Zelenskyy says Putin wants the rest of Ukraine's Donetsk region as part of a ceasefire

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30% of the Donetsk region that Ukraine controls as part of a ceasefire deal. Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine would not withdraw from territories it controls because it was unconstitutional and would only serve as a springboard for a future Russian invasion. Zelenskyy said Putin wants the remaining 9,000 square kilometers (3,500 square miles) of Donetsk under Kyiv’s control, where the war’s toughest battles are grinding on, as part of a ceasefire plan. Doing so would hand Russia almost the entirety of the Donbas, a region comprising Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland that Putin has long coveted.

Trump's takeover of Washington law enforcement begins as National Guard troops arrive

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some of the 800 National Guard members deployed by the Trump administration to assist with law enforcement have begun arriving in Washington, D.C. The city’s police and federal officials took the first steps Tuesday in an uneasy partnership to reduce crime in what President Donald Trump called — without substantiation — a lawless city. Mayor Muriel Bowser pledged to work alongside the federal officials Trump has tasked with overseeing the capital city’s law enforcement. Bowser insists the police chief remains in charge of the department and its officers. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said about 850 officers and agents fanned out across Washington on Monday and arrested 23 people overnight.

Netanyahu hints that Gaza ceasefire talks now focus on the release of all hostages at once

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hinting that ceasefire efforts are now focused on a comprehensive deal that would release the remaining hostages in Gaza all at once. Arab officials told The Associated Press last week that mediators Egypt and Qatar are preparing a new framework for a deal that would include the release of all hostages in one go in return for a lasting ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. The long-running indirect talks appeared to break down last month. But Egyptian state-run media reports that a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo for talks on Tuesday.

Shooter attacked CDC headquarters to protest COVID-19 vaccines

ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says the man who fired more than 180 shots with a long gun at the headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wanted to send a message against COVID-19 vaccines. GBI Director Chris Hosey said 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White also recently verbalized thoughts of suicide, before he broke into his father's gun safe. White fatally shot DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose during the attack. CDC Director Susan Monarez told staff at the agency's headquarters on Tuesday that “misinformation can be dangerous” and called for “rational, evidence-based discourse spoken with compassion and understanding.”

Trump's nominee to oversee jobs, inflation data faces shower of criticism

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has selected E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, to be the next commissioner at the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Antoni’s nomination has been met with a cascade of criticism from other economists, from across the political spectrum. His selection threatens to bring a new level of politicization to what for decades has been a nonpartisan agency widely accepted as a producer of reliable measures of the nation’s economic health. While many former Labor Department officials say it it unlikely Antoni will be able to distort or alter the data, particularly in the short run, he could change the currently dry-as-dust way it is presented.

Trump ally Ken Paxton escalates Texas redistricting fight with call for Beto O'Rourke to be jailed

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is escalating the partisan redistricting fight by asking a judge to hold progressive activist Beto O'Rourke in contempt. Paxton says he wants O'Rourke in jail for his fundraising efforts on behalf of Texas Democrats who have stymied GOP plans to redraw the state's congressional maps at the behest of President Donald Trump. Texas Republican leaders, meanwhile, say they're prepared to end their stalemated legislative special session on the maps and immediately begin another standoff with Democrats. Dozens of Democrats have left the state and left the GOP majority unable to move forward with its gerrymandering attempt. Gov. Greg Abbott says he will simply call another session.

Massive rescue effort led to pulling workers from debris of Pennsylvania steel plant explosion

CLAIRTON, Pa. (AP) — Workers were heating coal and preparing for routine maintenance when an explosion rocked a U.S. Steel plant outside Pittsburgh. That's according to a company executive who spoke to reporters Tuesday, a day after the blast killed two workers. The explosion was powerful enough to shake nearby homes. It also injured more than 10 other steelworkers, including one who spent hours trapped in rubble. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and plant executives vowed to investigate and do whatever is necessary to prevent such an accident from happening again. The cause remains under investigation.

Texas shooter who killed 3 outside Target, including a child, randomly chose his victims, police say

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Police say a Texas man fatally shot three people in a Target parking lot, including a child and her grandfather. The suspect, 32-year-old Ethan Nieneker, allegedly acted unprovoked and chose his victims randomly. Police say he also fatally shot a target employee who was collecting shopping carts. After the shooting, Nieneker reportedly stole two cars before being arrested in Austin. Authorities say he has a history of mental health issues and previous arrests for domestic violence and assault. He is being held on capital murder charges.

Some Juneau residents urged to evacuate as Alaska's Mendenhall Glacier releases floodwater

Residents in some parts of Juneau evacuated ahead of what could be a record surge of floodwater after a huge upstream basin of rainwater and snowmelt dammed by Alaska’s Mendenhall Glacier started to escape. Flooding from the basin has become an annual concern for residents. On Tuesday officials confirmed water had started escaping the ice dam and was flowing downstream, with flooding expected into Wednesday. In past years the flooding has swept away houses and swamped hundreds of homes. The Mendenhall Glacier is a thinning, retreating glacier that acts as a dam for Suicide Basin, which fills each spring and summer with rainwater and snowmelt.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth belongs to an archconservative church network. Here's what to know

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has expressed pride in being part of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, a conservative Christian network. Hegseth recently shared a CNN video about the church, showing its pastors arguing women should not have the right to vote. Hegseth is among President Donald Trump’s most controversial Cabinet picks and attends a CREC church in Tennessee. The church network has connections to Christian nationalism and practices complementarianism, emphasizing traditional gender roles. Network co-founder Pastor Doug Wilson leads the flagship Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, and is known for his hard-line theology and patriarchal views. A Pentagon spokesman says Hegseth appreciates many of Wilson’s writings and teachings.