WASHINGTON: Congressional Republicans and Democrats have reached agreement on a huge $1 trillion-plus spending bill that would fund most government operations through September but denies President Donald Trump money for a border wall and rejects his proposed cuts to popular domestic programs.
Aides to lawmakers involved in the talks disclosed the agreement Sunday night after weeks of negotiations. The bill was made public in the pre-dawn hours Monday.
The catchall spending bill would be the first major piece of bipartisan legislation to advance during Trump’s short tenure in the White House. While losing on the wall along the US-Mexico border, Trump won a $15 billion down payment on his request to strengthen the military.
The measure funds the remainder of the 2017 budget year, through Sept. 30, rejecting cuts to popular domestic programs targeted by Trump such as medical research and infrastructure grants.
Successful votes later this week would also clear away any remaining threat of a government shutdown — at least until the Oct. 1 start of the 2018 budget year. Trump has submitted a partial 2018 budget promising a 10 percent increase for the Pentagon, financed by cuts to foreign aid and other nondefense programs that negotiators on the pending measure protected.
Democrats were quick off the mark to praise the deal.
“This agreement is a good agreement for the American people, and takes the threat of a government shutdown off the table,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a key force in the talks. “The bill ensures taxpayer dollars aren’t used to fund an ineffective border wall, excludes poison pill riders, and increases investments in programs that the middle class relies on, like medical research, education and infrastructure.”
Trump said at nearly every campaign stop last year that Mexico would pay for the 2,000-mile (3218.54-kilometer) border wall, a claim Mexican leaders have repeatedly rejected. The administration sought some $1.4 billion in US taxpayer dollars for the wall and related costs in the spending bill, but Trump later relented and said the issue could wait until September.
Trump, however, obtained $1.5 billion for border security measures such as more than 5,000 additional detention beds, an upgrade in border infrastructure and technologies such as surveillance.
The measure is assured of winning bipartisan support in votes this week; the House and Senate have until midnight Friday to pass the measure to avert a government shutdown. It’s unclear how much support the measure will receive from GOP conservatives and how warmly it will be received by the White House.
Republicans are also eager to move on to other issues such as overhauling the tax code and reviving their moribund effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s health care law.
“The omnibus (spending bill) is in sharp contrast to President Trump’s dangerous plans to steal billions from lifesaving research, instead increasing funding for the NIH (National Institutes of Health) by $2 billion,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said in a statement. “Now, the members of our caucus will assess the whole package and weigh its equities,” she added.
While the measure would peacefully end a battle over the current budget year, the upcoming cycle is sure to be even more difficult. Republicans have yet to reveal their budget plans, and battles between Trump and Congress over annual agency budgets could grind this summer’s round of spending bills to a halt.
Among the final issues resolved was a Democratic request to help the cash-strapped government of Puerto Rico with its Medicaid burden, a top priority of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California. Pelosi and other Democrats came up short of the $500 million or so they had sought but won $295 million for the island, more than Republicans had initially offered.
Democrats were successful in repelling many conservative policy “riders” that sought to overturn dozens of Obama-issued regulations. Such moves carry less urgency for Republicans now that Trump controls the regulatory apparatus.
House Republicans succeeded in funding another round of private school vouchers for students in Washington, D.C.’s troubled school system.
GOP leaders demurred from trying to use the must-do spending bill to “defund” Planned Parenthood. The White House also backed away from language to take away grants from “sanctuary cities” that do not share information about people’s immigration status with federal authorities.
Democrats praised a $2 billion funding increase for the National Institutes of Health — a rejection of the steep cuts proposed by Trump — as well as additional funding to combat opioid abuse, fund Pell Grants for summer school, and additional transit funding. Senate forces, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and several Appalachia region Democrats, won a provision to extend health care for 22,000 retired Appalachian coal miners and their families.
Democratic votes will be needed to pass the measure even though Republicans control both the White House and Congress. The minority party has been actively involved in the talks, which appear headed to produce a lowest common denominator measure that won’t look too much different than the deal that could have been struck on Obama’s watch last year.
For instance, the measure contains a $2 billion disaster aid fund, $407 million to combat Western wildfires, and additional grants for transit projects, along with $100 million in emergency funding to fight the nation’s opioid crisis.
The measure also taps $68 million to reimburse New York City and other local governments for unexpected costs involved in protecting Trump Tower and other properties, a priority of lawmakers such as Rep.
Lawmakers settle on hard-fought $1 trillion spending bill
Lawmakers settle on hard-fought $1 trillion spending bill
Dasun Shanaka’s late charge helps Dubai Capitals beat Gulf Giants
- The 5-wicket win leaves Dubai Capitals third in the DP World ILT20 season 3 table
DUBAI: A late blitz by Dasun Shanaka was instrumental in helping the Dubai Capitals register a comprehensive win over the Gulf Giants at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday evening.
The Dubai Capitals won by five wickets and eight deliveries to spare as Shanaka threw the kitchen sink at the Gulf Giants.
Asked to bat first, the Gulf Giants’ skipper James Vince looked to attack from the get-go. At the other end though, Obed McCoy gave the Dubai Capitals their first wicket, as he dismissed Ibrahim Zadran for three. Vince, who hit four boundaries in his 24, was joined by Jordan Cox and kept the scoreboard moving for the Gulf Giants.
Just before the end of the powerplay, Vince was dismissed, and early in the seventh over Tom Alsop was knocked over for two by Zahir Khan. Then Cox took charge and had good support from Gerhard Erasmus.
Even though the Dubai Capitals kept things tight, Cox and Erasmus put on a 69-run stand to give the Giants some momentum in the final phase of the innings. Erasmus though departed for 29, and shortly after Cox completed his half-century, with the big-hitting Shimron Hetmyer for company.
Hetmyer and Cox were looking to score quickly, but the Dubai Capitals’ bowling kept them firmly in check. In the final over of the innings, Cox was run out for a well-made 70, which helped the Gulf Giants post a competitive 153/5 in 20 overs. Hetmyer remained unbeaten on 17.
In response, Ben Dunk and Shai Hope started off steadily, and were looking to set up the platform for the Dubai Capitals’ chase. Dunk though fell for 10, and Khalid Shah could only add 10 more to the cause.
Gulbadin Naib then joined Hope and the duo found the gaps well, picking up a series of boundaries as the Dubai Capitals fought back. Naib was the next to depart for 17 as Aayan Khan picked up his second wicket. Najibullah Zadran, however, was back in the hut for seven, which brought captain Sikandar Raza to the middle, alongside Hope.
Raza and Hope put on 33 runs together, which steadied the ship. The Dubai Capitals needed a strong partnership, and Hope along with Raza were able to set up the platform for the final overs. Hope was packed off for 47 by Blessing Muzarabani, who then went on to concede 18 runs in the over.
Shanaka continued his attack on the Gulf Giants’ bowling right through and finished off the contest with two sixes, a boundary and a single in the 19th over. Shanaka finished unbeaten on 34 off 10 deliveries while Raza had 26 from 15.
Player of the match Hope said: “I am just trying to grow and for that I have got to adapt quickly and improve my game. And I got to continue doing it. I want to improve every time I get on to the field.”
The Gulf Giants’ captain Vince added: “Shanaka was able to strike it cleanly and he took it away from us in the last three overs. It was a much better performance from us overall and we felt it was a decent score.”
Brief scores
Dubai Capitals beat Gulf Giants by 5 wickets
Gulf Giants 153/5 in 20 overs (Jordan Cox 70, Gerhard Erasmus 29, Dushmantha Chameera 1 for 31, Zahir Khan 1 for 32)
Dubai Capitals 154/5 in 18.4 overs (Shai Hope 47, Dasun Shanaka 34 not out, Sikandar Raza 27 not out, Aayan Khan 2 for 23, Muhammad Zuhaib 1 for 22)
Player of the match: Shai Hope
Afghan women’s group hails court’s move to arrest Taliban leaders for persecution of women
- The Afghan Women’s Movement for Justice and Awareness called the ICC decision a “great historical achievement”
An Afghan women’s group on Friday hailed a decision by the International Criminal Court to arrest Taliban leaders for their persecution of women.
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan announced Thursday he had requested arrest warrants for two top Taliban officials, including the leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
Since they took back control of the country in 2021, the Taliban have barred women from jobs, most public spaces and education beyond sixth grade.
In a statement, the Afghan Women’s Movement for Justice and Awareness celebrated the ICC decision and called it a “great historical achievement.”
“We consider this achievement a symbol of the strength and will of Afghan women and believe this step will start a new chapter of accountability and justice in the country,” the group said.
The Taliban government has yet to comment on the court’s move.
Also Friday, the UN mission in Afghanistan said it was a “tragedy and travesty” that girls remain deprived of education.
“It has been 1,225 days — soon to be four years — since authorities imposed a ban that prevents girls above the age of 12 from attending school,” said the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva. “It is a travesty and tragedy that millions of Afghan girls have been stripped of their right to education.”
Afghanistan is the only country in the world that explicitly bars women and girls from all levels of education, said Otunbayeva.
LeBron James picked for 21st straight All-Star Game, extending NBA record
- James is now officially an All-Star for the 21st year
LeBron James is extending his All-Star records. And Giannis Antetokounmpo is the people’s choice, again.
The NBA revealed the starters — some of them, anyway — for the revamped All-Star Game on Thursday night, and there wasn’t much in the way of surprises. James is now officially an All-Star for the 21st year, and Antetokounmpo is now the ninth player to win the fan vote in back-to-back seasons.
The other starters:
— New York’s Jalen Brunson and Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell as the Eastern Conference guards.
— Boston’s Jayson Tatum and New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns as the East frontcourt players alongside Antetokounmpo.
— Golden State’s Stephen Curry and NBA leading scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as Western Conference guards.
— Phoenix’s Kevin Durant and Denver’s Nikola Jokic as the West frontcourt players alongside James.
The starters were picked through a system of weighted balloting: 50 percent was fan voting, 25 percent was a media panel and 25 percent was voting by current players.
There are 14 more All-Stars yet to be announced, and they’ll be chosen in a vote of the league’s head coaches. That list will be revealed on Jan. 30, and the All-Star Game — now games, really — happens in San Francisco on Feb. 16.
Among the candidates for those reserve spots: San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, the Lakers’ Anthony Davis, Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Dallas teammates Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, reigning All-Star Game MVP Damian Lillard of Milwaukee, Miami’s Tyler Herro, Atlanta’s Trae Young and Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball — who led East guard fan voting.
There will be at least 15 different players who “start” at the All-Star Game this season. It’s the first year of a new All-Star format, with three games. The 24 All-Stars will be drafted into three teams of eight players apiece by TNT personalities and former NBA greats Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.
Those three teams will be entered into a four-team tournament, with the remaining squad made up of NBA rookies and second-year players from the Rising Stars event on All-Star Friday. There are two semifinal games, with the winners meeting in a championship game. The games should go quickly; the first team to reach 40 points wins.
Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault and an assistant from his staff will coach two of the teams, and Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson and one of his assistants will lead the others.
The last two All-Star Games rewrote the offensive record books. Boston’s Tatum set an individual record with 55 points in 2023, and last year’s final score was 211-186 — the highest-scoring All-Star Game ever.
LeBron at 40
James is now in line to become the third player to appear in the All-Star Game after turning 40. The others: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who did so at 40 and 41, and Dirk Nowitzki, whose All-Star finale came when he was 40.
James — a pick for 21 straight years — now has two more All-Star selections than anyone else in NBA history (Abdul-Jabbar was a 19-time pick) and is three years clear of anyone else for the longest streak of consecutive selections. Kobe Bryant was picked for 18 consecutive All-Star Games, the second-longest such streak.
James is also set to start for the 21st consecutive year. The second-longest streak of All-Star starts is 13, by Boston’s Bob Cousy.
Antetokounmpo gets 4.4 million fan votes
Antetokounmpo led the way with more than 4.4 million fan votes, giving him the most in that department for the second consecutive year.
The other players who have been the overall top fan choice in back-to-back seasons: James, Michael Jordan, Julius Erving, Vince Carter, George Gervin, Magic Johnson, Grant Hill and Yao Ming.
Kobe Bryant led the fan voting four times and Dwight Howard did twice, but neither of those players ever did it in back-to-back years.
Philippine military says US missile deployment to boost readiness, help regional security
- Spokesperson: ‘The primary objective of this deployment is to strengthen Philippine military readiness’
- The Typhon launchers can fire multi-purpose missiles up to thousands of kilometers
MANILA: The deployment of the US military’s Typhon missile launchers in the Philippines was in line with Washington’s longstanding defense ties with the country, the Philippine armed forces said on Friday.
“The primary objective of this deployment is to strengthen Philippine military readiness, improve our familiarization and interoperability with advanced weapon systems, and support regional security,” armed forces spokesperson Francel Margareth Padilla said in a statement. Her remarks came after a Reuters report that the US military has moved the launchers, which have mid-range capability (MRC), to another location in the Philippines.
The weapon’s presence on Philippine territory drew sharp rebukes from China when it was first deployed in April 2024 during military exercises. Beijing accused the Philippines on Thursday of creating tension and confrontation in the region, urging it to “correct its wrong practices.”
Treaty allies the United States and the Philippines “coordinate closely on all aspects of the MRC deployment, including its positioning,” Padilla said.
The Typhon launchers can fire multi-purpose missiles up to thousands of kilometers such as Tomahawk cruise missiles, capable of hitting targets in both China and Russia from the Philippines. The SM-6 missiles it also carries can strike air or sea targets more than 200 km (165 miles) away. “These arrangements reflect shared operational considerations and mutual consultations between our two nations,” Padilla said.
Freedom is bittersweet for Palestinians released from Israeli jails
- Since the start of the war the number of Palestinians in Israeli jails has doubled to more than 10,000
- Many prisoners are never told why they were detained
RAMALLAH: When Dania Hanatsheh was released from an Israeli jail this week and dropped off by bus into a sea of jubilant Palestinians in Ramallah, it was an uncomfortable déjà vu.
After nearly five months of detention, it was the second time the 22-year-old woman had been freed as part of a deal between Israel and Hamas to pause the war in Gaza.
Hanatsheh’s elation at being free again is tinged with sadness about the devastation in Gaza, she said, as well as uncertainty about whether she could be detained in the future — a common feeling in her community.
“Palestinian families are prepared to be arrested at any moment,” said Hanatsheh, one of 90 women and teenagers released by Israel during the first phase of the ceasefire deal. “You feel helpless like you can’t do anything to protect yourself.”
Nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners are to be released as part of a deal to halt the fighting for six weeks, free 33 hostages from Gaza, and increase fuel and aid deliveries to the territory. Many of the prisoners to be released have been detained for infractions such as throwing stones or Molotov cocktails, while others are convicted of killing Israelis.
Hanatsheh was first arrested in November 2023, just weeks into the war triggered by Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel. She was freed days later during a weeklong ceasefire in which hundreds of Palestinians were released in exchange for nearly half of the roughly 250 hostages Hamas and others dragged into Gaza.
She was detained again in August, when Israeli troops burst through her door, using an explosive, she said.
On neither occasion was she told why she’d been arrested, she said. A list maintained by Israel’s justice ministry says Hanatsheh was detained for “supporting terror,” although she was never charged or given a trial and doesn’t belong to any militant group.
Her story resonates across Palestinian society, where nearly every family — in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem — has a relative who has spent time in an Israeli jail. This has left scars on generations of families, leaving fewer breadwinners and forcing children to grow up without one or both parents for long stretches.
Since the start of the war 15 months ago, the number of Palestinians in Israeli jails has doubled to more than 10,000, a figure that includes detainees from Gaza, and several thousand arrested in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, according to Hamoked, an Israeli legal group.
Many prisoners are never told why they were detained. Israel’s “administrative detention” policy allows it to jail people — as it did with Hanatsheh — based on secret evidence, without publicly charging them or ever holding a trial. Only intelligence officers or judges know the charges, said Amjad Abu Asab, head of the Detainees’ Parents Committee in Jerusalem.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Palestinian prisoners released by Israel cannot be later rearrested on the same charges, or returned to jail to finish serving time for past offenses. Prisoners are not required to sign any document upon their release.
The conditions for Palestinian prisoners deteriorated greatly after the war in Gaza began. The country’s then-national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, boasted last year that prisons will no longer be “summer camps” under his watch.
Several of the prisoners released this week said they lacked adequate food and medical care and that they were forced to sleep in cramped cells.
Men and women prisoners in Israel are routinely beaten and sprayed with pepper gas, and they are deprived of family visits or a change of clothes, said Khalida Jarrar, the most prominent detainee freed.
For years, Jarrar, 62, has been in and out of prison as a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a leftist faction with an armed wing that has carried out attacks on Israelis.
Human Rights Watch has decried Jarrar’s repeated arrests — she was last detained late in 2023 — as part of an unjust Israeli crackdown on non-violent political opposition.
At an event in Ramallah to welcome home the newly released prisoners, Jarrar greeted a long line of well- wishers. But not everyone was celebrating. Some families worried the ceasefire wouldn’t last long enough for their relatives to be freed.
During the ceasefire’s first phase, Israel and Hamas and mediators from Qatar, the US and Egypt will try to agree upon a second phase, in which all remaining hostages in Gaza would be released in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a “sustainable calm.” Negotiations on the second phase begin on the sixteenth day of the ceasefire.
For Yassar Saadat, the first release of prisoners was a particularly bittersweet moment. His mother, Abla Abdelrasoul, was freed after being under “administrative detention” since September, according to the justice ministry, which said her crime was “security to the state — other.” But his father — one of the most high-profile prisoners in Israel — remains behind bars.
“We don’t know if he’ll be released, but we don’t lose hope,” he said. His father, Ahmad Saadat, is a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who was convicted of killing an Israeli Cabinet minister in 2001 and has been serving a 30-year sentence.
It’s unclear if he’ll be released and, even if he is, whether he’ll be able to see his family. The ceasefire agreement says all Palestinian prisoners convicted of deadly attacks who are released will be exiled, either to Gaza or abroad, and barred from ever returning to Israel or the West Bank.
The release of some convicted murderers is a sore spot for many Israelis, and particularly those whose relatives were killed.
Micah Avni’s father, Richard Lakin, was shot and stabbed to death by a member of Hamas on a public bus in 2015 and his killer’s name is on the list of prisoners to be freed in phase one. While Avni is grateful that more hostages in Gaza are beginning to come home, he doesn’t believe it’ll lead to long-term peace between Israel and Hamas.
“These deals come with a huge, huge cost of life and there are going to be many, many, many more people murdered in the future by the people who were released,” he said.
Israel has a history of agreeing to lopsided exchanges. In 2011, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to release more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a single Israeli soldier, Gilad Schalit, taken hostage by Hamas.
One of the prisoners released during that deal was Hamas’ former top leader, Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack who was killed by Israeli troops in Gaza last year.
Some Palestinians said the lopsided exchanges of prisoners for hostages is justified by Israel’s seemingly arbitrary detention policies. Others said, for now, all they want to focus on is lost time with their families.
Amal Shujaeiah said she spent more than seven months in prison, accused by Israel of partaking in pro-Palestinian events at her university and hosting a podcast that talked about the war in Gaza.
Back home, the 21-year-old beamed as she embraced friends and relatives.
“Today I am among my family and loved ones, indescribable joy ... a moment of freedom that makes you forget the sorrow.”
