U.S. government sails toward shutdown

And the Wagner group shows up again

View in Browser Sign up for Reuters newsletters Weekend Briefing From Reuters Daily Briefing By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor It's 17 hours and one minute until U.S. government-shutdown time. Welcome to the Weekend Briefing, where we share what we're learning in Washington and bring you the big news from the rest of the world. Clean sidewalk, messy building. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst U.S. government shutdown imminent Close to the edge: The U.S. government almost certainly will shut down for the fourth time in a decade after a small number of Republicans rejected a bill to temporarily fund operations. Tension between hardliners and moderate Republicans not only could grind the business of government to a halt, but set the stage for chaos within the party ahead of the 2024 presidential election. A shutdown also could be House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's last stand. What it means for us: I hate to throw a bunch of links at you, but this would be a wide-ranging shutdown. First, here is the summary of what would close or stay open. Next, delays of vital economic data could cause market volatility. Poor Americans, minority communities, working parents and people with student loans would run into trouble. And air travel wouldn't be as much fun as it usually is. Armenians quit Nagorno-Karabakh Exodus: More than three quarters of the 120,000-strong population of the ethnic Armenian breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh left after Azerbaijan overcame separatist opposition, a faster-than-expected mass departure that looked likely to be total. Azerbaijan says it will respect the rights of ethnic Armenians who choose to stay, but that it has destroyed the concept of a breakaway state forever. What's going on? Azerbaijan has been slow to allow a U.N. mission into the region, though a team is expected to visit this weekend. Baku says it wants the Armenians to stay. Experts say the situation amounts to a war crime. Migrants are being raped at the Mexico-U.S. border 'The saddest, most horrible thing': Sexual violence against migrants trying to get to the U.S. from Reynosa and Matamoros is rising, and criminal investigations into the rape of foreign nationals excluding Americans are at the highest number on record. And last year, Biden-administration officials recommended closing or reducing nine immigration detention centers. Most are still in business. In Europe: Germany will give aid to migrant charity groups operating in the Mediterranean, to Italy's consternation. At the same time, Berlin will introduce new border controls with Poland and the Czech Republic as illegal crossings rise. And Slovakian elections could bring to power a prime minister who wants to end support for Ukraine and opposes migrant travel through the country. Putin discusses Ukraine war with top Wagner commander They're back? Putin was shown on state television meeting at the Kremlin with Andrei Troshev, a former Wagner commander known by his nom de guerre "Sedoi" - or "gray hair." The meeting underscored the Kremlin's attempt to show that the state has control over the mercenary group after a failed June mutiny by its boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died with other senior commanders in a plane crash. In other war news: Putin opened the year's autumn conscription campaign, Ukraine will get more ammunition following the delivery of Abrams tanks, and Romania is bolstering its defenses to keep the war from spilling into NATO territory. Our Special Reports team provides the most detailed picture yet of why Russia is recruiting Cubans to fight in Ukraine. Before I forget…   People wanted someone to blame for the dam collapses that killed thousands in the city of Derna on Libya's coast, and they found their men.   President Biden made a state visit to Vietnam that included a discussion on human rights. Days after he left, a Vietnamese court sentenced an environmental activist to three years in prison, saying she committed tax fraud.   Dianne Feinstein, the long-serving U.S. senator who spearheaded the first federal assault-weapons ban and documented the CIA's torture of foreign terrorism suspects, died at 90. Here's what that means for the Senate.   Canadian Sikhs say they are grateful to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for standing up to India at the risk of backlash from New Delhi, which he said could be linked to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader.   Shell is having a debate over its CEO's decision to scale back investments in renewable energy. Thanks to the reporting of our colleague Ron Bousso, that debate is now public.   Elon Musk visited the Texas-Mexico border, then went on X to tell people how the U.S. should fix its immigration problem. He's getting involved in a similar debate in Germany.   British police investigating the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree, a much-loved landmark in northern England, made a second arrest.   France has a bedbug problem, just in time for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.   Has anyone else been having trouble with getting their insurer to cover their COVID-19 shots? Or am I the only one?   And finally, how are those cookies? Did I scandalize any bakers by calling for salted butter? Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Weekend Briefing is sent once a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here. Want to stop receiving this newsletter? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. Follow Reuters on social media Reuters Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement © 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036

Suicide blast in Pakistan kills 52

Plus, gang violence rocks Sweden.

View in Browser Sign up for Reuters newsletters Daily Briefing Dozens are killed in a suicide attack in Pakistan, hardline Republican holdouts push the US government closer to shutdown, and Putin discusses the Ukraine war with a former top Wagner commander. Plus, hear how Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are a "match made in heaven" for the NFL. By Linda Noakes Today's Top News Paramedic staff transfer a man who was injured in a blast in Mastung from an ambulance outside a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan At least 52 people were killed and more than 50 injured in a suicide attack on a religious gathering to mark the birthday of Prophet Mohammed in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province. Russian President Vladimir Putin was shown meeting one of the most senior former commanders of the Wagner mercenary group and discussing how best to use "volunteer units" in the Ukraine war. The US federal government is two days from a partial shutdown, as a handful of hardline House Republicans refused to support a bipartisan stopgap spending bill meant to give lawmakers more time to negotiate a full-year deal. Saudi Arabia is determined to secure a military pact requiring the United States to defend the kingdom in return for opening ties with Israel and will not hold up a deal even if Israel does not offer major concessions to Palestinians in their bid for statehood, sources told Reuters. Elon Musk waded into the US immigration debate, paying a visit to the Texas border with Mexico to meet with local politicians and law enforcement and obtain what he called an "unfiltered" view of the situation. Sweden's prime minister summoned the head of the armed forces and the police commissioner following a wave of gang violence that has taken at least 11 lives in September alone. A gunman killed three people in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, shooting a local woman and her daughter in their home then storming into a classroom of Rotterdam's university hospital and opening fire on a male teacher. Business & Markets Inflation in the euro zone fell to its lowest level in two years in September, suggesting the European Central Bank's steady diet of interest rate hikes was succeeding in curbing runaway prices albeit at a growing cost for economic growth. Britain's economic performance since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic has been stronger than previously thought, with faster growth than Germany or France, according to revisions to official data. China Evergrande sold its luxury superyacht for about $32 million earlier this year, said two sources, further shrinking the developer's offshore assets as its cash crunch worsened and it scrambled to pull together a debt revamp plan. Unseasonably warm autumn weather from the United States to Europe is denting sales of heavy sweaters and coats as the critical holiday shopping period approaches, executives at major retailers said, and some stores are already slashing prices to avoid piles of unsold inventory. Meta Platforms used public Facebook and Instagram posts to train parts of its new Meta AI virtual assistant, but excluded private posts shared only with family and friends in an effort to respect consumers' privacy, the company's top policy executive told Reuters in an interview. The Week Ahead The final quarter of 2023 kicks off with central bank meetings from Australia to Poland and closely-watched US jobs data - if not delayed by a shutdown. Here's a look at the week ahead from our markets team. There are some big court cases to watch in the US next week, with Donald Trump, Senator Bob Menendez, Hunter Biden and Sam Bankman-Fried all facing legal action. You can follow all the latest updates from our legal reporters here.  In Europe, Slovakia heads to the polls tomorrow in a knife-edge election that will determine its stance on neighboring Ukraine.  The Wider Image Vehicles carrying refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh queue on the road leading towards the Armenian border After a lightning operation by Azerbaijan's military to retake control of Nagorno-Karabakh, the stream of ethnic Armenians fleeing the region to Armenia quickly turned into a flood. Reuters photographer David Ghahramanyan witnessed the exodus. This photo essay documents the flight from Nagorno-Karabakh on the mountain road west. And Finally... A view shows fossil cells, in Bogota, Colombia Remnants of DNA have been discovered in fossilized remains dating to 6 million years ago of a sea turtle closely related to today's Kemp's ridley and olive ridley turtles, marking one of the rare times genetic material has been identified in such ancient fossils of a vertebrate. Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Reuters Daily Briefing is sent 5 days a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here.   Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. Reuters Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement © 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036