World/Nation
• Israelis launch Gaza Strip offensive to quell rocket attacks
JERUSALEM - The Israeli army said it launched an offensive operation early Tuesday against the Gaza Strip to quell rocket attacks, and a Palestinian official said Israeli airstrikes injured at least nine Palestinians.
The Israeli airstrikes come after Gaza militants fired dozens of rockets at southern Israel on Monday, setting off air raid sirens and forcing hundreds of thousands of Israelis to stay indoors.
The military rushed more forces to the border late Monday and had warned that such an offensive was likely.
A Twitter statement from the Israeli army said the offensive, dubbed "Operation Protective Edge," is intended to "stop the terror Israel's citizens face on a daily basis."
The army said it was carrying out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip early Tuesday. It did not elaborate.
• Pope Francis begs forgiveness of sex abuse victims
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis begged forgiveness Monday in his first meeting with Catholics sexually abused by members of the clergy and went further than any of his predecessors by vowing to hold bishops accountable for their handling of pedophile priests.
Abuse victims and their advocates have long demanded that higher-ups be made to answer for the decades-long cover-ups of rape and molestation of youngsters in a scandal that has rocked the church and dismayed its worldwide flock of 1.2 billion.
The pope celebrated a private Mass with six victims - two each from Ireland, Britain and Germany - at his Vatican residence, and spent the rest of the morning listening to their accounts, one on one.
"Before God and his people, I express my sorrow for the sins and grave crimes of clerical sexual abuse committed against you. And I humbly ask forgiveness," Francis said.
"I beg your forgiveness, too, for the sins of omission on the part of church leaders who did not respond adequately to reports of abuse made by family members, as well as by abuse victims themselves," the pope said. "This led to even greater suffering on the part of those who were abused, and it endangered other minors who were at risk."
• Four slightly injured as tree limb hits SoCal roller coaster
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. - A roller coaster derailed Monday at the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park, slightly injuring four people and leaving about two dozen stranded about 20 feet in the air, authorities said.
The Ninja coaster struck a tree branch shortly before 6 p.m. and stopped, said Michael Pittman, a Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatch supervisor.
Pittman said four people on the ride received minor injuries, but they and other riders remained on the stalled coaster, stranded 20 to 30 feet in the air, more than an hour after the accident.
• Ukraine bridges hit to block roads into rebel-held city
DONETSK, Ukraine - After Ukrainian forces' seizure of a key rebel stronghold in the east, the major cities of Donetsk and Luhansk could be the next focus of major fighting. Three bridges on roads leading to Donetsk were blown up Monday - possibly to hinder military movements, though the rebels claim it was the work of pro-Kiev saboteurs.
As nerves fray over the prospect of fighting in the sprawling cities, Russia urges Europe to put pressure on the government to end the fighting, but takes no overt action. Rebels in Ukraine and nationalists at home have called for the Kremlin to send in troops to protect the pro-Russia insurgents, but President Vladimir Putin, wary of more sanctions being imposed by the West, has resisted.
Separatist fighters driven out of the city of Slovyansk and other eastern towns by the Ukrainian army over the weekend are regrouping in Donetsk, a major industrial city of 1 million where pro-Russia rebels have declared independence as the Donetsk People's Republic.
- The Associated Press