AP Top News at 11:57 p.m. EST

Israel confirms 4 dead hostages who will be returned from Gaza include young family

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The remains of the youngest and one of the oldest captives seized by Hamas during the attack that ignited the war in the Gaza Strip are expected to be returned on Thursday, an Israeli official said Wednesday. The handover, part of the ceasefire agreement that has paused the fighting in Gaza, will include the bodies of a mother and her two young children whose fate was uncertain and a retired journalist in his 80s, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. It was the first Israeli confirmation that the bodies of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were 4 years old and 9 months old when they were taken captive on Oct.

Trump and Zelenskyy trade barbs as US-Ukraine relations sour over the war with Russia

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Relations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump deteriorated rapidly Wednesday as Zelenskyy said Trump was living in a Russian-made “disinformation space” and Trump called Zelenskyy “a dictator without elections” in comments that were sure to complicate efforts to end the war. Zelenskyy also said he would like Trump’s team “to be more truthful” as he offered his first response to a series of striking claims that Trump made a day earlier, including falsely suggesting that Kyiv was to blame for the war, which enters its fourth year next week. The comments were a staggering back-and-forth between leaders of two countries that have been staunch allies in recent years under Trump’s predecessor.

Trump and Musk say they like working together and will keep at it. Will it last?

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s been a burning political question for weeks: How long will President Donald Trump — who doesn’t like sharing the spotlight — be able to do just that with Elon Musk, a billionaire also overly fond of attention? In a joint Fox News Channel interview that aired Tuesday, both insisted they like each other a lot and would stick with their arrangement despite what Trump said were attempts by the media to “drive us apart.” At times, Trump sat back as Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity heaped praise on Musk in an attempt to counteract a Democratic narrative that he’s a callous and unelected force out to destroy the government and upend civil society through sweeping cuts being imposed by the Department of Government Efficiency.

Italy PM Meloni visits pope in hospital, says he’s in good spirits as tests show slight improvement

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni visited Pope Francis for 20 minutes in the hospital Wednesday and reported he was “alert and responsive” and full of good humor, despite his diagnosis of pneumonia and a complicated bronchial infection that has sidelined the 88-year-old pontiff for six days. The Vatican said Francis’ overall condition remained stationary, but that blood tests showed a “slight improvement” in key inflammation indices. Francis also worked in the afternoon with his collaborators, the Vatican said in a late statement. Meloni said she wanted to bring get-well wishes to the pope on behalf of the government and entire nation.

What’s the key to surviving a plane crash? Skilled crew, strong seats and wings that detach

After watching videos of a Delta Air Lines jet catch fire upon landing and flip over on a Toronto runway, it’s fair to wonder how anyone could have survived. But aviation experts said it was not surprising that all 76 passengers and four crew walked away from Monday’s disaster, with 21 people suffering minor injuries and only one still hospitalized on Wednesday. It’s a credit, they said, to advances in plane design as well as a crew that flawlessly executed an evacuation plan. “When I first saw (footage of) that aircraft upside down at the airport, I was like: ‘How can that happen?

Trump backs idea to send some DOGE savings to American citizens

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he likes the idea of giving some of the savings from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency back to U.S. citizens as a kind of dividend. He said at an investment conference in Miami that the administration is considering a concept in which 20% of the savings produced by DOGE’s cost-cutting efforts goes to American citizens and another 20% goes to paying down the national debt. Trump also said the potential for dividend payments would incentivize people to report wasteful spending. “They’ll be reporting it themselves,” Trump said. “They participate in the process of saving us money.” Later, as he flew back to Washington aboard Air Force One, he was asked by a reporter about the plan floated by Musk.

DOGE notches courtroom wins as Elon Musk crusades to slash federal government

WASHINGTON (AP) — Although some parts of President Donald Trump ’s agenda are getting bogged down by litigation, Elon Musk ’s Department of Government Efficiency is having better luck in the courtroom. Labor unions, Democrats and federal employees have filed several lawsuits arguing that DOGE is running roughshod over privacy protections or usurping power from other branches of government. But judges appointed by Democratic and Republican presidents haven’t always gone along with those arguments, at least so far. Most notably, DOGE critics are failing to obtain temporary restraining orders that would prevent Musk’s team from accessing sensitive government databases. “It is not the job of the federal courts to police the security of the information systems in the executive branch,” wrote U.S.

South Korea’s Yoon is in court for a hearing in his criminal trial

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared in court Thursday for a hearing where his lawyers contested his arrest on a criminal charge alleging he was orchestrating a rebellion when he briefly imposed martial law in December. Security was heightened as the motorcade transporting Yoon arrived at the Seoul Central District Court and dozens of his supporters rallied nearby. The preliminary hearing will involve discussions of witnesses and other preparations for his criminal trial, and the court was also to review the request by Yoon’s lawyers to cancel his arrest and release him from custody. Such challenges are rarely successful.

Brazil’s Bolsonaro slams ‘vague’ accusations after attempted coup indictment

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday dismissed as vague accusations that he orchestrated an attempted coup to stay in office despite his 2022 election defeat and said the charges were the result of an authoritarian regime manufacturing internal enemies. Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet on Tuesday charged Bolsonaro with devising a multi-pronged scheme to remain in power despite his loss to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, including a alleged plan to poison Lula and shoot dead Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a foe of the former president. Lula on Wednesday said the current stage was “only the indictment” and said Bolsonaro and the other 33 people facing charges of plotting a coup would have every right to defend themselves.

IRS plans to lay off 7,000 probationary workers beginning Thursday, AP source says

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS will lay off roughly 7,000 workers in Washington and around the country beginning Thursday, a person familiar with the plans told The Associated Press. The layoffs affect probationary employees with roughly one year or less of service at the agency and largely include workers in compliance departments, according to the person, who was not authorized to disclose the plans and spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday. Compliance work includes ensuring that taxpayers are abiding by the tax code, filing their returns and paying their taxes, among other duties. The layoffs are part of the Trump administration’s intensified efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce through the Department of Government Efficiency by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who have not yet gained civil service protection.