By FARNOUSH AMIRI and EDITH M. LEDERER

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council is set to hold a high-level meeting Wednesday on the Gaza ceasefire deal and Israel’s efforts to expand control in the West Bank before world leaders head to Washington to discuss the future of the Palestinian territories at the first gathering of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace.

The U.N. session in New York was originally scheduled for Thursday but was moved up after Trump announced the board’s meeting for that same date and it became clear that it would complicate travel plans for diplomats planning to attend both. It is a sign of the potential for overlapping and conflicting agendas between the United Nations’ most powerful body and Trump’s new initiative, whose broader ambitions to broker global conflicts have raised concerns in some countries that it may attempt to rival the U.N. Security Council.

Asked what he hopes to see from the back-to-back meetings this week, Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour told reporters: “We expect from the international community to stop Israel and end their illegal effort against annexation, whether in Washington or in New York.”

The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Indonesia, among others, are expected to attend the monthly Mideast meeting of the 15-member council after many Arab and Islamic countries requested last week that it discuss Gaza and Israel’s contentious West Bank settlement project before some of them head to Washington.

The board to be chaired by Trump was originally envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing his 20-point plan for Gaza’s future. But the Republican president’s ambitious new vision for the board to be a mediator of worldwide conflicts has led to skepticism from major allies.

While more than 20 countries have so far accepted an invitation to join the board, close U.S. partners, including France, Germany and others, have opted not to join yet and renewed support for the U.N., which also is in the throes of major reforms and funding cuts.

Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., dismissed concerns about the composition of the Board of Peace, telling conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in an interview Monday that the most relevant countries, including Qatar and Egypt, which are in touch with Hamas’ leadership, have accepted the invitation.

“All of those countries are on the Board of Peace, singing the same tune as the United States,” he said.

The Security Council will be meeting a day after nearly all of its 15 members — minus the United States — and dozens of other diplomats joined Palestinian ambassador Mansour as he read a statement on behalf of 80 countries and several organizations condemning Israel’s latest actions in the West Bank, demanding an immediate reversal and underlining “strong opposition to any form of annexation.”

Israel, whose U.N. mission did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday’s meeting, is launching a contentious land regulation process that will deepen its control in the occupied West Bank. Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said it amounts to “de facto sovereignty” that will block the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Outraged Palestinians, Arab countries and human rights groups have called the moves an illegal annexation of the territory, home to roughly 3.4 million Palestinians who seek it for a future state.

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The U.N. meeting also is expected to delve into the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal that took effect Oct. 10 after more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas. The U.K., which currently holds the presidency of the council, said the meeting will include briefings by U.N. political chief Rosemary DiCarlo and by Israeli and Palestinian civil society representatives for the first time since the Oct. 7 attacks.

Aspects of the ceasefire deal have moved forward, including Hamas releasing all the hostages it was holding and increased amounts of humanitarian aid getting into Gaza, though the U.N. says the level is insufficient. A new technocratic committee has been appointed to administer Gaza’s daily affairs.

But the most challenging steps lie ahead, including the deployment of an international security force, disarming Hamas and rebuilding Gaza.

Trump said this week that the Board of Peace members have pledged $5 billion toward Gaza reconstruction and will commit thousands of personnel to international stabilization and police forces for the territory. He didn’t provide details. Indonesia’s military says up to 8,000 of its troops are expected to be ready by the end of June for a potential deployment to Gaza as part of a humanitarian and peace mission.

By DANICA KIRKA

LONDON (AP) — British police forces are working together to assess potential crimes revealed in documents from the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including allegations of wrongdoing by the former Prince Andrew.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council, which brings together police leaders from across the U.K., said on Wednesday that it had set up a national coordination group to support forces looking into issues arising from the more than 3 million pages of documents released late last month.

“It may take some time due to the volume of material and the complexity of international jurisdictions, but policing and its law enforcement partners are taking this matter extremely seriously, and will assess all information thoroughly,” the council said in a statement.

While the council didn’t specify the police forces involved in the effort, at least eight have said they are “assessing” information in the files. They are looking into issues ranging from concerns that Epstein’s private jet may have been used in sex trafficking to allegations that the former Prince Andrew sent confidential reports to the financier when he was Britain’s international trade envoy.

Police in Surrey, the county south of London, on Wednesday said the documents contained allegations of sex trafficking in the village of Virginia Water between 1994 and 1996. The force didn’t provide any details about the alleged perpetrators or victims.

The force encouraged anyone with information about the alleged crimes to contact police.

“Where relevant, and via the national coordination group, we will engage with law enforcement agencies to obtain access to further information which may support our enquiries,” Surrey Police said in a statement.

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Another force, Essex Police, said Tuesday it was assessing information about private flights to and from Stansted Airport following information in the latest document dump.

The Epstein scandal has rocked the royal family and British politics in recent months because of his links to the former prince, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and Peter Mandelson, the U.K.’s former ambassador to Washington.

King Charles III in October stripped his younger brother of his royal titles, including the right to be called a prince, in an effort to insulate the royal family from the continuing revelations about his friendship with Epstein.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer was criticized for poor judgment and faced a challenge to his leadership after the documents revealed Mandelson had a closer relationship with Epstein than he acknowledged at the time Starmer sent him to Washington.

By JOHN WAWROW, AP Hockey Writer

MILAN (AP) — A medal isn’t the only keepsake Hilary Knight is bringing back from the Milan Cortina Games.

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There’s also an engagement ring after the U.S. women’s hockey captain posted a video Wednesday of her proposing to American speedskater Brittany Bowe.

Under the heading “Olympics brought us together,” the video on Instagram shows Knight dropping to one knee and presenting Bowe with a ring. Bowe nods yes, and Knight then slips the ring on her finger.

Knight is scheduled to speak after the Americans practice later in the day. Team USA also confirmed the engagement.

The two first met at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. And both have said this year’s Olympics will be their last, with Knight appearing in her Team USA women’s hockey record fifth Games.

The video was posted a day before Knight and the favored U.S. team play Canada in the gold medal final. Bowe is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist.

Brittany Bowe of the U.S. skates to a fourth place in the women’s 1,000 meters speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

This year, she failed to medal in her first two events by finishing fourth in the 1,000 meters and women’s team pursuit. She will close the Games competing in the 1,500 meters race on Friday.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

By KIM CHANDLER

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Some Republican legislators are looking to restrict their state’s ability to set environmental regulations, a move that comes as President Donald Trump ’s administration pushes to roll back environmental rules on power plants, water and greenhouse gases.

The Alabama Legislature on Tuesday approved legislation backed by business groups that would prevent state agencies from setting restrictions on pollutants and hazardous substances exceeding those set by the federal government. In areas where no federal standard exists, the state could adopt new rules only if there is a “direct causal link” between exposure to harmful emissions and “manifest bodily harm” to humans.

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Supporters said the Alabama measure would ground standards in “sound science” and prevent regulatory overreach. Environmental groups said it would cripple the state’s ability to respond to environmental or health risks, including a group of chemicals known as PFAS, or forever chemicals, that has contaminated swaths of the South.

Sarah Stokes, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the bill sets an “impossible hurdle” for state regulations since the bill specifies that an “increased risk of disease” is not enough to demonstrate harm to humans.

“It’s a blank check to businesses. We’re basically sacrificing human health for businesses,” Stokes said. “That doesn’t seem like the best calculation for our citizens.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and business groups supported the legislation, and the bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Donnie Chesteen, told a legislative committee this month that his bill is a “pro-business” piece of legislation.

“If we’re going to be able to compete with states in the Southeast to attract and bring some of these businesses in, then we need to have these standards adopted so that it’s clearly defined what our companies are working with,” Chesteen said. Supporters also argued the bill follows Trump’s deregulatory agenda.

“This does not remove the use of sound science and legitimate science,” Republican Rep. Troy Stubbs said during debate. “What it does is protect Alabama and the people of Alabama from runaway government that can become overly burdensome and regulatory to a point that it drives the cost of living way up.”

Stubbs disputed that it would weaken existing rules, saying current state regulations would stay in place. However, the environmental lawyer Stokes said she is concerned that businesses could use it as a basis to challenge existing rules.

The measure is the latest effort to restrict state-level environmental regulations. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun signed an executive order last year saying Indiana can’t have new environmental rules stricter than federal ones unless deemed necessary by state law or the governor. Tennessee lawmakers last year passed legislation requiring any regulations that are more stringent than federal regulations to be based on links to “manifest bodily harm in humans.”

Stokes said the Alabama proposal goes farther than the Tennessee law. A similar bill has been introduced in Utah.

FILE – Industrial development is seen along the Mobile River near Mobile, Ala., on Jan. 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Julie Bennett, File)

Stokes said the Alabama legislation was introduced after advocacy groups persuaded the Alabama Environmental Management Commission to consider updating state standards for arsenic and cyanide and 11 other toxic pollutants.

Cara Horowitz, an environmental law professor and executive director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law, said the legislation would prevent state agencies from making “independent decisions about how much to protect public health from things like water pollution, air pollution, and toxics.”

“Alabama could adopt its own pollution standard only where the state’s rationale for doing so relies on a very particular kind of science,” Horowitz wrote in an email. “Alabama could not rely, for example, on studies showing a correlation between pollution exposure and an increased risk of disease.”

The bill also bars agencies from using the EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System, which characterizes the health hazards of chemicals found in the environment, as the default basis for water quality standards. A lobbying group for the chemical industry has criticized the system as overly burdensome and scientifically flawed.

Democrats in the Alabama Legislature spoke against the bill for two hours until GOP lawmakers voted to end debate and force a vote.

Democratic Rep. Chris England said the bill turns Alabama residents into test subjects. “We are a petri dish for businesses to do as they will until they kill people,” England said.

Rep. Neil Rafferty, also a Democrat, said the bill is “defining sound science just to gut our ability to use it to drive science-based and data-driven policy.”

The state House of Representatives voted 88-34 for the bill, which now goes to Republican Gov. Kay Ivey. Her office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.