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

The ministry said the 145 activists taking part in the Freedom Flotilla Coalition & Thousand Madleens to Gaza, were in good health and were being brought to shore in Israel for processing. They are then expected to be deported.

The interception came after nearly 450 activists from a previous flotilla — including European lawmakers and climate activist Greta Thunberg — were intercepted on more than 40 boats last week trying to reach Gaza with a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid.

While most of the activists of the Global Sumud Flotilla have been deported, six of its activists — from Norway, Morocco and Spain — remain detained in Israel, lawyers representing them said late Tuesday.

The organizers of this latest flotilla decried the new detentions on Wednesday as “arbitrary and unlawful.”

Gaza peace talks appear to gain momentum on the war's anniversary

CAIRO (AP) — Peace talks between Israel and Hamas resumed at an Egyptian resort city on Tuesday, the two-year anniversary of the militant group's surprise attack on Israel that started the war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The second day of indirect negotiations at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh is focused on a plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump last week that aims to bring about an end to the war.

Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, told Egypt’s Qahera TV that Hamas wanted guarantees of a lasting ceasefire as part of any deal to return the remaining 48 hostages, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive.

It appeared to be his first public appearance since an Israeli strike targeting him and other top Hamas leaders in Qatar last month killed six people, including his son and office manager.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted Trump's plan, which calls for the immediate release of the hostages. The plan also calls for Gaza to be placed under international governance and for Hamas to be disarmed, elements the militants have yet to accept.

Trump-backed Van Epps and Democrat Behn win Tennessee primaries for US House special election

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Matt Van Epps, a former commissioner in Gov. Bill Lee’s administration who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, and Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn won their crowded primary races Tuesday and will face off in December in a special election to replace a GOP congressman who left office this summer.

Van Epps clinched victory with the presidential endorsement that came after in-person early voting ended. Eleven Republicans were on the ballot for the seat vacated by former U.S. Rep. Mark Green.

In a victory speech, the Republican nominee said the endorsement “made the difference, and I will never forget it.” He pledged to work with Trump on issues ranging from illegal immigration enforcement to providing care for veterans.

“In Congress I'll stand shoulder to shoulder with President Trump to advance our America First agenda,” Van Epps said.

Behn, a social worker and community organizer from Nashville, said her win proved that “authenticity, energy, organizing power consistently outperformed corporate money and poll-tested messaging.”

Bondi dodges questions as she clashes with Democrats over claims she's weaponized Justice Department

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Pam Bondi repeatedly deflected questions as she sought during a combative congressional hearing on Tuesday to defend herself against growing criticism that she's turning the law enforcement agency into a weapon to seek vengeance against President Donald Trump’s political opponents.

Democrats sought to use the hearing, coming on the heels of the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, to warn of what they view as the politicization of a department that has long prided itself on remaining independent from the White House.

Bondi brushed aside with seeming disdain questions about her tumultuous tenure, flatly refusing to answer time and again as Democrats pressed her on politically charged investigations, the firings of career prosecutors and other matters. Her refusal to engage on the questions meant little if any fresh insight was offered about her actions and decisions, with Bondi instead opting to respond to Democrats' attacks by echoing conservative claims that President Joe Biden's Justice Department — which brought two criminal cases against Trump — was the one that had been weaponized.

“They were playing politics with law enforcement powers and will go down as a historic betrayal of public trust,” Bondi said of the Biden Justice Department. “This is the kind of conduct that shatters the American people’s faith in our law enforcement system. We will work to earn that back every single day.”

The hearing split early along deeply partisan lines, with Republicans repeatedly leaping to her defense to highlight the criminal cases against the president that they say show the institution she inherited was deeply politicized. They pointed to revelations from a day earlier that the FBI had analyzed phone records of several Republican lawmakers as part of an investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden, a Democrat.

National Guard troops are outside Chicago and could be in Memphis soon in Trump's latest deployment

ELWOOD, Ill. (AP) — National Guard troops are positioned outside Chicago and they could be in Memphis by Friday as the Trump administration pushes ahead with an aggressive policy toward big-city crime whether local leaders support it or not.

National Guard members from Texas had settled in at an Army Reserve center in Illinois by early Wednesday, despite a lawsuit and vigorous opposition from Democratic elected leaders. Their exact mission was not clear, though the Trump administration has an aggressive immigration enforcement operation in the nation’s third-largest city, and protesters have frequently rallied at an immigration building outside Chicago in Broadview.

The president has called Chicago a “hell hole” of crime, although police statistics show significant drops in most crimes, including homicides.

In Memphis, Tennessee, police Chief Cerelyn Davis said a small group of commanders were already in the city, planning for the arrival of Guard troops.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee has said troops will be deputized by the U.S. Marshals Service to “play a critical support role” for local law enforcement, though that role hasn’t been precisely defined yet.

Trump administration threatens no back pay for federal workers in shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration warned on Tuesday of no guaranteed back pay for federal workers during a government shutdown, reversing what has been long-standing policy for some 750,000 furloughed employees, according to a memo being circulated by the White House.

Trump signed into law after the longest government shutdown in 2019 legislation to ensure federal workers receive back pay during any federal funding lapse. But in the new memo, his Office of Management and Budget says back pay must be provided by Congress, if it chooses to do so, as part of any bill to fund the government.

The move by the Republican administration was widely seen as a strong-arm tactic — a way to pressure lawmakers to reopen the government, now in the seventh day of a shutdown.

“There are some people that don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way,” Trump said during an event at the White House.

He said back pay “depends on who we're talking about.” Asked a second time about backpay for furloughed federal workers given that the requirement is spelled out in law, Trump said: “I follow the law, and what the law says is correct.”

A veteran defense lawyer turned judge will oversee the case against ex-FBI director James Comey

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Michael Nachmanoff has built a quiet reputation in the federal courthouse in northern Virginia — a onetime public defender turned judge known for methodical preparation and a cool temperament. On Wednesday, he’ll find himself at the center of a political storm: presiding over the Justice Department’s prosecution of former FBI director James Comey.

Confirmed to the bench by President Joe Biden in 2021, Nachmanoff was randomly assigned to the case after a Virginia grand jury indicted Comey last month on charges including obstruction of a congressional proceeding. The assignment instantly drew Donald Trump’s attention. The president, long fixated on Comey, blasted him as a “Dirty Cop” and derided Nachmanoff as a “Crooked Joe Biden appointed Judge” while celebrating the charges as “JUSTICE FOR AMERICA!”

Despite the political noise, lawyers who know Nachmanoff say he is unlikely to be swayed.

“Whatever his personal politics are, I do not think that they will enter the courtroom,” said longtime Virginia defense attorney Nina Ginsberg, who has tried cases before him. “He’s confident enough in his ability to judge fairly that I don’t think he’s going to be influenced by politics or the media coverage.”

Nachmanoff, 57, came to the bench after more than a decade as the Eastern District of Virginia’s top federal public defender, where he argued and won a Supreme Court case that helped reduce racial disparities in crack cocaine sentencing. He served six years as a magistrate judge, handling some politically tinged cases. In 2019 he oversaw the first appearances of Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, associates of Trump ally Rudy Giuliani, releasing them on $1 million bonds. More recently, he refused to block the CIA from firing Dr. Terry Adirim, a Pentagon physician targeted by Trump allies over the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Bob Ross paintings to be auctioned to support public TV stations after federal funding cuts

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Thirty paintings created by the bushy-haired, soft-spoken Bob Ross will soon be up for auction to defray the costs of programming for public television stations suffering from cuts in federal funding.

Ross, a public television stalwart in the 1980s and '90s, “dedicated his life to making art accessible to everyone,” said Joan Kowalski, president of Bob Ross Inc. “This auction ensures his legacy continues to support the very medium that brought his joy and creativity into American homes for decades.”

Bonhams in Los Angeles will auction three of Ross' paintings on Nov. 11. Other auctions will follow in London, New York, Boston and online. All profits are pledged to stations that use content from distributor American Public Television.

The idea is to help stations in need with licensing fees that allow them to show popular programs that include “The Best of Joy of Painting,” based on Ross' show, “America's Test Kitchen,” “Julia Child's French Chef Classics” and “This Old House.” Small and rural stations are particularly challenged.

As desired by President Donald Trump, Congress has eliminated $1.1 billion allocated to public broadcasting, leaving about 330 PBS and 246 NPR stations to find alternative funding sources. Many launched emergency fund drives. Some have been forced to lay off staff and make programming cuts.

Priscilla nears major hurricane status in Pacific as new tropical storm swirls in the Atlantic

MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Priscilla neared Category 3 status on Tuesday in the Pacific as a new tropical storm strengthened in the Atlantic, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Just off the west coast of Mexico, Priscilla was spinning with maximum sustained winds around 105 mph (169 kph) and moving northwest at 9 mph (15 kph). It was centered Tuesday night about 185 miles (295 kilometers) southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, forecasters said.

On Tuesday, outer bands of the hurricane were extending across the Mexican state of Baja California Sur.

In the Atlantic Ocean, Tropical Storm Jerry maintained top winds of 50 mph (85 kph) early Wednesday. It was centered about 950 miles (1,530 kilometers) east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands while moving west-northwest at 23 mph (37 kph).

Forecasters said Jerry is expected to strengthen into a hurricane in another day or two. Swells from Jerry were expected Thursday to reach the Leeward Islands with the core of the storm moving near or north of the northern Leeward Islands late Thursday and Friday.

A divided Israel marks 2 years since Oct. 7 attack while war persists in Gaza and hostages languish

REIM, Israel (AP) — Thousands of people converged on southern Israel on Tuesday to mourn the dead as the nation marked two years since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack plunged the region into a devastating war, while Israel and Hamas pressed on with indirect peace talks in Egypt.

The main memorial event in Tel Aviv, organized by the bereaved families, was separate from a ceremony that the government will hold on the anniversary next week according to the Hebrew calendar. The split reflects deep divisions over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership, which many blame for the failure to secure a ceasefire that would free the remaining hostages held by the militants.

In the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed tens of thousands of people and razed entire towns and cities, those who can are fleeing another Israeli invasion of Gaza City while others are sheltering in place. Many are unable to make the arduous and costly journey south.

It’s been two years since thousands of Hamas-led militants poured into southern Israel after a surprise barrage of rockets. They stormed army bases, farming communities and an outdoor music festival, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, including women, children and older adults.

They abducted 251 others, most of whom have since been released in ceasefires or other deals. Forty-eight hostages remain inside Gaza, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive. Hamas has said it will release them only in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until all of the captives are returned and Hamas has been disarmed.