French prime minister will suspend a pension reform to avoid government collapse

PARIS (AP) — French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu says he will suspend a much-debated plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Tuesday’s decision aims to prevent his fragile minority government from collapsing. Lecornu on Tuesday said the reform would be on hold until after the next presidential election in 2027. The Socialist Party has demanded the law be repealed, and Lecornu’s offer to suspend it is seen as seeking its support. Lecornu faces two no-confidence motions on Thursday that could threaten his government. Lecornu is France’s fourth prime minister in barely a year.

Israel to halve aid into Gaza over slow return of dead hostages, a test for fragile ceasefire

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump says wants back dead hostages held in Gaza. The tenuous ceasefire in the two-year Israel-Hamas war is being tested as complex issues remain a day after widespread jubilation over the return to Israel of the last 20 living hostages held in Gaza and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange. The focus in Israel turned to when Hamas will return the bodies of 24 remaining hostages believed dead in Gaza. A U.N. spokesperson in Gaza says Israel informed it of plans to halve aid into Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire with the slow release of dead hostages. In Gaza, health officials said the Israeli military fatally shot three Palestinians.

Russian aerial attack hits a Ukrainian hospital, days before Zelenskyy meets Trump

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian forces have launched powerful glide bombs and drones against Kharkiv and hit a hospital. Officials said that the attack on Ukraine’s second-largest city wounded seven people and forced the evacuation of 50 patients at the hospital. Zelenskyy said Tuesday that the main targets were energy facilities. The assault is part of Russia’s ongoing campaign to disable Ukraine’s power supply. Zelenskyy is set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday to seek more American military support including air defense systems. Trump has warned Moscow he may send Tomahawk cruise missiles for use by Ukraine. That could escalate tensions but also push Moscow toward negotiations.

Madagascar’s president is ousted in a military coup after weeks of youth-led protests

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina has been toppled in a military coup that capped weeks of youth-led protests over poverty, power outages and a lack of opportunity in the Indian Ocean island country. Right after parliament voted Tuesday to impeach Rajoelina, who fled the country fearing for his safety, the leader of Madagascar’s elite CAPSAT military unit said the armed forces would form a council made up of armed forces and gendarmerie officers and would appoint a prime minister to “quickly” form a civilian government. “We are taking power,” Col. Michael Randrianirina told reporters in the capital, Antananarivo, as protesters celebrated the news with soldiers. Rajoelina’s office condemned the military announcement as “a serious breach of the rule of law.”