An Israeli strike kills 20 in north Gaza

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian officials say an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza has killed at least 20 people, mostly women and children. Israel is waging a nearly monthlong air and ground operation in what was already the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the territory. Palestinians fleeing the area recount how they have gone for weeks hardly eating, with no food aid entering the area since Israel’s assault began The strike late Monday hit a home where several displaced families were sheltering in the town of Beit Lahiya, according to the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, which received the casualties. The Israeli military said it targeted a weapons storage facility from which a militant had operated.

Western officials suspect Russia was behind a plot involving incendiary devices

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Western security officials suspect Russia was behind a plot to put incendiary devices in packages on cargo planes bound for North America, including one that caught fire at a courier hub in Germany and another that ignited in a warehouse in England. Poland says it has arrested four people suspected linked to a foreign intelligence operation that carried out sabotage and is seeking two others. Lithuania’s prosecutor general says there were an unspecified number of people detained in several countries. Western officials say they are seeing an intensification of a hybrid war of sabotage by Russia targeting Ukraine’s allies. Several officials said they believe the attacks were the work of Russian military intelligence. Moscow denies involvement.

Ukrainian troops have engaged with North Korean units for the 1st time in Russia

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s defense minister says Ukrainian troops have engaged for the first time with North Korean units that were recently deployed to help Russia in the war with its neighbor. Another Kyiv official said Ukraine’s army fired artillery at North Korean soldiers in Russia’s Kursk border region. The comments Tuesday were the first official reports that Ukrainian and North Korean forces have engaged in combat, following a deployment that has given the war a new complexion as it approaches its 1,000-day milestone. Neither claim could be independently confirmed. U.S., South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments say up to 12,000 North Korean combat troops are being sent by Pyongyang to the war under a pact with Moscow.

Mt. Fuji is still without its iconic snowcap in November for the first time in 130 years

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji, known for its snowcap forming around this time of the year, is still snowless in November for the first time in 130 years, presumably because of the unusually warm temperatures in the past few weeks. Usually, the nearly 12,300-foot-high mountain has sprinkles of snow falling on its summit starting Oct. 2, about a month after the summertime hiking season there ends. The JMA’s Kofu Local Meteorological Office, which keeps weather data in central Japan and was the agency that announced the first snowfall on Mt. Fuji in 1894, has cited October’s surprising summery weather as the reason.