Qatar urges a Gaza ceasefire after ‘positive response’ from Hamas

JERUSALEM (AP) — A key mediator on Tuesday stressed the urgency of brokering a ceasefire in Gaza after Hamas showed a “positive response” to a proposal, but Israel has yet to weigh in as its military prepares an offensive on some of the territory’s most populated areas. The prospect of an expanded assault on areas sheltering hundreds of thousands of civilians has sparked condemnation inside Israel and abroad. Most war-weary Palestinians see no place in Gaza as safe, not even declared humanitarian zones, after 22 months of war. Many Israelis, who rallied in the hundreds of thousands on Sunday, fear the offensive will further endanger the remaining hostages in Gaza. Just 20 of the 50 remaining are thought to be alive.

UN: A record 383 aid workers were killed in global hotspots in 2024, nearly half in Gaza

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. humanitarian office says a record 383 aid workers were killed in global hotspots in 2024, nearly half of them in Gaza during the war between Israel and Hamas. U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher says, “Attacks on this scale, with zero accountability, are a shameful indictment of international inaction and apathy.” The Aid Worker Security Database says the number of killings rose from 293 in 2023 to 383 in 2024, including more than 180 in Gaza. Sudan was second to Gaza and the West Bank, with 60 aid workers losing their lives in 2024 during civil war. The United Nations is marking World Humanitarian Day on Tuesday.

India’s Modi meets China’s top diplomat as Asian powers rebuild ties

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met China’s top diplomat and hailed the “steady progress” made in improving the countries’ relationship after a yearslong standoff between the nuclear-armed powers. China’s foreign ministry after Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s meeting said the countries have entered a “steady development track.” Wang arrived in India on Monday to discuss their disputed Himalayan border. A deadly clash between security forces in 2020 chilled relations. Modi plans to visit China later this month for a summit, his first visit there in seven years. The rebuilding of India-China ties coincides with friction between New Delhi and Washington over tariffs.

Suspect in a car-ramming attack on a German Christmas market is charged with murder

BERLIN (AP) — The suspect in a deadly car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg has been charged with murder, attempted murder and bodily harm, prosecutors said Tuesday, claiming he was trying to kill as many people as possible. Five women and a boy died, and many more people were wounded, in the Dec. 20 attack that lasted just over a minute. Authorities have identified the suspect as a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had received permanent residency. They haven’t officially released his name, in keeping with German privacy rules. In an indictment filed to the state court in Magdeburg, prosecutors say he is charged with six counts of murder, 338 counts of attempted murder and 309 counts of bodily harm.