U.S. House lawmakers passed a temporary government funding bill Tuesday that greatly lowers the risk of a shutdown as Democrats bailed out newly elected Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican whose plan drew opposition from hardliners in his party because it doesn't cut government spending or change border policies.

Washington

House Democrats join GOP to pass stopgap funding plan

It passed the House. Does that mean we've avoided a shutdown altogether? What now? Well, it still has to go through the Senate. And it's expected to pass in the Senate. But you know how the Senate is. There are all kinds of procedural hurdles. So we'll see. It could be soon. It could be a few days. But I think the idea is that a shutdown is more or less going to be averted. I mean, it's hardly what you call good fiscal governance. It's really just kicking the can down the road, isn't it, from the end of this year? I think you said they get to go on holiday in Capitol Hill. But we come back to this mess in January and February, don't we? Right. You're going to have now, you're going to have to do two shutdown clocks because there's going to be some of the federal government agencies, their funding will run out in January. And then another tranche of federal agencies' funding will run out in February. So the idea is to kind of put the pressure on lawmakers to move that first tranche and then the second in time. But this is a new kind of plan. This was something that Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans came up with, even though a whole bunch of House Republicans voted against the plan yesterday. I mean, Manis, how are we going to do this on Bloomberg TV? Are we going to have to have two shutdown clocks? Is the graphic engine strong enough for that? I don't think I've got the mental strength to actually get through another shutdown, showdown, hoedown kind of thing. It's like, you know, every time you turn around here, it's like it's managing by crisis on a string, isn't it? Yeah. Welcome to America, Manis, is all I can say. And Kate, on that note, I mean, who are the winners? Is this a win for Johnson or does it complicate things that it was really Democrats that helped get it over the line? Well, the answer is both, really. And they're all kind of taking this as a win. This is a win for Speaker Johnson. He's avoided a shutdown in his first less than a month on the job. But we're sort of grading him on a curve, right? You know, this is just the very, very minimum kind of doing the job, if you will. So he's managed to get you know, this bill through the House with actually big bipartisan support. And so it is a win for Speaker Johnson. How long lived of a win is it? There's some signs that he has problems in his own conference. You had a number of Republicans, some of the chair people like Jim Jordan vote against the bill. So there are signs of problems to come into the future for the new speaker.

The federal government is set to unveil a major new migration strategy tomorrow that aims to dramatically cut Australia's intake.

Canberra

Government plans to 'drastically cut' migration

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday approved two gene therapies for sickle cell disease, making one of them the first treatment in the United States based on the Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR gene editing technology.

Maryland

US approves two gene therapies for sickle cell disease

Israel bombing of the Gaza Strip has intensified in an expanded phase of its war against Hamas. This is after the United States wielded its U.N. Security Council veto to shield its ally from a global demand for a ceasefire.

Jerusalem

Israel-Gaza War

Intensified fighting in Gaza as U.S. vetoes ceasefire

EU lawmakers and policymakers have reached a deal on rules regulating the use of artificial intelligence, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on the X social platform.

Brussels

Rise of AI

EU reaches landmark deal to regulate AI threat

The U.S. has vetoed an emergency resolution at the UN security council — triggered by the secretary-general with a rarely-used power to force a vote — for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to allow more aid into the area.

New York

United States vetoes UN vote on immediate Gaza ceasefire

Israel's military says it has struck 450 targets in Gaza over the past 24 hours, roughly double the figure it's typically reported since the end of the truce with Hamas. It marks a new expansion of the war.

Sderot

Israel ramps up airstrikes on Gaza targets amid new phase

Russians and Belarusians who qualify in their sport for the Paris 2024 Olympics can take part as neutrals without flags, emblems or anthems at the event next year, the International Olympic Committee has ruled.

Paris

IOC rules Russian athletes can compete at Paris Olympics

Cyclone preparations are underway in north Queensland. Communities in North Queensland are bracing for Category Four Jasper to approach mainland Queensland by mid-next week.

Townsville City

North Queensland braces for Category Four cyclone

The Hamas-run health ministry reported 40 dead in strikes near Gaza City on Friday, and dozens more in Jabalia and the main southern city of Khan Yunis. So far, the fighting in the Palestinian enclave has left 17,487 people dead, according to the ministry's latest published figures. 

Hamas health ministry says over 17,000 dead in Gaza

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday told soldiers who had fought in Ukraine that he would run for the top job again in the 2024 election - a move that will allow the former KGB spy to stay in power until at least 2030. 

Moscow

Ukraine Invasion

Russia's Putin tells soldiers he will run for president again

Ahead of a U.N. Security Council vote on a resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in his strongest public criticism of Israel's conduct of the war on Hamas in south Gaza, said there was a gap between the government's declared intentions to protect civilians and the casualties.

U.S criticizes Israel over Gaza civilian toll

2023 has been declared the hottest year in recorded history a month earlier than scientists would usually confirm the evidence. Temperatures are now nudging one and a half degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels, giving the UN climate talks in Dubai a heightened sense of priority.

Council of the City of Sydney

Climate Crisis

Scientists confirm 2023 is the hottest year on record

The Department of Justice filed new criminal charges against U.S. President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, indicting him for allegedly failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes while spending millions of dollars on a lavish lifestyle. 

Delaware

Hunter Biden hit with new charges for tax evasion

Two months since the initial Hamas attack on southern Israel, doctors in Gaza are treating many times the number of patients they are equipped to handle, and a UN official says there is no safe place for humanitarian operations to continue.

Israel pushes deeper south as war with Hamas passes 2 months

Emergency authorities are on alert as severe Tropical Cyclone Jasper intensifies in the Coral Sea. The category four system is continuing its gradual march towards the North Queensland coast, but its exact path remains uncertain.

Tropical Cyclone Jasper strengthens off Queensland coast

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan visited Greece and met with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday. The two leaders agreed to reboot their relations, establishing a roadmap designed to usher in a new era of closer ties between the two NATO allies but historical foes. 

Athens

Historic foes Greece and Turkey agree to turn page

Italy has officially informed China that it is leaving the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), dismissing fears the decision could sour relations and damage the Italian economy, government sources said. 

Rome

Italy to leave China's Belt and Road Initiative

Legislation that would provide new security assistance for Ukraine and Israel was blocked in the U.S. Senate as Republicans demanded tougher measures to control immigration at the U.S. border with Mexico. 

Ukraine aid bill blocked in U.S Senate

Ukraine is having trouble getting other economic and humanitarian assistance delivered as aid from the U.S. is stalled in Congress. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is shoring up support from his allies in the Middle East.

Riyadh

Putin visits Middle East as Ukraine's foreign aid dwindles

The UN secretary general Antonio Guterres has invoked his most powerful diplomatic tool to try to stop the killing of Palestinians in Gaza. In the letter, Guterres calls for the Security Council to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and appeals for a ceasefire to be declared in Gaza.



UN chief invokes article 99 on Gaza in rare move

Israeli forces declare a disputed safe zone along Gaza's southern coast, lacking humanitarian aid and raising concerns.

Palestinians flee to Al Mawasi as Israel expands offensive

Another man who was recently released from immigration detention has been charged by police. His capture in Melbourne comes as Federal Parliament is on the brink of passing laws to have some former detainees put back behind bars.

Detainee released after High Court ruling arrested

The first survivor has been pulled out alive after last Friday's landslide in Zambia that flooded a copper mine. It trapped at least 25 people who were working there. The rescue mission for the others continues.

Lusaka

First survivor pulled out of Zambia mine after landslide

Members of the Iranian security forces raped and used other forms of sexual violence against women and men detained in the crackdown on nationwide protests that erupted from September 2022, Amnesty International said Wednesday. 

Tehran

Report reveals detained protesters in Iran raped, assaulted

Several Republican senators walked out of a classified briefing on Ukraine as it descended into a row over the border crisis, after President Volodymyr Zelensky unexpectedly canceled a video link appearance to appeal for continued US funding. 

Kyiv

Zelensky cancels U.S Senate briefing amid funding row

Israeli ground forces are heading south toward the city of Khan Younis as the hospital system in the area is collapsing. Red Cross officials paid a visit to Gaza and called for de-escalation in the Israel-Hamas war.

Israeli ground forces enter Gaza's Khan Younis

The US Department of State has said that it will impose visa restrictions on Israeli settlers involved in undermining peace, security or stability in the occupied West Bank. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the move on Tuesday.