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The International Space Station is seen from the space shuttle Atlantis on July 19, 2011, after it left the orbiting complex. (NASA via AP, File)2026-01-08T15:36:01Z NEW YORK (AP) NASA is cutting a mission aboard the International Space Station short after an astronaut had a medical issue.The space agency said Thursday the U.S.-Japanese-Russian crew of four will return to Earth in the coming days, earlier than planned. NASA canceled its first spacewalk of the year because of the health issue. The space agency did not identify the astronaut or the medical issue, citing patient privacy. The crew member is now stable.Seven astronauts are currently living and working aboard the space station. The latest crew arrived in August after launching from Florida. Im proud of the swift effort across the agency thus far to ensure the safety of our astronauts, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said at a Thursday press conference.The crew of four returning home arrived at the orbiting lab via SpaceX in August for a stay of at least six months. The crew included NASAs Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke along with Japans Kimiya Yui and Russias Oleg Platonov. Fincke and Cardman were supposed to carry out the spacewalk to make preparations for a future rollout of solar panels to provide additional power for the space station. It was Finckes fourth visit to the space station and Yius second time, according to NASA. This was the first spaceflight for Cardman and Platonov.Three other astronauts are currently living and working aboard the space station including NASAs Chris Williams and Russias Sergei Mikaev and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, who launched in November aboard a Soyuz rocket for an eight-month stay. Theyre due to return home in the summer. NASA has tapped SpaceX to eventually bring the space station out of orbit by late 2030 or early 2031. Plans called for a safe reentry over ocean. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN Ramakrishnan is a science reporter for The Associated Press, based in New York. She covers research and new developments related to space, early human history and more. twitter mailto

Xabi Alonso slammed Diego Simeone for his clash with Vincius Jnior during Real Madrid's 2-1 Supercopa semifinal win over Atltico Madrid on Thursday, saying "not anything goes."

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Federal agents and police clash with protesters outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minn. on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)2026-01-09T00:43:43Z A day after a federal immigration officer fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, the case escalated sharply Thursday when federal authorities blocked state investigators from accessing evidence and declared that Minnesota has no jurisdiction to investigate the killing.Legal experts said the dispute highlights a central question raised repeatedly as federal agents are deployed into cities for immigration enforcement: whether a federal officer carrying out a federally authorized operation can be criminally investigated or charged under state law.The FBI told Minnesota law enforcement officials they would not be allowed to participate in the investigation or review key evidence in the shooting, which killed 37-year-old Renee Good on Wednesday. Local prosecutors said they were evaluating their legal options as federal authorities asserted control over the case. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz urged federal officials to reconsider, saying early public statements by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other federal leaders defending the agent risked undermining confidence in the investigations fairness. Experts say theres narrow precedent for state charges. And sometimes attempts at those charges have been cut short by claims of immunity under the Constitutions Supremacy Clause, which protects federal workers performing federally sanctioned, job-related duties. But that immunity isnt a blanket protection for all conduct, legal experts said. What is the standard for immunity?If charges are brought, the federal agent is likely to argue he is immune from state prosecution under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The legal standard basically is that a federal officer is immune from state prosecution if their actions were authorized by federal law and necessary and proper to fulfilling their duties, said Robert Yablon, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School.Yablon, who is the faculty co-director of the schools State Democracy Research Initiative, said state prosecutors would have to consider both state and federal laws to overcome the hurdles of immunity. They would first need to show a violation of state statutes to bring charges, but also that the use of force was unconstitutionally excessive under federal law.If the actions violated the Fourth Amendment, you cant say those actions were exercised under federal law, he said, referring to the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. Hurdles to state chargesThe whole endeavor is made more complicated if there is not cooperation between federal and state authorities to investigate the shooting. Walz said federal authorities rescinded a cooperation agreement with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and he urged them to reverse course, warning that Minnesotans were losing confidence in the investigations independence. Noem confirmed the decision, saying: They have not been cut out; they dont have any jurisdiction in this investigation.State officials have been vocal about finding a way to continue their own parallel investigation. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said during an interview on CNN that the move by federal authorities to not allow state participation does not mean state officials cant conduct their own investigation. But local officials in Hennepin County said theyd be in the dark if the FBI chose not to share their findings. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement that her office is exploring all options to ensure a state level investigation can continue.If the FBI is the sole investigative agency, the state will not receive the investigative findings, and our community may never learn about its contents, she said.Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended federal agents use of force, saying Thursday that officers often must make split-second decisions in dangerous and chaotic situations. In a statement posted on social media, Blanche said the law does not require officers to gamble with their lives in the face of a serious threat of harm, and added that standard protocols ensure evidence is collected and preserved following officer-involved shootings. In many cases involving use-of-force, investigators examine how the specific officer was trained, if they followed their training or if they acted against standard protocol in the situation. Its unclear if state investigators will be granted access to training records and standards or even interviews with other federal agents at the scene Wednesday, if they continue a separate investigation. During the prosecution of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd, prosecutors called one of the departments training officers to testify that Chauvin acted against department training. Precedents and other legal issuesSamantha Trepel, the Rule of Law program director at States United Democracy Center and a former prosecutor with the Justice Departments civil rights division, wrote a guest article for Just Security Wednesday in the wake of the fatal shooting. The piece focused on the Department of Justice silence in the face of violent tactics being used in immigration enforcement efforts. Trepel, who participated in the prosecution of officers involved in Floyds death, told AP Thursday that the current DOJ lacks the independence of previous administrations. In previous administrations, DOJ conducted independent and thorough investigations of alleged federal officers excessive force. Even though the feds were investigating feds, they had a track record of doing this work credibly, Trepel said. This included bringing in expert investigators and civil rights prosecutors from Washington who didnt have close relationships and community ties with the individuals they were investigating.Trepel said in a standard federal investigation of alleged unlawful lethal force, the FBI and DOJ would conduct a thorough investigation interviewing witnesses, collecting video, reviewing policies and training, before determining whether an agent committed a prosecutable federal crime.I hope its happening now, but we have little visibility, she said. The administration can conduct immigration enforcement humanely and without these brutal tactics and chaos. They can arrest people who have broken the law and keep the public safe without sacrificing who we are as Americans.Questions about medical aid after the shootingIn other high-profile fatal police shootings, officers have faced administrative discipline for failing to provide or promptly secure medical aid after using force.Video circulating from Wednesdays shooting shows a man approaching officers and identifying himself as a physician, asking whether he could check Goods pulse and provide aid. An agent tells him to step back, says emergency medics are on the way, and warns him that he could be arrested if he does not comply.Witness video later showed medics unable to reach the scene in their vehicle, and people carrying Good away. Authorities have not said whether actions taken after the shooting, including efforts to provide medical assistance, will be reviewed as part of the federal investigation.In other cases, including the 2023 death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, failures to render medical aid were cited among the reasons officers were fired and later charged.

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Demonstrators march to the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, as they protest against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)2026-01-09T02:18:24Z The federal officer steps in front of the Honda SUV, parked nearly perpendicular across a one-way residential street in Minneapolis, with snow piled up on the curb.Within seconds, he would shoot and kill the driver, Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three.Federal officials said the officer acted in self-defense, that the driver of the Honda was engaging in an act of domestic terrorism when she pulled forward toward him and that he was lucky to escape alive. Policing experts say some of the choices the officer made in that moment defy practices nearly every law enforcement agency have followed for decades. A dangerous decision to makeVideos filmed by bystanders from several angles show the Honda stopped on Portland Avenue just before the shooting. Its straddling multiple lanes, but not entirely blocking traffic: the driver-side window is open, the driver waving their left arm as if to signal cars to go around. One large SUV drives around the front of the Honda and down the street. Multiple unmarked federal vehicles are idling on the road nearby.Some bystanders heckle officers: Go home to Texas, one woman shouts from the sidewalk. Why wont you let your faces be seen? shouts another. Some blow whistles to alert neighbors immigration agents are in the area, others honk.A grey four-door Titan truck comes to a stop facing the drivers side of the Honda. Two officers climb out and approach the Honda. Both officers wear what appear to be wool hats and black masks covering their noses and mouths. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on A woman can be heard saying go around. One officer says, Get out of the car. Out of the car. Get out of the f---ing car.The Hondas reverse lights come on, and it begins to roll slowly backward as one of the officers grabs the driver-side door handle and tries to pull it twice, then puts his arm into the open drivers window.A third officer, who had been out of the way on the passenger side of the car then walks around the Hondas hood, stands just in front of the driver and appears to be holding his phone up like hes filming. Why would he do that? Why would he put himself in a more dangerous position than he was already in? asked Geoffrey P. Alpert, an expert on policing at the University of South Carolina, who called it absurd for an officer to use his body to try to block a 4,000-pound SUV.Darrel W. Stephens, former chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, also pointed to this moment as the baffling first step in a series of questionable actions that most police departments have discouraged for years. As a police chief, he prohibited officers from standing in front of cars in the early 1990s.I cant explain why he would stand there and place himself in front of the car, Stephens said. Thats a dangerous decision to make. A 4,000 pound unguided missileHomeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described the incident as an act of domestic terrorism carried out against ICE officers by a woman who attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot, to protect himself and the people around him.President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the ICE officer shot the driver in self-defense. Trump said based on that video it is hard to believe he is alive. He said the driver viciously ran over the ICE officer.But its unclear in the videos if the car makes contact with the officer.The Honda starts to drive forward, its tires turning to the right as the officer stands in front.Why doesnt he step out of the way? Why doesnt he move? asked Alpert.The officer unholsters his gun. Within a second he shoots into the windshield and then lurches backward away from the car as it turns away from him.Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has not publicly identified the officer who shot Good. But she spoke of an incident last June in which the same officer was dragged by a fleeing vehicle. Court records from that case identify the officer as Jonathan Ross.Most police departments long ago prohibited officers from shooting at moving vehicles except for very limited circumstances where theres no other option to save lives, experts say. And the reason is a good one, said Sharon Fairley, a law professor and criminal justice expert at the University of Chicago. If the officer is successful at shooting the driver, then you have a motor vehicle, a two-ton vehicle thats not being directed, and it creates a huge public safety risk.The officer shoots a second time. By then, hes at the side of the car, an arms length from the driver-side window. A third shot immediately follows.None of the other officers draw their weapons.The officer who fired the shots watches the car careen down the road and re-holsters his gun. The street is quiet for a moment.Three seconds later, the Honda crashes into a parked car with such force its tires fly off the street, the pile of cars lurches forward several feet and snow billows. Thank goodness no one was in the car she hit on the side of the road, Alpert said, and fortunately there were no kids playing out there and no one else got hurt.Alpert described the car at that point as a 4,000 pound unguided missile. People dont hit the brakes when theyve been shot, Alpert said. There were pedestrians on the street. One video shows a woman walking a poodle.Drops of blood stain the snowA pedestrian in a flannel shirt runs toward the crash.The officer who fired the shots walks slowly in that direction. Most of the federal agents remain with the unmarked vehicles.Drops of blood stain the snow.None of the agents immediately go to the Honda to render aid; a minute after the crash the pedestrian in the flannel shirt is seen in the video leaning alone into the open drivers side door. A medic runs toward the crash site.Bystanders begin screaming.Criminals! shouts a woman. What did you do? A man billows murderers! over and over.Officers order everyone to get back. One bystander trains her camera on the officer who fired the shots as he walks away from the crash and toward his colleagues at the parked federal vehicles, telling them to call 911. He does not appear injured.You, she screams, shame, shame.He climbs into an SUV as the bystander shouts, dont let the murderer leave!The SUV drives away.Fairley, the University of Chicago professor, said the investigation into what happened here will have to examine whether the officer acted reasonably, both in firing his gun and in the moments leading up to it. It can weigh questions like whether the agent put himself in danger by stepping in front of the car, and if along the way there were other choices the officers might have made to avoid a death.The question is going to come down to is was the officer reasonable in their belief that the driver presented an imminent threat of death or bodily harm to himself or to someone else, she said. Thats really the legal question that has to be answered. The cars license plate, for example, was visible throughout the ordeal. One alternative, Fairley said, was to have just let her leave, and go arrest her later. CLAIRE GALOFARO Galofaro is a national writer on APs investigations team. She is based in Louisville, Kentucky. twitter mailto

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People gather around a makeshift memorial honoring the victim of a fatal shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, near the site of the shooting, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)2026-01-09T05:25:09Z MINNEAPOLIS (AP) As anger and outrage spilled out onto Minneapolis streets Thursday over the fatal shooting of a woman the day before by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, a new shooting by federal officers in Oregon left two people wounded and elicited more scrutiny of enforcement operations across the U.S.Hundreds of people protesting the shooting of Renee Good marched in freezing rain at night down one of Minneapolis major thoroughfares, chanting ICE out now and holding signs saying, killer ice off our streets. Protesters earlier vented their outrage outside a federal facility that is serving as a hub for the administrations latest immigration crackdown on a major city.The shooting in Portland, Oregon, took place outside a hospital in the afternoon. A man and woman were shot inside a vehicle, and their conditions were not immediately known. The FBI and the Oregon Department of Justice were investigating. Mayor Keith Wilson and the city council called on ICE to end all operations in the city until a full investigation is completed. Just as it did following the Minneapolis shooting, the Department of Homeland Security defended the actions of the officers in Portland, saying the incident occurred after a Venezuelan man with alleged gang ties and who was involved in a recent shooting tried to weaponize his vehicle to hit the officers. It was not yet clear if witness video corroborates that account. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, President Donald Trump and others in his administration have repeatedly characterized the Minneapolis shooting as an act of self-defense and cast Good as a villain, suggesting she used her vehicle as a weapon to attack the officer who shot her. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Vice President JD Vance said the shooting was justified and Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was a victim of left-wing ideology. I can believe that her death is a tragedy while also recognizing that it is a tragedy of her own making, Vance said, noting that the officer who killed her was injured while making an arrest last June.But state and local officials and protesters rejected that characterization, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey saying video recordings show the self-defense argument is garbage. An immigration crackdown quickly turns deadlyThe shooting happened on the second day of the Trump administrations immigration crackdown on the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, which Homeland Security said is the biggest immigration enforcement operation ever. More than 2,000 officers are taking part, and Noem said they have made more than 1,500 arrests.It provoked an immediate response in the city where police killed George Floyd in 2020, with hundreds of people turning up to the scene to vent their outrage at the ICE officers and the school district canceling classes for the rest of the week as a precaution.Goods death at least the fifth tied to immigration sweeps since Trump took office has resonated far beyond Minneapolis, as protests took place or were expected this week in many large U.S. cities. We should be horrified, protester Shanta Hejmadi said. We should be saddened that our government is waging war on our citizens.Protesters blocked the street where Good was shot with makeshift barricades constructed out of garbage cans, Christmas trees and canopies. People gave out coffee and water, while fires burned in metal drums to keep visitors warm.Who will investigate?The Minnesota agency that investigates officer-involved shootings said Thursday that it was informed that the FBI and U.S. Justice Department would not work with the it, effectively ending any role for the state to determine if crimes were committed. Noem said the state has no jurisdiction. Without complete access to the evidence, witnesses and information collected, we cannot meet the investigative standards that Minnesota law and the public demands, said Drew Evans, head of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Gov. Tim Walz demanded that the state be allowed to take part, repeatedly emphasizing that it would be very difficult for Minnesotans to accept that an investigation excluding the state could be fair. Noem, he said, was judge, jury and basically executioner during her public comments.Frey, the mayor, told The Associated Press: We want to make sure that there is a check on this administration to ensure that this investigation is done for justice, not for the sake of a cover-up.Deadly encounter seen from multiple anglesSeveral bystanders captured video of Goods killing, which happened in a neighborhood south of downtown.The recordings show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle. The Honda Pilot begins to pull forward, and a different ICE officer standing in front of it pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.It is not clear from the videos if the vehicle makes contact with the officer, and there is no indication of whether the woman had interactions with agents earlier. After the shooting the SUV speeds into two cars parked on a curb before crashing to a stop. Officer identified in recordsThe federal agent who fatally shot Good is an Iraq War veteran who has served for almost two decades in the Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.Noem has not publicly named him, but a Homeland Security spokesperson said her description of his injuries last summer refers to an incident in Bloomington, Minnesota, in which court documents identify him as Jonathan Ross.Ross got his arm stuck in the window of a vehicle of a driver who was fleeing arrest on an immigration violation. He was dragged roughly 100 yards (90 meters) before he was knocked free, records show.He fired his Taser, but the prongs did not incapacitate the driver, according to prosecutors. Ross was transported to a hospital. A jury found the driver guilty of assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon.Attempts to reach Ross, 43, at phone numbers and email addresses associated with him were not successful.DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin also did not confirm his identity but said the officer involved in the shooting was selected for ICEs special response team, which includes a 30-hour tryout and additional training. ___Associated Press reporters Steve Karnowski and Mark Vancleave in Minneapolis; Ed White in Detroit; Valerie Gonzalez in Brownsville, Texas; Graham Lee Brewer in Norman, Oklahoma; Michael Biesecker in Washington; Jim Mustian in New York; Ryan Foley in Iowa City, Iowa; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed. REBECCA SANTANA Santana covers the Department of Homeland Security for The Associated Press. She has extensive experience reporting in such places as Russia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. twitter mailto GIOVANNA DELLORTO DellOrto is a multimedia reporter with The APs Global Religion team. She has reported across the United States, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, covering events and issues ranging from the conclave to the Israel-Hamas war to the Olympics, from immigration to the intersection of Indigenous spirituality and the environment.

This is a locator map for Iran with its capital, Tehran. (AP Photo)2026-01-09T05:03:14Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Iranian protesters shouted and marched through the streets into Friday morning after a call by the countrys exiled crown prince for demonstrations, despite Irans theocracy cutting off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls.Short online videos shared by activists purported to show protesters chanting against Irans government around bonfires as debris littered the streets in the capital, Tehran, and other areas. Iranian state media broke its silence Friday over the protests, alleging terrorist agents of the U.S. and Israel set fires and sparked violence. It also said there were casualties, without elaboratingThe full scope of the demonstrations couldnt be immediately determined due to the communications blackout, though it represented yet another escalation in protests that began over Irans ailing economy and that has morphed into the most significant challenge to the government in several years. The protests also represented the first test of whether the Iranian public could be swayed by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father fled Iran just before the countrys 1979 Islamic Revolution. Demonstrations have included cries in support of the shah, something that could bring a death sentence in the past but now underlines the anger fueling the protests that began over Irans ailing economy. So far, violence around the demonstrations has killed at least 42 people while more than 2,270 others have been detained, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Pahlavi, who called for protests Thursday night, similarly has called for demonstrations at 8 p.m. Friday.What turned the tide of the protests was former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavis calls for Iranians to take to the streets at 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, said Holly Dagres, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Per social media posts, it became clear that Iranians had delivered and were taking the call seriously to protest in order to oust the Islamic Republic. This is exactly why the internet was shut down: to prevent the world from seeing the protests. Unfortunately, it also likely provided cover for security forces to kill protesters. Thursday night protests preceded internet shutdownWhen the clock struck 8 p.m. Thursday, neighborhoods across Tehran erupted in chanting, witnesses said. The chants included Death to the dictator! and Death to the Islamic Republic! Others praised the shah, shouting: This is the last battle! Pahlavi will return! Thousands could be seen on the streets before all communication to Iran cut out. Iranians demanded their freedom tonight. In response, the regime in Iran has cut all lines of communication, Pahlavi said. It has shut down the Internet. It has cut landlines. It may even attempt to jam satellite signals.He went on to call for European leaders to join U.S. President Donald Trump in promising to hold the regime to account.I call on them to use all technical, financial, and diplomatic resources available to restore communication to the Iranian people so that their voice and their will can be heard and seen, he added. Do not let the voices of my courageous compatriots be silenced. Pahlavi had said he would offer further plans depending on the response to his call. His support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past particularly after the 12-day war Israel waged on Iran in June. Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some demonstrations, but it isnt clear whether thats support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The internet cut also appears to have taken Irans state-run and semiofficial news agencies offline as well. The state TV acknowledgment at 8 a.m. Friday represented the first official word about the demonstrations.State TV claimed the protests saw violence that caused casualties but did not elaborate. It also said the protests saw peoples private cars, motorcycles, public places such as the metro, fire trucks and buses set on fire. Trump renews threat over protester deathsIran has faced rounds of nationwide protests in recent years. As sanctions tightened and Iran struggled after the 12-day war, its rial currency collapsed in December, reaching 1.4 million to $1. Protests began soon after, with demonstrators chanting against Irans theocracy. It remains unclear why Iranian officials have yet to crack down harder on the demonstrators. Trump warned last week that if Tehran violently kills peaceful protesters, America will come to their rescue.In an interview with talk show host Hugh Hewitt aired Thursday, Trump reiterated his pledge.Iran has been told very strongly, even more strongly than Im speaking to you right now, that if they do that, theyre going to have to pay hell, Trump said. Trump demurred when asked if hed meet with Pahlavi. Im not sure that it would be appropriate at this point to do that as president, Trump said. I think that we should let everybody go out there, and we see who emerges. JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto

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The body of 11-year-old Palestinian girl Hamsa Hosou, killed by Israeli fire in Jabalia, is brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)2026-01-09T07:57:22Z DEIR AL BALAH (AP) Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 13 people, according to health officials, as U.S. President Donald Trump was expected to announce the Board of Peace to oversee the fragile ceasefire. Health officials and family members said at least one child was among the dead in northern Gaza following several strikes there as well as east of Gaza City. Israels army said Friday it struck Hamas infrastructure and fighters in southern and northern Gaza in response to a failed projectile launched by militants from the Gaza City area. The phased ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains in its initial stage as efforts continue to recover the remains of the final hostage in Gaza. Officials say next week Trump is expected to announce the Board of Peace, which he has said he will head, marking an important step forward for his Mideast peace plan. The process has moved slowly since a ceasefire in October ended more than two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas. The U.S. official and another official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement. On Thursday, Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov would be the designated director-general for the board. Mladenov is a former Bulgarian defense and foreign minister who served as the U.N. envoy to Iraq before being appointed as the U.N. Mideast peace envoy from 2015-2020. During that time, he had good working relations with Israel and frequently worked to ease tensions between Israel and Hamas. Under Trumps plan, the board would supervise a new technocratic Palestinian government, the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an international security force, additional pullbacks of Israeli troops and reconstruction. The U.S. has reported little progress on any of these fronts so far. On Thursday, Egyptian and European Union leaders met in Cairo and urged the deployment of the international stabilization force. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Hamas still refused to disarm and called the situation extremely severe. Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the nearly three-month-old ceasefire. Continued Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed more than 400 Palestinians, according to local health officials.The Israeli military says any actions since the ceasefire began have been in response to violations of the agreement.The strikes Thursday killed an 11-year-old girl who dreamed of becoming a doctor, a teenage girl and two boys in a tent camp. At least a dozen others were injured, hospital officials said.