By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and MICHELLE L. PRICE

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor the ceasefire deal in Gaza as part of a team that includes partner nations, nongovernmental organizations and private-sector players, U.S. officials said Thursday.

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The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that were not authorized for release, said U.S. Central Command is going to establish a “civil-military coordination center” in Israel that will help facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid as well as logistical and security assistance into the territory wracked by two years of war.

The remarks provide some of the first details on how the ceasefire deal would be monitored and that the U.S. military would have a role in that effort. After Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a Trump administration plan to halt the fighting, a litany of questions remain on next steps, including Hamas disarmament, a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a future government in the territory.

One of the officials said the new team will help monitor implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the transition to a civilian government in Gaza.

The coordination center will be staffed by about 200 U.S. service members who have expertise in transportation, planning, security, logistics and engineering, said the official, who noted that no American troops will be sent into Gaza.

A second official said the troops would come from U.S. Central Command as well as other parts of the globe. That official added that the troops already have begun arriving and will continue to travel to the region over the weekend to begin planning and efforts to establish the center.

Two other senior U.S. officials who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss internal deliberations offered more details about forces from other countries and what U.S. troops would be doing.

Members of the armed forces of Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are expected to be embedded with the team of 200 U.S. troops, according to one of the officials. The American service members will integrate the multinational force and coordinate with Israeli defense forces, the official said.

The exact location of where U.S. troops will be positioned is something they will be working to determine Friday, the other official said.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, highlighted Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday, saying he had worked alongside special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“Cooper — I hear he’s been fantastic,” Trump said.

Cooper joined the U.S. side of the talks in Egypt this week, according to one of the U.S. officials, and he helped reassure the Arab countries at the negotiating table that the U.S. would put a strong guarantee behind its commitments — a reassurance the Arab countries then passed along to Hamas.

In a show of readiness, Cooper told them he could have a command post up and running in the next two and a half weeks.

A breakthrough deal to pause the war in Gaza was reached Wednesday after the United States and mediators in the region pressured both Israel and Hamas to end the fighting that has devastated the Gaza Strip, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, sparked other conflicts and isolated Israel.

That push sealed an agreement on a first phase that would free the remaining living Israeli hostages within days in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

ST. LOUIS — When Wild rookie defenseman Zeev Buium arrived at the Enterprise Center on Thursday, there was natural excitement for his first regular season game in the NHL. And there was the sting of familiar surroundings as memories of disappointment from his last trip to St. Louis hit him.

Buium was on the ice for a quartet of NHL playoff games last spring, but Thursday’s meeting with the Blues was his first regular season game, and it just happened to be played in the same place where his college career ended, six months ago.

In early April, Buium was the catalyst for the University of Denver’s most recent run to the NCAA Frozen Four, held in St. Louis. On Thursday, the Wild’s locker room was literally across the hall from the place where the Pioneers dressed before and packed up after their 3-2 double overtime loss to eventual national champion Western Michigan in the tournament’s semifinals.

“We were in that locker room, right there,” Buium said, glancing at the room across the hall. “I walked in there and got some flashbacks. But one chapter ends and the next one begins. It’s kind of crazy how it all works out.”

A day after Denver’s season suffered a sudden death, before leaving St. Louis and eventually signing with the Wild, Buium took one more setback at the college level. At a downtown theater he was one of two runners-up for the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to college hockey’s top player, which went instead to Michigan State forward Isaac Howard, now with the Edmonton Oilers.

“I’m excited to hopefully come back here and get a win instead of a loss,” Buium said following Thursday’s morning skate.

New start for Snuggerud

With the Minnesota Gophers’ 2024-25 season ending two weeks earlier than Denver’s, Jimmy Snuggerud played seven regular season games after signing with the Blues, and seven more in the playoffs as St. Louis fell to the Winnipeg Jets in round one.

The Chaska native was all smiles inside the home locker room on Thursday, preparing for a spot on the Blues’ top line for his first home opener. And he acknowledged that the Hockey Gods have an interesting sense of humor, with his first full season starting versus the Wild.

“I was in Minnesota most of the summer, hanging out and training with (Matthew) Knies and (Jackson) LaCombe and those guys,” said Snuggerud, whose father – former Gophers star and Olympian Dave Snuggerud – was in attendance on Thursday night. “It was a fun summer, training and getting better and hanging out with them a lot.”

With a full NHL training camp under his belt now, the Blues coach acknowledged that expectations are high for Snuggerud, who St. Louis picked 23rd overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, but the rookie is also still learning.

“I see at times a guy that looks like he played really well in the playoffs and has a lot of NHL experience, and at times I see a real rookie, coming into his first training camp and there’s a lot to think about with training camp,” said St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery. “He’s used to one week of practices and then you start playing games in college, so that’s not the way. So he’s just adjusting to a full regular season and being an NHL player.”

After leading the Gophers in goals (24), assists (27) and points (51) in 40 games last season, Snuggerud had a goal and three assists in his seven regular season games, plus two goals and two assists in seven playoff games.

Brodin not quite ready

He’s no longer wearing the “limited contact” jersey in practice, and has looked closer and closer to a return, but veteran defenseman Jonas Brodin was not quite good to go for the season opener, but his coach expects Brodin back soon.

“It’s imminent. It was close today, but it’s not today,” Wild coach John Hynes said, saying that Brodin is officially day to day, but could make his season debut in Saturday’s home opener versus Columbus.

Brodin, 32, had surgery in the off season after missing 32 regular season games in 2024-25. He played all six playoff games.

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It’s never too late to return to Neverland in “For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday,” which opens Saturday. Directed by Miriam Monasch, the drama/comedy follows a family of adult siblings through the death of their father.

Produced by Prime Productions and staged at Minneapolis’ Mixed Blood Theatre, the play centers a cast of women over the age of 50, an intentional decision to combat ageism in theater. It’s the first of two shows in the company’s first full season since the pandemic.

“We come from a generation that broke a lot of boundaries and that was a good thing,” said Prime artistic director and co-founder Shelli Place. “And we’re not going back. We’re just going to keep moving forward.”

Prime was founded in 2016 by Place, Alison Edwards and Elena Giannetti in response to the lack of roles available for women of a certain age in the Twin Cities. It’s a struggle both Edwards and Place experienced.

The season before founding Prime, only five roles for women over 50 were available in the Twin Cities theater community, despite there being plenty of talent available.

“We wanted to do something to change the conversation to make it more palatable and better for women over 50, because there were so many talented women who had so much experience — 20, 30, 40 years of experience that weren’t getting a chance,” Place said.

For 40 years, Edwards has worked in theater, spending a majority of her career acting in New York, and described the environment as isolating as she aged.

“It’s a very interesting dynamic that occurs because the younger members of the cast, I think, would assume I was serious or something. And they wouldn’t invite me to go have a drink after our rehearsal,” Edwards said. “It became sort of lonely.”

In collaboration with their original cofounder, Edwards and Place realized they wanted to create and showcase plays that featured at least two older women. Their first play, “Little Wars,” in May 2017, featured seven female roles, five of which were over the age of 50.

Monasch was in the audience for their first performance. As both an actress and director, Monasch jumped at the opportunity to direct with Prime.

“The fact that they’re trying to make women of a certain age more visible, both on and behind the scenes, that feels really important to me,” Monasch said. “I have been told on more than one occasion that I’m too old to direct something, which is very frustrating.”

Looking at the aging process

The frustrations of aging are unpacked in “For Peter Pan,” as the characters grapple with their identities as they grow older. Edwards, playing the character of Ann in the show, described the story as a cathartic and personal experience.

“I think the audience will take away the feeling that everybody faces aging, and even death, in the future and you’re not alone with that,” Place said.

Monasch agreed that this play is an emotional catharsis, having lost a family member this summer.

“Being able to come through that, which was a tragedy, and still come out laughing, loving his memory and remembering all of the sparkle in his eyes,” Monasch said. “Life goes on and you can choose to make it joyous.”

Prime has employed more than 60 older women as actresses, directors, costume designers and more.  As a nomad theater, moving among different performance spaces, Prime has been able to perform where they fit.

“We don’t have a brick and mortar. And we like it that way because we do different theaters, whether it’s St. Paul or Midtown or Uptown,” Edwards said. “We go where the play will fit, and so every one becomes magical. We’re broadening everything that we can possibly do.”

Next production

Prime’s second production of the season, the world premiere of “Abuelita” by Nathan Yungerberg, will run in March.

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“All but one in the cast are either Latina, Latino or (multiracial), and it has four women over 50 in it,” Edwards said. “And we are very excited to be broadening our cultural stories, as well as our generational ones.”

Prime is also working to open doors for those working behind the scenes, as well as beginning mentorships in the acting community.

“Ultimately, we would love to become irrelevant. We would love to get to the point where theaters all over the country, all over the world, are featuring plays with women over 50 all the time,” Edwards said “But until that day comes, we want to continue to find new work and ways that we can contribute to changing people’s perceptions about what older women are capable of.”

‘For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday’

What: “For Peter Pan on Her 70th Birthday,” written by Sarah Ruhl and directed by Miriam Monasch, follows a family of adult siblings through the death of their father.
When: Oct. 11-26
Where: Mixed Blood Theatre, 1501 S. 4th St., Mpls.
Tickets: $47.50-$32, available at primeprods.org

By THOMAS BEAUMONT and LAURA UNGAR

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Thursday reasserted the unproven link between the pain reliever Tylenol and autism, and suggested people who opposed the theory were motivated by hatred for President Donald Trump.

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During a meeting with Trump and the Cabinet, Kennedy reiterated the connection, even while noting there was no medical proof to substantiate the claim. He also mistakenly described a pregnant woman’s anatomy and linked autism to circumcision.

“Anybody who takes the stuff during pregnancy unless they have to is, is irresponsible,” Kennedy told Trump and fellow Cabinet members. “It is not proof. We’re doing the studies to make the proof.”

Kennedy has long espoused unconventional beliefs about public health, which have prompted concern among medical experts that, as health secretary, he could upend the country’s evidence-based health policies.

Kennedy noted during the meeting that he had seen a TikTok video on Thursday, which he said featured a pregnant woman “gobbling Tylenol” and cursing Trump. “The level of Trump derangement syndrome has now left the political landscape and now in the realm of pathology,” he said. Kennedy also said the woman was taking Tylenol “with a baby in her placenta.”

A fetus develops in the uterus, not the placenta. The placenta is a temporary organ that develops in the uterus during pregnancy and provides oxygen, nutrients, and hormones to the growing fetus.

Kennedy’s statement came two weeks after he stood with Trump in the White House as the president used his office to promote unproven and, in some cases, discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism.

Tylenol pain-relief pills are shown in La Habra, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Kennedy also said Thursday that infant boys who are circumcised have double the rate of autism because they are given Tylenol after the procedure.

This claim seems to refer to a study in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine from 2015, which looked at ritual circumcision and the risk of autism spectrum disorder in boys under the age of 10 in Denmark.

It found that those who had undergone the procedure, which involves the removal of the foreskin from the penis, were more likely to develop autism than other boys in the study. Researchers suggested a potential link might be due to the pain of the procedure. Researchers noted that they had no data on painkillers or anesthetics used, and thus couldn’t address whether Tylenol was linked to autism.

Other researchers pointed out that the Denmark study looked at correlation, not causation. They also point to other studies that found no evidence to support a link between circumcision and autism.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.