标签： Oceania

After 75 days of gridlock that made it the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history, Congress passed a last-minute funding bill Thursday to reopen most of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), bringing an end to weeks of disrupted critical public services and unpaid federal work. However, the core political clash over immigration enforcement that triggered the shutdown remains unresolved, setting the stage for a new round of partisan conflict later this year.

The bipartisan funding package, which was first approved by the Senate and cleared the House via voice vote just hours before emergency funding set aside to cover employee salaries was set to expire, will keep key DHS agencies fully funded through the end of the 2025 fiscal year on September 30. Agencies restored to full operations include the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the U.S. Secret Service.

Notably, the bill excludes funding for two agencies at the heart of the partisan standoff: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Border Patrol. The shutdown first began on February 14, when Senate Democrats refused to back full immigration enforcement funding without new restrictions on controversial enforcement tactics, such as workplace raids in sensitive community locations and the routine use of unmarked uniforms and masks by officers. Congressional Republicans rejected these conditions, calling for full, unconditional funding for all border and immigration agencies.

House Speaker Mike Johnson had blocked the Senate-approved compromise from a floor vote for more than five weeks, arguing the deal failed to address critical national security needs by leaving immigration enforcement agencies unfunded. But mounting pressure from the White House, centrist House Republicans, and senior DHS officials warning of imminent payroll shortfalls that would force widespread furloughs forced Republican leadership to schedule the vote. The 75-day shutdown already outstripped all previous partial funding lapses by a wide margin, and deep internal rifts within the House Republican conference were laid bare throughout the impasse: hardline conservatives rejected any partial funding deal that excluded ICE and Border Patrol, while moderates warned that prolonged disruption to critical security agencies would trigger severe political backlash ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.

“After Republicans spent months blocking disaster relief and funding for the TSA, Coast Guard, and our cyber defense agency, it is a very good thing that this bill is finally on track to be signed into law to fund these agencies,” said Senate Democratic funding chair Patty Murray, who also criticized Johnson for dragging out the impasse for no substantive reason: “Speaker of the House Mike Johnson extended the DHS shutdown for over a month for no reason at all. This is the same bill the Senate unanimously passed five weeks ago.”

Following the vote, Republican Congressman Nick Langworthy, who had publicly urged Johnson to move the bill forward, celebrated the progress: “Thank you to (President Donald Trump) for agreeing and demanding action. Not another day should go by with our safety and security at risk.”

The prolonged shutdown already caused measurable harm to federal operations and the workforce. Thousands of DHS employees worked without pay for more than two months, and reports indicate that over 1,000 TSA frontline staff have quit their roles amid the financial uncertainty. Planning for major upcoming events, including 2026 FIFA World Cup matches hosted across U.S. cities this summer, was also thrown into jeopardy due to lost agency preparedness funding.

With the bill now headed to Trump’s desk for his expected signature, the underlying partisan divide over immigration policy remains fully intact. House Republicans are now moving forward with a plan to approve up to $70 billion in separate funding for ICE and Border Patrol through the budget reconciliation process, a procedural move that would allow the measure to pass the Senate without Democratic support.

Lawmakers have departed Washington for a scheduled recess, and all eyes now turn to the next phase of the funding fight. The standoff underscores just how deep partisan polarization over immigration remains just months before midterm elections that will decide which party controls Congress for the next two years, and it highlights the ongoing challenges House Republican leadership faces in balancing the demands of hardline faction members and moderates while advancing the White House’s policy agenda. The question of whether Congress can avoid a second shutdown when current partial funding expires later this year remains unanswered.

Five years after ousting Myanmar’s democratically elected government in a military coup, the junta leader who has now rebranded himself as a civilian president has ordered that deposed national leader Aung San Suu Kyi be moved from prison to house arrest.

In an official statement released Thursday, the office of Min Aung Hlaing confirmed that the 80-year-old former state counselor’s remaining prison sentence will now be served at a “designated residence” instead of a prison facility. At the time of publication, neither the exact location of the new place of detention nor the length of Suu Kyi’s remaining sentence has been disclosed to the public. A senior anonymous source from Suu Kyi’s banned National League for Democracy (NLD) party told Agence France-Presse that the ousted leader will likely be held in seclusion at a property in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw, but the source stressed that the precise address remains unknown.

The order marks another step in Min Aung Hlaing’s ongoing push to legitimize his rule after he was sworn in as civilian president earlier this month. The election that paved the way for his new civilian role was tightly controlled by the military, completely excluded the NLD from participation, and barred any public criticism or opposition under penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment. The vote was not even held in large swathes of the country currently controlled by anti-junta rebel forces, a detail that has led independent democracy monitors to dismiss the entire electoral process as little more than a cosmetic rebranding of military rule, which has dominated Myanmar’s political landscape for most of the country’s post-independence history.

Suu Kyi, who remains widely popular among Myanmar’s population, was first taken into custody by Min Aung Hlaing’s military forces when the 2021 coup toppled her democratically elected government. She was subsequently convicted on a series of charges that human rights organizations widely condemn as entirely fabricated, created solely to remove her permanently from Myanmar’s political scene. The coup sparked a widespread, ongoing civil conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people and displaced millions across the Southeast Asian nation, which is home to roughly 50 million people.

Along with Suu Kyi’s transfer, the junta leadership has rolled back a small number of post-coup restrictions and issued a series of prisoner amnesties. Independent analysts have described these moves as empty public relations gestures designed to improve the administration’s image globally. This skepticism is shared by Suu Kyi’s family: in a phone interview with AFP, her son Kim Aris dismissed the decision to move her to house arrest as just another of the junta’s familiar political tactics.

“[The military leadership is] trying to legitimise themselves in the eyes of the international media and governments around the world,” Aris said. He added that if the transfer is fully carried out, he hopes his mother will finally be granted permission to communicate with him, her legal team and other contacts, noting that no junta official has reached out to him with any updates about her status. Suu Kyi has been held almost completely incommunicado since the coup, and her family has repeatedly raised alarms over her declining and ailing health in recent years.

In one of his first official actions after taking office as civilian president this month, Min Aung Hlaing also granted a pardon to Win Myint, Suu Kyi’s top aide and the ceremonial president of her ousted government.

On the final day of his landmark four-day state visit to the United States, King Charles III paid solemn tribute to America’s fallen service members at Arlington National Cemetery, capping a trip designed to mend bilateral strains sparked by the conflict in Iran. The visit, which wrapped Thursday, has been widely hailed as a diplomatic success, with former U.S. President Donald Trump extending a warm, ceremonial welcome as host, opening the royal stay with a spectacular formal greeting and an extravagant white-tie state banquet at the White House.

As Charles and Queen Camilla arrived for a brief farewell gathering under clear, sunny skies Thursday morning, Trump told reporters, “He’s a great king — the greatest king, in my book.” After handshakes and informal conversation, as the royal motorcade departed, Trump added, “Great people. We need more people like that in our country.”

Following the White House ceremony, the royal couple traveled to Arlington National Cemetery, just outside Washington D.C., to lay a ceremonial wreath and fresh flowers at the hilltop Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a memorial honoring unidentified American service members killed in war. They stood in solemn silence as a bugler performed the traditional military tribute “Taps,” before touring a nearby exhibition hall featuring military artifacts and historical displays.

The day’s remaining agenda included a community block party celebrating the 250th anniversary of American independence from British rule, and a meeting with Indigenous American leaders at a national park, before the pair departed for the British Atlantic territory of Bermuda.

The undisputed centerpiece of the packed visit was Charles’ address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, marking the first appearance by a British monarch before the legislative body since Queen Elizabeth II’s 1991 speech. The address earned a warm reception from lawmakers, even as Charles touched on a range of polarizing issues for Trump’s Republican Party: from urgent action on climate change and checks on executive branch power, to unwavering support for NATO and the defense of Ukraine. At 77 years old, the monarch carefully navigated existing tensions between Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sparked by the UK’s refusal to join military action against Iran, framing the bilateral relationship as one “born out of dispute, but no less strong for it.”

On Wednesday, the royal tour brought Charles and Camilla to New York City, where they paid their respects at the 9/11 Memorial and met with city mayor Zohran Mamdani. Charles, a lifelong advocate for environmental stewardship and sustainable gardening, toured a community-led urban sustainable farming project in Harlem, while Camilla marked the 100th birthday of beloved children’s character Winnie the Pooh at the New York Public Library.

Heavy security measures were in place for the entire visit, which came just one week after an alleged assassination attempt targeting Trump at a Washington D.C. media gala. Despite underlying diplomatic tensions, the trip included multiple warm, casual moments between Charles and Trump, including a lighthearted joke from the former president about his Scottish-born mother having had a childhood crush on a young Charles, when he was still heir to the British throne.