Investigators have found what appears to be a claim of responsibility by the suspect in the fatal attack near Berlin's Pride festival, German authorities said Tuesday.

The 21-year-old suspect, Abdul Rahman Ballout, was killed in a confrontation with police on Sunday, the day after investigators say he drove a van into a crowd near the festival's closing party before apparently cutting others with a machete. A Polish woman was killed and 31 other people injured.

The man on trial in the stabbing of Salman Rushdie chose Tuesday not to testify or call any witnesses in the federal terrorism case, which is expected to head to the jury as soon as Wednesday.

Hadi Matar's lawyer told the court that the 28-year-old — who already has been convicted of state-level attempted murder charges — wouldn't take the stand at his trial on charges that include engaging in an act of transnational terrorism.

Mahasen Faqih and her husband returned this week to their village in southern Lebanon, digging through the debris of their home in search of their belongings, as part of the U.S.-brokered "pilot zones" agreement in which Israel agreed to withdraw in exchange for the disarmament of Hezbollah.

The couple fled north shortly after the start of the latest Israel-Hezbollah war, in early March. Now, their home in Zawtar al-Gharbieh — one of three zones where Israel agreed to turn over control to the Lebanese army — is among homes so damaged that they're unlivable. But Faqih said they've vowed to stay, settling inside the large grocery shop that they own in the village as they wait to have their home demolished and rebuilt.

The Israeli military was about to launch a nighttime strike on a group of men in southern Syria when the soldiers noticed the long curls dangling from the temples of their targets. The troops held their fire.

These were not Syrian militants attempting to breach Israel's border but religious Jews who had slipped into Syria and were on their way back.

Preparations for the next men's World Cup have already begun for teams in Southeast Asia, just weeks after Spain clinched the 2026 title.

The ASEAN Cup has kicked off in Phnom Penh, and host Cambodia has already lost its opening games 2-1 to Singapore and 5-1 to Indonesia in Group A.

Americans' confidence in the economy fell this month as gas prices resumed their climb after the U.S. and Iran stepped up their fighting.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 90.8 in July from 92.2 in June. That's essentially the same tepid range its been in since the beginning of the year. In late 2024 and early 2025 the readings were well above 100.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had an "excellent" meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, their first sit-down since launching a joint war against Iran and it offered Netanyahu a chance to smooth out strains in their relationship.

The closed-door meeting lasted nearly an hour and a half and was "positive and productive," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Trump, in a social media posting several hours after the talks, called it a "very good meeting" where "many important subjects were discussed" but offered no further details.

Jordan's air defenses intercepted five missiles launched from Iran early Wednesday, the country's military said, hours after the U.S. military said it had knocked down an Iranian missile barrage launched against American forces in the Middle East, shattering a brief pause in fighting.

In a statement, the Jordanian military said the missiles had been "intercepted and destroyed." Earlier, U.S. Central Command said they "remain vigilant and at a high state of readiness," and that it worked with Saudi Arabia's forces to strike sites in Iraq that Tehran-backed militias have used to launch attacks in recent days.

China pushed back Tuesday against claims of overcapacity in the world's second largest economy, ahead of the release of results of a U.S. probe on the matter that could result in new tariffs.

Massive capacity in a slew of Chinese industries, from automaking to solar panels, cement and steel manufacturing, among many others, has drawn increasing attention from Beijing's trading partners in recent years. Although China's own leaders have made rebalancing the economy a priority, slowing domestic demand has prompted companies to expand into markets overseas. Surging exports pushed China's trade surplus to a record of nearly $1.2 trillion last year.

Spanish firefighter Javier García has never faced anything like the record blaze raging near Madrid in his two decades protecting woodlands and rural communities.

"This doesn't have a precedent," García told The Associated Press by phone before another long day ahead.