AP News in Brief at 12:04 a.m. EST

The approval of Proposition 50 gives Democrats a shot at winning as many as five additional seats, just enough to blunt Texas Republicans’ move to redraw their own maps to pick up five GOP seats at Trump’s urging. Texas’ move and California’s response have kicked off a flurry of redistricting efforts around the country, with Republican states appearing to have an edge. Deeply blue California is Democrats’ best opportunity to make up seats.

Midterm elections typically punish the party in the White House, and Trump is fighting to maintain his party’s slim House majority. Republicans hold 219 seats to Democrats’ 213.

Tuesday’s results mark a political victory for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who cast the measure as an essential tool to fight back against Trump and protect American democracy.

California’s Proposition 50 asked voters to suspend House maps drawn by an independent commission and replace them with rejiggered districts adopted by the Democratic-controlled Legislature. Those new districts would be in place for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections.

Democrats dominate as economic woes take a toll on Trump's GOP. Takeaways from Election Day 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats dominated the first major Election Day since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

And while a debate about the future of the Democratic Party may have only just begun, there are signs that the economy — specifically, Trump's inability to deliver the economic turnaround he promised last fall — may be a real problem for Trump's GOP heading into next year's higher-stakes midterm elections.

Democrats on Tuesday won governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey, the only states electing new chief executives this year. They also swept a trio of state Supreme Court contests in swing-state Pennsylvania and ballots measures from Colorado to Maine.

Trump was largely absent from the campaign trail, but GOP candidates closely aligned themselves with the president, betting that his big win last year could provide a path to victory this time. They were wrong.

Democrats are hoping the off-year romp offers a new winning playbook, but some caution may be warranted. Tuesday's elections were limited to a handful of states, most of which lean blue, and the party that holds the White House typically struggles in off-year elections.

At least 7 dead, 11 injured in UPS plane crash and explosion at Kentucky airport

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A UPS cargo plane crashed and exploded in a massive fireball Tuesday while taking off from the company’s global aviation hub in Louisville, Kentucky, killing at least seven people and injuring 11, authorities said.

The plane crashed about 5:15 p.m. as it was departing for Honolulu from UPS Worldport at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.

Video showed flames on the plane’s left wing and a trail of smoke. The plane then lifted slightly off the ground before crashing and exploding in a huge fireball. Video also revealed portions of a building’s shredded roof next to the end of the runway.

The death toll had risen to at least seven Tuesday night, and four of those killed were not on the plane, officials said.

Among the 11 who were hurt, some had “very significant” injuries, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said.

Typhoon Kalmaegi leaves 66 dead, mainly in Philippine province still recovering from deadly quake

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Typhoon Kalmaegi has left at least 66 people dead with 26 others missing in the central Philippines, many in widespread flooding that trapped people on their roofs and swept away scores of cars in a hard-hit province still recovering from a deadly earthquake, officials said Wednesday.

Among the dead were six people who were killed in a separate incident when a Philippine air force helicopter crashed in the southern province of Agusan del Sur on Tuesday while en route to help provide humanitarian help to provinces battered by Kalmaegi, the military said without providing other details, including what could have caused the crash.

Kalmaegi blew away from western Palawan province into the South China Sea before noon on Wednesday with sustained winds of up to 130 kph (81 mph) and gusts of up to 180 kph (112 mph), according to forecasters.

Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV, deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense, and provincial officials said most of the deaths were reported in the central province of Cebu, which was pummeled by Kalmaegi on Tuesday, setting off flash floods and causing a river and other waterways to swell.

The resulting flooding engulfed residential communities, forcing startled residents to climb up to their roofs, where they desperately pleaded to be rescued as the floodwaters rose, officials said.

Trump administration announces 16th deadly strike on an alleged drug boat

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced yet another deadly strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, coming the same day an aircraft carrier began heading to the region in a new expansion of military firepower.

The attack Tuesday killed two people aboard the vessel, Hegseth said, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration's campaign in South American waters up to at least 66 people in at least 16 strikes.

President Donald Trump has justified the strikes by saying the United States is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and claiming the boats are operated by foreign terror organizations. The administration has not provided evidence or more details.

“We will find and terminate EVERY vessel with the intention of trafficking drugs to America to poison our citizens,” Hegseth posted while on a trip to Asia.

Lawmakers from both parties have pressed the Trump administration for more information on who is being targeted and the legal justification for the strikes given that Congress has not authorized military action. United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk last week called for the U.S. to halt the attacks and “prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats.”

Talks to end the government shutdown intensify as federal closure nears longest ever

WASHINGTON (AP) — Talks intensified Tuesday toward a potential end to the government shutdown, as the federal closure was on track to become the longest ever, disrupting the lives of millions of Americans.

But tensions also rose as senators from both parties, Republicans and Democrats, quietly negotiated the contours of an emerging deal. With a nod from their leadership, the senators are seeking a way to reopen the government, put the normal federal funding process back on track and devise some sort of resolution for expiring health insurance subsidies that are spiking premium costs from coast to coast.

“Enough is enough,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, the South Dakota Republican, as he opened the deadlocked chamber.

On day 35 of the federal government shutdown, the record for the longest will be broken after midnight. SNAP benefits have been interrupted for millions of Americans depending on federal food aid and hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been furloughed or are working without pay. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted there could be chaos in the skies next week if air traffic controllers miss another paycheck. Labor unions put pressure on lawmakers to reopen the government.

President Donald Trump has stayed largely on the sidelines, refusing to negotiate over the demands for health care funds until government reopens, and Democrats are wary of making any deal with Republicans unless it has approval from the White House.

Dick Cheney, one of the most powerful and polarizing vice presidents in US history, dies at 84

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dick Cheney, the hard-charging conservative who became one of the most powerful and polarizing vice presidents in U.S. history and a leading advocate for the invasion of Iraq, has died at 84.

George W. Bush’s vice president died Monday from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, his family said Tuesday in a statement.

In Cheney’s hands, the vice presidency became a nexus of influence and manipulation — no longer the timid office whose occupants had tended their boss’s ambitions, gone to endless banquets and often waited in the wings for their own shot at the prize.

When he bunkered in secure undisclosed locations after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, that was less an inconvenience for Cheney than a metaphor for a life of power that he exercised to maximum effect from the shadows.

He was the small man operating big levers as if from Oz. Machiavelli with a sardonic grin. “The Darth Vader of the administration,” as Bush described the public’s view.

Ohio State gets top billing in opening College Football Playoff rankings; Indiana, Texas A&M next

The closest thing resembling drama for the first big reveal of this season's College Football Playoff rankings hinged on which undefeated team would receive top billing.

Answer: The defending champions, Ohio State.

The Buckeyes took the top spot in the first set of 2025 rankings Tuesday, followed by Indiana and Texas A&M.

In choosing the two Big Ten teams ahead of Texas A&M, the 12-person committee appeared to give less weight to A&M's tougher schedule and its 41-40 win over tenth-ranked Notre Dame at the beginning of the season and more to the way the Buckeyes and Hoosiers have mowed down opponents this year, with only two games between the two of them decided by less than 10 points.

“I think statistically when we looked at A&M defensively, they’re just lower than both Ohio State and Indiana,” committee chair Mack Rhoades said. "We had to make a hard decision, and you’re trying to find separators, and that was a separator for us.”

UPS distribution hub in Louisville has 300 flights per day. What to know

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A UPS cargo plane crashed Tuesday at an airport in Louisville, Kentucky, where the company operates its largest package delivery hub.

UPS calls the giant center Worldport.

Here’s what to know about its enormous scale:

The facility at Muhammad Ali International Airport sprawls across an area the size of 90 football fields.

It processes 2 million packages per day, but has the ability to handle even more. It has the capacity to process 416,000 packages and documents per hour if needed.

Israel says the remains of a hostage have been turned over in Gaza

JERUSALEM (AP) — The remains of a hostage in Gaza, Staff Sergeant Itay Chen, have been returned for burial in Israel, the military said Wednesday, in the latest sign of progress under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire.

Chen, 19, of the 77th Battalion of the 7th Brigade, was abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, after falling from a tank and his death was officially confirmed on March 10, 2024, the military said in a statement on X.

“The IDF expresses deep condolences to the family, continues to make every effort to return all the deceased hostages, and is prepared for the continued implementation of the agreement,” it said.

The announcement came after the remains of a hostage in Gaza were returned Tuesday. Ahead of the announcement, Hamas had returned the remains of 20 hostages to Israel under the ceasefire that began Oct. 10.

The ceasefire is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the Palestinian militant group.