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In the news today: Donald Trump says he “won’t be extorted” by Democrats to reopen the government; Trump threatens Nigeria with potential military action over alleged persecution of Christians; and thousands are trapped in Sudan’s el-Fasher. Also, a powerful, 6.3 magnitude earthquake has shaken northern Afghanistan. |
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on board Air Force One on his way back to the White House from a weekend trip at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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Government shutdown could become longest ever as Trump says he ‘won’t be extorted’ by Democrats
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The government shutdown is poised to become the longest ever this week as the impasse between Democrats and Republicans has dragged into a new month. Millions of people could lose food aid benefits, health care subsidies are set to expire and there are few real talks between the parties over how to end it. Read more.
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With the two parties at a standstill, the shutdown, now in its 33rd day, appears likely to become the longest in history. The previous record was set in 2019, when Trump demanded that Congress give him money for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
President Donald Trump said in an interview aired on Sunday that he “won’t be extorted” by Democrats who are demanding negotiations to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at the end of the year for millions of Americans. Echoing congressional Republicans, the president said on CBS’s “60 Minutes” that he will only negotiate when the government is reopened.
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Senate Democrats have now voted 13 times against reopening the government, insisting that they need Trump and Republicans to negotiate with them first. “We want to sit down with (Senate Majority Leader John) Thune, with (House Speaker Mike) Johnson, with Trump, and negotiate a way to address this horrible health care crisis,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said last week.
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Trump threatens Nigeria with potential military action and escalates claim of Christian persecution
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President Donald Trump on Saturday said he’s ordered the Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action in Nigeria as he stepped up his allegations that the government is failing to rein in the persecution of Christians. The president also warned that he “will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria.” Read more.
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“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Trump posted on social media.
Trump’s warning came after Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Saturday pushed back on Trump announcing a day earlier that he was designating the West African country “a country of particular concern” for allegedly failing to rein in the persecution of Christians. In a social media statement on Saturday, Tinubu said that the characterization of Nigeria as a religiously intolerant country does not reflect the national reality.
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Nigeria’s population of 220 million is split almost equally between Christians and Muslims. While Christians have been targeted, analysts say the majority of victims of armed groups are Muslims in Nigeria’s Muslim-majority north, where most attacks occur.
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Fears grow for thousands trapped in Sudan’s el-Fasher as few reach safety
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Only a few thousand Sudanese have reached the nearest camp for displaced people in the days since Sudan’s paramilitary forces seized el-Fasher city, raising fears over tens of thousands who might still be trapped, an aid group said Sunday. Read more. |
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The Rapid Support Forces took control of the western Darfur region last week, after ousting the rival Sudanese army from the city that was besieged for 18 months. Since then, reports and videos have circulated of RSF atrocities against civilians including beatings, killings and sexual assaults, according to testimonies by civilians and aid workers.The dead included at least 460 killed in the hospital, according to the World Health Organization.
The fall of el-Fasher marked a new turning point in the war between the RSF and Sudan’s armed forces, which erupted in April 2023. More than 40,000 people have been killed, according to U.N. figures, but aid groups say the true number could be many times higher. The war has also displaced more than 14 million people and unleashed outbreaks of diseases, killing thousands.
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