AP News in Brief at 9:04 p.m. EDT

The White House threatened mass layoffs of federal workers, rather than simply the normal furloughs, in a matter of days, seizing the chance to slash government. Blame was being cast on all sides. No new talks were scheduled after the president failed this week to secure a deal with congressional leaders.

“Let’s be honest, if this thing drags on,” warned Vice President JD Vance during a visit to the White House briefing room, “we are going to have to lay people off.”

Roughly 750,000 federal workers were expected to be furloughed, and some fired, by Trump's Republican administration. Many offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as the president promises to zero in on programs Democrats like. Trump's deportation agenda is likely to run full speed ahead, while education, environmental and other services sputter. The economic fallout could ripple across the nation.

Democrats believe their health care campaign is what House Leader Hakeem Jeffries called a “moral” issue, but cracks are emerging within the party. A Senate vote on the GOP plan to fund the government without the health subsidies failed, but it drew some Democratic support.

What happens now that a government shutdown is underway

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington is bracing for what could be a prolonged federal shutdown after lawmakers deadlocked and missed the deadline for funding the government.

Republicans supported a short-term measure to fund the government generally at current levels through Nov. 21, but Democrats blocked it, insisting the measure address their concerns on health care. They want to reverse the Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’s package of tax breaks and spending reductions from the summer and they want to extend tax credits that make health insurance premiums more affordable for millions of people who purchase through the marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act.

Republicans called the Democratic proposal a nonstarter that would cost taxpayers more than $1 trillion.

Neither side shows any signs of budging.

Here’s what to know about the shutdown that began Wednesday:

Trump administration puts on hold $18 billion in funding for New York City infrastructure projects

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump 's administration, citing the government shutdown, said Wednesday it was putting a hold on roughly $18 billion to fund a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey and an extension of the city's Second Avenue subway.

The White House budget director, Russ Vought, said on X that the step was taken due to the Republican administration’s belief the spending was based on unconstitutional diversity, equity and inclusion principles.

In a statement, Trump's Transportation Department said it had been reviewing whether any “unconstitutional practices” were occurring in the two massive infrastructure projects but that the shutdown, which began Wednesday, had forced it to furlough the staffers conducting the review.

The suspension of funds is likely meant to target Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York, whom the White House is blaming for the impasse. He said the funding freeze would harm commuters.

“Obstructing these projects is stupid and counterproductive because they create tens of thousands of great jobs and are essential for a strong regional and national economy,” he said on X.

Bondi and Hegseth rally federal agents and troops in Memphis as part of crime task force

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller on Wednesday rallied members of a federal law enforcement task force that has begun operating in Memphis as part of President Donald Trump's crime-fighting plan for the city.

The officials met with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican who has supported the project, before touring a staging area for the Memphis Safe Task Force and then speaking to a group of federal, state and local law enforcement officers and Tennessee National Guard members.

Miller called the task force an “all of government, unlimited support operation” that would make the city “safer than any of you could ever possibly imagine.” He predicted that “businesses and investment are going to pour in, and Memphis will be richer than ever before.”

“We’re not here to second guess you,” Hegseth told them. “We’re here to have your back — to unleash you to do your jobs so you come home safely.”

Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, who represents Memphis in Congress, said he was disappointed to learn about the visit in the media. In a letter to Hegseth and Bondi, he urged them to be more collaborative and expressed concern about the “wartime rhetoric” coming from the Trump administration.

Activists say Israeli navy has begun intercepting a Gaza-bound aid flotilla

JERUSALEM (AP) — Activists on board a flotilla of vessels sailing toward Gaza said late Wednesday that the Israeli navy had intercepted three of its boats as they approached the besieged Palestinian territory. Israeli authorities said the activists on board, including Greta Thunberg, were safe and being transferred to Israel.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, composed of nearly 50 boats and 500 activists, is carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza. The Sirius, Alma and Adara boats were intercepted some 70 nautical miles (80 miles) from the coast of Gaza, according to organizers who shared live positions of the flotilla. The group, which includes Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, former Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau and several European lawmakers, said it remained undeterred in its mission to break the Israeli blockade and bring aid to Palestinians.

Greg Stoker, an American veteran aboard the Ohwayla, one of the boats in the flotilla, said that around a dozen naval vessels with their transponders off had approached it. “They are currently hailing our vessels, telling us to turn off our engines and await further instructions or our boats will be seized and we will face the consequences," he said in a shaky video posted on Instagram. Israeli authorities used water cannons against some of the boats, Stoker and other activists reported on social media.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry posted a video on X showing Thunberg sitting on a ship's deck being handed a water bottle and raincoat. “Greta and her friends are safe and healthy," it said.

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the Israeli operation was expected to take 2-3 hours. He told state TV Rai that the boats would be towed to Israel’s port of Ashdod and the activists would be deported in the coming days. He also said Israeli forces have been told “not to use violence.”

The US military has long been an engine of social change. Hegseth's approach runs counter to that

WASHINGTON (AP) — Historically, the U.S. military has been an engine for cultural and social change in America. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s vision for the armed forces he leads runs counter to that.

In comments Tuesday to hundreds of military leaders and their chief enlisted advisers, Hegseth made clear he was not interested in a diverse or inclusive force. His address at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, verbalized what Hegseth has been doing as he takes on any program that can be labeled diversity, equity or inclusion, as well as targeting transgender personnel. Separately, the focus on immigration also is sweeping up veterans.

For too long, “the military has been forced by foolish and reckless politicians to focus on the wrong things. In many ways, this speech is about fixing decades of decay, some of it obvious, some of it hidden,” Hegseth said. “Foolish and reckless political leaders set the wrong compass heading, and we lost our way. We became the woke department, but not anymore.”

Hegseth's actions — and plans for more — are a reversal of the role the military has often played.

“The military has often been ahead of at least some broader social, cultural, political movements,” said Ronit Stahl, associate professor of history at the University of California, Berkeley. ”The desegregation of the armed forces is perhaps the most classic example."

Supreme Court lets Lisa Cook remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Lisa Cook to remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now, declining to act on the Trump administration’s effort to immediately remove her from the central bank.

In a brief unsigned order, the high court said it would hear arguments in January over Republican President Donald Trump’s effort to force Cook off the Fed board.

The court will consider whether to block a lower-court ruling in Cook's favor while her challenge to her firing by Trump continues.

The high-court order was a rare instance of Trump not quickly getting everything he wants from the justices in an emergency appeal.

Cook will be able to take part in the remaining two Fed meetings in 2025, including the next meeting of its interest rate-setting committee in late October.

Jane Goodall, the celebrated primatologist and conservationist, has died

Jane Goodall, the intellectual, soft-spoken conservationist renowned for her groundbreaking, immersive chimpanzee field research in which she documented the primates' distinct personalities and use of tools, has died. She was 91.

The environmental advocate became a beloved household name who transcended generations through her appearances in documentaries and on television, as well as her travels to address packed auditoriums around the world.

The Jane Goodall Institute announced the primatologist's death Wednesday in an Instagram post. According to the Washington, D.C.-based institute, Goodall died of natural causes while in California on a U.S. speaking tour.

Her discoveries “revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world," it said.

While living among chimpanzees in Africa decades ago, Goodall documented them doing activities previously believed to be exclusive to humans. Her observations and subsequent magazine and documentary appearances in the 1960s transformed how the world perceived not only humans' closest living biological relatives but also the emotional and social complexity of all animals, while propelling her into the public consciousness.

Inside 'Alligator Alcatraz,' where detainees' uniform color is based on criminal history

Detainees arriving at the immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as “ Alligator Alcatraz ” are given color-coded uniforms and wrist-bands, then segregated based on their criminal history and whether they're considered a flight risk, according to a handbook given to detainees.

The handbook presents strict rules on hygiene and dress, portraying an environment inside the remote detention center that starkly contrasts with the deplorable conditions detainees described shortly after it opened in July. The handbook was made public as part of a lawsuit over whether detainees have proper access to attorneys.

The court case is one of three lawsuits filed by environmental and civil rights groups over conditions at the detention center, which was built this summer by the state of Florida and operated by private contractors and state agencies.

A federal judge in Miami ordered in August that the facility must wind down operations within two months, agreeing with environmental groups that the remote airstrip site wasn't given a proper environmental review before it was converted into an immigration detention center. But operations continued after the judge's preliminary injunction was put on hold in early September by an appellate court panel.

President Donald Trump toured the facility in July and suggested it could be a model for future lockups nationwide as his administration pushes to expand the infrastructure needed to increase deportations.

Taylor Swift's 'The Life of a Showgirl' is almost here. Here's what to know

NEW YORK (AP) — Lights, camera, action. Taylor Swift's 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” arrives Friday. Are you ready for it?

Swift announced her latest era back in August, when she began teasing the release.

Here's everything you need to know ahead of its drop date: how to stream, which variants exist, and of course, how the album came together. Enjoy the show!

“The Life of a Showgirl” will be available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.

Fans can pre-save the album ahead of its release on Oct. 3. Pre-saving ensures the new music automatically appears in a fan’s library the moment it is available. It is also a way for an artist to promote streams ahead of the drop date.