Israel pounds Gaza, Trump-Putin call and Butch and Suni homecoming
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Today, Palestinian authorities say hundreds are killed as Israel strikes Gaza. Trump and Putin are set to discuss the war in Ukraine and control over Europe's largest nuclear power plant. And two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station begin their journey back to Earth.

It's Tuesday, March 18th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Christopher Waljasper in Chicago. And I'm Tara Oaks in Liverpool.

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An ambulance races to the site of an airstrike in Gaza. Israel has pounded the enclave, collapsing a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. Palestinian health authorities say over 300 people have been killed, many of whom were children. Panic at hospitals as injured Gazans are brought in. Piles of dead bodies covered in white, blood-smeared plastic stacked up on the ground.

The strikes were reported across multiple locations in the strip. Hamas has issued a statement accusing Israel of violating the truce. The Israeli military says it targeted mid-level Hamas commanders and leadership, as well as Hamas infrastructure. They say the offensive will continue for as long as necessary and extend beyond airstrikes.

There are still 59 hostages being held in Gaza, whose fate remains uncertain. A White House spokesperson says Israel consulted with the Trump administration before it carried out the strikes. U.S. President Donald Trump is set to speak to Russia's Vladimir Putin this morning about ending the Ukraine war. Territorial concessions by Kiev are likely to feature prominently in the talks, as is control of Zaporizhia, Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

Christian Lowe has been following the story in Kiev. So Christian, what's happening at Zaporizhia on the ground right now? The situation on the ground is that for some time now, Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has been controlled by Russia. So after Russian forces pushed through westward into that part of Ukraine, they took control of the power plant. It's basically been partially shut down. It's not actively producing power.

And there are lots of concerns about the safety of this nuclear power plant, because in essence, there's a war going on around it. And there have been instances where munitions have landed on or near to the nuclear power station. And that's caused real concern by the UN agencies that are responsible for nuclear safety, because their point is, you cannot wage a war around nuclear

a nuclear power plant, that could be catastrophic. And this is, let's remember, in a country that had the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. So there's real concern about this and I think a desire to resolve this situation. So what does Russian control mean at the plant? It doesn't help Russia enormously because it's not actually functioning. And part of the problem is that a nuclear power station needs vast quantities of water for cooling.

The water is no longer available because a dam that created the reservoir that supplied the water blew up earlier in the war. So it's hard to see of any immediate effective future for the power station. One of the scenarios could be that Russia actually decides to hand it back to Ukraine, letting the Ukrainians take it back. There's no longer a conflict going on around it that would ease lots of concerns about nuclear safety. And Ukraine, at some point in the future, could start using it to supply its electricity grid.

What's the Kremlin said about it? The Kremlin hasn't really commented on Zaporozhye at all. So their position is we control it. We're trying to keep it safe. They accuse Ukraine actually of creating risks to it. They say that Ukraine fires on it. Ukraine says it's actually the opposite and Russia is creating the risks for the Zaporozhye power station. In terms of what they want to do and get out of this, the talks with Trump about the power station, we just don't know at this stage. They're keeping their cards pretty close to their chest.

A federal judge has given the Trump administration a deadline of today. He wants details about plane loads of Venezuelans who were deported to El Salvador despite orders not to. Trump claims they are members of the prison gang Tren de Aragua, which he has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.

Mr. Carney, would you like the Prime Minister to show more support to Canada? Canada's Prime Minister, Mark Carney, arriving at Downing Street, where he says he is strengthening ties with reliable allies. And the new leader is sending a clear message to the U.S. as tensions rise between the two countries. We've called out those comments.

They're disrespectful." Carney met with British and French leaders on his first overseas visit. If you want to know more about what Carney's up against as Canada's new prime minister, we released an episode over the weekend that goes into all of it. There's a link in the podcast description.

Hong Kong shares hit a three-year peak on Tuesday, with Chinese electric automaker BYD leading the charge. Pun intended there. Common Grimmins has more. Nice, Tara. I see what you did there. So BYD shares jumped 6% after it unveiled a new charging system that it says can charge an EV as fast as it takes to refuel a regular car.

This could be a game changer, convincing drivers who aren't willing to make lengthy stops to go electric and kick off a new supercharging race. It also underlines how investors are turning positive on China. Chinese government promises to support consumption and the rise of AI group DeepSeek have triggered a big rally in Chinese stocks, with the Hang Seng up 23% so far this year, easily the largest of any major market.

Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams are returning home after an eight-day-long test flight of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft turned into being stranded in space for nine months due to technical problems with the Boeing craft. The NASA astronauts have undocked from the International Space Station and are expected to splash down off the Florida coast later today. Joey Roulette has been following the mission.

Butch and Sunny have been on the ISS since June. And a lot of people think that they're either floating out there in space or something, or it's like Sandra Bullock in gravity where everything is really dire. But the reality is, is they had their test mission turned into just like a normal astronaut stay on the ISS. And so they've had company with Russian astronauts, Japanese astronauts, astronauts from all over the world.

and their fellow United States astronauts as well. And they've been doing research, all different types of experiments and maintenance on the ISS. And in fact, Sony Williams did, I think, two spacewalks while she was up there on the ISS. But that doesn't really negate the fact that it is probably hard being up there for astronauts

on a mission that you thought would only last eight days. I think the psychological toll that that would take on anybody would be great. But these are veteran U.S. Navy test pilots and veteran NASA astronauts too. And so when you ask them how they feel,

Or how does it feel to be stuck in space for that long? Unexpectedly, they say, we trained for this. Although our mission was supposed to last eight days, we prepared for the unexpected. That's what we do. We're astronauts. So they sound good. They sound like they're doing healthy and they're doing well.

So what happens once they make it back to Earth? So they splash down. They'll be helicoptered over to NASA's Johnson Space Center, and they'll spend several days there for medical checks. NASA scientists and health officials from the astronaut office are going to do the most intense physical they've probably ever gotten to see how their body has changed while they were up there on the International Space Station.

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And for today's recommended read, an exclusive on Intel's new CEO and his plans. Litbutan is considering an overhaul to the ailing tech giant's chip manufacturing methods and its AI strategies. There's a link to a story to find out more in the pod description. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.