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

Airlines are scaling back flights at dozens of major U.S. airports to ease the pressure on air traffic controllers, who have been working unpaid and under intense strain during the ongoing government shutdown.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the decision is necessary to keep travelers safe. Many controllers have been putting in long hours and mandatory overtime while lawmakers are at a standstill over how to reopen the government.

Major hubs like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are among those affected, and the ripple effects could mean more cancellations, longer delays and fuller flights for travelers across the country. The cutbacks will impact hundreds if not thousands of flights daily.

Here’s what to know about the FAA's order — and what you can do if your plans are disrupted:

Weekend session gets off to slow start in Senate as lawmakers look for a way out of shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate’s first weekend session since the beginning of the shutdown yielded few signs of progress Saturday as Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s wish for a quick vote never materialized.

The impasse that has lasted 39 days is taking an increasing toll on the country as federal workers go unpaid, airlines cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been delayed for millions of Americans.

Saturday's session got off to a rough start when President Donald Trump made clear he is unlikely to compromise any time soon with Democrats who are seeking a one-year extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits. He said on social media that it is “the worst Healthcare anywhere in the world” and suggested Congress send money directly to people to buy insurance.

Thune said Trump's proposal would not be part of a solution to ending the shutdown, but added “it is a discussion that the president and all of us want to have.” Republican senators who spoke on the Senate floor Saturday generally echoed Trump's assessment.

“I guarantee you every day we keep this system in place is a great day for the health care insurance companies who have been making out literally like bandits every day under Obamacare,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

Gaza death toll tops 69,000 as Israel and militants again exchange remains

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — More than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war so far, Gaza health officials said Saturday, as both sides completed the latest exchange of bodies under the terms of the tenuous ceasefire.

The latest jump in deaths occurred as more bodies are recovered in the devastated Gaza Strip since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, and as other bodies are identified. The toll also includes Palestinians killed by strikes that Israel says target remaining militants.

Israel on Saturday returned the remains of another 15 Palestinians to Gaza, according to hospital officials there, a day after militants returned the remains of a hostage to Israel. He was identified as Lior Rudaeff, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s office. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said that Rudaeff was born in Argentina.

The exchanges are the central part of the ceasefire's initial phase, which requires that Hamas return all hostage remains as quickly as possible. Families and supporters rallied again Saturday night in Tel Aviv for the return of all.

The truce is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever between Israel and the Palestinian militant group. It began with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.

Democrats seize on Trump administration's efforts to fight food stamp payments

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Trump administration's legal efforts to fight having to fully fund food stamps for millions of vulnerable Americans is creating an opening for Democrats eager to use the longest government shutdown in U.S. history to paint the president as callous and out of touch.

“Donald Trump and his administration have made the decision to weaponize hunger, to withhold SNAP benefits from millions of people, notwithstanding the fact that two lower courts, both the district court and the court of appeals, made clear that those SNAP benefits needed to be paid immediately," House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said on CNN Saturday, calling the actions "shameful.”

“Donald Trump is literally fighting in court to ensure Americans starve. HE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOU,” echoed California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential contender, on X.

The comments come after the Supreme Court late Friday granted the administration’s emergency appeal to temporarily block a court order requiring it to fully fund SNAP food aid payments amid the shutdown. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program serves about 1 in 8 Americans, mostly those with lower incomes.

A judge had given the administration until Friday to make the payments. But the administration asked an appeals court to suspend any orders requiring it to spend more money than is available in a contingency fund, and to move forward with planned partial SNAP payments for the month instead.

Russian strikes hit an apartment building and energy sites in Ukraine, killing 4

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian drone slammed into an apartment building in eastern Ukraine early Saturday while many were sleeping, killing three people and wounding 12 others, Ukrainian authorities reported.

The attack in Dnipro, Ukraine’s fourth-largest city, was part of a large Russian missile and drone barrage across the country that targeted power infrastructure. It also killed a worker at an energy company in Kharkiv, farther north, a local official said.

A fire broke out and several apartments were destroyed in the nine-story building in Dnipro, the emergency services said. Rescuers recovered the bodies of three people, while two children were among the wounded.

Russia fired a total of 458 drones and 45 missiles, including 32 ballistic missiles. Ukrainian forces shot down and neutralized 406 drones and nine missiles, the air force said, adding that 25 locations were struck.

Authorities switched off power in several regions because of the attacks, Ukrainian Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk said in a post on Facebook.

US government shutdown forces some overseas bases to stop paying workers

MADRID (AP) — The longest U.S. government shutdown on record is doing more than grind activities to a halt at home; an ocean away in Europe, local workers at U.S. military bases have started to feel the pain.

Thousands of people working at overseas bases in Europe have had their salaries interrupted since the shutdown began almost six weeks ago. In some cases, governments hosting the U.S. bases have stepped in to foot the bill, expecting the United States to eventually make good. In others, including in Italy and Portugal, people have simply kept working unpaid as the gridlock in Washington drags on.

“It’s an absurd situation because nobody has responses, nobody feels responsible,” said Angelo Zaccaria, a union coordinator at the Aviano Air Base in northeastern Italy.

“This is having dramatic effects on us Italian workers,” he told The Associated Press.

The jobs foreign nationals do at U.S. bases around the world range from food service, construction, logistics, maintenance and other, more specialized roles. In some cases, foreign workers are employed by private companies contracted by the U.S. government while others are direct hires.

FAA grounds MD-11 planes following deadly Kentucky crash

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Federal aviation officials issued an order Saturday for McDonnell Douglas MD-11 planes not to be flown pending further inspection, reinforcing cargo carriers’ decision to ground their fleets following a deadly crash at the UPS global aviation hub in Kentucky.

UPS and FedEx said Friday that they were grounding their fleets of McDonnell Douglas MD-11s “out of an abundance of caution,” and the Federal Aviation Administration's directive the following day sidelined the planes until inspection and correction of any problems. In the Louisville crash, the jet's left engine detached during takeoff.

“This condition could result in loss of continued safe flight and landing,” the FAA said, adding that the issue “is likely to exist or develop in other products of the same design.”

The crash Tuesday at UPS Worldport killed 14 people including the three pilots on the MD-11, which was headed for Honolulu.

MD-11 aircraft make up about 9% of the UPS airline fleet and 4% of the FedEx fleet, the companies said.

People in some states get SNAP food aid while others still wait for their November benefits

People in some U.S. states will be able to buy groceries with federally funded SNAP benefits Saturday while those in other states were still waiting for November food benefits that had been delayed by a protracted legal battle over the federal government shutdown.

The Trump administration initially said last month that it would not fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for November because of the U.S. government shutdown. The twists and turns since have exacerbated uncertainty for the nearly 1 in 8 Americans who receive monthly SNAP benefits to spend at grocery stores and farmer’s markets.

On Friday, some states began issuing full monthly SNAP benefits to people, a day after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to provide the funds.

But Friday night, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson temporarily paused that judicial order to allow time for an appeals court to decide whether to issue a more lasting halt. Jackson acted because she handles emergency matters from Massachusetts.

The high court's order didn't stop payment distribution in at least some states, but millions of other Americans who depend on SNAP are still in limbo.

JD Vance hopes his Hindu wife converts to Christianity, sparking debate on interfaith marriage

Vice President JD Vance recently told a packed college arena that he hopes his Hindu wife would someday convert to Christianity, thrusting into the spotlight the deeply sensitive challenges facing interfaith couples.

Experts who have counseled hundreds of couples who don't share religious beliefs say the key is respect for each other’s faith traditions and having honest discussions about how to raise their children. Most agree that pressuring or even hoping the other would convert could prove damaging to a relationship, and all the more so for a couple in the public arena.

“To respect your partner and everything they bring to the marriage — every part of their identity — is integral to the kind of honesty that you need to have in a marriage,” said Susan Katz Miller, author of the book “Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family.”

“Having secret agendas is not usually going to lead to success,” she said.

Vance, who converted to Catholicism five years into his marriage with Usha Chilukuri Vance, shared his hopes for her conversion while taking questions at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Mississippi. A woman asked how he and his wife raise their children without giving them the sense that his religion supersedes her beliefs.

Some states now require public schools to teach kids about gun safety

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — This school year, students in elementary, middle and high schools in some states will get a new lesson on safety: what to do if they find a firearm.

Arkansas, Tennessee and Utah are the first states to enact laws that require public schools to teach children as young as 5 the basics of gun safety and how to properly store guns in the home. Only Utah's law allows students to opt out of the lesson if requested by parents or guardians.

A similar law in Arizona was vetoed by the Democratic governor, and lawmakers in at least five other states have introduced such proposals, putting schools at the forefront of yet another debate about gun violence.

In Tennessee, lesson plans could include stickers, games, quizzes, or videos with music and colorful firearm illustrations, including a gun made out of Lego-style bricks and an explanation of what a muzzleloader is.

The reality is that many children in the U.S. grow up around firearms.