First Thing: US government shuts down as Senate fails to adv...

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The US government shut down on Wednesday, after congressional Democrats refused to support a Republican plan to extend funding unless they were granted certain concessions on healthcare.

The GOP, which controls the Senate and the House of Representatives, refused their demands, and the Senate failed to advance both parties’ bills to keep funding going past midnight.

Last month, House Republicans passed a bill that would fund the government until 21 November, but it requires the support of some Democrats to clear the 60-vote threshold for advancement in the Senate.

It failed to gain that support in votes held late on Tuesday, and Republicans also blocked a Democratic proposal to continue funding through October while also making policy changes. Republicans refused Democrat demands to address recent Medicaid cuts and extend health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act as a non-starter.

What does a shutdown mean in practice? Federal employees classified as “non-excepted” are placed on unpaid furlough, while excepted staff, whose jobs involve protecting life and property, must work without pay until the shutdown ends.
Will there be another vote? Yes: Senate Republicans have scheduled another round of votes on the two funding bills on Wednesday morning, stating they did so to allow Democrats to change their minds. Follow our liveblog here.

Trump says military should use US cities as ‘training grounds’ after Hegseth decries DEI efforts

At an address of assembled generals and admirals, Donald Trump has suggested they should consider targeting US cities and civilian populations as a training exercise.

“We should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military – national guard, but military – because we’re going into Chicago very soon, that’s a big city with an incompetent governor,” Trump said, attacking JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor.

His comments followed Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, defending changes to military policy around fitness, race and gender, describing the previous state of military affairs as the “woke department”.

What else did Trump say? The president’s comments included encouragement of retaliation by immigration enforcement agents: he said that when faced with people throwing bricks at their vehicles, “you can get out of that car and you do whatever the hell you want to do”.

Trump says $500m deal reached with Harvard to settle dispute

Trump said on Tuesday that his administration had reached a deal with Harvard and that the university would pay $500m to settle its dispute with the federal government.

The president noted that the deal was not yet confirmed on paper and it was unclear what terms, beyond money, would be involved. The development came after the administration cut federal funding from the school and attempted to ban it from enrolling international students, following months of Trump accusing the university of violating federal civil rights law in its treatment of Jewish and Israeli students.

Protesters, including some Jewish groups, have said the government wrongly equates criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza with antisemitism.

Can the administration cut funding in this way? A federal judge ruled last month that the administration had unlawfully terminated about $2.2bn in grants awarded to Harvard and could no longer cut off research funding.

In other news …

The US Department of Justice sued the Los Angeles county sheriff’s department on Tuesday for processing gun licenses too slowly for people who want to carry concealed weapons.
A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration’s deportation of pro-Palestinian students violates the US constitution and was designed to “intentionally chill” free speech rights.
Taiwan has become the biggest importer of Russian naphtha, a crude oil product used in the manufacture of semiconductors, despite being an ally of Ukraine.
Slovakia’s parliament has rolled back LGBTQ+ rights, amending its constitution to stipulate that male and female are the only recognised sexes and making adoption nearly impossible for same-sex couples.

Stat of the day: Europe is losing 600 football pitches of nature and crop land a day

Europe is losing 600 football pitches of green land a day, an investigation by the Guardian and partners has revealed. An analysis of satellite imagery across the UK and mainland Europe over a five-year period has found that green space that is vital for biodiversity, carbon capture and agriculture is rapidly being turned into roads, housing and luxury golf courses.

Don’t miss this: People think they know what war is. Here’s what I learned in seven years on Ukraine’s frontline

Across Donbas, many people have decided to stay in a war zone and try to continue with their daily routines – even as the bombs rain down and their neighbors are killed. Alisa Sopova and Anastasia Taylor Lind documented the stories of these frontline communities to show what living through war is like: “the seeming normality of the abnormal, the integration of horror and the mundane”.

Climate check: US energy department cracks down on workers’ use of climate crisis language

The US Department of Energy has told employees in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to avoid using the words “climate change” and avoid “any terminology … misaligned with the administration’s perspectives and priorities”. In what appears to be the latest episode in an ongoing crackdown on discussing the climate crisis in the US government, banned words also include “decarbonization”, “sustainable”, “emissions” and “green”.

Last Thing: 32 Chunk crowned champion in biggest Fat Bear Week yet

Katmai national park and preserve in Alaska has announced the winner of its “biggest Fat Bear Week yet” as a brown bear named 32 Chunk, which was crowned after voters cast their ballots in the bracket-style competition. “The merely chubby have been winnowed away,” a naturalist said. “We are left with a clash of titans.”

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