AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EDT

The Latest: Hamas says it will study Trump’s peace plan before responding

Hamas said Tuesday it will discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza within the group and with other Palestinian factions before responding. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already thrown his support behind it but it’s unclear whether Hamas will agree and when it would give its response.

The proposal demands that Hamas effectively surrender and disarm in return for an end to fighting, humanitarian aid for Palestinians and the promise of reconstruction in Gaza — all desperately hoped for by the population in the devastated territory where the death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has topped 66,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Meanwhile, backing and support were pouring in for the proposal from the international community. Trump and Netanyahu said after talks Monday in the White House that they had agreed on the plan.

Here’s the latest:

The United Nations says it’s prepared to increase aid deliveries into Gaza whenever possible. Deliveries by U.N. agencies and its partners have been largely limited in recent months as Israel has allowed a separate organization — the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — to ferry in aid.

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Trump and Hegseth set to meet with hundreds of military leaders as speculation grows

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth plan to address hundreds of U.S. military officials in person Tuesday after the Pentagon suddenly asked top commanders from around the world to convene at a base in Virginia without publicly revealing the reason.

The gathering at the Marine Corps base in Quantico near Washington has fueled intense speculation about the purpose and value of summoning such a large number of generals and admirals to one place, with many stationed in more than a dozen countries that include conflict zones in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Meetings between top military brass and civilian leaders are nothing new. But experts say the scale of the gathering, the haste with which it was called and the mystery surrounding it are particularly unusual.

“The notion that the secretary is going to talk to the generals and give them his vision for running the department — and maybe also for strategy and organization — that’s perfectly reasonable,” said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired Marine colonel.

“What’s mystifying is why it’s on such short notice, why it’s in person and what else might be involved,” he said.

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Trump and Netanyahu say they’ve agreed on a plan to end the Gaza war. Hamas is now reviewing it

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday laid out a 20-point proposal supported by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would end the war in Gaza and free remaining hostages, leaning heavily into conditions that Hamas has previously rejected.

The U.S. president, who has become increasingly frustrated by the bloody conflict, seems to be betting that the militants are now so decimated that they have no choice but to accept what he and Netanyahu are framing as a last, best offer.

“If Hamas rejects your plan, Mr. President, or if they supposedly accept it and then do everything to counter it, then Israel will finish the job by itself,” Netanyahu said after meeting with Trump at the White House. “This can be done the easy way or it can be done the hard way, but it will be done.”

Qatar’s prime minister and Egypt’s intelligence chief presented Trump’s proposal to Hamas negotiators, who are now reviewing it in “good faith,” according to a person familiar with the matter. The person was not authorized to comment and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Palestinian government in the occupied West Bank said it welcomed Trump’s plan to end the war and pledged to implement the reforms called for in his plan. And the governments of Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates issued a joint statement applauding Trump’s proposal.

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What to know about the Gaza peace plan agreed to by Trump and Netanyahu

CAIRO (AP) — After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threw his support behind the U.S. peace plan for Gaza, the question now is whether Hamas will agree.

Hamas faces a bitter tradeoff — the proposal demands that the militant group effectively surrender in return for uncertain gains. But if it rejects the deal, the U.S. could give Israel an even freer hand to continue its punishing campaign in the already devastated territory.

Under the proposal, the militant group would have to disarm in return for an end to fighting, humanitarian aid for Palestinians, and the promise of reconstruction in Gaza — all desperately hoped for by its population.

But the proposal has only a vague promise that some day, perhaps, Palestinian statehood might be possible. For the foreseeable future, Gaza and its more than 2 million Palestinians would be put under international control. An international security force would move in, and a “Board of Peace” headed by Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair would oversee Gaza’s administration and reconstruction. The territory would remain surrounded by Israeli troops.

Trump and Netanyahu said they agreed on the plan Monday after talks at the White House.

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Death toll from attack at Michigan church stays at 4 after police sweep charred ruins

GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — In the chaotic moments after a former Marine smashed his pickup truck into a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel in Michigan and began shooting, church members pulled others to safety while smoke filled the building, officials said Monday.

Four people died and eight others were wounded in Sunday’s attack just as services were underway in the crowded sanctuary. Authorities feared they would find additional victims, but by Monday everyone was accounted for after a sweep of the charred ruins, police said.

Investigators were focusing on what motivated the 40-year-old veteran to open fire and set ablaze the church in Grand Blanc Township, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) north of Detroit. The suspect was also killed while exchanging gunfire with two officers, said Township Chief of Police William Renye.

Eight people — ages 6 to 78 — were shot and wounded but all are expected to recover, the chief said. Two people were treated for smoke inhalation, he said.

“This was an evil act of violence,” Renye said.

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Congressional leaders leave White House meeting without deal to avoid government shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — A government shutdown fast approaching, Democratic and Republican congressional leaders left a White House meeting with President Donald Trump Monday afternoon showing no sign of compromising from their entrenched positions in order to avoid a lapse in funding.

If government funding legislation isn’t passed by Congress and signed by Trump on Tuesday night, many government offices across the nation will be temporarily shuttered and nonexempt federal employees will be furloughed, adding to the strain on workers and the nation’s economy.

But lawmakers were locked in an impasse Monday. Democrats are using one of their few points of leverage to demand legislation to extend health care benefits. But Republicans are refusing to compromise and daring Democrats to vote against legislation that would keep government funding mostly at current levels.

“There are still large differences between us,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said as he left the White House.

Vice President JD Vance told reporters after the meeting, “I think we’re headed into a shutdown because the Democrats won’t do the right thing.”

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Rescuers run oxygen to survivors in Indonesia school building collapse that buried dozens

SIDOARJO, Indonesia (AP) — Rescuers ran oxygen and water to students trapped in the unstable concrete rubble of a collapsed school building in Indonesia, as they desperately worked to free survivors Tuesday a day after the structure fell. At least three students were killed, more than 100 were injured and dozens were presumed buried in the rubble.

Rescue workers, police and soldiers digging through the night pulled out eight weak and injured survivors more than eight hours after the collapse at Al Khoziny Islamic Boarding School in the East Java town of Sidoarjo. Rescuers saw additional bodies, indicating the death toll was likely to rise.

Rescue efforts were temporarily suspended at 10:15 a.m. as the collapsed concrete shook suddenly. People immediately ran for their lives, fearing another collapse, as rescuers urged everyone in the area to avoid the building, including more than a dozens of ambulances that parked near the scene. The work resumed around 1:45 p.m.

The students are mostly boys in grades seven to 11, between ages 12 and 18.

Families anxiously awaited news at hospitals or near the collapsed building. A notice posted at the school complex Tuesday morning listed 65 students as missing. National Disaster Management Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari revised the number of people presumed buried in the rubble to 38 by midday.

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Prosecutors seek over 11 years in prison for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors urged a New York federal judge Tuesday to send Sean “Diddy” Combs to prison for over 11 years following his conviction on prostitution-related charges, citing one of his accusers who said she lives in fear of the music mogul’s release from detention.

“His crimes of conviction are serious and have warranted sentences over ten years in multiple cases for defendants who, like Sean Combs, engaged in violence and put others in fear,” they wrote in a presentence submission requesting at least 11 years and three months in prison.

They filed their sentencing recommendation shortly after midnight, including letters from some of his accusers describing how his violence and demands had impacted their lives.

They called Combs “unrepentant” and said Combs had conceded his acts of violence and abuse throughout his trial but “incredibly, … he now argues that his victims should shoulder the blame.”

Combs, 55, has remained jailed since his July conviction on charges related to arranging male sex workers to travel to hotels or residences where he directed them to have sex with his girlfriends.

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Judge suspends Trump administration’s plan to eliminate hundreds of Voice of America jobs

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge agreed Monday to temporarily suspend the Trump administration’s plan to eliminate hundreds of jobs at the agency that oversees Voice of America, the government-funded broadcaster founded to counter Nazi propaganda during World War II.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington, D.C., ruled that the U.S. Agency for Global Media cannot implement a reduction in force eliminating 532 jobs for full-time government employees on Tuesday. Those employees represent the vast majority of its remaining staff.

Kari Lake, the agency’s acting CEO, announced in late August that the job cuts would take effect Tuesday. But the judge’s ruling preserves the status quo at the agency until he rules on a plaintiffs’ underlying motion to block the reduction in force.

Lamberth previously ruled that President Donald Trump’s Republican administration must restore VOA programming to levels commensurate with its statutory mandate to “serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news.” He also blocked Lake from removing Michael Abramowitz as VOA’s director.

Lamberth accused the administration of showing “concerning disrespect” toward the court in response to his earlier orders to produce information about its plans for Voice of America. He noted that the agency initiated the job cuts only hours after a hearing last month in which government lawyers said a reduction in force, or RIF, was merely a possibility.

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FBI boss Kash Patel gave New Zealand officials 3D-printed guns illegal to possess under local laws

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — On a visit to New Zealand, FBI Director Kash Patel gave the country’s police and spy bosses gifts of inoperable pistols that were illegal to possess under local gun laws and had to be destroyed, New Zealand law enforcement agencies told The Associated Press.

The plastic 3D-printed replica pistols formed part of display stands Patel presented to at least three senior New Zealand security officials in July. Patel, the most senior Trump administration official to visit the country so far, was in Wellington to open the FBI’s first standalone office in New Zealand.

Pistols are tightly restricted weapons under New Zealand law and possessing one requires an additional permit beyond a regular gun license. Law enforcement agencies didn’t specify whether the officials who met with Patel held such permits, but they couldn’t have legally kept the gifts if they didn’t.

It wasn’t clear what permissions Patel had sought to bring the weapons into the country. A spokesperson for Patel told the AP Tuesday that the FBI would not comment.

Inoperable weapons are treated as though they’re operable in New Zealand if modifications could make them workable again. The pistols were judged by gun regulators to be potentially operable and were destroyed, New Zealand’s Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told AP in a statement Tuesday.