AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EDT

Israel says Hamas hands over ‘2 coffins of deceased hostages’ from Gaza

CAIRO (AP) — Israel said Hamas handed over “two coffins of deceased hostages ” from Gaza late Saturday, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu increased pressure on the militant group to share the rest more quickly under their ceasefire.

No names were immediately released. The bodies were in Israel and were being taken to the country’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine.

Israel announced earlier Saturday that Gaza’s sole crossing with the outside world, Rafah, would stay closed “until further notice,” tying it to Hamas’ release of remains. On Thursday it had said the crossing likely would reopen Sunday.

Hamas has now handed over the remains of 12 of the 28 dead hostages in Gaza, a key step in the week-old ceasefire process meant to end two years of war. The militant group says devastation and Israeli military control of certain areas of Gaza have slowed the handover.

The statement by Netanyahu ’s office on the Rafah crossing came shortly after the Palestinian embassy in Egypt said it would reopen Monday for people returning to Gaza. Hamas called Netanyahu’s decision a violation of the ceasefire deal.

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US will send survivors of strike on suspected drug vessel back to Ecuador and Colombia, Trump says

WASHINGTON (AP) — The two survivors of an American military strike on a suspected drug-carrying vessel in the Caribbean will be sent to Ecuador and Colombia, their home countries, President Donald Trump said Saturday.

The military rescued the pair after striking a submersible vessel Thursday, in what was at least the sixth such attack since early September.

“It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE that was navigating towards the United States on a well known narcotrafficking transit route,” Trump said in a social media post. “U.S. Intelligence confirmed this vessel was loaded up with mostly Fentanyl, and other illegal narcotics.”

After Trump’s announcement, the Pentagon posted on X a brief black-and-white video of the strike. In the clip, a vessel can be seen moving through the waves, its front portion submerged inches below the water’s surface. Then, several explosions are seen, with at least one over the back of the vessel.

The Republican president said two people onboard were killed — one more than was previously reported — and the two who survived are being sent to their home countries “for detention and prosecution.”

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‘No Kings’ protests against Trump bring a street party vibe to cities nationwide

WASHINGTON (AP) — Large crowds of protesters marched and rallied in cities across the U.S. Saturday for “ No Kings ” demonstrations decrying what participants see as the government’s swift drift into authoritarianism under President Donald Trump.

People carrying signs with slogans such as “Nothing is more patriotic than protesting” or “Resist Fascism” packed into New York City’s Times Square and rallied by the thousands in parks in Boston, Atlanta and Chicago. Demonstrators marched through Washington and downtown Los Angeles and picketed outside capitols in several Republican-led states, a courthouse in Billings, Montana, and at hundreds of smaller public spaces.

Trump’s Republican Party disparaged the demonstrations as “Hate America” rallies, but in many places the events looked more like a street party. There were marching bands, huge banners with the U.S. Constitution’s “We The People” preamble that people could sign, and demonstrators wearing inflatable costumes, particularly frogs, which have emerged as a sign of resistance in Portland, Oregon.

It was the third mass mobilization since Trump’s return to the White House and came against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programs and services but is testing the core balance of power, as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that protest organizers warn are a slide toward authoritarianism.

In Washington, Iraq War Marine veteran Shawn Howard said he had never participated in a protest before but was motivated to show up because of what he sees as the Trump administration’s “disregard for the law.” He said immigration detentions without due process and deployments of troops in U.S. cities are “un-American” and alarming signs of eroding democracy.

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Shutdown impact: What it means for workers, federal programs and the economy

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government shutdown is quickly approaching the second longest on record with no end in sight. Some lawmakers are predicting it could become the longest, surpassing the 35 days from President Donald Trump’s first term.

The Trump administration is using the current shutdown to buttress priorities it favors while seeking to dismantle those it doesn’t. Nevertheless, Democrats are insisting that any funding bill include help for millions of Americans who will lose health insurance coverage or face dramatically higher monthly premiums if Congress does nothing.

The shutdown began Oct. 1. Here’s a look at its impact so far on workers, the economy and the services the government provides.

The federal government employed nearly 2.3 million civilian employees as of March 31. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that about 750,000 of those employees would be furloughed each day during a shutdown. That means they don’t report to work until the shutdown ends. Others are considered “excepted” and do go to work, helping to protect life and property and perform other essential services.

Both groups of workers will get paid, but on a retroactive basis. That means they are facing the prospect of missing a full paycheck later this month after receiving a partial one earlier for work performed in late September.

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Afghanistan and Pakistan pledge to respect ceasefire after more than a week of deadly fighting

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghanistan and Pakistan, embroiled in fighting that has killed dozens of people and injured hundreds, pledged on Sunday to respect a ceasefire.

The truce, mediated by Qatar and Turkey, came into effect immediately and is intended to pause hostilities.

Violence has escalated between the neighbors since earlier this month, with each country saying they were responding to aggression from the other. Afghanistan denies harboring militants who carry out attacks in border areas.

Pakistan is grappling with militancy that has surged since 2021, when the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan and returned to power.

The Taliban government’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, gave a positive response to the outcome of the talks that took place in the Qatari capital, Doha, a day earlier.

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US warns Hamas planning attack on Palestinian civilians in apparent violation of Gaza ceasefire

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The U.S. State Department said Saturday that it has “credible reports” that Hamas could violate the ceasefire with an attack on Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

If the attack takes place, it “would constitute a direct and grave violation” of the agreement forged by President Donald Trump to end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas, the statement said.

No further details were disclosed about the potential attack.

”Should Hamas proceed with this attack, measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire,” the State Department said.

Trump previously warned on social media that “if Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them.”

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Trump’s immigration crackdown weighs heavy on the US labor market

Maria worked cleaning schools in Florida for $13 an hour. Every two weeks, she’d get a $900 paycheck from her employer, a contractor. Not much — but enough to cover rent in the house that she and her 11-year-old son share with five families, plus electricity, a cellphone and groceries.

In August, it all ended.

When she showed up at the job one morning, her boss told her that she couldn’t work there anymore. The Trump administration had terminated President Joe Biden’s humanitarian parole program, which provided legal work permits for Cubans, Haitians, Venezuelans as well as Nicaraguans like Maria.

“I feel desperate,’’ said Maria, 48, who requested anonymity to talk about her ordeal because she fears being detained and deported. “I don’t have any money to buy anything. I have $5 in my account. I’m left with nothing.’’

President Donald Trump’s sweeping crackdown on immigration is throwing foreigners like Maria out of work and shaking the American economy and job market. And it’s happening at a time when hiring is already deteriorating amid uncertainty over Trump’s erratic trade policies.

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Photos show ‘No Kings’ rallies against Trump across the US and in Europe

Protesting the country’s direction under President Donald Trump, thousands of people brought a street party vibe to the nation’s capital and communities across the U.S. for “ No Kings ” demonstrations, which the president’s Republican Party is calling “Hate America” rallies. Earlier Saturday, a few hundred Americans had gathered in major European cities like London and Paris.

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This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

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Burning ship loaded with gas abandoned in Gulf of Aden off Yemen as 1 mariner missing

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Cameroonian-flagged ship caught fire Saturday in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen after possibly being struck by a projectile, officials said, with at least one mariner missing and another still likely aboard the burning tanker after the rest of the crew abandoned the vessel.

U.K. and European Union officials offered differing opinions about what sparked the blaze on the Falcon, with the British suggesting a projectile hit it, while the EU said that it appeared to be “an accident.” They warned ships in the area that the vessel could explode, because it was “fully loaded” with liquefied petroleum gas.

The incident comes as Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been attacking ships through the Red Sea corridor. However, the rebels didn’t immediately claim to have been involved, though it can take them hours or even days to do so.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, or UKMTO, center issued an alert about the Falcon, describing the incident as taking place around 210 kilometers (130 miles) east of Aden.

“A vessel has been hit by an unknown projectile, resulting with a fire,” the UKMTO said. “Authorities are investigating.”

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GOP’s immigration pitch to New Jersey Latinos aims for some distance from Trump in governor’s race

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — At a Spanish-speaking town hall, the Republican candidate for New Jersey governor assured two young Mexican immigrants who were brought to the United States as children that people without criminal records would not face deportation. Three nights later, Jack Ciattarelli headlined a “Make America Great Again”-style event where a far-right commentator joked about building a detention center like Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Garden State.

“How about the Boardwalk Brig?” Jack Posobiec said with a laugh as he spoke later that evening at the rally.

Ciattarelli, an unabashed ally of Donald Trump, recently gave the Republican president an “A” grade for his performance in the White House. But as Ciattarelli courts Latino voters in a hard-fought race against Democrat Mikie Sherrill, the former business owner and state legislator has put some distance from Trump on the president’s signature issue of immigration.

Expressing support for issuing driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers to people who are in the U.S. illegally, Ciattarelli has tried to strike a balance between supporters of Trump’s mass deportation strategy and Latino voters that the GOP nominee thinks could be persuaded to support him.

In recent appearances in a Univision forum and in the final debate of the campaign, Ciattarelli promoted not a path to citizenship, as immigration advocates have pushed for years, but what he called a “pathway to recognition,” which he later described as a first step toward citizenship.