CAIRO — At least 40 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes across Gaza on Sunday, including two dozen when a residential building in the northern town of Jabalia was hit, Palestinian health officials and a human rights group said.

TOKYO — Japanese lawmakers decide today whether Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba remains the country’s leader after his scandal-tarnished coalition lost its parliamentary majority in a lower house election late last month. Ishiba, who called the snap poll after coming into office on Oct. 1, is expected to prevail as his Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner Komeito won the biggest block of seats in the election, while losing the majority held since 2012.

NEW YORK — A New York judge is set to decide this week whether President-elect Donald Trump’s criminal conviction on charges involving hush money paid to a porn star should be overturned in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s July ruling on presidential immunity. Justice Juan Merchan has said he will make his decision by Tuesday. It is the first of two pivotal choices that the judge must make after Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory. Merchan also must decide whether to go ahead with sentencing Trump on Nov. 26 as currently scheduled. Legal experts have said sentencing now is unlikely to happen ahead of Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. A favorable ruling by Merchan for Trump on the immunity question or a sentencing delay would pave the way for him to return to the White House largely unencumbered by any of the four criminal cases that once appeared to threaten his ambitions to win back the White House. Officials at the U.S. Justice Department are assessing how to wind down the two federal criminal cases brought against Trump by Special Counsel Jack Smith due to its longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president. A separate case in Georgia involving state criminal charges concerning Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss remains in limbo. Trump, 78, pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing in all four cases, which he portrayed as political persecutions by allies of Democratic President Joe Biden designed to thwart his campaign.

MOSCOW — Ukraine attacked Moscow on Sunday with at least 34 drones, the biggest drone strike on the Russian capital since the start of the war in 2022, forcing flights to be diverted from three of the city’s major airports and injuring at least five people.

Businessman Elon Musk, an ally of President-elect Donald Trump, endorsed Republican Senator Rick Scott for U.S. Senate majority leader on Sunday as the race to fill the influential post heats up after the party won control of the chamber.

Strong quake rocks eastern Cuba, damaging buildings, infrastructure

(Reuters) — President-elect Donald Trump has offered Republican Representative Elise Stefanik the job as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, CNN reported on Sunday, citing two unnamed sources.

Qatar has told Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel it will stall its efforts to mediate a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal until they show “willingness and seriousness” to resume talks, its foreign ministry said on Saturday.

When Anastasios Zakalkas pulled up the ropes of his mussel farm in the Aegean Sea last month, the devastation was clear: the lines were not heaving with molluscs as they should be at harvest time but were instead filled with cracked, empty shells.

Firefighters started gaining control on Friday over a stubborn wildfire near Los Angeles that destroyed at least 132 buildings and damaged 88 others, as many of the more than 10,000 people forced to evacuate were able to return home.

(Reuters) — EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell sought to reassure Ukraine of Europe’s unwavering support on Saturday, days after Donald Trump’s election win cast uncertainty over its war effort.

(Reuters) — Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon over the last day have killed at least 40 people including several children, Lebanese authorities said on Saturday, after heavy Israeli bombardment pounded the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut overnight.

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s return to the White House will put him in a position to push for criminal charges against his political opponents, such as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress.