By WAFAA SHURAFA and SAM METZ, Associated Press

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Officials at Gaza’s largest functioning hospital said Wednesday that the bodies of 15 more Palestinians were returned from Israel, as exchanges outlined in last month’s fragile ceasefire continued despite allegations of violations.

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The International Committee of the Red Cross has transported 285 bodies held in Israeli custody to Gaza since last month’s agreement was brokered, though health officials in Gaza have said identifying the remains is complicated by a lack of DNA testing kits.

Israel has not disclosed how many bodies it is holding or where they were recovered, but has been returning 15 each time the remains of an Israeli hostage are returned from Gaza.

The 15 were returned to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Wednesday a day after Palestinian militants in Gaza handed over the body of an Israeli soldier taken hostage in the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack that started the war.

The exchanges are the central component of the initial phase of the U.S.-brokered agreement which requires Hamas return all hostage remains as quickly as possible. The exchanges have gone ahead even as Israel and Hamas have accused each other of breaching other terms of the deal.

Hamas returned 20 living hostages to Israel on Oct. 13. The group has since also returned the remains of 21 bodies. Israeli officials have decried parts of the process as a violation of the agreement, accusing Hamas of handing over partial remains in some instances and staging the discovery of bodies in others.

It has pushed to speed up the returns and in certain cases has said the remains were not those of hostages.

Hamas has said recovering bodies is complicated by the widespread devastation in the coastal enclave and has returned one to three bodies every few days. It has accused Israel of opening fire at civilians and restricting the flow of humanitarian aid into the territory. The number of casualties has dropped since the ceasefire took effect.

But health officials in Gaza — who do not distinguish between civilians and militants — have continued to report deaths from strikes, while Israel has said that soldiers have also been killed.

The deal will not move to subsequent phases until all the remains of Israeli hostages are returned.

The next parts of the 20-point plan call for creating an international stabilization force. Its makeup hasn’t been finalized, but diplomats are working to define its role, persuade Arab countries to take part, and win wider international support.

“What we believe is that whatever entity that is created in Gaza should have the legitimacy of a mandate from the Security Council,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters in Doha on Tuesday.

The fragile agreement aims to wind down the war that was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.

Israel responded with a sweeping military offensive that has killed more than 68,800 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.

Israel, which has denied accusations by a U.N. commission of inquiry and others of committing genocide in Gaza, has disputed the ministry’s figures without providing a contradicting toll.

Metz reported from Rabat, Morocco.

By SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is heading to Miami on Wednesday — the anniversary of his reelection to a second term — to speak to a forum of business leaders and global athletes about what he sees as his economic achievements.

His speech to the American Business Forum will be a broad look at his economic agenda and how investments he has secured abroad help U.S. communities, according to a senior White House official. It’s a significant effort from Trump to put a positive spin on the economy at a time when Americans remain uneasy about the state of their finances and the cost of living — and when major campaigns in Tuesday’s election were centered on affordability and the economy.

The AP Voter Poll survey, which included more than 17,000 voters in New Jersey, Virginia, California and New York City, suggested the public was troubled by higher prices and fewer job opportunities despite Trump’s promises to tame inflation and unleash growth.

In his speech, Trump will touch on deregulation, energy independence and oil prices, and affordability, said the White House official, who was granted anonymity to preview the president’s address.

Trump spent five days in Asia last week with stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea. He worked to ease trade tensions with Beijing in a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. In Tokyo, he promoted several major energy and tech projects for the U.S. that will be funded by Japan.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said he thinks Trump’s recent travels “have been transformational in his presidency” and said his speech will be a highlight of the forum, which organizers have described as a more accessible version of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, or the Milken Institute Global Conference, which gathers the world’s elite for discussions on the economy.

“This conference not only is creating this incredible collection of people, but it’s also creating them in a particular moment in time,” said Suarez, a Republican.

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Trump’s visit also highlights how the Miami area is playing a key role during his second term.

Trump is set to host leaders of the world’s leading rich and developing economies at next year’s Group of 20 summit at his golf club at the nearby city of Doral, despite what critics say is the appearance of impropriety.

Trump’s sons have taken over running the Trump Organization while their father is in the White House, and the president has insisted that his family’s business will not make any money by holding the summit at the golf club.

The city is where Trump wants to locate his future presidential library, which is now facing a legal challenge over whether the plot of land in downtown Miami is being properly transferred. Miami is also one of the U.S. host cities for next year’s World Cup, which Trump has eagerly promoted as the kickoff to several major global sporting events for which the U.S. is playing host. Ensuring the success of the World Cup has been a top priority for the Trump administration.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino, with whom Trump has developed a close friendship, is scheduled to speak at the Miami forum later Wednesday.

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s power to unilaterally impose far-reaching tariffs is coming before the Supreme Court on Wednesday in a pivotal test of executive power with trillion-dollar implications for the global economy.

The Republican administration is trying to defend the tariffs central to Trump’s economic agenda after lower courts ruled the emergency law he invoked doesn’t give him near-limitless power to set and change duties on imports.

The Constitution says Congress has the power to levy tariffs. But the Trump administration argues that in emergency situations the president can regulate importation taxes like tariffs. Trump has called the case one of the most important in the country’s history and said a ruling against him would be catastrophic for the economy.

FILE – President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, on April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

The challengers argue the 1977 emergency powers law Trump used doesn’t even mention tariffs, and no president before has used it to impose them. A collection of small businesses say the uncertainty is driving them to the brink of bankruptcy.

The case centers on two sets of tariffs. The first came in February on imports from Canada, China and Mexico after Trump declared a national emergency over drug trafficking. The second involves the sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs on most countries that Trump announced in April.

Multiple lawsuits have been filed over the tariffs, and the court will hear suits filed by Democratic-leaning states and small businesses focused on everything from plumbing supplies to women’s cycling apparel.

Lower courts have struck down the bulk of his tariffs as an illegal use of emergency power, but the nation’s highest court may see it differently.

FILE – Hannah Bowerman, left, a technical designer for Terry Precision Cycling, measures a bike shirt worn by market designer Thea Sousa during a fit session at the company’s headquarters in Burlington, Vt., Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart, File)

Trump helped shape the conservative majority court, naming three of the justices in his first term. The justices have so far been reluctant to check his extraordinary flex of executive power, handing him a series of wins on its emergency docket.

Still, those have been short-term orders — little of Trump’s wide-ranging conservative agenda has been fully argued before the nation’s highest court. That means the outcome could set the tone for wider legal pushback against his policies.

The justices have been skeptical of executive power claims before, such as when then-President Joe Biden tried to forgive $400 billion in student loans under a different law dealing with national emergencies. The Supreme Court found the law didn’t clearly give him the power to enact a program with such a big economic impact, a legal principle known as the major questions doctrine.

The challengers say Trump’s tariffs should get the same treatment, since they’ll have a much greater economic effect, raising some $3 trillion over the next decade. The government, on the other hand, says the tariffs are different because they’re a major part of his approach to foreign affairs, an area where the courts should not be second-guessing the president.

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The challengers are also trying to channel the conservative justices’ skepticism about whether the Constitution allows other parts of the government to use powers reserved for Congress, a concept known as the nondelegation doctrine. Trump’s interpretation of the law could mean anyone who can “regulate” can also impose taxes, they say.

The Justice Department counters that legal principle is for governmental agencies, not for the president.

If he eventually loses at the high court, Trump could impose tariffs under other laws, but those have more limitations on the speed and severity with which he could act. The aftermath of a ruling against him also could be complicated, if the government must issue refunds for the tariffs that had collected $195 billion in revenue as of September.

The Trump administration did win over four appeals court judges who found the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, gives the president authority to regulate importation during emergencies without explicit limitations. In recent decades, Congress has ceded some tariff authority to the president, and Trump has made the most of the power vacuum.

By LISA MASCARO and MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government shutdown has entered its 36th day, breaking the record as the longest ever and disrupting the lives of millions of Americans with federal program cuts, flight delays and federal workers nationwide left without paychecks.

President Donald Trump has refused to negotiate with Democrats over their demands to salvage expiring health insurance subsidies until they agree to reopen the government. But skeptical Democrats question whether the Republican president will keep his word, particularly after the administration restricted SNAP food aid, despite court orders to ensure funds are available to prevent hunger.

Trump, whose first term at the White House set the previous government shutdown record, is set to meet early Wednesday for breakfast with GOP senators. But no talks have been scheduled with the Democrats.

“Why is this happening? We’re in a shutdown because our colleagues are unwilling to come to the table to talk about one simple thing: health care premiums,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., in a late evening speech.

“Stop this mess, come to the table, negotiate it,” she said.

With Trump largely on the sidelines, talks have intensified among a loose coalition of centrist senators trying to negotiate an end to the stalemate. Expectations are high that the logjam would break once election results were fully tallied in Tuesday’s off-year races that were widely watched as a gauge of voter sentiment over Trump’s second term in the White House. Democrats swept key contests for governor in Virginia and New Jersey, and New York City mayor, certain to shake up the political assessments.

But earlier in the afternoon, Senate Democrats left an hours-long private meeting stone-faced, with no certain path forward.

“We’re exploring all the options,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said afterward.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., arrives to meet with reporters following a closed-door session with fellow Democrats, on day 35 of the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Trump sets another shutdown record

Trump’s approach to this shutdown stands in marked contrast to his first term, when the government was partially closed for 35 days over his demands for funds to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall. At that time, he met publicly and negotiated with congressional leaders, but unable to secure the funds, he relented in 2019.

This time, it’s not just Trump declining to engage in talks. The congressional leaders are at a standoff and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., sent lawmakers home in September after they approved their own funding bill, refusing further negotiations.

In the meantime, food aid, child care funds and countless other government services are being seriously interrupted and hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed or expected to come to work without pay.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted there could be chaos in the skies next week if air traffic controllers miss another paycheck. Labor unions put pressure on lawmakers to reopen the government.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said this has been not only the longest shutdown but also “the most severe shutdown on record.”

The Republican leader has urged the Democrats to accept his overtures to vote on the health care issue and keep negotiating a solution once the government reopens, arguing that no one wins politically from the standoff.

“Shutdowns are stupid,” Thune said.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., joined at left by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the GOP whip, talks with reporters following a closed-door strategy session, on day 35 of the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Senators search for potential deal

Central to any endgame will be a series of agreements that would need to be upheld not only by the Senate, but also the House, and the White House, which is not at all certain in Washington.

First of all, senators from both parties, particularly the powerful members of the Appropriations Committee, are pushing to ensure the normal government funding process in Congress can be put back on track.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., along with several Democrats, including Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Chris Coons of Delaware, are among those working behind the scenes.

“The pace of talks have increased,” said Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who has been involved in conversations.

Among the goals is guaranteeing upcoming votes on a smaller package of bills where there is already widespread bipartisan agreement to fund various aspects of government, like agricultural programs and military construction projects at bases.

“I certainly think that three-bill package is primed to do a lot of good things for the American people,” said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who has also been in talks.

Amanda Salter loads a pallet with food for her women’s shelter at Second Harvest Food Bank, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Health care costs skyrocket for millions

More difficult, a substantial number of senators also want some resolution to the standoff over the funding for the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at year’s end.

With insurance premium notices being sent, millions of Americans are experiencing sticker shock on skyrocketing prices. The loss of enhanced federal subsidies, which were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic and come in the form of tax credits, are expected to leave many people unable to buy health insurance.

Republicans are reluctant to fund the health care program, also known as Obamacare, without reforms, but negotiating a compromise with Democrats is expected to take time, if a deal can be reached at all.

Thune has promised Democrats at least a vote on their preferred health care proposal, on a date certain, as part of any deal to reopen government. But that’s not enough for some senators, who see the health care deadlock as part of their broader concerns with Trump’s direction for the country.

The White House says its position remains unchanged and that Democrats must vote to fund the government before talks over health care can begin. White House officials are in close contact with GOP senators who have been quietly speaking with key Senate Democrats, according to a senior White House official. The official was granted anonymity to discuss administration strategy.

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Trump’s demands to end the filibuster fall flat

The president has been pushing the senators to nuke the filibuster — the Senate rule that requires 60 votes to advance most legislation — as a way to reopen the government.

The GOP senators have panned Trump’s demands to end the filibuster, in a rare public break with the president. Thune and others argue the Senate rule, while infuriating at times, ensures the minority party can be a check on the administration, which is important when power shifts in Washington.

But in the current Senate, where Republicans hold a slim majority, 53-47, Democrats have been able to block the House-passed bill that would fund the government, having voted more than a dozen times against.

Trump has said that doing away with the filibuster would be one way the Republicans could bypass the Democrats and end the shutdown on their own. Republican senators are trying to avoid that outcome.

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Stephen Groves, Seung Min Kim and Matt Brown contributed to this report.