MINNEAPOLIS — White Sox manager Tony La Russa apologized to the Twins for Yermin Mercedes swinging on a 3-0 count in the ninth inning of a blowout victory Monday and hitting a home run against Twins position player Willians Astudillo Monday night, an old school response to an unwritten rule of respecting opponents and not showing them up.

“Big mistake,” La Russa said. “Just about the time the guy started making the pitch I took several steps toward the field yelling ‘take, take, take!’ It looked to me like he was going to swing. I was upset, that’s not the time to swing, 3-0.

“There will be a consequence he has to endure here within our family.”

La Russa said third base coach Joe McEwing gave Mercedes the take sign. While La Russa sent a message to the Twins saying he was sorry, Mercedes wasn’t as apologetic.

And a lot of fans, if Monday reaction on social media is an indicator, say that there is no need for him to be.

“The Twins knew I was upset,” La Russa said. “Joe had given him the take sign. I just think Yermin was locked in, they know each other from different competitions and said, ‘I got to get him.’ ”

The homer came on a 47-mph lob pitch in the ninth inning and gave the Sox a 16-4 lead. Astudillo, who shot a glare or two toward the Sox dugout after the inning, retired the other three batters he faced. It was his third relief appearance in a season when teams are saving bullpens more and more by using position players in blowout games. Twins broadcasters saw it La Russa’s way, too.

“There will be a consequence he has to endure within our family,” La Russa said of Mercedes. “But it won’t happen again, Joe will be on the lookout and I will, too. We’ll go running in front of the pitcher if we have to.”

But Mercedes, who talked to media before La Russa, said he would continue playing the way he plays. He has six homers and is leading the American league in batting average, sporting a .364/.410/.574 hitting line.

“I’m going to play like that,” Mercedes said. “You know, I’m Yermin. I can’t be all of the players because if I change it, everything’s going to change. … We’re just having fun. It’s baseball.”

La Russa, the 76-year-old third-winningest manager of all time, will manage like he always has, adhering to the mindset of never show up an opponent. Part of his concern, he said, would be provoking the Twins to retaliate by throwing at a Sox hitter.

“He’s not going to do that again,” La Russa said. “I heard he said, ‘I play my game.’ No he doesn’t. He plays the game of Major League Baseball. Respects the game, respect the opponents and he has to respect the sign. When you get the take sign, take.”

On the flip side of La Russa’s take is the changing view of fans that baseball, in a changing environment where teams such as the Sox themselves roll with a “Change the Game” mantra, should emphasize fun. The matchup of a Twins fan favorite versus Mercedes, the AL Rookie of the Month for April, brought many fans at Target Field to their feet for the first time in a 16-4 loss.

One Sox player asked to comment declined, saying it was a “lose-lose” situation.

“My opinion is if you don’t want him to swing 3-0, don’t throw him a strike,” another player said. “There are unwritten rules in baseball but at the same time you’re throwing a position player out there and if you don’t like it, well, it is what it is.”

“I don’t ever want to give the other team an excuse to take a shot at one of our players,” La Russa said. “You say ‘unwritten rules,’ but they’re just common-sense. We were taught from Day 1: Respect the game, respect the competition, respect your opponent. And the way you respect is you both go out and play as hard and good as you can. And if someday, the other team is having a tough day, and the decision is final, then you don’t steal, you don’t hit 3-0. When is that? That’s every manager’s decision.”

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Bruce Lua, 45, was also shot during the incident in Lawndale. He was ordered held on $10 million bail Tuesday.

A convicted felon was awaiting trial for a pending misdemeanor assault case when he shot two Chicago police officers in Lawndale over the weekend, Cook County prosecutors said Tuesday.

Bruce Lua fired at a 26-year-old officer Sunday morning, striking him in the hand and a 28-year-old officer was hit in the hip and shoulder, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.

The officers were treated and released from Mount Sinai Hospital later in the day.

While the bullets did not break any bones or damage any vital organs, the officers will need additional treatment and physical therapy, Murphy said.

Lua, who was also shot when the officers returned fired, was not at his bond court hearing since he was still recovering at Stroger Hospital.

Last month, Lua was released on his own recognizance for misdemeanor aggravated assault charges for allegedly threatening two women with a knife in separate incidents, court records show.

On Sunday, shortly after 7 a.m., two other officers responded to calls of a gunshot in the 3600 block of Douglas Boulevard, and were directed to Lua by a person on the street, Murphy said.

The uniformed officers who were in a marked police vehicle followed Lua at a distance for several blocks, commanded that he show his hands, and offered to provide help if he needed it, Murphy said.

Lua allegedly continued to walk away without responding.

Tom Schuba/Sun-Times

Then the two uniformed officers who were eventually wounded responded to the scene in a marked vehicle, Murphy said.

When those officers saw Lua approaching in the 1500 block Douglas Boulevard, they drew their weapons, told him to stop and remove his hands from his pockets, Murphy said.

That’s when Lua allegedly drew a 9-mm handgun and fired at least 8 rounds at the officers.

The injured officers and another officer returned fire, Murphy said.

After he was hit, Lua fell to the ground and was taken to the hospital.

The incident was captured on the officers’ body-worn cameras, Murphy said.

The three officers’ use of force is being investigated by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. Both wounded officers joined the force in 2017, according to CPD.

Lua pleaded guilty to drug charges in 2007 and has convictions for misdemeanor gun and driving under the influence charges, records show.

Judge Arthur Wesley Willis ordered Lua held on $10 million bail for attempted murder, aggravated battery and unlawful use of a weapon charges.

He also ordered that Lua be held on $100,000 bail for his pending misdemeanor assault case.

Lua is expected back in court for the shooting on May 24.

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District Attorney Andrew Womble said that Andrew Brown Jr. used his car as a “deadly weapon,” causing Pasquotank County deputies to believe it was necessary to use deadly force.

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. — A North Carolina prosecutor said Tuesday that sheriff’s deputies were justified in fatally shooting Andrew Brown Jr. because he struck a deputy with his car and nearly ran him over while ignoring commands to show his hands and get out of the vehicle.

District Attorney Andrew Womble said at a news conference that Brown used his car as a “deadly weapon,” causing Pasquotank County deputies to believe it was necessary to use deadly force.

Womble, who acknowledged Brown wasn’t armed with guns or other weapons, said the deputies will face no criminal charges after he reviewed a state investigation of the shooting, which sparked weeks of protests. Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten II said in a video statement Tuesday afternoon that the deputies will keep their jobs but will be “disciplined and retrained.”

Brown’s family released a statement calling Womble’s decision “both an insult and a slap in the face.” Attorneys for the family who watched body camera footage have said repeatedly that he was trying to drive away from deputies serving drug-related warrants and posed no threat.

The prosecutor declined to directly release copies of bodycam video of the April 21 shooting, but he played portions of the video during the news conference that media outlets broadcast live.

The multiple angles of the footage, projected onto a screen behind Womble, depicted a chaotic scene of about 44 seconds. After six deputies approach Brown’s car with guns drawn, the video shows one of them putting his hand on the driver’s side door, then yelling and recoiling as Brown backs up.

Seconds later, the same deputy appears to be in the path of the car as Brown moves forward, though it’s not clear how fast the car is moving. The deputy appears to avoid a direct hit after pushing his hand onto the moving car’s hood and quickly moving aside. Gunshots are then heard, and officers appear to continue firing as the car moves away from them.

The quality of the projected video, even replayed later on news websites that filmed it, made it hard for a viewer to glean the level of detail described by either the Brown family or prosecutor when they watched the footage in person. The family continued its calls Tuesday for direct release of the video, which would make longer and higher-quality versions public.

During his news conference, Womble said the deputy who tried to open Brown’s car door was jerked over the hood when the car backed up, and the deputy’s body was struck by the vehicle. The deputy then had to push off the hood with his hand “to avoid being run over” when Brown drove forward, Womble said. He said that was the moment when the first shot was fired by a fellow deputy.

“I find that the facts of this case clearly illustrate the officers who used deadly force on Andrew Brown Jr. did so reasonably and only when a violent felon used a deadly weapon to put their lives in danger,” Womble said, referring to Brown’s car. He added that “Brown posed an immediate threat to the safety of the officers and others.”

“Federal courts have held that the Constitution simply does not require police to gamble with their lives in the face of a serious threat of harm,” he said.

Though Womble said at least two deputies were endangered by Brown’s driving, the sheriff has said his deputies weren’t injured.

In a statement released a couple of hours after the news conference, attorneys for Brown’s families decried Womble’s conclusion.

“To say this shooting was justified, despite the known facts, is both an insult and a slap in the face to Andrew’s family, the Elizabeth City community, and to rational people everywhere,” the statement said. “Not only was the car moving away from officers, but four of them did not fire their weapons — clearly they did not feel that their lives were endangered. And the bottom line is that Andrew was killed by a shot to the back of the head.”

Many of the two dozen people who gathered outside the municipal building where Womble held his news conference said they were disappointed by his decision. Some said they would hold a protest march in Elizabeth City on Tuesday evening.

Keith Rivers, president of Pasquotank County’s NAACP chapter, said he was frustrated and angry.

“Andrew Brown Jr. is the victim,” Rivers said. “It’s not a district attorney’s job to defend sheriff’s deputies. It is his job to get justice for the victim. It is the court’s job to decide whether or not it was reasonable or unreasonable.”

The State Bureau of Investigation, which conducted the state review, issued a statement Tuesday noting that it investigates the facts but “does not make any determinations as to whether criminal charges should be filed.” The statement said its investigative report isn’t a public record and won’t be released.

The three deputies who fired shots — Investigator Daniel Meads, Deputy Robert Morgan and Cpl. Aaron Lewellyn — have been on leave since it happened. The sheriff’s office said Morgan is Black, while Meads and Lewellyn are white. Womble said the deputies have no prior use-of-force complaints.

Four other deputies involved in serving the warrants were reinstated after the sheriff said it was clear they didn’t fire shots.

A lawyer who represented some of the deputies during a court hearing on petitions to release the video didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday.

Womble said a medical examiner working for the state found that Brown died from multiple gunshot wounds after being hit in the back of the head and right shoulder. Womble said the medical examiner, who spoke to him by phone, also described superficial “abrasions” to his arm, leg and back from bullet shrapnel. The state’s written autopsy hasn’t been released yet.

Two deputies fired nine shots from Glock handguns and the third fired five rounds from an AR-15 rifle, according to Womble, based on spent shell casings.

An independent autopsy released by the family found that Brown was hit by bullets five times, including once in the back of the head.

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Drew reported from Durham, North Carolina.

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Top Biden administration officials underscored to the Israelis that time is not on their side in terms of international objections to nine days of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rockets, and that it is in their interest to wind down the operations soon.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and administration officials have encouraged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials to wind down the bombardment of Gaza, a person with knowledge of the discussions said Tuesday, as the Israeli and Palestinian death tolls mounted and pressure grew on Biden to move more forcefully to stop the fighting.

Top Biden administration officials underscored to the Israelis on Monday and Tuesday that time is not on their side in terms of international objections to nine days of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rockets, and that it is in their interest to wind down the operations soon, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the private talks and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The account shows Biden administration officials going further privately in messaging to Netanyahu than they have previously revealed. A White House readout of a Biden call to Netanyahu on Monday said Biden had expressed support for a cease-fire, but said nothing about the U.S. urging Israel to bring fighting to a close.

The fighting has killed at least 213 Palestinians and 12 people in Israel, and tested both Biden’s reluctance to publicly criticize Israel and his administration’s determination not to bog down its foreign policy focus in Middle East hot spots.

The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations on Tuesday challenged the Biden administration to show any results from what it is calling its quiet diplomacy to stop the new Israeli-Hamas battles. Ambassador Riyad Mansour pointed to the U.S. repeatedly blocking a U.N. Security Council action on the conflict, and he urged the Biden administration to do more.

“If the Biden administration can exert all of their pressure to bring an end to the aggression against our people, nobody is going to stand in their way,” Mansour said.

The White House has so far resisted the calls for ramping up public pressure on Netanyahu. It has made the calculation that Israelis will not respond to international resolutions or public demands by the U.S. and that its greatest leverage is behind-the-scenes pressure, according to the person familiar with the administration’s discussions.

The person said that the Israelis have signaled that it is possible their military campaign could end in a matter of days.

The effort to press U.S. ally Israel to find an endgame to the military campaign in Gaza came amid a split this week among House Democrats on whether to step up pressure for a cease-fire and call for more forceful U.S. diplomacy to end the fighting.

Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee weighed — but on Tuesday shelved — writing Biden to demand that he delay a pending $735 million sale of precision-guided missiles to Israel.

Dozens of progressive and mainstream Democratic lawmakers already have called for a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas militants, and some Democrats are demanding Biden push harder for an end to fighting.

Committee member Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, was among the Democrats seeking a harder line, saying he has “serious concerns about the timing of this weapons sale, the message it will send to Israel and the world about the urgency of a cease fire.” He said late Monday that the Biden administration “must use every diplomatic tool to de-escalate this conflict and bring about peace.”

Committee chair Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y. said the lawmakers expect an administration briefing Wednesday on the crisis. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Tuesday acknowledged the difference between a growing number of progressive Democrats and the Biden administration on the U.S. approach to the conflict, but played it down.

“Every Democrat, and I think every Republican, wants to minimize the exposure of both sides in Gaza and in Israel,” Hoyer told reporters. “There’s a difference about how that can be done.”

Biden did not join in the calls by some of his party’s lawmakers and by many foreign governments to demand a cease-fire, however.

In talks with the Israelis, administration officials have pointed to Hezbollah’s stature rising in the region after their 34-day war with Israel in 2006 to make the case for limiting the time of the military action. But Israeli officials have argued to the administration that a slightly prolonged campaign to degrade Hamas’ military capabilities is necessary and in their interest, according to the person familiar with the talks. Hamas operates in the crowded Gaza Strip, a 25-by-6-mile territory crowded with more than 2 million people.

Hamas has sought to portray their rocket barrages as a defense of Jerusalem. The Israelis have made the case to Biden administration officials that that message is losing resonance as mob violence against Arabs in mixed Israeli cities, including Lod, has been tamped down.

Administration officials are defending Biden’s decision to avoid ratcheting up public pressure on Israel for its role in the fighting. The U.S. this week killed a proposed U.N. Security Council statement that would have expressed concern for civilian deaths and raised the issue of a cease-fire.

“The president has been doing this long enough … to know sometimes diplomacy has to happen behind the scenes,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday.

She spoke as Biden headed to a Ford electric vehicle site in Michigan to promote a green infrastructure plan.

Pressure on the White House to do more in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dogged the trip, with protesters in communities with large populations of Arab Americans shouting condemnation of Biden.

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Knickmeyer reported from Oklahoma City. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Edith Lederer contributed to this report.

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Any presidential script is subject to real-world rewrites, and Joe Biden faces rising pressure to weigh in more forcefully to stop the Middle East violence — as, by a scheduling quirk, he visited Dearborn, Mich. that is almost half Arab American.

DEARBORN, Mich. — President Joe Biden’s efforts to spotlight his big infrastructure plans are suddenly being overshadowed by the escalating violence between Israel and the Palestinians, the conflict sparking protests during his visit to a Ford electric vehicle center in Michigan on Tuesday as the White House faced growing pressure to intervene.

Biden, who planned to use the two week-stretch before Memorial Day to build Republican support for his $2.3 trillion package, visited a Ford plant in Dearborn on Tuesday to make his case that his plans could help steer the country toward a bright electric-car future.

But any presidential script is subject to real-world rewrites, and Biden faces rising pressure to weigh in more forcefully to stop the Middle East violence — as, by a scheduling quirk, he visited a city that is almost half Arab American.

The Ford Rouge plant is in a section of Dearborn that’s estimated to be more than 90% Arab American Muslim, many of the locals strong supporters of Palestinians. Significant protests took place across the city while Biden was there.

In a speech at the plant, Biden made only passing mention of the conflict, warmly addressing Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, as she sat in the audience, saying he would pray that her grandmother and other family were well in the West Bank.

“I promise you I’m going to do everything to see that they are,” said Biden, who met Tlaib and fellow Michigan Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell earlier at the Detroit airport where all three huddled in conversation on the tarmac for several minutes.

The Biden administration has been conducting what it calls quiet diplomacy while declining to press for an immediate cease-fire by close ally Israel and Hamas. But privately, Biden administration officials have encouraged the Israelis to wind down their bombardment of Gaza.

Officials have been told by the Israelis that the operations could conclude in a matter of days.

The White House has made the calculation the Israelis will not respond to international resolutions or public demands by the U.S. and that the greatest leverage is behind-the-scenes pressure, officials said. At the same time, the White House is mindful that the longer the conflict goes, the greater chance of a very-high-casualty event or other provocative action by either side that could make reaching a cease-fire more difficult.

All the while, Hamas rockets and Israeli airstrikes continued for a ninth day. At least 213 Palestinians and 12 people in Israel have died.

To this point in Biden’s young term, foreign policy has taken a backseat. The president has stressed the need to first focus on domestic matters — taming the COVID-19 pandemic and reshaping the economy — to prove that democracies can still compete with global autocracies, namely China.

But the intractable conflict in Gaza has derailed that narrative.

Aboard Air Force One for the flight to Michigan, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was peppered with questions about the administration’s response to the violence before she was asked about electric cars. She defended Biden’s cautious approach to this point.

“He’s been doing this long enough to know that the best way to end an international conflict is typically not to debate it in public,” she said.

During his tour of the Dearborn facilities Biden kept the focus on jobs, the car enthusiast marveling at new technology — he even took a truck for a quick test drive — while stressing the importance of his infrastructure plan.

“The future of the auto industry is electric. There’s no turning back,” Biden said. “The real question is whether we’ll lead or we’ll fall behind in the race to the future.”

There were protests outside in Dearborn, which is 47% Arab American, most of them Muslim, the highest percentage among cities in the U.S. Outside the local police department, about three miles from where Biden spoke, hundreds of people of Arab descent chanted, “Free, Free Palestine!” and waved Palestine flags. Amer Zahr, leader of a group called New Generation for Palestine, said Biden is “not welcome in Dearborn today.”

“He is funding the murder of our families,” Zahr said. “It’s ethnic cleansing. It’s that simple. This is not very complicated.”

Biden wanted to orient his foreign policy around American workers, but the Israel conflict has underscored the challenges in combining his domestic and international agendas. The violence has not just been a disrupter of his messaging but also of his policy foundations.

The Biden White House has prided itself on message control and carefully scripting its approach to legislation. The first two months of his term were focused on passing the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill and dramatically increasing the nation’s vaccination program.

The pivot was then to Biden’s two-part infrastructure and family plan, which totals roughly $4 trillion. The president has set a soft deadline of Memorial Day to gauge whether there is Republican support. Not one GOP lawmaker backed the COVID bill, though it had strong public support. There have been a few, if fleeting, signs of possible Republican support for the infrastructure plan.

Last week, a group of Republican senators met with Biden and were set to again sit down with White House officials and Cabinet members on Tuesday. There are some hopes for bipartisan agreement on hard infrastructure — like highways and broadband — before Democrats push forward their family plan on a party-line vote. At minimum, aides have said, they want to make a show of reaching across the aisle to reassure moderate Democrats leery of pushing through massive spending bills using a legislative strategy that bypasses Republicans entirely.

Biden’s plan would help transform the automotive sector by making vehicles more mainstream that don’t burn gasoline. He also sees a shift toward electric vehicles as a major part of his plan to fight climate change, and his visit came the day before Ford was expected to release details of an all-electric version of its F-150 pickup truck called the Lightning.

The president also has to overcome a major hurdle before his electric vehicle, zero emission future becomes reality: the lack of stations where people can plug in and juice up their engines. To that end, Biden has proposed $174 billion for electric vehicles. That money includes rebates and incentives for consumer purchases, along with money to build 500,000 charging stations by 2030.

The White House says the U.S. has just a fraction, about one-third, of the electric vehicle market share that China has, and far fewer public charging points — and needs to catch up before it can take the lead.

At Ford, its F-Series pickups — including heavy-duty versions — have been the top-selling vehicles in the U.S. for 39 straight years. Last year, the company sold more than 787,000 of the trucks, even though it had to close factories for eight weeks at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The F-150 Lightning electric truck, due in showrooms in the middle of next year, will come at a time when only a few Americans have been willing to switch away from gasoline-powered vehicles. Through April of this year, automakers have sold only 107,624 fully electric vehicles in the U.S.

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Additional reporting by Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Washington, Tom Krisher in Detroit and video journalist Mike Householder in Dearborn. Boak reported from Washington. Lemire from New York.

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At least 217 Palestinians have been killed in airstrikes, including 63 children, with more than 1,500 people wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinians across Israel and the occupied territories went on strike in a rare collective protest Tuesday as Israeli missiles toppled a building in Gaza and militants in the Hamas-ruled territory fired dozens of rockets that killed two people.

The demonstrations and ongoing violence came as moves toward a cease-fire appeared to be gaining more traction.

U.S. officials said the Biden administration was privately encouraging Israel to wind down its bombardment of Gaza. Egyptian negotiators also were working to halt the fighting, and while they have not made progress with Israel, they were optimistic international pressure would force it to the table, according to an Egyptian diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing diplomatic efforts.

The general strike was a sign that the war could widen again after a spasm of communal violence in Israel and protests across the occupied West Bank last week.

Although the strike was peaceful in many places, with shops in Jerusalem’s usually bustling Old City markets shuttered, violence erupted in cities in the West Bank.

Hundreds of Palestinians burned tires in Ramallah and hurled stones at an Israeli military checkpoint. Troops fired tear gas, and protesters picked up some of the canisters and threw them back. Three protesters were killed and more than 140 wounded in clashes with Israeli troops in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron and other cities, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The Israeli army said two soldiers were wounded by gunshots to the leg.

The general strike was an uncommon show of unity by Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up 20% of its population, and those in the territories Israel seized in 1967 that the Palestinians have long sought for a future state.

The strike was intended to protest the war and Israeli policies that many activists and some rights groups say constitute an overarching system of apartheid that denies Palestinians rights afforded to Jews. Israel rejects that characterization, saying its citizens have equal rights. It blames the war on Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, and accuses it of inciting violence.

Leaders of the Palestinian community in Israel called the strike, which was embraced by the internationally backed Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, where ministries and schools were closed. Most businesses appeared to be observing the strike.

Strike organizer Muhammad Barakeh said Palestinians are standing against Israeli “aggression” in Gaza and Jerusalem, as well as “brutal repression” by police.

The war has also seen an unusual outbreak of violence in Israel, with groups of Jewish and Palestinian citizens fighting in the streets and torching vehicles and buildings. In both Israel and the West Bank, Palestinian protesters have clashed with Israeli forces. Scores have been injured, including a Jewish man who died Monday after being attacked last week by a group of Arabs in the central city of Lod.

The fighting began May 10 when Hamas fired long-range rockets toward Jerusalem in support of Palestinian protests against Israel’s heavy-handed policing of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a flashpoint site sacred to Jews and Muslims, and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers.

At least 217 Palestinians have been killed in airstrikes, including 63 children, with more than 1,500 people wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not break the numbers down into fighters and civilians. Hamas and Islamic Jihad say at least 20 of their fighters have been killed, while Israel says the number is at least 130.

Twelve people in Israel, including a 5-year-old boy, have been killed in rocket attacks.

Tuesday’s rocket attack from Gaza hit a packaging plant in a region bordering the territory, killing two Thai workers. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it took another seven to the hospital. Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat said the wounded were also Thai.

The Israeli military said rockets also were fired at the Erez pedestrian crossing and at the Kerem Shalom crossing, where humanitarian aid was being brought into Gaza, forcing both to close. It said a soldier was slightly wounded at Erez.

Israeli airstrikes into Gaza demolished a six-story building housing bookstores and educational centers used by the Islamic University and other colleges. Desks, office chairs, books and wires could be seen in the debris. Israel warned its occupants beforehand, sending them fleeing before dawn. There were no reports of casualties.

The Israeli military has launched hundreds of airstrikes it says are targeting Hamas’ militant infrastructure, while Palestinian militants have fired more than 3,400 rockets from civilian areas in Gaza at civilian targets in Israel.

Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said the military was focusing on destroying the tunnels where Hamas fighters hide, move between locations and resupply launchers with rockets to fire at Israel.

The tunnels run under civilian neighborhoods, and Israeli airstrikes have been trying to target roads above them to minimize damage to buildings, Conricus said. One weekend airstrike that Israel said targeted a tunnel caused several buildings to collapse and killed 42 people in the deadliest single attack of the conflict.

The attacks on the tunnels continue, “and the assessment is that that effort will be expanded to areas that we so far have not conducted this effort in, and that is to be expected over the coming days,” he said.

Medical supplies, fuel and water are running low in Gaza, which is home to more than 2 million Palestinians and under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Nearly 47,000 Palestinians have fled their homes.

Israeli attacks have damaged at least 18 hospitals and clinics and destroyed one health facility, the World Health Organization said. Nearly half of all essential drugs in the territory have run out.

The WHO said the bombing of key roads, including those leading to the main Shifa Hospital, has hindered ambulances and supply vehicles in Gaza, which was already struggling to cope with a coronavirus outbreak.

Among the buildings leveled by Israeli airstrikes was one housing The Associated Press Gaza office and those of other media outlets.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged that Hamas military intelligence was operating in the building. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday in Iceland that Israel had given the U.S. information about the bombing. Blinken declined to characterize the material, and Israel has not publicly provided evidence of its claim.

AP President Gary Pruitt reiterated calls for an independent investigation of the attack.

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Nessman reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Joseph Krauss and Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Isabel DeBre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Grant Peck in Bangkok and Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem contributed.

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Patricia Deates’s son Eric was pronounced dead Tuesday afternoon, two days after he was shot while riding his bike near his home.

Patricia Deates went to the hospital Tuesday morning prepared to say a “final goodbye” to her 13-year-old son, one of the youngest victims of a violent weekend in Chicago.

“Eric is a wonderful, bright child,” Deates said from her son’s bed at Stroger Hospital.

Within hours, Eric Crawford was dead after being removed from life support, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He was about to enter eighth grade, and loved to ride his bike and play video games, Deates said. He had two siblings.

Eric was riding his bike when he was shot about four blocks from his home in McKinley Park Sunday morning.

Someone in the back seat of a white SUV opened fire shortly before 8 a.m. in the 3700 block of South Wood Street, a police spokesperson said. He was hit in his head and neck and taken to Stroger, where his condition was described as “grave.”

Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said the shooting may have been a gang retaliation.

“The subject was riding his bike when it looks like a rival gang was following him and targeting him, and shot him and fled the area,” Deenihan said Monday at a news conference on the weekend, the most violent of the year so far.

He did not give details, and the family disputed that Eric was in a gang.

Deates told WGN-TV that Eric was not in a gang, though gang members had been trying to recruit him. “Yes, they have. And I blame them. Every single one of them,” she told the station.

Eric is one of several children caught in gun violence in Chicago in the last week. A 2-year-old girl was shot Friday evening as she sat in the backseat of a car near the Cook County criminal courthouse. Earlier that day, a 14-year-old girl was shot as she stood outside in Englewood. A day earlier, gunfire wounded an 8-year-old boy in Lawndale. Police said he was not the intended target.

An online fundraiser for Eric’s care had received over $1,500 by Tuesday afternoon.

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Today’s update is a 5-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.

Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will be cloudy with a 50% chance of rain and a high near 75 degrees. Tonight’s low will be around 63. Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy with a chance of showers and thunderstorms and a high near 78.

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Mother prepares ‘final goodbye’ for 13-year-old son, one of the youngest victims of a violent weekend in Chicago

Patricia Deates went to the hospital today preparing to say a “final goodbye” to her 13-year-old son, one of the youngest victims of a violent weekend in Chicago.

Eric Crawford, about to enter eighth grade, has been on life support at Stroger Hospital since he was wounded while riding a bike four blocks from his home in McKinley Park Sunday morning.

“Eric is a wonderful, bright child,” Deates said in a brief phone interview from her son’s hospital bed. He loved to ride his bike and play video games, she said. He has two siblings.

Eric was shot shortly before 8 a.m. by someone in the back seat of a white SUV in the 3700 block of South Wood Street, a police spokesperson said. He was hit in his head and neck and taken to Stroger, where his condition was described as “grave.”

He is one of several children caught in gun violence in Chicago in the last week.

Read David Struett’s full story here.

More news you need

1. Chicago is falling in line with the CDC’s new, relaxed mask guidelines, though there’s no surefire way to verify if someone is vaccinated. The move comes as state data shows fewer people are signing up for shots each day.
2. General Iron’s owner is suing the city in federal court for more than $100 million, claiming Mayor Lightfoot’s administration broke a contract as it holds up a permit due to pollution concerns. Southside Recycling wants a judge to order the city to issue a final permit that will allow the opening of a new facility on the Southeast Side.
3. Mayor Lightfoot has appointed Andrea Kersten as interim leader to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. Kersten previously held a top post there under Sydney Roberts, who resigned two weeks ago.
4. A group seeking to have Cook County replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day held a virtual rally yesterday to support the effort. A hearing on the proposed change is scheduled for next week with a vote likely to come in June.
5. Lollapalooza will return to Grant Park at “full capacity” this summer, the mayor’s office confirmed today. The lineup drops 10 a.m. tomorrow and tickets will go on sale two hours later.

A bright one

The story behind Kapitan’s Ramly Burger

A customer once made a passing remark to Serai owner Victor Low about how Malaysian food would never be considered “high end” because it’s just street food. The comment didn’t sit well with Low, a native of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

So, in hopes of showcasing a unique and more sophisticated style of Malaysian cuisine, Low transformed an abandoned nightclub in Lincoln Park into Kapitan, Chicago’s only Peranakan restaurant, which opened in mid-December.

Brian Rich/Sun-Times

Peranakan, or Nyonya, cuisine is influenced by Malay, Chinese and Indonesian cultures. It has a rich history dating back to the 1400s. Kapitan features many takes on traditional Peranakan dishes, such as Nyonya curry laksa lemak, a spicy noodle soup, and Ayam Kapitan, which is chicken curry.

“There is no other restaurants in Chicago that does this and we believe there’s barely any restaurants in the U.S. that actually focus on this one cuisine similar to what we do,” Low said. “And that was the whole purpose — [we’re] trying to show a different side of Malaysian cuisine that is also heritage food, that has a very complete different taste profile all together.”

Read Madeline Kenney’s latest installment of the Dishin’ on the Dish series here.

From the press box

While Bulls executive Arturas Karnisovas expressed disappointment yesterday over how the season turned out, he still sees promise in the deal to acquire Nikola Vucevic from Orlando.

Meanwhile, at the end-of-season press conference for the Bulls’ other All-Star, Zach LaVine, the talented guard didn’t sound as if he was willing to sacrifice much in contract talks with the team.

The Bears signed linebacker Austin Calitro to bolster their depth as they go through their voluntary offseason program.

Your daily question ☕

What’s your favorite ‘Chicago-style’ food you can’t find anywhere else?

Reply to this email (please include your first name and where you live) and we might feature your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday, we asked you: If you’ve been fully vaccinated, do you still plan to wear a mask at times? Here’s what some of you said…

“Yes! I will wear my mask when I’m around others who might not be vaccinated, like the grocery store. I have young children at home, and since we have been vigilant throughout the pandemic in following the precautions, I won’t be stopping now in the off chance I could pass it along to them, however slight of a chance it might be. If I’m around friends and family who have all been vaccinated, I feel very comfortable ditching our masks then!” — Karen Burcham

“At times? I plan to wear it all the time for a few more months. Even the ‘low chance’ of an infected person breathing on me and me getting a so-called ‘mild case’ is too much risk for me. Besides, there is still plenty we don’t know about this invisible killer, and it still keeps mutating.” — Manisha Makwana

“Nope, not unless a business, doctor, etc. requires it. However, I might keep the mask forever on airplanes. I didn’t miss those nasty colds and sinus infections. I’ll also wear it if I’M SICK to avoid passing on my sad germs. Lots of good lessons here.” — Alyce Morgan

“I’ll continue wearing it as needed. Grocery stores, the CTA, and any place where I could encounter immune-compromised folks. It’s an easy thing to do to help protect others.” — Dustin Diggory

“Yes because not everyone is able to get the vaccine. Plus there are still people who are immune-compromised that could still be affected. I’m doing it to help others, it’s not that difficult to think of someone other than you.” — Maggie Anderson

“Yes my little guy isn’t vaccinated and I don’t know what can happen. Vaccinated or not I can still bring COVID home.” — Gema Capilla Gutierrez

“As I am fully vaccinated, I plan to not wear a mask wherever it is now permitted to do so. Any businesses or friends that still require them, however, I will respect their ask.” — Shane Feely

“Yes, just because I’m vaccinated doesn’t mean I can’t still get the virus. The virus has to be treated like STDs, you can’t look at someone and know they have been vaccinated. Too many people have been against masking and now vaccinations, because they are mostly selfish, but chose to follow conspiracy theories will take advantage of this time.” — Vera Edmerson

Thanks for reading the Chicago Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.

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The 56 units, most at subsidized rents, would go up next to another city-approved project for a commercial kitchen and event space.

City officials are moving forward with approvals of an affordable housing development in Englewood that would arise alongside other improvements near the community’s traditional crossroads of 63^rd and Halsted streets.

The housing proposal would cover parcels along Halsted southwest of 61^st Street. The vacant land has been city-owned for decades. A Housing Department report said it has environmental challenges because a car repair and painting shop operated there long ago.

Officials have struck a deal with Keith B. Key Enterprises, a developer based in Columbus, Ohio. In a $20.9 million proposal, Key has agreed to build a five-story building containing 56 apartments, all but 16 subsidized to appeal to lower-income renters.

The city is essentially giving the parcels to Key. They’ve been appraised at $80,000 and officials said any sales agreement would absolve the city of costs for environmental work.

Chicago’s Community Development Commission endorsed the terms of the property sale May 11. On Thursday, the Chicago Plan Commission is due to review a zoning change to accommodate the project. Both approvals are needed before the matter gets to the City Council.

The building would be a neighbor of another stage of the city’s long-term plans for “Englewood Square,” a reimagining of the old shopping hub. The city’s planning department has approved developers’ plans for a $10.3 million “eco-food” center, converting an old firehouse into a commercial kitchen. A business incubator and event space are promised in a later phase.

The projects seek to capitalize on the 2016 opening of a Whole Foods-anchored shopping plaza and 63^rd and Halsted streets. The area also got a boost with the 2007 opening of a new campus for Kennedy-King College.

Key Enterprises is a minority-owned firm that lists projects in Pittsburgh, New Orleans, New York City and Columbus, Ohio. The city has agreed that the project qualifies for low-income housing tax credits, and it also can get a long-term loan of up to $2 million from the Housing Department.

The building would be followed by another, similarly sized apartment structure next door in a later phase, city documents show.

Keith Key, the CEO, could not be reached Tuesday. The project is within the 16^th Ward of Ald. Stephanie Coleman, who also could not be reached. However, city documents list her and key neighborhood groups, such as the Greater Englewood Community Development Corp., as backing the project.

Asiaha Butler, CEO of the Resident Association of Greater Englewood, praised the development in a letter to the city. “Englewood needs additional high-quality affordable housing, but it also needs to establish market-rate housing to stimulate private-sector investment,” Butler said. “This project will provide both elements and build upon the retail investment made at Englewood Square to strengthen the Halsted Street corridor and help create a positive environment for additional real estate investment.”

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He was spectacular. Then he kind of stagnated. And then — poof — he was gone.

Outsized home runs, outsized reputation, outsized expectations.

Maybe Kyle Schwarber never had a chance to live up to the Ruthian portrait many of us painted of him.

After exploding on the Cubs scene in 2015 and making a Hollywood comeback in the 2016 World Series, Schwarber regressed. Or did he? Perhaps “settled in” is a better way to put it. He belted 94 home runs from 2017 through 2019, but he also got demoted to Class AAA Iowa, struck out a ton and lived in the lower .200s.

He was a good player — and a great teammate — but not the hitting machine we wanted him to be. Former manager Joe Maddon put it perfectly in admitting a while back that he, too, had played a role in fueling a narrative that, in the end, did Schwarber no favors.

“Maybe we should not have expected that much,” Maddon said.

Seeing Schwarber back at Wrigley Field this week in another team’s uniform, I can’t help but think he embodies the arc of these Cubs more than anyone else. He was spectacular. Then he kind of stagnated. And then — poof — he was gone.

Even after being sent down in 2017, Schwarber himself described his future in grand terms.

“I want to be one of the best in the game,” he said in the dugout in Des Moines, Iowa, the sting of his demotion still fresh. “I want to be one of the best out there. And I want to help the Cubs get back to the championship.”

The championship part didn’t happen. The “best” part hasn’t, either. Now 28, Schwarber is giving the Nationals essentially the same production he gave the Cubs. It’s not that it’s not good enough. It’s just that it isn’t great.

The way he describes his baseball dream has changed a bit.

“I’m [living] it right now, baby,” he said with a laugh before launching his sixth homer of the season in Monday’s series opener. “Playing major league baseball, you know? This is it.

“I want to be the best version of myself. I think that’s the biggest goal. I don’t want to go out there and chase other people’s numbers. I want to be the best version of myself and — whenever the end of the dream comes — [to] look in the mirror and know that you did everything possible to fulfill that dream and be happy and smile.”

That actually sounds pretty perfect. Schwarber’s time on the North Side wasn’t perfect, but when you really think about it? It was damn wonderful.

“There’s a lot of things here that made me the person I am today and the ballplayer I am today,” he said. “There’s things that you definitely keep with you. And so it’s hard to forget because this is where you came up, this is where you grew up in the big leagues, and you had the people around you that formed you into a major league player. There are special bonds that you make, and we’re all going to be specially bonded for the rest of our lives with what we did in ’16.”

JUST SAYIN’

Speaking of dreams, the Sky play their second game of the season Wednesday in Atlanta.

Against the Atlanta Dream, people. Come on, we should all know that name by now.

This is where I admit to being a terrible WNBA watcher, in that I’ve rarely watched it at all. Shame on me. But the Sky’s opening win Saturday against the Mystics was riveting. Why? Candace Parker, mainly. Her ball skills, at her height, are almost criminal. Her defense should be on an instructional video and taught to basketball players everywhere. Of course, there are many people who understood all this a long time ago. Good on them.

Get on board, you know? It’s never too late.

• Did you catch White Sox designated hitter Yermin Mercedes’ swinging away Monday on a 3-0 count in the ninth — his team already leading the Twins by 11 runs — and homering off position player Willians Astudillo?

Some old-schoolers didn’t like it.

Look, if you’re going to let ’er rip when the more polite thing to do would be to take a pitch, by all means leave the flippin’ yard. Of all the ways to violate baseball’s silly unwritten rules, that’s pretty much the best one.

• Albert Pujols on the Dodgers vs. Karl Malone on the Lakers:

Discuss.

• Stephen Curry and the Warriors against LeBron James and the Lakers is all the argument needed in favor of the NBA’s play-in tournament. It’s a keeper.

• New DePaul basketball coach Tony Stubblefield is on fire on the transfer front.

Brandon Johnson, a tough forward who more than held his own at Minnesota last season after three seasons in the MAC, is an instant frontcourt upgrade. Tyon Grant-Foster didn’t make much of an impact at Kansas, but he’s long and a leaper and did we mention the Kansas thing?

And remember the name Jalen Terry. The point guard and former Michigan Mr. Basketball — who turned down an offer from Michigan State — came off Oregon’s bench as a freshman last season and flashed serious scoring and playmaking ability.

This could get kind of fun.

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