AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

Israel launches deadly wave of airstrikes across Gaza after ceasefire talks stall

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, saying it was striking dozens of Hamas targets in its heaviest assault in the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January. Palestinian officials reported at least 69 deaths.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in talks to extend the ceasefire. Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand.

“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Netanyahu’s office said.

The surprise attack shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and raised the prospect of a full return to fighting in a 17-month war that has killed over 48,000 Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza. It also raised questions about the fate of the roughly two dozen Israeli hostages held by Hamas who are believed to still be alive.

In a statement, Hamas condemned what it called Israel’s “unprovoked escalation” and said it had put the fate of the hostages in jeopardy.

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Middle East latest: Israel launches wave of airstrikes across Gaza after ceasefire talks stall

Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, saying it was hitting Hamas targets in its heaviest assault in the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in ongoing talks to extend the ceasefire. It was not immediately clear if the operation was a one-time pressure tactic or if the 17-month-old war was being resumed altogether.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 44 people were killed in the airstrikes.

Hamas warned that Israel’s new airstrikes breached their ceasefire and put the fate of hostages in jeopardy.

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Judge questions Trump administration on whether it ignored order to turn around deportation flights

A federal judge on Monday questioned whether the Trump administration ignored his orders to turn around planes carrying deportees to El Salvador, a possible violation of the decision he’d issued minutes before.

District Judge James E. Boasberg was incredulous over the administration’s contentions that his verbal directions did not count, that only his written order needed to be followed, that it couldn’t apply to flights that had left the U.S. and that the administration could not answer his questions about the deportations due to national security issues.

“That’s one heck of a stretch, I think,” Boasberg replied, noting that the administration knew as the planes were departing that he was about to decide whether to briefly halt deportations being made under a rarely used 18th century law invoked by Trump about an hour earlier.

“I’m just asking how you think my equitable powers do not attach to a plane that has departed the U.S., even if it’s in international airspace,” Boasberg added at another point.

Deputy Associate Attorney General Abhishek Kambli contended that only Boasberg’s short written order, issued about 45 minutes after he made the verbal demand, counted. It did not contain any demands to reverse planes, and Kambli added that it was too late to redirect two planes that had left the U.S. by that time.

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Putin and Trump will speak on Tuesday about the war in Ukraine

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday in a possible pivot point in efforts to end the war in Ukraine and an opportunity for Trump to continue reorienting American foreign policy.

Trump disclosed the upcoming conversation to reporters while flying from Florida to Washington on Air Force One on Sunday evening, while the Kremlin confirmed Putin’s participation on Monday morning.

“We will see if we have something to announce maybe by Tuesday. I will be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday,” Trump said. “A lot of work’s been done over the weekend. We want to see if we can bring that war to an end.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday morning confirmed the plans for the two leaders to speak on Tuesday, but declined to give details, saying that “we never get ahead of events” and “the content of conversations between two presidents are not subject to any prior discussion.”

European allies are wary of Trump’s affinity for Putin and his hardline stance toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who faced sharp criticism when he visited the Oval Office a little more than two weeks ago.

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Top DC prosecutor, who promoted false 2020 voter fraud claims, forms ‘election accountability’ unit

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital, who promoted President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged, has formed a “special unit” to investigate election offenses, according to an email sent to lawyers in his office on Monday.

Interim District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Ed Martin said the “Special Unit: Election Accountability” has already opened one investigation and “will continue to make sure that all the election laws of our nation are obeyed,” according to the email reviewed by The Associated Press.

Martin, who is awaiting Senate confirmation to permanently take the position, was involved in the “Stop the Steal” movement, which was animated by lies about fraud after Trump lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden. Martin also served on the board of a nonprofit that raised money for Capitol riot defendants and their families and legally represented at least three defendants in Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot criminal cases, including a Proud Boys member who pleaded guilty to felony charges.

In the email announcing the new unit, Martin recounted uncovering “voter registration fraud” while serving as chairman of the Board of Elections in St. Louis years ago. That led to the implementation of “accountability measures to make sure that electronic machines had a paper trail,” he wrote.

“Nearly 20 years later, Americans do not have confidence in our election systems,” Martin wrote. “One of the best ways to restore that confidence is to protect our systems and demand accountability.”

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Texas midwife accused by state’s attorney general of providing illegal abortions

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas midwife has been arrested and accused of providing illegal abortions, marking the first time authorities have filed criminal charges under the state’s near-total abortion ban, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Monday.

Maria Margarita Rojas has been charged with the illegal performance of an abortion, a second-degree felony, as well as practicing medicine without a license, which is a third-degree felony.

Paxton alleges that Rojas, 48, illegally operated at least three clinics in the Houston area where illegal abortion procedures were performed in direct violation of state law.

“In Texas, life is sacred. I will always do everything in my power to protect the unborn, defend our state’s pro-life laws, and work to ensure that unlicensed individuals endangering the lives of women by performing illegal abortions are fully prosecuted,” Paxton said in a statement. “Texas law protecting life is clear, and we will hold those who violate it accountable.”

Waller County District Attorney Sean Whittmore, whose office is located northwest of Houston, referred the case to Paxton for prosecution, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.

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Homeland Security says professor deported to Lebanon with US visa supported Hezbollah leader

BOSTON (AP) — Homeland Security officials on Monday said that a doctor from Lebanon who was deported over the weekend despite having a U.S. visa “openly admitted” to supporting a Hezbollah leader and attending his funeral.

The department’s statement, posted on social media, provides a possible explanation for Dr. Rasha Alawieh’s deportation, which has sparked widespread alarm, especially after a federal judge ordered that she not be removed until a hearing could be held. Government lawyers have said customs officials did not get word until after Alawieh was sent back to Lebanon.

“A visa is a privilege not a right — glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be denied. This is commonsense security,” Homeland Security said in its statement.

It’s the latest deportation of a foreign-born person with a U.S. visa, after Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who helped lead protests of the Gaza war at Columbia University, was arrested and a doctoral student’s visa was revoked. The Trump administration also transferred hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador even as a federal judge issued an order temporarily barring the deportations.

Stephanie Marzouk, Alawieh’s lawyer, said she would not stop fighting to get the 34-year-old doctor back in the U.S., “to see her patients where she should be.”

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Residents pick up the pieces after devastating storms scour the US South and Midwest

PLANTERSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Kim Atchison was hunkered down in her grandmother’s storm shelter with her 5-year-old grandson Saturday night in their tiny Alabama hometown of Plantersville when her husband and son raced in.

“Get down; get all the way down to the bottom of the cellar,” they told her, saying they could see a twister coming.

Atchison said she remembers first the “dead silence” and then hearing the wind that felt like a funnel and things outside hitting against each other.

“All was quiet after that because it was that fast,” she said. “Like a snap of a finger and it was gone.”

Atchison and her family were among the fortunate ones to avoid being killed in the three-day outbreak of severe weather across eight states that kicked up a devastating combination of wildfires, dust storms and tornadoes — claiming at least 42 lives since Friday.

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Who are the NASA astronauts who have been stuck in space for 9 months?

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were barely known outside space circles when they strapped in for what was supposed to be a quick test flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule last June. Nine months later, they’ve captured the world’s attention — and hearts — as NASA’s stuck astronauts.

Their homecoming is imminent now that a new crew has arrived at the International Space Station to replace them after launching from Florida last week. They’ll fly back with SpaceX as soon as Tuesday, their problem-plagued Starliner having returned to Earth empty months ago, leaving them behind in orbit.

Here’s a look at “Suni and Butch” and their drama-filled mission:

The two test pilots came to NASA via the Navy. Wilmore, 62, played high school and college football in his home state of Tennessee before joining the Navy. Williams, 59, grew up in Needham, Massachusetts, a competitive swimmer and distance runner.

Wilmore racked up 663 aircraft carrier landings, while Williams served in combat helicopter squadrons.

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Sho-time in Tokyo: Ohtani, Dodgers prepare to open MLB season vs. Cubs on Tuesday

TOKYO (AP) — The Major League Baseball season kicks off Tuesday night at the Tokyo Dome when Shohei Ohtani and the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers face the Chicago Cubs.

It’s the first of a two-game series and features five Japanese players. Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and rookie Roki Sasaki pitch for the Dodgers while the Cubs have outfielder Seiya Suzuki and left-handed pitcher Shota Imanaga.

The two MLB teams have been in Tokyo for several days, playing exhibition games against two Japanese teams — the Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants.

All four exhibition games had a capacity crowd of roughly 42,000. A similar atmosphere is expected for the two MLB games.

“Everybody’s very aware of the series, that’s evident for sure, more than I feel like it would be America,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “More people are talking about it, absolutely. That’s a great feeling. The players love big events, that’s why we do this, that’s why we love to do it.”