Briefly

UNITED STATES

$1.4 trillion funding bill set for approval

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a $1.4-trillion spending package that will fund the government through the end of the fiscal year, as lawmakers in both chambers rush to avoid a government shutdown. The House approved the spending bills to keep the federal government open until Sept 30, 2020, sending the legislation to the Senate. President Donald Trump has to sign it by Friday, when the current stopgap funding package expires. The spending package will maintain the US-Mexico border wall funding at its current level of $1.375 billion, far less than what the president demanded. The legislation will also grant all federal workers 12 weeks of paid parental leave for the first time, which many people see as a major win for the Democrats.

SOUTH KOREA

Allies fail to agree on cost of US troops

South Korea and the United States failed on Wednesday to reach an agreement over Seoul's contribution toward hosting nearly 28,500 US troops, ending two days of talks that were the last before their existing deal expires on Dec 31. South Korean lawmakers have said Washington is seeking up to $5 billion a year, more than five times the amount Seoul agreed to pay this year. As part of his America First policy, US President Donald Trump has demanded that many US allies, including NATO members and Japan, pay more toward defense. He has frequently accused South Korea of being a rich nation that is profiting off the US forces.

INDIA

Court delays hearing citizenship bill pleas

India's Supreme Court on Wednesday postponed hearing pleas challenging the constitutionality of a new citizenship law that has sparked opposition and massive protests across the country. The court said it would consider the pleas on Jan 22. Protests and widespread condemnation have been growing against the Citizenship Amendment Act, with demonstrations erupting in India over the past week. The new law applies to Hindus, Christians and other religious minorities who are in India illegally but can demonstrate religious persecution in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. It does not apply to Muslims. Critics say that the new law is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist-led government's agenda to marginalize India's 200 million Muslims. Modi has defended it as a humanitarian gesture.

AUSTRALIA

Hottest day endured, with more to come

Australia this week experienced its hottest day on record and the heatwave is expected to worsen, exacerbating an already unprecedented bushfire season, authorities said on Wednesday. The average nationwide temperatures of 40.9 C on Tuesday beat the previous record of 40.3 C in January 2013, the Bureau of Meteorology said. The heatwave is another alarm bell about global warming in Australia, where this year's early and intense start to regular summer bushfires has heaped pressure on the Australian government to do more to tackle climate change.

GREECE

3,500-year-old royal tombs discovered

Archaeologists have discovered two monumental royal tombs dating from about 3,500 years ago near a major Mycenaean-era palace in Greece's southern Peloponnese region, the Greek Culture Ministry said on Tuesday. A ministry statement said the dome-shaped roofs of both tombs near the Bronze Age palace of Pylos collapsed during antiquity, and the chambers became filled with so much earth and rubble that grave robbers couldn't get in to plunder them. Recovered grave goods from the two tombs included a golden seal ring and a golden amulet of an ancient Egyptian goddess, highlighting Bronze Age trade and cultural links. The ministry said the discovery was particularly important as it shed light on the early phases of Greece's Mycenaean civilization.