By JULIA FRANKEL, Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Hamas said on Friday it has accepted a proposal from mediators to release one living American-Israeli hostage and the bodies of four dual-nationals, hostages who had died in captivity. The announcement came as talks continue in Qatar to try to broker the next stage of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

The group in the Gaza Strip did not immediately specify when the release of soldier Edan Alexander and the four bodies would occur, and other countries party to the agreement did not immediately confirm the Hamas statement.

Alexander was 19 when he was taken from his base on the border with Gaza in southern Israel during the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023 that sparked the war.

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

It was not clear which parties had participated in negotiating the deal. The United States, led by the Trump administration’s hostage envoy Steve Witkoff, has been pushing for a proposal that would extend the truce and see a limited number of hostage for prisoner exchanges.

Following the Hamas statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu huddled with top advisers in security consultations, according to an Israeli official who was not authorized to speak on the record about the matter.

The first phase of the ceasefire ended two weeks ago.

The White House last week made a surprise announcement, saying that American officials had engaged in “ongoing talks and discussions” with Hamas officials, stepping away from a long-held U.S. policy of not directly engaging with the group. That prompted a terse response from Netanyahu’s office.

It was not immediately clear whether those talks were at all linked to Hamas’ Friday announcement about the release of the American hostage.

In a separate statement, Hamas official Husam Badran reaffirmed what he said was Hamas’ commitment to fully implementing the ceasefire agreement in all its phases, warning that any Israeli deviation from the terms would return negotiations to square one.

The ceasefire has paused the deadliest and most destructive fighting ever between Israel and Hamas. The first phase allowed the return of 25 living hostages and the remains of eight others in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli forces have withdrawn to buffer zones inside Gaza, hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have returned to northern Gaza for the first time since early in the war, and hundreds of trucks of aid entered per day until Israel suspended supplies.

Israel has been pressing Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for an extension of the first phase, and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Hamas is believed to have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 35 others.

Two weeks ago, Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza and its more than 2 million people as it pressed Hamas to agree. The group has said that the move would affect the remaining hostages as well.

Hamas wants to start negotiations on the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase, which would see the release of remaining hostages from Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and a lasting peace.

The group said with support cut off to Gaza, some 80% of the population has now lost access to food sources, with aid distribution halted and markets running out of supplies, while 90% are unable to access clean drinking water.

In Jerusalem, some 80,000 Muslim worshippers prayed on Friday at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound for the second week of Ramadan, according to the Islamic Trust, which monitors the site. Israel is tightly controlling access, allowing only men over 55 and women over 50 to enter from the occupied territory for the prayers.

“The conditions are extremely difficult,” said Yousef Badeen, a Palestinian who had left the southern West Bank city of Hebron at dawn to make it to Jerusalem, said. “We wish they will open it for good.”

Hamas accused Israel of escalating a “religious war” against Palestinians with what it called the “systematic targeting of Muslim religious practices” through its restrictions at Al-Aqsa mosque.

Associated Press writer David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.

By The Associated Press

The Senate is finding itself in a familiar position, working to avoid a partial government shutdown with just hours to spare Friday. Democrats have only painful options: allow passage of a bill they believe gives President Donald Trump vast discretion on spending decisions, or vote no and give Trump free rein. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer gave members of his caucus days to vent their frustration before making clear he will not allow a government shutdown.

Also Friday, it’s Trump’s move now that two federal judges handed down orders Thursday requiring his administration to rehire thousands of probationary federal workers let go in mass firings. Trump also plans a Justice Department rally for what he’s calling a tough-on-crime agenda. And he’s asked the Supreme Court to limit a nationwide order that for now prevents him from denying birthright citizenship, a right enshrined in the 14th Amendment.

Here’s the Latest.

What to know about the bill being debated by the Senate

Congress has been unable to pass the annual appropriations bills designed to fund the government, so they’ve resorted to passing short-term extensions instead. The legislation before the Senate marks the third such continuing resolution for the current fiscal year, now nearly half over.

The legislation would fund the federal government through the end of September. It would trim non-defense spending by about $13 billion from the previous year and increase defense spending by about $6 billion, which are marginal changes when talking about a topline spending level of nearly $1.7 trillion.

The Republican-led House passed the spending bill on Tuesday and then adjourned. The move left senators with a decision to either take it or leave it. And while Democrats have been pushing for a vote on a fourth short-term extension, GOP leadership made clear that option was a non-starter.

A procedural vote Friday will provide a first test of whether the package has the 60 votes needed to advance, ahead of final voting likely later in the day. At least eight Democrats will need to join with Republicans to move the funding package forward.

Read more about the scramble to avert a government shutdown

Trump will visit a Justice Department he’s sought to reshape with loyalists

Trump is expected to use his visit to deliver a speech outlining his administration’s tough-on-crime agenda. But the appearance doubles as a victory lap after he emerged legally and politically unscathed from two federal prosecutions that were dismissed after his election win last fall.

The visit is the first by Trump and the first by any president in a decade. It brings Trump into the belly of an institution he has disparaged in searing terms for years but one that he has sought to reshape by installing loyalists and members of his personal defense team in top leadership positions.

Read more about Trump’s visit to the Justice Department

Judges order Trump to rehire probationary workers let go in mass firings

Two federal judges handed down orders on Thursday requiring Trump’s administration to rehire thousands, if not tens of thousands, of probationary workers let go in mass firings across multiple agencies, slowing down for now the president’s dramatic downsizing of the federal government.

Both judges separately found legal problems with the way the mass terminations were carried out and ordered the employees at least temporarily brought back on the job.

The Trump administration has already appealed the first ruling. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt cast it as an attempt to encroach on the president’s power to hire and fire employees. “The Trump Administration will immediately fight back against this absurd and unconstitutional order,” she said in a statement.

Read more about the orders on mass firings

Schumer gives Democrats room to side with Republicans to avoid a government shutdown

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer gave members of his caucus days to vent their frustration about the options before them, but late Thursday made clear he will not allow a government shutdown. His move gives Democrats room to side with Republicans and allow the continuing resolution, often described as a CR, to come up for a vote as soon as Friday.

Schumer said on the Senate floor that the choice between the GOP spending bill and a government shutdown is “no choice at all” but that a shutdown would be “a far worse option.”

A procedural vote Friday will provide a first test of whether the package has the 60 votes needed to advance, ahead of final voting likely later in the day. At least eight Democrats will need to join with Republicans to move the funding package forward.

Read more about the vote to avoid a government shutdown

Pentagon continues purge of images it sees as pro-DEI, including 3 related to the Enola Gay

The Pentagon is continuing its purge of photographs it considers promote DEI, and although it said historical photographs would be protected, at least three images related to the B-29 Superfortress bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, have been removed – likely because the aircraft was called the Enola Gay.

The images that have disappeared include a historical black-and-white photo of the Enola Gay “undergoing modification at Oklahoma City Air Depot to be able to drop atomic weapons,” according to a thumbnail of the photograph, which remains. Two others that mention a grandson of a member of the original Enola Gay crew flying a refurbished B-29 to honor his family have also been deleted, although their thumbnails are also still visible.

A request for comment to the Pentagon on why the Enola Gay images were removed was not immediately returned.

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A huge storm system crossing the U.S. threatens to unleash tornadoes Friday in the Mississippi Valley, blizzards in the northern Plains and dry, gusty conditions in Texas and Oklahoma that pose an extreme risk of wildfires.

The National Weather Service predicted extreme weather across a vast swath of the U.S. with a population exceeding 100 million people. Powerful winds gusting up to 80 mph were forecast from the Canadian line to the Rio Grande border with Mexico.

Forecasters say the severe storm threat will continue into the weekend, with a moderate chance of tornadoes and damaging winds pushing farther south Saturday to areas including New Orleans and Birmingham, Alabama. Heavy rain could bring flash flooding to some parts of the East Coast on Sunday.

Experts say it’s not unusual to see such weather extremes in March, when emerging spring warmth and lingering winter cold create big temperature differences for storms to thrive.

“If there’s a time of the year where a storm like this can deliver these coast-to-coast impacts, we are in it,” said Benjamin Reppert, a meteorologist at Penn State University.

Tornadoes likely amid storm outbreak

A regional outbreak of severe storms was expected Friday afternoon with some risk of thunderstorms extending from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast.

Forecasters said tornadoes, damaging winds and hail up to baseball-size were likely, with the greatest risk in eastern Missouri, much of Illinois and portions of Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas. The weather service’s Storm Prediction Center said 17 million people faced an enhanced to moderate severe storm threat from Des Moines, Iowa, to Jackson, Mississippi.

The tornado threat pushes farther south on Saturday into the Gulf Coast states, including New Orleans and other parts of eastern Louisiana and much of Mississippi and Alabama.

Blizzards expected in Northern Plains

Forecasters warned that heavy snow whipped by powerful winds are likely to make travel treacherous in parts of the Rockies and Northern Plains. Blizzard conditions were possible in the Dakotas and Minnesota.

Winter storm warnings issued Thursday lingered into Friday morning in mountainous regions of Arizona and Utah, where more than a foot (30 centimeters) of snowfall was possible. Forecasters warned of poor visibility and icy road conditions, urging motorists to travel with extra food and water in case they became stranded.

The winter blast continued after snowfall of up to 3 feet (90 centimeters) blanketed the Sierra Nevada earlier in the week.

Dry, gusty conditions bring ‘extreme’ threat of wildfires

Warm, dry weather and sustained winds of up to 45 mph brought what the weather service called “near historic” conditions for sparking wildfires Friday to the Southern Plains and parts of the Southwest. Wind gusts exceeding 80 mph were possible.

Forecasters shared a bit of advice during a special briefing: For those stuck on the roads, keep a firm grip on the steering wheel and watch for fallen trees, power lines and other debris. They said the strong winds would be kicking up plenty of dust and that brownout conditions were possible.

“This is likely to be the worst dust storm so far this year,” said Randall Hergert, a lead forecaster with the weather service in Albuquerque.

Forecasters also warned about an extreme risk of fires in parts of northern Texas, much of Oklahoma and southeast Kansas. A broader area where the fire threat was designated as critical stretched from eastern New Mexico into Texas and north to a portion of southern Iowa.

The weather service said a potential for dry thunderstorms in parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas carry the added risk of fires being started by lightning with minimal rainfall to stop them from spreading.

After an afternoon of catching and releasing walleye on the Mississippi River, Luke Durand, 17, on spring break from Champlin Park High School, relaxed on a boat as he waited for his fishing buddy to come back from putting air in the boat trailer tire at a boat landing in Hidden Falls Regional Park in St. Paul on Thursday.

Temperatures reached 64 degrees on Thursday and the National Weather Service predicts more warmth Friday, with temperatures near 75 degrees. That could top the previous high of 73 in 2012.

People explore the banks of the Mississippi River at Hidden Falls Regional Park in St. Paul on Thursday, March 13, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

A low-pressure system moves through the area Friday evening, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., bringing heavy rain, gusty winds and severe scattered storms.

Rain will transition to snow overnight on Friday into Saturday, the Weather Service reports.The best chances for heavy snow and high winds will be in western Minnesota, where blizzard conditions are possible.

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