Briefly

UNITED STATES

With shutdown looming, Senate offers budget fix

The US Senate drafted a last-ditch short-term budget proposal on Tuesday as time was running out for Congress to avoid a partial government shutdown, though the odds of it passing the House remained slim. With just days left before the Sept 30 deadline, both Democratic Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer and Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell endorsed the draft, which would keep the government open until Nov 17. But there was no immediate indication that the warring factions of House Republicans, who have forced the showdown over government funding, would take it up if passed in the Senate. If a deal is not reached by Saturday, hundreds of thousands of federal employees could be furloughed, curtailing a wide swath of government services.

CANADA

Speaker resigns after tribute to Nazi veteran

The speaker of Canada's House of Commons stepped down from his post on Tuesday amid controversies over his invitation to a veteran who fought for a Nazi military unit during World War II. After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the House last week as part of his visit to Canada, Speaker Anthony Rota hailed Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian Canadian, as a hero, prompting a standing ovation. But Rota faced growing pressure to resign after it was revealed that Hunka served in a Nazi military unit "whose crimes against humanity during the Holocaust are well-documented", the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center said. "I accept full responsibility for my actions," said Rota, adding that his resignation would take effect on Wednesday.

DPRK

US soldier Travis King to be expelled: KCNA

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has decided to expel US soldier Travis King who it said has admitted to illegal intrusion into the country, state media said on Wednesday. The Korean Central News Agency released the final results of an investigation into King's border crossing in July. King, a private of the US Army in the Republic of Korea, confessed to illegally entering the country because he harbored "ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination" within the US Army and was "disillusioned about the unequal US society", KCNA said. Authorities have decided to expel King under the country's law, it said, but did not specify how, when or to where he would be expelled.

Agencies-Xinhua