Bhinneka News Online: Wednesday Briefing: Clock ticking for U.S. Congress as government shutdown looms

Wednesday 29 September 2021

Wednesday Briefing: Clock ticking for U.S. Congress as government shutdown looms

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

by Linda Noakes

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Here's what you need to know.

Shares staunch the bleed after the worst selloff since January, a triumph for Japan's establishment, and the British army starts delivering fuel

Today's biggest stories

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks to reporters following the Senate Democrats weekly policy lunch at the Capitol in Washington, September 28, 2021. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

U.S.

The U.S. Congress has just two days left before the federal government begins shutting many of its operations unless Democrats manage to pass a bill providing new funding for the fiscal year that begins on Friday.

President Joe Biden and his top aides pushed members of his own party to fund not just infrastructure but his broader agenda as talks over bills for both intensified.

General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, fended off perhaps the most personal and direct attacks from lawmakers of his career as Republicans blasted his calls with China and his interviews for books critical of Donald Trump's presidency.

A federal judge temporarily blocked a key aspect of a new Arizona abortion law that would have allowed felony charges to be laid against doctors for terminating a pregnancy solely on the basis of a hereditary abnormality in the fetus.

Former President Barack Obama warned against "politics that feeds anger and resentment" in a speech at the groundbreaking of his presidential library in Chicago, which he said would work to strengthen democratic ideas.

Passers-by are silhouetted as they walk past a screen reporting on former Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida winning the ruling party's leadership election in Tokyo, Japan, September 29, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

WORLD

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party anointed former foreign minister Fumio Kishida as its next leader in a victory for the party's establishment that virtually ensures he will become prime minister within days. Here are Kishida's key policies.

The leaders of Germany's Greens and Free Democrats posted a smiling selfie of themselves and said they were finding some common ground in preliminary talks about joining a three-way coalition. We look at how young Germans tired of the status quo put their faith in Greens and liberals.

Authorities in Spain's Canary Islands told residents on the western coast of La Palma to seal doors and windows with tape and wet towels to ward off toxic gases spewed by lava from the Cumbre Vieja volcano as it reached the sea.

Around 1,000 migrants flocked to a sports stadium in southern Mexico to claim appointments for requesting asylum in the country as the national refugee agency grapples with surging demand that has overwhelmed capacity.

Bolivia's coca farmers are battling for control of the leaf's main market in the highland city of La Paz, a conflict which has seen producers and police clash in the streets with slingshots and tear gas, and even a building set on fire.

BUSINESS

Investors sought to staunch the bleed after world stocks suffered their worst rout since January, while U.S. and European borrowing costs raced to their highest in months. Half of the S&P 500 is in correction territory, or worse.

British soldiers will start driving tankers to replenish empty pumps, as drivers queued again for fuel after days of shortages, despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying the situation was improving. We spoke to Polish truck drivers who say Johnson's proposed three-month working visa for European truckers just isn't a sweet enough deal to convince them to relocate.

Cash-strapped China Evergrande Group left its offshore bondholders guessing whether it would pay interest on a bond coupon due today despite agreeing to settle debt with a Chinese bank in a $1.5 billion stake divestment deal.

Samsung Electronics is close to finalising the construction of a $17 billion semiconductor factory in Williamson County in Texas, three people with knowledge of the matter said. The factory will make advanced logic semiconductor chips and is likely to create about 1,800 jobs.

U.S. startup Lucid Group said it will start delivering luxury electric sedans with a Tesla-beating driving range in late October, posing a major challenge to the market leader whose sales of premium models have stagnated.

Quote of the day

"I just heard the final bell. Boxing is over"

Manny Pacquiao quits "greatest sport in the world" to contest Philippines presidency

Video of the day

Amazon launches a robot to roll around the house

Amazon is striving to make its voice-controlled technology a bigger part of consumers' lives with canine-like robot Astro.

And finally…

Alaska celebrates Fat Bear Week

In Alaska, leaves are falling, daylight is dwindling and salmon-devouring brown bears are racing the clock to pack on the pounds they need to survive their winter hibernation.