Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office is once again ensnared in scandal after police arrested two of his close associates this week on suspicion of accepting money from Qatar to promote a positive image of the Gulf Arab state in Israel.

The affair has gripped Israelis because Qatar, a country that many view as a patron of Hamas, and which has no formal diplomatic ties to Israel, appears to have penetrated the highest corridors of power.

Overnight strikes by Israel killed at least 55 people across the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said Thursday, a day after senior government officials said Israel would seize large areas of Gaza and establish a new security corridor across the Palestinian territory.

Israel has vowed to escalate the nearly 18-month war with Hamas until the militant group returns dozens of remaining hostages, disarms and leaves the territory. Israel has imposed a month-long halt on all imports of food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle.

Real Madrid came close to being eliminated at home again by Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey but prevailed to reach its second final in three seasons on Tuesday.

Antonio Rüdiger scored the decisive goal in extra time at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium to allow the Spanish powerhouse to advance 5-4 on aggregate score.

As severe thunderstorms threatened to hit parts of the Midwest and South on Wednesday, forecasters warned of potentially deadly flash flooding, strong tornadoes and baseball-sized hail.

The potent storm system was expected to bring the threat of "significant, life-threatening flash flooding" starting Wednesday and continuing each day through Saturday, the National Weather Service said.

After weeks of White House hype and public anxiety, President Donald Trump is set Wednesday to announce a barrage of self-described reciprocal tariffs on friend and foe alike.

The new tariffs, coming on what Trump has called "Liberation Day," are a bid to boost U.S. manufacturing and punish other countries for what he has said are years of unfair trade practices. But by most economists' assessments, the risky move threatens to plunge the economy into a downturn and mangle decades-old alliances.

Satellite images analyzed Wednesday by The Associated Press show the deployment of at least six nuclear-capable B-2 Spirit bombers to Camp Thunder Bay on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

The presence of the bombers comes as the United States continues an intense airstrike campaign targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels. The B-2 has been used in combat to target the Houthis in the past.

Protests that erupted across Turkey following the arrest of Istanbul's opposition mayor — the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — took a new direction Wednesday with calls for a one-day shopping boycott.

The student groups behind the call also urged businesses to close Wednesday.

President Emmanuel Macron told members of the government on Wednesday that the French judiciary was "independent" and that "judges must be protected", according to an official present at the meeting.

Speaking after far-right leader Marine Le Pen was banned from standing for office as part of an embezzlement conviction, Macron also said that "all litigants have the right to appeal", according to the participant who asked not to be named.

Since President Donald Trump took office, the U.S. government has used its immigration enforcement powers to crack down on international students and scholars at several American universities who had participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations or criticized Israel over its military action in Gaza.

Trump and other officials have accused protesters and others of being "pro-Hamas," referring to the Palestinian militant group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Many protesters have said they were speaking out against Israel's actions in the war.

An Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, known as Dahieh, killed at least three people overnight Tuesday, Lebanese authorities said, after Israel announced its second strike on the country's capital in a fragile four-month truce.

The attack that came without warning at around 3:30 am (0030 GMT) during the Eid al-Fitr Muslim holiday. It came after Israel struck Beirut's southern suburbs, a bastion of Hezbollah support, on Friday after issuing an evacuation warning.