World News

More burial sites are forgoing pristine lawns for drought resistant plants and wildflowers that help wildlife. Efforts picked up in the pandemic.

Tens of thousands of people who had fled the city of Baalbek returned to bombed-out restaurants, flattened apartment buildings and many of the dead still buried under the rubble.

Matt Miller, a U.S. State Department spokesman, said the Biden administration had contacted the Israeli government to ask about what he called a “horrifying incident.” At least 55 people were killed, according to Palestinian Civil Defense.

The Israeli military said it was looking into reports of the attack. The Palestinian Civil Defense, an emergency service, said at least 55 people were killed.

The Knesset opened its winter session and approved legislation that banned the agency known as UNRWA from operating in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his spy chief was back home from Gaza cease-fire talks in Qatar.

The director of the C.I.A. was in Qatar for preliminary talks with Israeli officials aimed at reviving cease-fire negotiations with Hamas.

Iran’s supreme leader said Israel’s attack should not be “magnified or downplayed,” state media reported. U.S. and Israeli officials were expected to meet in Qatar for talks aimed at reviving cease-fire negotiations.

The Italian authorities carried out a drill of their plan to save a half-million people from toxic fumes, deadly quakes or a full eruption. Vesuvius isn’t the volcano they’re worried about.

Iran’s national air defense force said that Israel had struck sites in three provinces, including Tehran, causing “limited damage.”

Israel had promised strikes after Iran fired several waves of ballistic missiles at Israel earlier this month.