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Our top stories.

Ukraine claimed responsibility for the explosion in Moscow that killed General Igor Kirolov,

the head of Russia's nuclear protection forces, the most senior officer

to be assassinated since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Local officials said the bomb was hidden in a

scooter parked outside his home. On Monday, a Ukrainian court charged General Kirillov in

absentia for using banned chemical weapons

in the war. Western officials continued to forge relations with Syria's new government

under Hayat Tarir al-Sharm. The Islamist rebel group, many of them designate as a terrorist group.

German and French envoys met local authorities in Damascus, the capital on Tuesday.

A day earlier, British diplomats met HTS's leader Ahmed Al-Shara.

The new regime has asked Western countries to lift sanctions.

Israel's parliament narrowly passed a wartime austerity

budget for 2025. Despite a revolt by a hard-right party in Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition

government, lawmakers backed the bill by 59 to 57 in the first vote. Itamar Ben-Givir, the rebellious national security minister,

once the Attorney General fired. The budget, which reigns in spending and raises taxes,

provides funds to continue fighting in Gaza. Donald Trump sued the Des Moines Register,

...