International

US government temporarily shuts down

Published

3 months ago

January 31, 2026

Advocate News Nigeria

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The US government entered a temporary shutdown Saturday after no funding law was enacted.

Despite the Senate passing a funding package Friday ahead of a midnight deadline, it needed the approval of the House of Representatives, which is not expected to return to Washington until Monday.

Senators voted 71-29 on the package, which includes five long-term appropriations bills, while extending funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for two weeks to allow negotiations on immigration enforcement.

After federal agents in the state of Minnesota fatally shot American citizen Alex Pretti — the second killing by immigration enforcement officers this month — Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he and other Democrats would not back the package unless the appropriations measure that included money for the DHS was removed.

If the House passes the measure early next week, any disruption is expected to be minimal.

There is limited interest in Washington in repeating a lengthy shutdown like the one that stretched for 43 days late last year.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Friday that Democrats would “evaluate the spending legislation passed by the Senate on its merits and then decide how to proceed legislatively.”

“The Trump administration must set forth an ironclad path that dramatically reforms ICE and other DHS agencies that the American people know have become lawless and heavy-handed.

“It is in the best interest of the country that this is done before the Congress reconvenes on Monday evening and legislation is brought to the House floor,” Jeffries said in a statement.

The director of the Office of Management and Budget on Friday directed affected agencies — including the defense, homeland security, state, treasury, labor, health and human services, education, transportation and housing and urban development departments — whose funding will lapse at midnight, to begin preparing for a shutdown.

“As it is now clear that Congress will not complete its work before the expiration of appropriations, affected agencies should now execute plans for an orderly shutdown. Employees should report to work for their next regularly scheduled tour of duty to undertake orderly shutdown activities,” Russ Vought said in a memo.

Vought said the Trump administration will continue to work with Congress to address recently raised concerns to complete appropriations for fiscal year 2026.

International

U.S., Iran agree two-week ceasefire as Iran reopens Strait of Hormuz

Published

2 weeks ago

April 8, 2026

Advocate News Nigeria

Strait of Hormuz

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Iran has confirmed a two-week ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, the Tasnim news agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported early on Wednesday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz would be possible for two weeks in coordination with Iran’s armed forces “and with due consideration of technical limitations.”

Trump had made reopening the waterway a condition for the ceasefire and had threatened to target Iran’s energy sector and infrastructure, including bridges, if Tehran failed to comply, setting a deadline of 0000 GMT.

The Strait of Hormuz, crucial to global oil and gas trade, has been largely closed since the United States and Israel launched large-scale attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.

According to a senior U.S. official, Israel will also adhere to what Trump described as a “double sided CEASEFIRE.”

Pakistan, which has mediated between Tehran and Washington, said that an immediate ceasefire between Iran and the US had taken effect.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote on X that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the U.S., along with their allies, had agreed to an “immediate ceasefire everywhere,” including in Lebanon.

“I warmly welcome the sagacious gesture and extend deepest gratitude to the leadership of both the countries and invite their delegations to Islamabad on Friday … to further negotiate for a conclusive agreement to settle all disputes,” Sharif said.

Trump earlier said Sharif had asked him to refrain from carrying out the threatened attacks.

The U.S. has received a 10-point proposal from Iran and believed it offered a “workable basis” for negotiations, Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social.

According to The New York Times, the plan calls for lifting all sanctions imposed on Iran. (dpa/NAN)

International

Earthquake kills 8 members of same family in Afghanistan

Published

2 weeks ago

April 4, 2026

Advocate News Nigeria

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An earthquake that struck Afghanistan overnight killed eight members of the same family in Kabul province, the health ministry said on Saturday.

The 5.8-magnitude quake struck at 8.42 pm (1612 GMT) on Friday at a depth of 186 kilometres (115 miles) at the epicentre in northeastern Badakhshan province, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Shaking was felt in multiple parts of the country, including the capital Kabul, according to AFP journalists.

“In the Gosfand Dara area of Kabul Province, eight members of a family died as a result of the earthquake,” Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said in a message to media.

He added that a child aged around two years old was the only survivor from the household and the country’s disaster management agency said the boy had been injured in the tremor.

Afghanistan is frequently jolted by earthquakes, particularly along the Hindu Kush mountain range near where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates meet.

In August, a shallow magnitude 6 earthquake wiped out mountainside villages and killed more than 2,200 people in eastern Afghanistan, making it the deadliest tremor in the country’s recent history.

AFP

International

Iran executes two members of banned opposition group

Published

2 weeks ago

April 4, 2026

Advocate News Nigeria

Image Credit: X

Iran Executes Two Members Of MEK For Involvement In Multiple Terrorist Acts Image Credit: X

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Iran on Saturday executed two men convicted of membership in a banned opposition group and carrying out disruptive actions aimed at overthrowing the Islamic republic, the judiciary said.

The executions were the latest in a series targeting members of the banned People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), after four other convicted members of the group were executed earlier in the week.

They also come against the backdrop of Iran’s war with the United States and Israel, sparked by US-Israeli strikes on February 28 that killed the country’s supreme leader and have since triggered a wider regional conflict.

“Abolhassan Montazer and Vahid Baniamerian … were hanged after trial and their sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said on Saturday.

The men were found guilty of attempting “rebellion through involvement in multiple terrorist acts”, as well as membership in the MEK group and carrying out acts of sabotage aimed at overthrowing the Islamic republic.

It was not immediately clear when the men were arrested.

The MEK, which initially supported the 1979 Islamic revolution before falling out with the leadership in the 1980s, has since been in exile and is designated a terrorist organisation by Tehran.

Iran is the world’s second most prolific executioner after China, according to rights groups.

Since the war began, it has executed multiple individuals, including on Thursday, when authorities executed a man convicted of acting on behalf of Israel and the United States during a wave of anti-government protests earlier this year.

On March 19, three others convicted of killing police officers during the protests were also executed.

Also in March, Iran executed Kouroush Keyvani, a dual Iranian-Swedish national, on charges of spying for Israel, drawing condemnation from Stockholm and the European Union.