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

“In a few hours, we will all be reunited,” Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said in a statement.

U.S. President Donald Trump planned to visit Israel and Egypt on Monday to celebrate the ceasefire announced last week in the two-year war.

“The war is over,” Trump asserted to reporters as he departed, adding he thought the ceasefire would hold. He said he would be “proud” to visit Gaza.

Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said all 20 living hostages were expected to be released at one time to the Red Cross, then driven to a military base to reunite with families or, if needed, immediately to a hospital.

Trump sets off for the Mideast to mark a ceasefire deal and urge Arab leaders to seize the moment

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump set off for Israel and Egypt on Sunday to celebrate the U.S.-brokered ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas and urge Middle East allies to seize the opportunity to build a durable peace in the volatile region.

It's a fragile moment with Israel and Hamas only in the early stages of implementing the first phase of the Trump agreement designed to bring a permanent end to the war sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas-led militants.

Trump thinks there is a narrow window to reshape the Mideast and reset long-fraught relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

It is a moment, the Republican president says, that has been helped along by his administration's support of Israel's decimation of Iranian proxies, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“Very excited about this moment in time,” Trump told reporters before Air Force One took off.

Trump warns Russia he may send Ukraine long-range Tomahawks if Moscow doesn't settle war soon

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday warned Russia that he may send Ukraine long-range Tomahawk missiles if Moscow doesn’t settle its war there soon.

“I might say, ’Look: if this war is not going to get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew to Israel. “The Tomahawk is an incredible weapon, very offensive weapon. And honestly, Russia does not need that.”

He added, ” I might tell them that if the war is not settled -- that we may very well--we may not, but we may do it. I think it’s appropriate to bring up.”

Trump’s comments came after he spoke by phone earlier Sunday with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Vance warns 'deeper' cuts ahead for federal workers as shutdown enters 12th day

Vice President JD Vance on Sunday said there will be deeper cuts to the federal workforce the longer the government shutdown goes on, adding to the uncertainty facing hundreds of thousands who are already furloughed without pay amid the stubborn stalemate in Congress.

Vance warned that as the federal shutdown entered its 12th day, the new cuts would be “painful," even as he said the Trump administration worked to ensure that the military is paid this week and some services would be preserved for low-income Americans, including food assistance.

Still, hundreds of thousands of government workers have been furloughed in recent days and, in a court filing on Friday, the Office of Management and Budget said well over 4,000 federal employees would soon be fired in conjunction with the shutdown. The effects of the shutdown also grew Sunday with the Smithsonian announcing its museums, research centers and the National Zoo are temporarily closed going forward for lack of funding.

“The longer this goes on, the deeper the cuts are going to be,” Vance said on Fox News' “Sunday Morning Futures.” “To be clear, some of these cuts are going to be painful. This is not a situation that we relish. This is not something that we’re looking forward to, but the Democrats have dealt us a pretty difficult set of cards.”

Labor unions have already filed a lawsuit to stop the aggressive move by President Donald Trump ’s budget office, which goes far beyond what usually happens in a government shutdown, further inflaming tensions between the Republicans who control Congress and the Democratic minority.

New Jersey declares emergency as nor'easter approaches, while Alaska flooding carries away homes

A nor’easter churned its way up the East Coast on Sunday, washing out roads and prompting air travel delays as heavily populated areas of the Northeast experienced excessive rain, lashing winds and coastal flooding. Across the continent in western Alaska, the remnants of Typhoon Halong brought hurricane- force winds and catastrophic flooding to coastal communities where entire houses were pushed off their foundations.

Rescue boats and aircraft were dispatched to the tiny Alaskan villages Kipnuk and Kwigillingok where there were reports of up to 20 people possibly unaccounted for, said Jeremy Zidek, spokesperson for the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

“We have received reports that people’s homes have floated away and that people were potentially in those homes,” Zidek told The Associated Press.

More than 170 people stayed overnight at a community shelter in Kipnuk, where the water level rose overnight 6.6 feet (2 meters) above the highest tide. At least 8 homes were washed away, Zidek said.

Roads and boardwalks were inundated and power lines were damaged in Bethel, Napaskiak, Napakiak, and other Yukon-Kuskokwim communities.

Shooting at packed South Carolina bar kills 4 and injures at least 20 others

ST. HELENA ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — A mass shooting early Sunday at a crowded bar on an idyllic island considered to be the largest Gullah community on the South Carolina coast has left four people dead and at least 20 injured, officials said.

A large crowd was at Willie's Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island when sheriff's deputies arrived and found many people with gunshot wounds. An estimated 5,000 or more Gullah people living on the island trace their ancestry back to enslaved West Africans who once worked rice plantations in the area before being freed by the Civil War.

Bar owner Willie Turral was inside the establishment, which was packed for a high school alumni event, when he heard shots going off “in bursts” outside. He described the scene: "Screaming and panic and fear."

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on the social platform X that many people ran to nearby businesses seeking shelter from the gunfire.

“This is a tragic and difficult incident for everyone," the statement said. "We ask for your patience as we continue to investigate this incident. Our thoughts are with all of the victims and their loved ones."

Community near site of deadly Tennessee plant blast recalls the lives of the 16 killed

NUNNELLY, Tenn. (AP) — Just miles from a rural Tennessee plant leveled by a devasting explosion, the congregants of Maple Valley Baptist Church devoted Sunday's service to the 16 deceased victims and their families.

Several of the dozens of people praying at the small church knew someone who worked at the plant owned by Accurate Energetic Systems, which supplies and researches explosives for the military and is a well-known employer in the area.

“There’s a somber kind of vibe right now in the community just because it’s so many lives that have been affected by it,” said Pastor Jimmy Andrews of the church in Nunnelly. “It’s family and friends just trying to hold each other up during this most difficult time.”

Churches across many of the area's small close-knit communities, including another one attended by Gov. Bill Lee on Sunday, did the same through vigils and services as many tried to make sense of the devastation.

“The losses are staggering,” Lee told reporters after surveying the damage by helicopter and attending Compassion Church in nearby Waverly.

China vows to stand firm against Trump's tariff threat. He urges Beijing to be less confrontational

BEIJING (AP) — China signaled on Sunday that it would not back down in the face of a 100% tariff threat from President Donald Trump and urged the United States to resolve differences through negotiations instead of threats. Trump responded by taking a less confrontational approach without retreating from his demands, while his vice president seemed to warn Beijing not to react aggressively.

“China’s stance is consistent,” the Commerce Ministry said in a statement posted online. “We do not want a tariff war but we are not afraid of one.”

It was China's first official comment on Trump's threat to jack up the tax on imports from China by Nov. 1 in response to new Chinese restrictions on the export of rare earths, which are vital to a wide range of consumer and military products.

Hours later, Trump used his Truth Social platform to send a message to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

“Don't worry about China, it will all be fine!” the Republican president wrote. “Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment. He doesn’t want Depression for his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!”

California expands privacy protections as Democratic-led states resist Trump's immigration agenda

Immigrants selling food, flowers and other merchandise along the sidewalks of California will have new privacy protections intended to keep their identities secret from federal immigration agents.

The measure, signed into law this past week by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, comes on the heels of other recently enacted state laws meant to shield students in schools and patients at health care facilities from the reach of President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement actions.

Democratic-led states are adding laws resisting Trump even as he intensifies his deportation campaign by seeking to deploy National Guard troops to Democratic-led cities to reinforce U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who are arresting people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.

By contrast, some Republican-led states are requiring local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with ICE agents.

“The actions of the states really reflect the polarization of the country on this issue,” said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports immigration restrictions. “We have seen some states move to cooperate to the greatest extent that they possibly can” with Trump’s administration and others “doing what they can to try to thwart immigration enforcement in their state.”

No. 3 Indiana has its highest ranking ever in AP Top 25, Texas, USC back in the rankings

Indiana moved up to No. 3 in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday for its highest ranking in program history and Texas was among five teams entering the Top 25 after eight ranked teams, three of them previously unbeaten, lost over the weekend.

Ohio State and Miami remained the top two teams while the Hoosiers earned a four-spot promotion for their 10-point win at then-No. 3 Oregon. No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 5 Mississippi traded places after the Aggies' 17-point home win over Florida and the Rebels' three-point home win over Washington State.

The Buckeyes strengthened their hold on No. 1 with a solid road win against then-No. 17 Illinois and received 50 first-place votes, 10 more than last week. Miami, which was idle, earned 13 first-place votes and Indiana got the other three.

Alabama moved up two spots to No. 6 and was followed by Texas Tech, Oregon, Georgia and LSU. Oregon dropped five spots and has its lowest ranking in 20 polls since it was No. 8 in September 2024.

Indiana’s groundbreaking run under second-year coach Curt Cignetti has been one of the biggest stories in college football since last season. The Hoosiers went into the Oregon game 0-46 on the road against top-five teams and, before Sunday, had never been ranked higher than No. 4. Their three first-place votes are their most in a poll since they got the same number when they were ranked No. 6 on Nov. 5, 1945.