Why Shutdown Talks Have Stalled

President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act this week.

He continues to clash with state and municipal authorities over the limits of his abilities to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into American cities.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress are eyeing their Democratic counterparts, looking for someone from the opposition to join them in voting for a bill that would reopen the government, more than a week into a shutdown.

Former FBI Director James Comey was arraigned this week, pleading not guilty on Wednesday to charges that he lied to Congress, and saying he would move to have a court dismiss the case.

Meanwhile, the first phase of a peace deal between Israel and Hamas was agreed to this week. But questions remain over how both parties will move forward with the details of the agreement.

Despite a friendly summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump in Alaska in August, the Russian government is claiming that any headway made during that meeting has largely been undone.

And after just 28 days, Sébastien Lecornu’s time as France’s prime minister came to an end this week. He’s President Macron’s fifth government leader to head for the exit in less than two years.

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