AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel has struck the largest hospital in the territory’s south

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel’s military struck the largest hospital in southern Gaza on Sunday night, killing one person, wounding others and causing a large fire, the territory’s Health Ministry said.

The strike hit the surgical building of Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis, the ministry said, days after the facility was overwhelmed with dead and wounded when Israel resumed the war in Gaza last week with a surprise wave of airstrikes.

Israel’s military confirmed the strike on the hospital, saying it hit a Hamas militant operating there. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas.

Like other medical facilities around Gaza, Nasser Hospital has been damaged by Israeli raids and strikes throughout the war.

More than 50,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the war, the Health Ministry said earlier Sunday.

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A legal showdown looms in Israel as Netanyahu moves to oust top officials

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel again is fighting a war on multiple fronts, but a battle is also brewing inside the country.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have joined anti-government protests in recent days. A former Supreme Court chief justice has warned of civil war. And experts are saying a constitutional crisis could be on the horizon if the Israeli government moves ahead with plans to fire top legal and security officials.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last week he was firing Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, citing a crisis of confidence sparked by the failures to prevent Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Netanyahu’s government has also launched a process to dismiss the attorney general, accusing her of obstructing its agenda.

The moves come as the Shin Bet is investigating a possible infiltration of Netanyahu’s office by an Arab country and as Netanyahu is on trial for corruption.

They are setting up a showdown between Netanyahu and the judiciary that is deepening divisions in Israel and could set off upheaval at a time when Israel is bogged down by war.

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South Korean court overturns impeachment of Prime Minister Han, reinstating him as acting president

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s acting president thanked the Constitutional Court for its “wise” decision restoring his powers Monday and said he would attend to the most urgent matters.

Han Duck-soo upon arriving at the government office in Seoul also said South Korean people must stop fighting over the turmoil over President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment. “There is no more left or right in the country. The country must go forward or rise upward. That is the most important task ahead of us,” said Han.

Parliament in December had impeached Han in part because he refused to fill empty Constitutional Court justices seats. The votes of at least six justices are required to remove the impeached Yoon from office.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Monday overturned the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, reinstating the nation’s No. 2 official as acting leader, while not yet ruling on the separate impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

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Pope Francis is back home after a 5-week hospital stay for life-threatening double pneumonia

VATICAN CITY (AP) — A frail Pope Francis returned to the Vatican on Sunday after a five-week hospitalization for life-threatening double pneumonia, and he made a surprise stop at his favorite basilica on the way home before beginning two months of prescribed rest and recovery.

The 88-year-old pope sat in the front passenger seat of his white Fiat 500L wearing nasal tubes to give him supplemental oxygen as he entered the Perugino gate of Vatican City, where his return brought relief after fears that his illness could be fatal or lead to another papal resignation.

Francis’ motorcade from Gemelli hospital overshot the Vatican initially and took a detour across town to stop at St. Mary Major basilica, where the pope’s favorite icon of the Madonna is located and where he always goes to pray after a foreign visit.

He didn’t get out of the car but gave a bouquet of flowers to the basilica’s cardinal to place in front of the Salus populi Romani icon. The Byzantine-style painting on wood is revered by Romans and is so important to Francis that he has chosen to be buried in the basilica to be near it.

The tour through Rome’s historic center came after Francis made his first appearance in five weeks to give a thumbs-up and brief blessing from a hospital balcony. Hundreds of people had gathered on a brilliant spring Sunday morning to say goodbye and catch a first glimpse of Francis, who seemed to be gasping for air.

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A Russian drone attack kills 7 in Ukraine ahead of ceasefire talks

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a barrage of drones across Ukraine overnight Sunday that killed at least seven people, according to local Ukrainian officials and emergency services.

The attacks, including on the capital, Kyiv, came ahead of ceasefire negotiations in Saudi Arabia in which Ukraine and Russia are expected to hold indirect U.S.-mediated talks on Monday to discuss a pause in long-range attacks targeting energy facilities and civilian infrastructure.

The Ukrainian delegation is expected to meet with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia a day ahead of the indirect talks, Ukraine’s President Voldoymyr Zelenskyy said. Ukraine is planning to send technical teams to discuss the details of the partial ceasefire.

Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said he expected “some real progress” at the talks in Saudi Arabia, “particularly as it affects a Black Sea ceasefire on ships between both countries, and from that you’ll naturally gravitate into a full-on shooting ceasefire.”

Asked about concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be looking beyond Ukraine and could press further into Europe, even if Russia is awarded territory within Ukraine now, Witkoff said he has been asked his opinion on what Putin’s motives are on a large scale.

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2 months into Trump’s second administration, the news industry faces challenges from all directions

NEW YORK (AP) — During the first Trump administration, the biggest concern for many journalists was labels. Would they, or their news outlet, be called “fake news” or an “enemy of the people” by a president and his supporters?

They now face a more assertive President Donald Trump. In two months, a blitz of action by the nation’s new administration — Trump, chapter two — has journalists on their heels.

Lawsuits. A newly aggressive Federal Communications Commission. An effort to control the press corps that covers the president, prompting legal action by The Associated Press. A gutted Voice of America. Public data stripped from websites. And attacks, amplified anew.

“It’s very clear what’s happening. The Trump administration is on a campaign to do everything it can to diminish and obstruct journalism in the United States,” said Bill Grueskin, a journalism professor at Columbia University.

“It’s really nothing like we saw in 2017,” he said. “Not that there weren’t efforts to discredit the press, and not that there weren’t things that the press did to discredit themselves.”

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Second lady Usha Vance will visit Greenland as Trump talks up US takeover

WASHINGTON (AP) — Second lady Usha Vance plans a trip to Greenland, at a time when President Donald Trump has suggested the United States should take control over the self-governing, mineral-rich territory of American ally Denmark.

Vance will leave on Thursday and return Saturday, according to her office. Vance and one of her three children will be part of a U.S. delegation that will “visit historic sites” and “learn about Greenlandic heritage.”

Media outlets in Greenland and Denmark reported that Vance would be accompanied by Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz. The White House and the National Security Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump had mused during his first term about buying the world’s largest island, even as Denmark, a NATO ally, insisted it wasn’t for sale. The people of Greenland also have firmly rejected Trump’s plans.

Vice President JD Vance said Sunday that Trump “doesn’t care” what the Europeans think.

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Canada’s prime minister and his opponent kick off election saying Trump must respect sovereignty

TORONTO (AP) — New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Conservative opponent said U.S. President Donald Trump must respect Canada’s sovereignty as they kicked off their election campaigns Sunday against the backdrop of a trade war and Trump’s annexation threats.

Carney announced a five-week election campaign before the vote on April 28.

“We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump’s unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty,” Carney said.

“President Trump claims that Canada isn’t a real country. He wants to break us so America can own us. We will not let that happen,” he added.

The governing Liberals appeared poised for a historic election defeat this year until Trump declared a trade war. He has repeatedly said Canada should become the 51st U.S. state and has acknowledged he’s upended Canadian politics.

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Conan O’Brien will receive the Mark Twain Prize for humor as politics roils the Kennedy Center

WASHINGTON (AP) — Conan O’Brien will receive the Mark Twain Prize on Sunday night at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where the backstage drama of the host institution hangs over the celebration.

O’Brien, 61, was named the latest recipient of the award for lifetime achievement in comedy in mid-January, about three weeks before President Donald Trump upended the Kennedy Center by ousting the longtime president and the board chairman. Trump dismissed the board of directors and replaced them with loyalists, who then elected him as chairman.

As a Mark Twain recipient, O’Brien received tributes and testimonials from a star-studded collection of comics and celebrities. Many of them also took aim at the institution’s uncertain future.

“I think it would be insane not to address the elephant in the room,” comic Nikki Glaser said on the red carpet before the event began. “It’s in the air tonight. This night is about Conan, but it can be both.”

Once the festivities began, Stephen Colbert joked that the Kennedy Center had announced two new board members: Bashar Assad, the ousted president of Syria, and Skeletor, a fictional supervillain.

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Brackets busted: No perfect March Madness brackets remain after Sunday’s games

Brackets, busted.

The handful of remaining perfect brackets in the NCAA Tournament busted out on Sunday, ending the hopes of millions against exceptionally long odds.

The final perfect brackets on Yahoo Sports and CBS Sports were shredded with Saturday’s games. Top-seeded Florida’s 77-75 win over two-time reigning national champion UConn continued the carnage on Sunday.

Duke’s 89-66 win over Baylor left one remaining perfect bracket on ESPN’s tracker and it didn’t last long. That bracket imploded with Kentucky’s 84-75 win over Illinois, creating 24.3 million imperfect brackets.

The Wildcats’ win also killed off the last bracket of the 34 million on the NCAA’s platform.

The Associated Press