Senate talks fall short, shutdown extends into workweek

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government shutdown is set to sow more disruption and political peril Monday after the Senate inched closer but ultimately fell short of an agreement that would have reopened federal agencies before the beginning of the workweek.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said negotiations kept going late into the night, with a vote to break a Democratic filibuster on a short-term funding bill scheduled for noon Monday. Under the proposal taking shape, Democrats would agree to a three-week spending measure — until Feb. 8 — in return for a commitment from the Republican leadership in the Senate to address immigration policy and other pressing legislative matters in the coming weeks.

But Democrats appeared to be holding out for a firmer commitment from McConnell. "We have yet to reach an agreement on a path forward," Schumer said late Sunday.

McConnell's comments followed hours of behind-the-scenes talks between the leaders and rank-and-file lawmakers over how to end the display of legislative dysfunction, which began Friday at midnight after Democrats blocked a temporary spending measure. Democrats have sought to use the spending bill to win concessions, including protections for roughly 700,000 younger immigrants brought illegally to the U.S. as children.

Republicans have appeared increasingly confident that Democrats were bearing the brunt of criticism for the shutdown and that they would ultimately buckle. The White House and GOP leaders said they would not negotiate with Democrats on immigration until the government is reopened.

___

Schumer's moment: Shutdown puts spotlight on Dem leader

WASHINGTON (AP) — For Republicans, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is the face of the government shutdown. For immigration advocates, he's their best hope.

Perhaps the most powerful Democrat in Washington, Schumer has so far succeeded in keeping his party unified in a bid to use the government funding fight to push for protections for some 700,000 young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. But he has little margin for error in this first major test of his muscle and maneuvering as leader. The pragmatist is balancing the demands of a liberal base eager for a fight with President Donald Trump and the political realities of red-state senators anxious about their re-election prospects this fall.

Some of those senators met with Schumer Sunday morning and urged a compromise to end the shutdown.

"The question is, how do we get out of here in a way that reflects what the majority of the body wants to do," said Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, who is among the Democrats on the ballot in November. She added: "It is critically important that we get this done today."

Yet the weekend closed without a deal, meaning thousands of federal employees will wake up Monday either being told to stay home or work without pay. The Senate scheduled a vote Monday to advance a bill that would extend government funding through Feb. 8. In a bid to win over a few holdouts, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also pledged to take up legislation on immigration and other top Democratic priorities if they weren't already addressed by the time that spending bill would expire.

___

Turkish troops face fierce battles in Syrian Kurdish enclave

BEIRUT (AP) — Intense clashes erupted Monday as Turkish troops and their allies advanced on a Kurdish enclave in Syria, the third day of the Ankara offensive aimed at ousting the U.S.-backed Kurdish militia from the area, the militia and a war monitoring group said.

The Turkish offensive on Afrin, codenamed Operation Olive Branch, started on Saturday, heightening tensions in the already complicated Syrian conflict and threatening to further strain ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States. Turkey says it aims to to create a 30-kilometer (20-mile) deep "secure zone" in Afrin.

The U.N. Security Council was to convene later Monday to discuss the situation in Syria.

A NATO statement Monday said it has been in touch with Turkey over the developing offensive. NATO said Turkey has suffered from terrorism and has the right to self-defense but urged Ankara to do so in a "proportionate and measured way."

NATO also said it has no presence in Syria but that as members of the coalition against Islamic State militants, "our focus is on the defeat" of the extremist group.

___

Pence says he's proud to be in 'Israel's capital, Jerusalem'

JERUSALEM (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence kicked off his visit to Israel with a Monday morning meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which he said it was an honor to be in "Israel's capital, Jerusalem."

Netanyahu told Pence it was the first time a visiting dignitary could utter those three words along with him, and he thanked Pence for President Donald Trump's "historic" recognition of Jerusalem. The Israeli leader also lauded the American-Israeli alliance, which he said has "never been stronger."

The brief exchange was part of an exceptionally warm welcome for Pence in Israel, which has praised the Trump administration's decision last month to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The decision, though, has infuriated the Palestinians, with whom Pence is not meeting, and upset America's Arab allies as well.

Pence placed his right hand over his heart as an honor guard greeted him with the American national anthem. White House Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt, U.S. Ambassador David Friedman and the Israeli ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer, joined the ceremony and Pence chatted briefly with Israeli soldiers before beginning his meeting with Netanyahu.

Pence said he was grateful to be representing Trump and that his decision to designate Jerusalem as the Israeli capital would "create an opportunity to move on in good faith negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority."

___

Doctor who aided hunt for bin Laden languishes, forgotten

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Shakil Afridi has languished in jail for years — since 2011, when the Pakistani doctor used a vaccination scam in an attempt to identify Osama bin Laden's home, aiding U.S. Navy Seals who tracked and killed the al-Qaida leader.

Americans might wonder how Pakistan could imprison a man who helped track down the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. Pakistanis are apt to ask a different question: how could the United States betray its trust and cheapen its sovereignty with a secret nighttime raid that shamed the military and its intelligence agencies?

"The Shakil Afridi saga is the perfect metaphor for U.S-Pakistan relations" — a growing tangle of mistrust and miscommunication that threatens to jeopardize key efforts against terrorism, said Michael Kugelman, Asia program deputy director at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington.

The U.S. believes its financial support entitles it to Pakistan's backing in its efforts to defeat the Taliban — as a candidate, Donald Trump pledged to free Afridi, telling Fox News in April 2016 he would get him out of prison in "two minutes. ... Because we give a lot of aid to Pakistan." But Pakistan is resentful of what it sees as U.S. interference in its affairs.

Mohammed Amir Rana, director of the independent Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies in Islamabad, said the trust deficit between the two countries is an old story that won't be rewritten until Pakistan and the U.S. revise their expectations of each other, recognize their divergent security concerns and plot an Afghan war strategy, other than the current one which is to both kill and talk to the Taliban.

___

Rohingya Muslim refugee return to Myanmar delayed

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The gradual repatriation of more than 680,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees back to Myanmar from Bangladesh, scheduled to begin Tuesday, has been delayed amid widespread fears that refugees would be forced to return, a Bangladesh official said Monday.

The refugees began pouring across the border into Bangladesh in August, fleeing waves of attacks by Myanmar security forces and Buddhist mobs.

While the two countries have signed an agreement to begin sending people home in "safety, security and dignity," the process has been chaotic and opaque, leaving international aid workers and many Rohingya afraid they would be coerced into going back to villages that they fled only months ago.

Abul Kalam, Bangladesh's refugee and repatriation commissioner, said a number of issues remain unresolved.

"The main thing is that the process has to be voluntary," said Kalam, adding that paperwork for returning refugees had not yet been finalized and transit camps had yet to be built in Bangladesh. It was not immediately clear when the process would start.

___

With a lighter touch, SAG Awards follows a familiar script

LOS ANGELES (AP) — With a still undetermined awards race and an industry undergoing tectonic shifts with the Me Too and Time's Up movements, awards shows have become canaries in the coal mine.

After the Golden Globes, it was clear that the entertainment business was not shying away from its problems, but the Screen Actors Guild Awards suggested that perhaps the Hollywood reckoning is now following a familiar script.

There were big moments Sunday at the 24th annual celebration of actors, like Harvey Weinstein accusers Marisa Tomei and Rosanna Arquette naming some of the key silence breakers who lit the fuse to the movement, and big questions about what would happen if the recently accused James Franco and Aziz Ansari won in their categories (they didn't).

But much of the evening was numbingly similar to what we've seen before, from the winners — like "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" — to the commentary on why the crusade is important and gestures like having nearly all female presenters.

"We are living in a watershed moment," first ever SAG Awards host Kristen Bell said in her opening monologue, which stayed light. "Let's make sure that we're leading the charge with empathy and diligence."

___

'Executed' North Korean pop diva takes Olympic spotlight

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Just a few years ago, she was reportedly executed by a North Korean firing squad. Now, Pyongyang's top pop diva is a senior ruling party official and a surprise headliner in the run-up to the South Korean Winter Olympics.

Hyon Song Wol, the photogenic leader of Kim Jong Un's hand-picked Moranbong Band, has made two excursions across the Demilitarized Zone as a negotiator and advance team leader working out the details of Kim's surprise offer for the North to participate in the Pyeongchang Games.

South Korea's media have been treating her like a true K-pop celebrity.

On Monday, as she wrapped up her latest visit and prepared to return to Pyongyang, the South's Yonhap news agency reported a large crowd waited outside her hotel for a glimpse of her eating breakfast. Journalists, it noted, received only a "subtle smile" in response to their questions before she was whisked away with the North Korean delegation.

But not all South Koreans welcomed her or North Korea's plan to join the games.

___

Trump business ethics pledges left plenty room for profiting

NEW YORK (AP) — Among the many promises Donald Trump made a year ago to assure people he wouldn't profit off his presidency, one stood out for its boldness: a pledge to donate the profits from any foreign governments staying in his namesake hotels to the U.S. Treasury.

Today, after a year in which groups associated with Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Kuwait have booked rooms, hosted events and spent thousands of dollars at the president's hotel in Washington, no such payments to the Treasury have been made. Trump officials, who have openly questioned how closely they should scrutinize their guests, initially pledged to make a payment at the end of 2017 and now say they would have "information to share" near the end of next month.

An Associated Press analysis of the promises Trump made to draw a "red line" between his businesses and his administration found that, while he has kept to the letter of many pledges, he has exploited the vague language of others, creating at least the appearance that he's profiting off his presidency.

Since his inauguration a year ago, the Trump Organization has secured dozens of trademarks from foreign governments, pursued possible projects in Scotland and the Dominican Republic, enjoyed free publicity from Trump's frequent visits to his resorts, raked in big profits from lobbyists and power brokers at his Washington hotel, and launched two hotel chains.

"My overall ethics grade for the Trump administration is an F," said ethics lawyer Kathleen Clark of Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.

___

The Patriots and Eagles will square off in Super Bowl 52

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are going back to the Super Bowl in search of a sixth title.

They'll face a Philadelphia Eagles team looking for their first Lombardi Trophy.

Brady led the Patriots (15-3) back from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-20 in the AFC championship game Sunday.

Starting his 36th playoff game, Brady shook off an injury to his right hand and the loss of top target Rob Gronkowski to rally the Patriots to their record 10th Super Bowl appearance.

The Patriots will try to match the Pittsburgh Steelers' six Super Bowl trophies when they face the Eagles (15-3) on Feb. 4 in Minneapolis.