For today, links to reports from National Public Radio, the Associated Press, and Reuters; others are accessible by clicking on its initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM

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Deal is in the works to release Israeli hostages and for a pause in fighting in Gaza. Reported by Steve Inskeep and Daniel Estrin | NPR  Israel says there are still differences between the sides on what the deal should look like. This comes nearly four months into the war, and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza getting worse. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Biden says U.S. ‘shall respond’ after drone strike by Iran-backed group kills 3 U.S. troops in Jordan, by Zeke Miller and Lolita C. Baldor | AP  COLUMBIA, S.C. — President Joe Biden said Sunday that the U.S. “shall respond” after three American troops were killed and dozens more were injured in an overnight drone strike in northeast Jordan near the Syrian border. Biden blamed Iran-backed militias for the first U.S. fatalities after . . . READ MORE . . .

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President Biden vows to respond to the deadly drone attack in Jordan. Reported by Steve Inskeep and Jane Arraf | NPR  A drone attack over the weekend that killed three U.S. soldiers at a remote base in Jordan was attributed to Iran-backed militias. President Biden says the U.S. “shall respond” to the attack. Click HERE later to listen and, still later, read.

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Israeli settlers hold conference on resettlement in Gaza. From Reuters. Hundreds of members of the Israeli settler community gathered for a convention in Jerusalem on Sunday to call for Israel to rebuild settlements in Gaza and the northern part of the occupied West Bank. Israel withdrew its military and settlers from Gaza in 2005 after . . . READ MORE . . .