russia's concert hall attack victims Ambassadors from a number of foreign countries took part in a ceremony on Saturday in memory of the victims of this month's concert hall attack near Moscow which left dozens dead, the Russian foreign ministry's protocol department said. Gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons at concertgoers on March 22 in the worst attack in Russia in two decades which left at least 144 people dead. "On March 30, 2024, a ceremony to lay flowers at the spontaneous memorial near the Crocus City Hall complex was held. Heads and staff of more than 130 diplomatic missions (over 250 people) took part in the memorial action," the ministry's State Protocol Department said on its website. read more

The U.S. Air Force wants a diverse officer corps. It's not working. Pale marble pavers crisscross the Terrazzo, the plaza at the heart of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado that cadets traverse daily, on the way to class, the library and meals. In their first year, cadets must run and keep to the narrow marble strips whenever they are on the 20-acre Terrazzo. Tusajigwe Owens doesn't take short cuts. He is one of 112 Black cadets in the class of 1,071 freshmen that started at the academy in June 2022. read more

Israel kills dozens in airstrikes across the Gaza Strip Israel sustained its aerial and ground bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Friday, killing dozens of Palestinians, as fighting raged around Gaza City's main Al Shifa hospital, Palestinian officials and the Israeli military said. Palestinian health officials said two Israeli strikes on the Al-Shejaia suburb in eastern Gaza City killed 17 people, while an Israeli air strike on a house in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip killed eight people. read more

Exclusive: Taiwan's navy chief to visit U.S. next week, sources say Taiwan's navy chief, Tang Hua, will visit the United States from next week to attend a military ceremony and discuss how to boost bilateral naval cooperation as China raises threats toward the island, six people briefed on the trip said. While Taiwan and the United States have a close relationship, it is unofficial, as Washington formally recognises China, not the democratically governed island that Beijing claims as its own territory. Taiwan rejects China's territorial claims. read more

Israeli soldiers play with Gaza women's underwear in online posts Israeli soldiers have been posting photos and videos of themselves toying with lingerie found in Palestinian homes, creating a dissonant visual record of the war in Gaza as a looming famine intensifies world scrutiny of Israel's offensive. In one video, an Israeli soldier sits in an armchair in a room in Gaza grinning, with a gun in one hand and dangling white satin underwear from the other over the open mouth of a comrade lying on a sofa. read more

Baltimore divers recover two bodies from harbor after bridge collapse Divers on Wednesday recovered the remains of two of the six workers missing since they were tossed into Baltimore Harbor from a highway bridge that collapsed into shipping lanes when a faltering cargo freighter rammed into the structure, officials said on Wednesday. The bodies were pulled from the mouth of the Patapsco River a day after the massive container ship lost power and its ability to maneuver before plowing into a support pylon of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, knocking most it into the water below. read more

Baltimore rescuers lose hope for more survivors from bridge collapse U.S. federal safety investigators recovered the black box from the freight ship that crashed into a Baltimore bridge, the agency chief said on Wednesday as rescuers looked for the remains of six workers missing in the bridge collapse. A highway team also will be looking at the twisted remains of the Francis Scott Key bridge as they try to determine how and why a container ship smashed into a pillar of the 1.6-mile (2.6 km) span in early morning darkness on Tuesday. Investigators from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board recovered the data recorder after boarding the ship late on Tuesday, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said. They will interview the ship's crew, she said. read more

Russia's FSB chief accuses Ukraine, US and UK of being behind Moscow shooting The director of Russia's most powerful security agency said on Tuesday that he believed Ukraine, along with the United States and Britain, were involved in the attack on a concert hall just outside Moscow that killed at least 139 people. Ukraine, which has repeatedly denied any link with Friday's attack, dismissed the Russian accusations as lies. Islamic State, the militant group that once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the mass shooting. read more

Baltimore bridge collapse sends vehicles tumbling into water A container ship smashed into a four-lane bridge in the U.S. port of Baltimore in darkness on Tuesday, causing it to collapse and sending cars and people plunging into the river below. Rescuers pulled out two survivors, one in a "very serious condition," and were searching for more in the Patapsco River after huge spans of the 1.6-mile (2.57 km) Francis Scott Key Bridge crumpled into the water. The ship "lost propulsion" as it was leaving port, and crew on board notified Maryland officials they had lost control of the vessel, ABC News reported, citing an unclassified U.S. intelligence report. read more

Biden, Netanyahu on collision course after Gaza UN vote Relations between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sank to a wartime low on Monday with the U.S. allowing passage of a Gaza ceasefire resolution at the United Nations and drawing a sharp rebuke from the Israeli leader. Netanyahu abruptly scrapped a visit to Washington this week by a senior delegation to discuss Israel’s threatened offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah after the U.S. abstained in a Security Council vote that demanded an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the release of all hostages held by the Palestinian militants. read more

US 'very disappointed' after Netanyahu cancels Israeli visit to Washington The White House said on Monday it was very disappointed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had canceled a high-level Israeli delegation's planned visit to Washington after the U.S. abstained from a U.N. vote demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. "It's disapppointing. We're very disappointed that they won't be coming to Washington, D.C. to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to them going in on the ground in Rafah," White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. read more