Hamas tried to sneak its fighters out of the Gaza Strip in ambulances that evacuated dozens of wounded Palestinians to Egypt earlier this week, a senior Biden administration official said Friday.

Hamas had compiled a list of the seriously wounded that it wanted to evacuate from Gaza for treatment in Egypt, along with thousands of foreign nationals looking to flee the enclave.

The list was then vetted by Egypt and the United States, which found that a third of the names on it were of Hamas fighters, the administration official said, adding that the list was rejected and none of the 76 wounded Palestinians who were ultimately evacuated in ambulances out of Gaza were members of the terror group.

By Paul Adams in Jerusalem, Anthony Zucher in Tel Aviv & Graeme Baker BBC News

Israel has rebuffed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's call for a "humanitarian pause" in Gaza.

Mr Blinken said he had discussed the idea with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials during their talks in Tel Aviv.

But in a TV statement minutes later, Mr Netanyahu said Israel rejected "a temporary ceasefire that does not include the release of our hostages".

He said that Israel was "continuing with all our force" against Hamas.

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At least 13 people have been killed in a blast outside Gaza City's biggest hospital, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says.

BBC Verify has verified graphic videos showing badly injured and possibly dead people lying outside the hospital.

The Israeli military has confirmed it struck an ambulance that it says was being used by Hamas operatives.

It did not say where the air strike took place.

"An IDF aircraft struck an ambulance that was identified by forces as being used by a Hamas terrorist cell in close proximity to their position in the battle zone," it said in a statement.

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By Nkechi Ogbonna BBC News, Lagos

Sacked Twitter staffers in Africa are threatening to sue the company for failing to pay out the redundancy money they say they were promised.

Most had only been in the job a matter of months when the social media platform, now known as X, told them they were fired last November.

"It's difficult when it's the world's richest man owing you money and closure," one of the sacked workers tells the BBC.

The BBC has approached X for comment several times but was rebuffed with, among other things, a smiling poo emoji.

A more recent attempt received this response: "Busy now, please check back later."

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By Stephen McDonell in Anhui, China

"He was a great leader who has remained in our hearts," says a man who has come to pay his respects to Li Keqiang, China's popular former premier who died last week.

Flowers in hand, he and his son walk up to Li's childhood home on Hongxing road in the city of Hefei. The footpaths are covered in a sea of flowers. Crowds of mourners have been gathering since the 68-year-old suddenly died in Shanghai of a heart attack.

"He visited our textile factory and it left a deep impression," says the man. Li was from the same province as him, Anhui, he added: "It's too sad. I can't accept it."

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PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Large numbers of Afghans crammed into trucks and buses in Pakistan on Tuesday, heading to the border to return home ahead of the expiration of a Pakistani government deadline for those who are in the country illegally to leave or face deportation.

The deadline is part of a new anti-migrant crackdown that targets all undocumented or unregistered foreigners, according to Islamabad. But it mostly affects Afghans, who make up the bulk of migrants in Pakistan.

The expulsion campaign has drawn widespread criticism from U.N. agencies, rights groups and the Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan.

By Ruth Comerford BBC News

Thousands of people in Gaza have broken into aid depots to take supplies in what the UN called a "worrying sign of civil order starting to break down".

The UN relief agency for Palestinians (Unrwa) said warehouses holding basics like flour and soap were ransacked.

The news comes as Israel intensifies military action against Hamas in Gaza.

ACAPULCO, Mexico — More resources are arriving on Mexico's battered Pacific coast, and the death toll from Hurricane Otis is growing as searchers recover more bodies from Acapulco's harbor and under fallen trees and other storm debris.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Saturday that his opponents are trying to inflate the toll to damage him politically, but few expect the latest mark of 39 dead to be where it stops. Hundreds of families are still awaiting word from loved ones.

ACAPULCO, Mexico — Mexican authorities on Thursday gave the first human toll for Hurricane Otis' destruction along the country's Pacific coast: at least 27 dead and four missing.

Tens of thousands of residents in damaged homes without electricity awaited help more than a day after Otis roared ashore in Acapulco. The municipal water system wasn't functioning, because there was no electricity to run the pumps.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said at his morning news briefing that the deaths occurred around Acapulco, but provided few details. He acknowledged that the government was late in arriving because of the havoc Otis left behind.

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By Peter Hoskins Business reporter

Ford and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union have reached a tentative deal to end a six-week strike.

The agreement would be the first settlement of strikes by 45,000 workers against Ford, General Motors (GM) and Chrysler-parent Stellantis.

The deal still needs to be approved by union leaders and members.

By David Gritten BBC News

Israel has demanded that the UN's secretary general retract comments he made about the Gaza war and apologise.

António Guterres said in a speech to the Security Council on Tuesday that he condemned unequivocally Hamas's deadly attacks in Israel two weeks ago but that they "did not happen in a vacuum".

Israeli ambassador Gilad Erdan accused him of "justifying terrorism" and called for his immediate resignation.

By Vanessa Buschschlüter BBC News

Early results from a vote held by opposition parties in Venezuela to choose a unity candidate for the 2024 presidential election show María Corina Machado in a commanding lead.

With just over a quarter of votes counted, Ms Machado had 93%, even though she is currently barred from holding office.

The other nine candidates are trailing far behind the 56-year-old Ms Machado.