International
Iran fires at least 180 missiles into Israel as regionwide conflict grows
JERUSALEM (AP) — Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel, the latest in a series of escalating attacks in a yearslong conflict between Israel and Iran and its Arab allies. The missile attack — and a retaliation promised by Israel — threaten to push the Middle East closer toward a regionwide war. Before Iran’s attack on Tuesday, Israel had landed a series of devastating blows in recent weeks against Hezbollah’s leadership in Lebanon. It ratcheted up the pressure on the militant group — which has been firing rockets into Israel since the war in Gaza began — by launching what it said is a limited ground incursion in southern Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Iran will pay a price for its missile barrage.
More than 20 are feared dead after a school bus catches fire in suburban Bangkok
BANGKOK (AP) — Officials and rescuers say a school bus carrying young students and their teachers on a school trip caught fire in suburban Bangkok, leaving more than 20 feared dead. The bus with 45 passengers — six teachers and 39 elementary and junior high school students — was traveling from the central Uthai Thani province. It caught fire in Pathum Thani province, a northern suburb of the capital. An acting police commissioner says three teachers and 20 students remain unaccounted for. The official says police are looking for the driver who appears to have fled the scene, and the bus company and individuals involved may be charged if they are found responsible.
A likely Russian artillery strike kills at least 6 at a Ukrainian market
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — An apparent Russian artillery strike has hit a market in the southern Ukraine city of Kherson, killing at least six people and wounding three others. Authorities say the strike happened Tuesday when Ukrainians across the country were observing a minute’s silence for their military and war dead. The regional governor published a video showing the blurred corpses of people in civilian clothes near a stall with tomatoes and other vegetables. Ukraine’s General Prosecutor’s Office said the strike was “most likely” carried out by Russian artillery and hit close to a public transport stop.
NATO’s new chief makes Ukraine support a top priority and says he will work with any US president
BRUSSELS (AP) — The new head of NATO is vowing to help shore up Western support for war-ravaged Ukraine and says he can work with whoever is elected president of the United States, the alliance’s most powerful member. New NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte took charge of the world’s biggest security organization on Tuesday, as Jens Stoltenberg stepped down. The handover comes as the alliance confronts some of the biggest challenges in its history. Stoltenberg took over as NATO’s top civilian official in 2014, the year that Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. Rutte says his other priorities will be to encourage more defense spending and to boost partnerships the alliance has around the world.