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  • The White House is starting a new media policy that restricts access to the president

    The White House is starting a new media policy that restricts access to the president

    Fresh from a courtroom loss over The Associated Press’ access to the presidency, the White House on Tuesday put forward a new media policy that sharply curtails access to Donald Trump by news agencies that serve media outlets around the world. It was the latest attempt by the new administration to control coverage of its activities.

    The move would block the AP and other wire services that serve billions of readers through thousands of news outlets. It comes after a judge ruled the White House had violated the organization’s free speech by banning it because it disagreed with the outlet’s decision not to rename the Gulf of Mexico.

    While outlining a new “pool coverage” policy for small spaces like the Oval Office and Air Force One, the White House also said it will ultimately give press secretary Karoline Leavitt the final say over who gets to question her boss, according to people who have seen the plan.

    The White House did not return messages for comment on Tuesday evening.

    A federal judge last week ruled the White House improperly punished the AP for refusing to rename the Gulf of Mexico by blocking its reporters and photographers from covering the events. U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden ordered the administration to treat the AP as it does other news organizations.

    A day after defying McFadden’s ruling and continuing AP’s ban when Trump and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele met with reporters in the Oval Office, the White House leaked a new policy to selected journalists.

    For many years, the White House Correspondents Association has run the pool for the limited space events, and each time it has included reporters from the wire services AP, Reuters and Bloomberg. One print reporter was also allowed, selected on a rotating basis from more than 30 news outlets.

    The White House now says it will lump the three wire services with print reporters for two slots — meaning roughly three dozen reporters will rotate for two regular slots. Wire services typically report and write stories that are used in multiple locations around the country and the planet.

    Even with the rotation, the White House said Trump’s press secretary “shall retain day-to-day discretion to determine composition of the pool.” The new policy says reporters will also be allowed in “irrespective of the substantive viewpoint expressed by an outlet.”

    In a statement, the AP’s Lauren Easton said the outlet was deeply disappointed that rather than restore the AP’s access, the White House instead chose restrictions over all of the wire services.

    “The wire services represent thousands of news organizations across the U.S. and the world over,” said Easton, an AP spokeswoman. “Our coverage is used by local newspapers and television stations in all 50 states to inform their communities.

    “The administration’s actions continue to disregard the fundamental American freedom to speak without government control or retaliation,” Easton said Tuesday night.

    The independent White House Correspondents’ Association said the administration’s insistence on retaining control over who covers the president shows that it is unwilling to guarantee that it would not continue “viewpoint discrimination.”

    “The government should not be able to control the independent media that covers it,” said Eugene Daniels, the association’s president.

    Under Leavitt, the White House has given greater access to news outlets friendly to Trump. That was visible Tuesday, when the first reporter Leavitt addressed during a briefing asked two questions while also praising Trump policy.

    At Monday’s Oval Office meeting, Trump bristled at questions from CNN’s Kaitlan Collins about a man deported to an El Salvador prison, at one point accusing CNN of “hating our country.” He made it a point to contrast her questions with a non-pointed one from another reporter.

    Despite the occasional fireworks, Trump has made himself accessible to the media more than his predecessor, former President Joe Biden. Cramped-quarters events, particularly in the Oval Office, are some of his favorite places to talk — rendering the new access policy all the more impactful.

    The new policy advanced on Tuesday did not address access for photographers. At an earlier court hearing about the AP’s case, the outlet’s chief White House photographer, Evan Vucci, and correspondent Zeke Miller testified about how the ban has hurt the business of a news agency built to quickly get news and images to its customers.

    The dispute stems from AP’s decision not to follow the president’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico, although AP style does cite Trump’s wish that it be called the Gulf of America. McFadden agreed with AP’s argument that the government cannot punish the news organization for what it says — for exercising its right to free speech.

    The White House has argued that press access to the president is a privilege, not a right, that it should control — much like it decides to whom Trump gives one-on-one interviews. In court papers filed last weekend, his lawyers signaled that even with McFadden’s decision, the AP’s days of unchallenged access to open presidential events were over.

    “No other news organization in the United States receives the level of guaranteed access previously bestowed upon the AP,” the administration argued. “The AP may have grown accustomed to its favored status, but the Constitution does not require that such status endure in perpetuity.”

    The administration has appealed McFadden’s ruling, and is scheduled to be in an appeals court on Thursday to argue that ruling should be put on hold until the merits of the case are fully decided, perhaps by the U.S. Supreme Court.

    The administration has not curtailed AP access to Leavitt’s briefings over the past two months. It has blocked access to events in the East Room to White House-credentialed AP reporters — until Tuesday, when one was allowed into an event that involved the Navy football team.

    ___

    David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social

  • RFK Jr.’s mixed message about the measles outbreaks draws criticism from health officials

    RFK Jr.’s mixed message about the measles outbreaks draws criticism from health officials

    WASHINGTON — As measles outbreaks popped up across the U.S. this winter, pediatricians waited for the nation’s public health agency to send a routine, but important, letter that outlines how they could help stop the spread of the illness.

    It wasn’t until last week — after the number of cases grew to more than 700, and a second young child in Texas had died from a measles infection — that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finally issued its correspondence.

    The delay of that letter may seem minor. But it is one in a string of missteps that more than a dozen doctors, nurses and public health officials interviewed by The Associated Press identified in the Trump administration’s response to the outbreak.

    Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to contain an epidemic in a tight-knit, religious community in West Texas have run counter to established public health strategies deployed to end past epidemics.

    “What we are lacking now is one, clear strong voice — from the federal to the state to the local — saying that the vaccine is the only thing that will prevent measles,” said Patricia Stinchfield, a nurse and infectious disease expert who helped stop a 2017 measles outbreak in Minnesota’s Somali community.

    Behind the scenes, Kennedy has not been regularly briefed in person on the outbreak by his own infectious disease experts at the CDC at least through March 21, according to Kevin Griffis, a career staffer who worked as the agency’s communications director until he resigned that day.

    Even after the measles claimed its first young Texas victim in late February, Kennedy had still not been briefed by CDC staff, Griffis said. His account was confirmed by a second former federal health official, who resigned at the end of February.

    A spokesperson for Kennedy did not answer specific written questions about how he had been briefed or his communications with CDC staff.

    The spokesperson said the CDC activated an Atlanta-based response in early February to provide overall guidance on measles testing and vaccination strategy. An on-the-ground team was deployed to West Texas throughout most of March and withdrawn on April 1.

    It was a “joint decision” between state and federal officials to send the team home, CDC spokesman Jason McDonald said. Another team of seven was dispatched back to the region this week.

    In previous administrations, health secretaries held weekly briefings with CDC staff, lasting between 25 and 30 minutes, during infectious disease outbreaks, both former HHS officials said. Kennedy, instead, received updates on paper or through email, Griffis said.

    “That is extremely unusual,” said Griffis, who sat in on such briefings with the previous health secretary and said that none were held for Kennedy during his first month on the job. “I’ve never seen that before.”

    In another irregularity, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the nation’s largest network of pediatricians, has not been tapped to work with the CDC on the outbreak, according to the organization’s officials. Historically, the CDC and AAP have convened for monthly or biweekly briefings during outbreaks to share updates, which include details about what doctors are seeing and questions they’re fielding from parents in exam rooms. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss the health department’s response.

    The only updates provided widely to pediatricians by the CDC have come from a health alert network update sent on March 7, a week after the first U.S. measles death in a decade, and the letter sent to providers last week, which, according to the pediatric academy officials, was late in the outbreak.

    Kennedy praised the CDC on Tuesday during an event in Indianapolis, saying it “had done a very good job controlling the measles outbreak.”

    Kennedy’s inconsistent and unclear message on the measles vaccines has also made the outbreaks difficult to contain, experts say.

    He has occasionally endorsed the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine as “effective,” but also continues to raise safety concerns about the shots in other statements. In a CBS interview last week, he claimed the vaccines were “not safety tested.”

    That approach has been the biggest flaw of the government’s response, said Dr. Carlos del Rio, the president of the Infectious Disease Society of America.

    “Imagine if the captain of the Titanic had told you that you need to be careful about lifeboats and think about other opportunities,” del Rio said.

    Trials were conducted on thousands of children before the vaccine was approved for use in the 1960s. The federal government has since used medical records to continue to monitor for side effects from use in millions of people since.

    Health secretaries have typically delivered a clear message urging the public to get vaccinated during outbreaks, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, a former deputy director at the CDC who retired after 33 years at the agency in 2021.

    President Donald Trump and his first-term health secretary, Alex Azar, urged people to get shots during news conferences in 2019, when measles ripped through Brooklyn and infected more than 1,200 nationwide.

    “You don’t necessarily need the secretary of health to attend a funeral, OK, but you don’t want to have mixed messages on vaccines,” Schuchat said. “Someone in a federal building in Washington can do a lot of harm from the way that they are messaging.”

    Local leaders have largely been left alone to urge the public to take up vaccinations.

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has not urged the public to get vaccinated, either. He has not held any news conferences about the outbreak and posted just once on social media about measles since January. Any statements about the illnesses, which have also put 56 people in the hospital at some point, have been left to his aides.

    Abbott’s office did not respond to questions about his response to the outbreak.

    Governors in other states have responded more forcefully to the growing measles case count. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, a Democrat and a doctor, made front page news last week after urging Hawaiians to take up vaccines when the state recorded its first measles case in a year.

    Ahead of a busy travel week for the Easter holiday, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, a Republican, unequivocally called on people to vaccinate themselves and their children. There are no known measles cases in Nebraska, but an outbreak is active in neighboring Kansas.

    “If you’re not vaccinated, you’re going to get measles,” Pillen said last week.

    Those types of statements are important for the public to hear leaders say from the top down, said Dr. Oxiris Barbot, who was New York City’s health commissioner during the 2019 measles outbreak.

    Barbot worked with local rabbis, as well as doctors and nurses in the Jewish community, to send messages that encouraged vaccine uptake. Calls from Trump and Azar, who urged the public to vaccinate, helped her make the case, too.

    When national leaders distance themselves from that message, she said it “starts to erode the effectiveness of people who are trying to convey those messages at the local level.”

    ___

    Associated Press writers Paul Weber in Austin, Texas, Devi Shastri in Milwaukee and Margery Beck in Omaha contributed to this report.

  • Is your teen sleep-deprived? These expert bedtime tips could help

    Is your teen sleep-deprived? These expert bedtime tips could help

    Navigating bedtime with a teenager is, in many homes, a nightly battle with a constant refrain: Get off your phone! Go to bed!

    Research shows that today’s teenagers are more sleep-deprived than ever before. Adolescents need between eight and 10 hours of sleep, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But nearly 80% of American teenagers aren’t getting that, and experts say it’s affecting important areas like mental health and school attendance.

    Bedtime routines aren’t just for toddlers. Teenagers need them too, says Denise Pope, an expert on child development and a senior lecturer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education.

    Experts in adolescent sleep say a few small changes to how parents and teens approach sleep can make a dramatic difference.

    The first step to setting up a better bedtime routine is dealing with technology.

    — Separate children from their devices at night. Phones, tablets, streaming services and video games aren’t the only things keeping kids up at night, but experts agree they are a major factor in delaying sleep.

    “Get the temptation out of the bedroom,” Pope says. If the phone is within arm’s reach, it’s hard to ignore when notifications buzz. Many teens say they fall asleep while scrolling, or reach for their phone if they have trouble sleeping, and end up scrolling for hours.

    — Be prepared for excuses. “My phone is my alarm clock” is something a lot of parents hear. The solution: Buy an alarm clock.

    — Put screens away an hour before bedtime. Exposure to light prevents the release of melatonin, the hormone released by the brain that makes us feel drowsy.

    Then, replace screens with a new wind-down routine.

    — Try to get to bed around the same time each night and start winding down at least 30 minutes before. During that time, silence notifications, take a warm shower, read a book. To get an idea of what your teen’s bedtime should be, try an online “ bedtime calculator,” such as the one from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

    — Avoid caffeine and energy drinks in the afternoon and evening.

    — The best sleep environment is a cool, dark, quiet room. In noisy households, earplugs and a sleep mask can help. If a bedroom is too warm, it can affect getting to sleep and staying asleep, says adolescent sleep expert Kyla Wahlstrom.

    Some of the telltale evidence of sleep deprivation: being irritable, grumpy, short-tempered, emotionally fragile, unmotivated, impulsive and more likely to see the world and oneself through a negative lens. A sleep-deprived teen also may fall asleep during the daytime, in the car or in class.

    “We often blame adolescents for being lazy or unruly or having bad behavior, much of which could be attributed to the fact that they are chronically sleep-deprived,” says Wendy Troxel, a clinical psychologist who has conducted numerous studies on adolescent sleep.

    How do you tell the difference between a sleepy teen and a cranky-but-well-rested one?

    — One key sign is what sleep expert Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse calls “zombie mornings.”

    “If your teen hits snooze five times, takes forever to get out of bed, asks you for a big cup of coffee first thing in the morning, most likely they are running on empty,” says Fong-Isariyawongse, a neurologist at the University of Pittsburgh.

    — Extreme mood swings are another sign. Sleep is critical for emotional processing, which is why sleep-deprived teens are more likely to be irritable, anxious or depressed.

    — A sleep-deprived teen may fall behind in school, because sleep is essential for learning and memory consolidation.

    — Teens who sleep less are more likely to make bad choices when it comes to drug or alcohol use, drowsy or reckless driving and risky sexual behavior.

    — Does your teen sleep until lunchtime on weekends? “Most likely they are not getting enough sleep during the week,” says Fong-Isariyawongse. It’s fine to sleep in a bit, but try to limit it to a couple hours. Otherwise, it throws off the body clock and makes it harder to wake up when the new school week begins.

    Explain to your teens why sleep matters, and that it’s not just nagging parents who say so. The data on mental health and sleep is vast.

    — Many studies show that depression, anxiety and the risk of suicidal thinking go up as sleep goes down.

    — Beyond mood, sleep deprivation affects physical and athletic ability. That’s why several NFL and NBA teams have hired sleep coaches. Teens who are sleep-deprived sustain more physical injuries, because they take more risks, their judgment is impaired, and reflexes and reaction times are not as fast. Teens who get more sleep perform better in sports, and when they do get injuries, they have a quicker recovery time.

    — More teenage car accidents come from drowsy driving than driving under the influence of alcohol, studies show. Teens who say they get less than eight hours of sleep a night are more likely to text while driving, not wear a seat belt, drink and drive — or get in a car with a driver who has been drinking.

    As any parent knows, telling their teenager to go to sleep does not always work. You need to get their buy-in.

    “Kids need to be educated about sleep, and their brain health and emotional health, and how it all ties together,” says Wahlstrom. “Tell your kids, ‘You’ll do better in school, better in sports, you’ll look better after a good night’s sleep.’ Because until they want to help themselves, they won’t do it.”

    ___

    The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

  • Man convicted of killing women in Florida and California is set for execution

    Man convicted of killing women in Florida and California is set for execution

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A man convicted of killing two women, one in Florida and another in California, has been scheduled for execution in Florida under a death warrant signed Tuesday by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, the fifth this year.

    Glen Edward Rogers, 62, is set to die by lethal injection May 15 at Florida State Prison near the city of Starke.

    Rogers was convicted in 1997 and sentenced to death for the murder of Tina Marie Cribbs. The two were seen leaving a Gibsonton, Florida, bar together in November 1995. The woman was found stabbed to death in a hotel bathroom two days later.

    Rogers received another death sentence in California in 1999. He met Sandra Gallagher at a Van Nuys, California, bar in September 1995. Her badly burned corpse was found in her truck a day later near Rogers’ apartment.

    Rogers is also suspected in several other homicides throughout the United States.

    Three other executions have taken place in Florida this year, with a fourth upcoming May 1, all by lethal injection.

    On March 20, Edward James, 63, was executed for killing an 8-year-old girl and her grandmother in 1993. James Dennis Ford, 64, was put to death Feb. 13 for the 1997 murders of a married couple while out on a fishing trip. Earlier this month, Michael Tanzi, 48, died by lethal injection April 8 for kidnapping and murdering a woman in the Florida Keys in 2000.

    Gulf War Army veteran Jeffrey Hutchinson, 59, is set to die by lethal injection May 1. He’s convicted of killing his girlfriend and her three children with a shotgun.

  • Trump assassination attempt suspect Ryan Routh can hire expert to check rifle, judge says

    Trump assassination attempt suspect Ryan Routh can hire expert to check rifle, judge says

    Trump golf course plot not guilty plea



    Trump golf course assassination plot suspect pleads not guilty

    04:12

    A man accused of trying to assassinate President Trump at his Florida golf club last September can hire an expert to examine the rifle recovered from the scene, but only to determine its operability, a federal judge said Tuesday.

    Ryan Routh’s attorneys had asked that their expert be allowed to inspect, photograph and test the rifle in order to evaluate a government expert’s findings, as well as test it for other information that they thought was relevant. In Tuesday’s order, District Judge Aileen Cannon — who was nominated by Mr. Trump — limited the testing to just its operability, with a May 15 deadline. 

    Routh, who has pleaded not guilty, was charged with attempted assassination of a presidential candidate and two firearm charges. His federal trial is scheduled for September, and he’s expected to face additional state charges.

    Prosecutors say Routh methodically plotted to kill Mr. Trump — then a presidential candidate — for weeks before aiming a rifle through the shrubbery as Mr. Trump played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach country club. Before the president came into view, Routh was spotted by a Secret Service agent. Routh allegedly aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and flee without firing a shot. Prosecutors say he left behind a note describing his intentions. He was arrested a short time later driving on a nearby interstate.

    Federal prosecutors alleged last week Routh also tried to buy an anti-aircraft weapon online to shoot down Mr. Trump’s plane. “I need equipment so that Trump cannot get elected,” Routh allegedly told an associate from whom he hoped to buy the weapon.

    Meanwhile. Routh’s attorneys asked the judge last week to suppress statements from the eyewitness who identified Routh. The lawyers argued police were “impermissibly suggestive” when questioning the witness, who they said was shown a single photograph of Routh.

  • 4/15: CBS Evening News – CBS News

    4/15: CBS Evening News – CBS News



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    Columbia student detained by DHS worried citizenship appointment was a trap; Inside Franklin Roosevelt’s personal rail car

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  • New Mexico governor mobilizes National Guard to help police fight rising crime

    New Mexico governor mobilizes National Guard to help police fight rising crime



    New Mexico governor mobilizes National Guard to help police fight rising crime – CBS News








































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    Faced with violent crime, growing homelessness and a stagnant economy, New Mexico’s Democratic governor has declared a state of emergency in the state’s biggest city of Albuquerque. Dozens of members of the New Mexico National Guard are being mobilized to help city police. CBS News correspondent Jason Allen reports.

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  • Detained Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi tells CBS News he feared citizenship interview was “honey trap”

    Detained Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi tells CBS News he feared citizenship interview was “honey trap”

    Just one day before Mohsen Mahdawi was detained by immigration agents at what he was told was his citizenship interview, the Columbia student and Palestinian activist told CBS News he thought there was a chance the long-awaited appointment could be a trap.

    “It’s the first feeling of like, I’ve been waiting for this for more than a year,” Mahdawi — a native of the Israeli-occupied West Bank who has held a green card for the last decade — told CBS News on the eve of his detention. “And the other feeling is like, wait a minute. Is this a honey trap?”

    Mahdawi was taken into custody after arriving at his interview in Vermont on Monday. CBS News witnessed federal agents strapping on vests shortly after he walked into the building, emerging about an hour later with Mahdawi in handcuffs.

    His attorneys say he was detained under a little-used law allowing foreign nationals to be deported if they pose “serious adverse foreign policy consequences” — making him the latest student to face detention, including fellow Columbia activist and green card holder Mahmoud Khalil. Mahdawi’s legal team has petitioned a judge to release him and alleged he is being punished for protected speech, in violation of the First Amendment and his right to due process.

    Shortly after Mahdawi’s detention, federal Judge William Sessions ordered the Trump administration not to deport him or move him out of the state of Vermont while Sessions reviews the case, granting a request from Mahdawi’s attorneys.

    The Department of Homeland Security referred a request for comment to the State Department, which declined to comment.

    Mahdawi — who says he was set to receive his bachelor’s degree in philosophy in May — co-founded Columbia’s Palestinian Student Union in 2023 along with Khalil. Mahdawi was later active in protests on Columbia’s campus against Israel’s war in Gaza, which began after Hamas’ terrorist attack launched from the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023. His attorneys said in a court filing that Mahdawi “took a step back” from organizing the protests in March 2024, before the protests escalated later that spring, with demonstrators forming encampments and occupying a campus building.

    The nationwide wave of pro-Palestinian campus protests was a political lightning rod, with critics arguing the demonstrations — and their leaders — were disruptive and featured antisemitic rhetoric. Columbia is one of several schools to face a freeze in federal funding by the Trump administration, which alleges the Ivy League school “failed to protect students and faculty from antisemitic violence and harassment.”

    Mahdawi told CBS News last weekend he faced “threats” and “intimidation” after speaking about the protests in a late 2023 “60 Minutes” interview. Shortly after President Trump took office, he also drew the attention of Betar USA, a controversial pro-Israel group that tweeted in January that Mahdawi was on its “deport list.”

    The group’s former Executive Director Ross Glick told CBS News that Betar USA has collected information on thousands of pro-Palestinian activists and passed it on to the Trump administration. He said it’s up to the government to decide whether somebody actually supports Hamas: “Once information is handed off, we’re out of the process, right? It’s ultimately up to the government, the various officials.”

    Mahdawi pushed back on Betar’s criticism, saying groups like Betar “manipulate information, create lies, and attach them to the profiles of those either students or activists.” Mahdawi has vehemently denied claims of antisemitism in the Columbia University protests more generally, calling them a “false accusation.”

    He also told CBS News over the weekend that if he’s detained by federal agents, “I want people to know that my compassion extended beyond the Palestinian people. My compassion is also for the Jewish people and for the Israelis as well.”

    After Khalil was detained outside his Columbia-owned apartment last month, Mahdawi feared he could be ensnared next. Khalil is currently held in Louisiana, and his legal future is uncertain: An immigration judge ruled last week the Trump administration can move forward with deportation but gave his lawyers until late April to file applications for relief. His lawyers have indicated they will appeal the ruling, and they are separately suing the government for his release.

    Mahdawi told CBS News he began taking precautions for his own safety, including avoiding public spaces, after Khalil’s detention. Still, when he received word of a citizenship appointment, he chose to attend — though he suspected it may lead to his detention.

    “It’s an irony. The irony of destiny. And I accept the outcome,” Mahdawi said a day beforehand. “If my story will become another story for the struggle to have justice and democracy in this country, let it be.”

  • Israeli strike hits Gaza hospital 2 days after last major functioning health facility knocked “out of service”

    Israeli strike hits Gaza hospital 2 days after last major functioning health facility knocked “out of service”

    Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip — An Israeli airstrike hit the northern gate of a field hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing a medic and wounding 10 other people, the hospital’s director said. The strike that hit the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in the Muwasi area was the second on a Gaza health facility in three days, coming after the last major hospital still providing critical care in the Palestinian enclave was hit Sunday in an attack the United Nations said had left it “out of service.”

    Israel’s attacks in Gaza have continued for almost a month, since the country abandoned a ceasefire with Hamas that had been negotiated by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar. Efforts to strike a new ceasefire agreement have made little apparent headway since then, though Hamas has said it is considering a new proposal from Israel this week. 

    Multiple news agencies cited Hamas officials as saying Israel had offered a 45-day halt in the fighting in exchange for the release of hostages. But Hamas officials cited by multiple news agencies reiterated that their would be no ceasefire agreement without a commitment by Israel to end the war and withdraw forces from Gaza. Hamas officials were also quoted as saying Israel had included a demand for the group to agree to disarm — something one representative was quoted as saying “is not up for discussions.”

    Israel’s government had not confirmed the new offer to Hamas as of Tuesday afternoon.

    An Israeli army UAV targeted the entrance of Kuwait Speciality Hospital

    Damage and traces of blood are seen on the ground in the entrance of the Kuwaiti Field Hospital following an Israeli strike, in Khan Younis, Gaza, April 15, 2025.

    Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu/Getty


    Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had sought shelter in sprawling tent camps around the Kuwaiti Field Hospital, but the wounded from Tuesday’s strike were all patients and medics, including two patients who were left in critical condition, according to hospital spokesman Saber Mohammed.

    There was no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces on the Tuesday strike. The IDF has bombed hospitals on several occasions during the 18-month war, accusing Hamas, which has long been designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and Israel, of hiding out in them or using them for military purposes. Hamas and Gazan hospital staff have denied the allegations and accused Israel of recklessly endangering civilians and deliberately gutting the territory’s health system.

    On Sunday, Israel struck the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City after ordering an evacuation. The United Nations said a child patient with a reported head injury died while being evacuated, and the strike severely damaged the emergency room, pharmacy and surrounding buildings.

    Al Ahli Hospital “is out of service,” Director-General of the U.N.’s World Health Program Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a tweet, adding: “Hospitals are protected under international humanitarian law. Attacks on health care must stop. Once again we repeat: patients, health workers and hospitals must be protected. The aid blockade must be lifted. Ceasefire.”

    MIDEAST-GAZA CITY-AL-AHLI ARAB HOSPITAL-ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE

    A Palestinian surveys the damage to a building inside the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital caused by an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, April 13, 2025.

    Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua/Getty


    U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesman echoed that sentiment, saying: “Under international humanitarian law, wounded and sick, medical personnel and medical facilities, including hospitals, must be respected and protected,” according to the Reuters news agency.

    The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which runs the hospital, also condemned the strike.

    Israel said it targeted a Hamas command and control center within the facility, without providing evidence. Hamas denied the allegations.

    Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 51,000 people, according to an updated toll released by the Gaza Ministry of Health on Tuesday. That includes more than 1,600 people killed since Israel ended the ceasefire and resumed its offensive last month to pressure Hamas to accept changes to the agreement. The ministry is led by medical professionals but reports to Gaza’s Hamas-run government. Its casualty count is seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts, though Israel has challenged its numbers. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

    The ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants but says women and children make up more than half of the dead. The offensive has destroyed much of the territory and displaced around 90% of its population of roughly 2 million Palestinians.

    The war was sparked by the Hamas-orchestrated Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel, which killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 251 others taken as hostages back into Gaza. Israeli officials say 59 of those hostages remain in Gaza, 24 of whom are still believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

  • Wink Martindale, host of game shows “Tic-Tac-Dough” and “High Rollers,” dies at 91

    Wink Martindale, host of game shows “Tic-Tac-Dough” and “High Rollers,” dies at 91

    Game show host Wink Martindale, known for “Tic-Tac-Dough,” “High Rollers” and “Gambit,” has died, according to his official Facebook page. He was 91.

    “Wink was amazing, funny and talented,” the post on his Facebook page reads. “Truly a LEGEND!”

    The host, born Winston Martindale, had a 74-year career, according to Nashville Publicity Group, which also confirmed Martindale’s death. A cause of death was not given.

    “The entire Game Show Network family mourns the loss of Wink Martindale, the host of the original “Tic-Tac-Dough” and a true legend of television game shows,” the Game Show Network posted on social media. “His charm and presence lit up the screen for generations of viewers and he will never be forgotten.”

    Martindale’s professional career began when he was just 17, according to his Hollywood Walk of Fame biography. The Jackson, Tennessee, man worked as a disc jockey for several years and even had his rendition of the spoken-word song “Deck Of Cards” chart on the Billboard Hot 100.

    His television career began at WHBQ-TV as the host of “Mars Patrol,” a science-fiction program for kids, according to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which Martindale earned a star on in 2006.

    While at WHBQ-TV, Martindale began hosting “Teenage Dance Party,” where he was joined by Elvis Presley in one appearance. The two were long-time friends; Presley dated Martindale’s wife, Sandy, before they married.

    Wink Martindale and Elvis Presley

    American singer Elvis Presley (1935 – 1977) appears with presenter Wink Martindale (left) on Wink’s television show ‘Teenage Dance Party’ in Memphis, Tennessee, 16th June 1956.

    ilver Screen Collection/Getty Images


    In 1964, Martindale landed a job hosting NBC’s “What’s This Song.” Other hosting credits include “Words and Music,” “Can You Stop This” and “Headline Chasers.” He hosted more than a dozen game shows, according to his 2000 autobiography.

    He hosted “Tic-Tac-Dough” on CBS from 1978 until 1985, according to IMDB. Martindale hosted 185 episodes of NBC’s “High Rollers” between 1987 and 1988. His show “Gambit,” based on blackjack, was produced by Heatter-Quigley Productions. 

    “I remember that they auditioned practically every possible host. It came down to Dick Clark and me, and this is one time I beat Dick Clark,” Martindale told the Television Academy Foundation in 2018.

    He also told the Television Academy Foundation that he liked getting to meet so many different people while working on game shows.  

    “I enjoy finding out what makes people tick,” he told the Television Academy Foundation. “As you play a game, you see why one person is more successful than another. But I just love working with people, and I love talking.”

    In recent years, Martindale made appearances on such programs as “Most Outrageous Game Show Moments,” “The Chase” and “The Bold and the Beautiful,” according to his publicist. He also appeared in commercials for Orbitz and KFC.

    Martindale is survived by his wife, his daughters and his sister.