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

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco repeatedly pressed the assistant U.S. attorney to explain the administration's rationale for the more than 4,100 layoff notices that started going out Friday even though furloughed workers can not access their work emails and there are no human resources specialists to assist with next steps.

“It’s very much ready, fire, aim on most of these programs, and it has a human cost,” she said. "It’s a human cost that cannot be tolerated.”

She granted a temporary restraining order blocking the job cuts, saying she believed the evidence would ultimately show the cuts were illegal and in excess of authority.

Asked for comment, the White House referred The Associated Press to the Office of Management and Budget. The budget office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democrats say they won't be intimidated by Trump's threats as the shutdown enters a third week

WASHINGTON (AP) — Entering the third week of a government shutdown, Democrats say they are not intimidated or cowed by President Donald Trump’s efforts to fire thousands of federal workers or by his threats of more firings to come.

Instead, Democrats appear emboldened, showing no signs of caving as they returned to Washington from their home states this week and twice more rejected a Republican bill to open the government. The vote Wednesday was the ninth time the GOP plan has failed.

“What people are saying is, you’ve got to stop the carnage,” said Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, describing what he heard from his constituents, including federal workers, as he traveled around his state over the weekend. “And you don’t stop it by giving in.”

Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz said the firings are “a fair amount of bluster” and predicted said they ultimately will be overturned in court or otherwise reversed. That was already happening Wednesday, when a federal judge in California temporarily ordered the administration to stop the firings.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Wednesday that the layoffs are a “mistaken attempt” to sway Democratic votes. His House counterpart, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, said the administration’s “intimidation tactics are not working. And will continue to fail.”

Supreme Court seems inclined to limit race-based electoral districts under the Voting Rights Act

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared ready to gut a key tool of the Voting Rights Act that has helped root out racial discrimination in voting for more than a half century, a change that would boost Republican electoral prospects, particularly across the South.

During 2 1/2 hours of arguments, the court's six conservative justices seemed inclined to effectively strike down a Black majority congressional district in Louisiana because it relied too heavily on race.

Such an outcome would mark a fundamental change in the 1965 voting rights law, the centerpiece legislation of the Civil Rights Movement, that succeeded in opening the ballot box to Black Americans and reducing persistent discrimination in voting.

A ruling for Louisiana could open the door for legislatures to redraw congressional maps in southern states, helping Republican electoral prospects by eliminating majority Black and Latino districts that tend to favor Democrats. Legislatures already are free to draw extremely partisan districts, subject only to review by state courts, because of a 2019 Supreme Court decision.

Just two years ago, the court, by a 5-4 vote, affirmed a ruling that found a likely violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in a similar case over Alabama’s political boundaries. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined their three more liberal colleagues in the outcome.

Why a Supreme Court case from Louisiana will matter for the future of the Voting Rights Act

WASHINGTON (AP) — Voting rights activists were relieved in 2023 when, in a surprise to some, the Supreme Court upheld the most important remaining element of the Voting Rights Act.

The ruling forced Alabama and later Louisiana to redraw their congressional maps to give Black residents greater representation, moves that eventually sent two additional Black lawmakers to Washington.

Two years later, the Voting Rights Act's Section 2 is before the court again. This time, it's a rehearing of a Louisiana lawsuit over the state's redrawn congressional map in a case that revolves around the same part of the 60-year-old law.

At the heart of Wednesday's arguments lies a simple question, and one with potentially far-reaching consequences: Will the court, with the same lineup of justices who decided the 2023 case, change its mind about the landmark law?

Section 2 is the primary way plaintiffs can challenge racially discriminatory election practices. For nearly 50 years, a companion part of the law, Section 5, required certain states and counties with a history of discriminatory voting practices to get federal review before changing their election rules. Most of those places were in the South.

Israel receives remains of 2 more hostages as military says another body was not that of a hostage

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel received the remains of two more hostages Wednesday, hours after the Israeli military said that one of the bodies previously turned over was not that of a hostage. The confusion added to tensions over the fragile truce that has paused the two-year war.

The remains were transferred by the Red Cross from Hamas. After the two coffins arrived in Israel, the military in a statement cautioned that the hostages' identities had yet to be verified.

Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry said it received 45 more bodies of Palestinians from Israel, another step in implementation of the ceasefire agreement. That brought to 90 the total number of bodies returned to Gaza for burial. The forensics team examining the remains said they showed signs of mistreatment.

As part of the deal, four bodies of hostages were handed over by Hamas on Tuesday, following four on Monday that were returned hours after the last 20 living hostages were released from Gaza. In all, Israel has been awaiting the return of the bodies of 28 hostages.

The Israeli military said forensic testing showed that "the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages." There was no immediate word on whose body it was.

County judge in Chicago area bars ICE from arresting people at court

CHICAGO (AP) — Cook County’s top judge signed an order barring ICE from arresting people at court. Cook County includes Chicago, which has seen a federal immigration crackdown in recent months.

Detaining residents outside courthouses has been a common tactic for federal agents, who have been stationed outside county courthouses for weeks, making arrests and drawing crowds of protesters.

The order, which was signed Tuesday night and took effect Wednesday, bars the civil arrest of any “party, witness, or potential witness” while going to court proceedings. It includes arrests inside courthouses and in parking lots, surrounding sidewalks and entryways.

“The fair administration of justice requires that courts remain open and accessible, and that litigants and witnesses may appear without fear of civil arrest,” the order states.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security defended the practice of making arrests at courthouses, calling it “common sense.”

Alaska storms drive 1,500 from their homes and 2 villages are decimated

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Rain and wind were forecast Wednesday along the Alaska coast where two villages were devastated by the remnants of Typhoon Halong and officials were scrambling to find shelter for more than 1,500 people driven from their homes.

The weekend storm brought high winds and storm surges that battered the low-lying Alaska Native communities along the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in the southwest part of the state, nearly 500 miles (800 kilometers) from Anchorage. At least one person was killed and two were missing. The Coast Guard plucked two dozen people from their homes after the structures floated out to sea.

Hundreds were staying in school shelters, including one with no working toilets, officials said. The weather system followed a storm that struck parts of western Alaska.

Across the region, more than 1,500 people were displaced by the back-to-back storms. Dozens were flown to a shelter set up in the National Guard armory in the regional hub city of Bethel, a community of 6,000 people, and officials were considering flying evacuees to longer-term shelter or emergency housing in Fairbanks and Anchorage.

The hardest-hit communities included Kipnuk, population 715, and Kwigillingok, population 380. They are off the state's main road system and reachable this time of year only by water or air.

Journalists turn in access badges, exit Pentagon rather than agree to new reporting rules

NEW YORK (AP) — Dozens of reporters turned in access badges and exited the Pentagon on Wednesday rather than agree to government-imposed restrictions on their work, pushing journalists who cover the American military further from the seat of its power. The nation's leadership called the new rules “common sense” to help regulate a “very disruptive” press.

News outlets were nearly unanimous in rejecting new rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that would leave journalists vulnerable to expulsion if they sought to report on information — classified or otherwise — that had not been approved by Hegseth for release.

Many of the reporters waited to leave together at a 4 p.m. deadline set by the Defense Department to get out of the building. As the hour approached, boxes of documents lined a Pentagon corridor and reporters carried chairs, a copying machine, books and old photos to the parking lot from suddenly abandoned workspaces. Shortly after 4, about 40 to 50 journalists left together after handing in badges.

“It’s sad, but I’m also really proud of the press corps that we stuck together,” said Nancy Youssef, a reporter for The Atlantic who has had a desk at the Pentagon since 2007. She took a map of the Middle East out to her car.

It is unclear what practical impact the new rules will have, though news organizations vowed they’d continue robust coverage of the military no matter the vantage point.

Leader of Madagascar's military coup tells AP he is 'taking the position of president'

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — The leader of Madagascar’s military coup told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he is “taking the position of president" and that the armed forces would be in charge of the African island nation for up to two years before any elections are held.

Col. Michael Randrianirina, who led the rebellion that ousted President Andry Rajoelina on Tuesday following weeks of youth-led protests, said in his first interview with a global news outlet since taking power that he expects to be sworn in as the country’s new leader in the next few days.

“There must be an oath-taking” to make his position official, Randrianirina said at his unit's barracks while flanked by fellow officers. “We are staying here for at least 18 months, at most two years.”

Randrianirina announced Tuesday that the armed forces were taking power in Madagascar, a sprawling country of about 30 million people off of Africa's east coast that is the world's leading vanilla producer and is known for its unique biodiversity. Since gaining independence from France in 1960, it also has a history of coups and political crises.

The latest military takeover capped weeks of protests against Rajoelina and his government led by youth groups calling themselves “Gen Z Madagascar.” The protesters, who also included labor unions and civic groups, have demanded better government and job opportunities, echoing youth-led protests elsewhere in the world. Among other things, the Madagascar protesters have railed against chronic water and electricity outages, limited access to higher education, government corruption and poverty, which affects roughly three out of every four Madagascans, according to the World Bank.

Faulty engineering led to implosion of Titan submersible headed to Titanic wreckage, NTSB finds

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Faulty engineering led to the implosion of an experimental submersible that killed five people on the way to the wreck of the Titanic, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded in a report Wednesday.

The NTSB made the statement in its final report on the hull failure and implosion of the Titan submersible in June 2023. Everyone on board the submersible died instantly in the North Atlantic when Titan suffered a catastrophic implosion as it descended to the wreck.

The NTSB report states that the faulty engineering of the Titan “resulted in the construction of a carbon fiber composite pressure vessel that contained multiple anomalies and failed to meet necessary strength and durability requirements.” It also stated that OceanGate, the owner of the Titan, failed to adequately test the Titan and was unaware of its true durability.

The report also said the wreckage of the Titan likely would have been found sooner had OceanGate followed standard guidance for emergency response, and that would have saved “time and resources even though a rescue was not possible in this case.”

The NTSB report dovetails with a Coast Guard report released in August that described the Titan implosion as preventable. The Coast Guard determined that safety procedures at OceanGate, a private company based in Washington state, were “critically flawed” and found "glaring disparities” between safety protocols and actual practices.