India fires missiles on Pakistan; Islamabad calls it an ‘act of war’

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan said Wednesday it will avenge those killed by India’s missile strikes that New Delhi called retaliation for last month’s massacre of Indian tourists in India-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan called the strikes an act of war and claimed it downed several Indian fighter jets. The missiles killed 31 people, including women and children, in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the country’s Punjab province, Pakistan’s military said. The strikes targeted at least nine sites “where terrorist attacks against India have been planned,” India’s Defense Ministry said. Two mosques were hit.

Strikes across Gaza kill at least 92 as Israel prepares to ramp up its offensive

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Officials say Israeli strikes across Gaza have killed at least 92 people, including women, children and two journalists, one the father of a newborn. Two strikes on Wednesday targeted a crowded area in central Gaza City near a busy market, while one earlier at a second school killed 16, hospital officials said. An attack Tuesday night on a school sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians killed 27 people. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes. This came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday there is “doubt” about the survival of three hostages previously believed alive in Gaza.

New German government plans to boost border controls to curb migration

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s new interior minister says the new government plans to station more police at the border to curb illegal migration and even turn away some of the asylum-seekers trying to enter Europe’s biggest economy. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told reporters in Berlin that police at the border would be increased in coming days. He says vulnerable people will still be allowed to enter, but his assertion that Germany will turn away some asylum-seekers goes beyond what the previous government was willing to do. The country’s new Chancellor Friedrich Merz had vowed to toughen the country’s migration policy during his election campaign.

Syria’s leader says his country is holding indirect talks with Israel to avert an escalation

PARIS (AP) — Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa says that his country is holding indirect talks with Israel to prevent recent hostilities from getting out of control. Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on parts of Syria last week, saying it aims to protect the country’s Druze minority coming under attack by pro-government gunmen. Speaking to reporters in Paris on his first trip to Europe since taking office, al-Sharaa said, “Regarding negotiations with Israel, there are indirect talks through mediators to calm down the situation so that they don’t go out of control.” He did not say who the mediators are.