Israel receives

more remains

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has received the remains of two more hostages after they were transferred by the Red Cross from Hamas. Their arrival in Israel on Wednesday came 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. After the two coffins were brought into 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.

Storms decimate

villages in Alaska

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Officials in Alaska are rushing to find housing for people from tiny coastal villages devastated by the remnants of Typhoon Halong. But the remote location and severe damage are limiting their options as they race against other impending storms and the onset of winter.

High winds and storm surge seawater battered low-lying, isolated Alaska Native communities in the southwestern part of the state over the weekend. The Coast Guard plucked two dozen people from their homes after the structures floated out to sea in high water.

Three people were missing or dead. And hundreds of people were staying in school shelters. Officials said one of the shelters had no working toilets.

Engineering blamed

in Titan deaths

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board says faulty engineering led to the implosion of an experimental submersible that killed five people en route to the wreck of the Titanic.

The NTSB made the statement Wednesday 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 says the faulty engineering of the Titan did not meet necessary strength and durability requirements. The implosion led to lawsuits and calls for tighter regulation of private deep sea expeditions.

Vance dismisses

outrage over chat

WASHINGTON (AP) — The public release of a Young Republican group chat that included racist language, jokes about rape and flippant commentary on gas chambers prompted bipartisan calls for those involved to be removed from or resign their positions.

The Young Republican National Federation, the GOP’s political organization for Republicans between 18 and 40, called for those involved to step down from the organization. The group described the exchanges, first reported by Politico, as “unbecoming of any Republican.”

Republican Vice President JD Vance, however, has weighed in several times to speak out against what he characterized as “pearl clutching” over the leaked messages.