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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?

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