News Wrap: King Charles returning to public duties after 3-months of cancer treatment

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• Amna Nawaz:

  Egypt has sent a high-level delegation to Israel tonight, hoping to revive talks for a hostage deal and cease-fire with Hamas. But Cairo also warned against an Israeli assault on the Southern Gaza City of Rafah along the border with Egypt.

  Much of Gaza has already been reduced to a wasteland, with U.N. officials estimating 37 million tons of debris to be removed. They said today that the cleanup operation will be a mammoth job.

• Pehr Lodhammar, United Nations Mine Action Service:

  With 100 trucks, we're talking about 14 years of work, with 100 trucks. So, that's based on that figure, 14 years to remove, with approximately 750,000 work days, person work days, to remove the debris, so significant numbers when it comes to debris.

• Amna Nawaz:

  The U.N. said roughly 65 percent of the buildings destroyed in Gaza have been residential ones.

  The U.S. military today announced a new weapons package to rearm Ukraine's air defenses. It includes more Patriot missiles, but not the additional patriot batteries that Ukraine had wanted.

  Still, in Washington, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he believes this package, along with other weapons, will meet Ukraine's needs.

  Lloyd Austin, U.S. Secretary of Defense: They need other types of systems and interceptors as well. And so, I would caution us all in terms of making the Patriot the silver bullet. I would say that it's going to be the integrated air and missile defenses, as we have said so many times before, that really turns the tide.

• Amna Nawaz:

  The new weapons package will cost some $6 billion. It's part of $61 billion in military aid that Congress approved after months of deadlock.

  Meanwhile, another member of the Biden Cabinet, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, warned Chinese President Xi Jinping today against supporting Russia's war in Ukraine. The two men met in Beijing. Blinken said he told Xi that China must stop supplying Russia with critical war materiel, or the U.S. will act.

  He did not elaborate, but he did acknowledge progress in other areas.

  Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State: We are committed to maintaining and strengthening the lines of communication between us, so that we can avoid any miscommunications, any misconceptions, any miscalculations, and we are committed to responsibly managing the relationship.

• Amna Nawaz:

  For his part, Xi said China and the U.S. must seek common ground, rather than engage in what he called — quote — "vicious competition."

  Britain's King Charles will return to public duties next week after a three-month break for cancer treatment. Buckingham Palace said today that doctors are very encouraged by his progress so far. The palace has not yet said what kind of cancer the king has.

  Here at home, the Biden administration has again delayed a ban on menthol cigarettes. Xavier Becerra, the secretary of Health and Human Services, announced it today, saying — quote — "It's clear that there are still more conversations to have, and that will take significantly more time."

  The ban could have angered Black voters, since 80 percent of Black smokers use menthol cigarettes.

  U.S. poultry producers will have to cut salmonella bacteria in some chicken products to very low levels to prevent food poisoning. A final Agriculture Department regulation issued today applies to frozen, breaded and stuffed raw chicken. It takes effect next year. Salmonella poisoning causes roughly 420 deaths and 1.3 million infections annually in the U.S.

  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating whether last year's Tesla recall went far enough. The software update aimed to keep drivers alert while using the autopilot feature, but there have been more crashes since then. Today, the agency said the autopilot feature — quote — "may lead drivers to believe that the automation has greater capabilities than it does."

  And on Wall Street, strong earnings at Microsoft and Alphabet pushed the stock market higher. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 153 points to close at 38239. The Nasdaq rose 316 points. The S&P 500 added 51.