U.S. President Donald Trump signed legislation on Wednesday to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, just two hours after the House of Representatives voted to restore food assistance, pay hundreds of thousands of federal employees.
The Republican-led House approved the bill 222–209, with Trump’s backing helping unify his party despite strong Democratic opposition over the failure to secure extended federal health insurance subsidies.
Trump's signature on the bill, (the funding package was cleared by the Senate earlier in the week), will bring federal workers idled by the 43-day shutdown back to their jobs starting as early as Thursday.
However, it remains unclear how quickly full government services and operations will resume.
"We can never let this happen again," Trump said in the Oval Office during a late-night signing ceremony that he used to criticise Democrats.
"This is no way to run a country."
The deal extends funding through to 30 January, leaving the federal government on a path to keep adding about $1.8 trillion a year to its $38 trillion in debt.
The shutdown's end offers some hope that services crucial to air travel in particular would have some time to recover with the critical Thanksgiving holiday travel wave just two weeks away.
Restoration of food aid to millions of families may also make room in household budgets for spending as the Christmas shopping season moves into high gear.
It also means the restoration in coming days of the flow of data on the U.S. economy from key statistical agencies.
Some data gaps are likely to be permanent, however, with the White House saying employment and Consumer Price Index reports covering the month of October might never be released.
By many economists' estimates, the shutdown was shaving more than a tenth of a percentage point from gross domestic product over each of the roughly six weeks of the outage, although most of that lost output is expected to be recouped in the months ahead.
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At least 11 people were killed in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday, among the deadliest since a June ceasefire. Meanwhile, Qatar denied holding Iranian pilots. It said it had found the remains of one pilot after an airspace violation and had contacted Iran to coordinate a handover.
U.S. President Donald Trump says Washington is not seeking an extension of its memorandum of understanding with Iran, claiming the U.S. already controls the Strait of Hormuz through its naval blockade.
Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the U.S. fulfils the terms of an interim deal, including lifting the maritime blockade and sanctions and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.
South Korea's presidential Blue House said on Monday it was reviewing U.S. President Donald Trump's comments on scaling back joint military drills. It added that it hoped a favourable relationship between Washington and Pyongyang could lead to meaningful talks.
Residents of villages in eastern Indonesia hit by a deadly earthquake that killed at least 54 people were awaiting aid on Monday as rescuers prepared to comb through collapsed buildings in search of people trapped beneath the rubble.
Britain will continue to support Ukraine “100 per cent” against Russia’s invasion, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Tuesday, after Moscow warned London of consequences over reports that British-made drones had been used in strikes on Russian territory.
Russia has summoned Japan’s ambassador to Moscow and delivered a strong protest over what it called “anti-Russian” remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi concerning four disputed islands.
Pakistan is turning to more U.S. crude as disruption around the Strait of Hormuz exposes the risks of its heavy reliance on Gulf energy supplies.
U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Xavier Brunson visited South Korea's Defence Ministry on Tuesday to discuss plans to scale back the joint Ulchi Freedom Shield military exercise, according to media reports.
European countries are stepping up investment in drones and counter-drone technology as unmanned systems reshape modern warfare, driving demand for new production and capabilities across the continent.
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