The House of Representatives passed a short-term budget bill, moving Congress closer to averting another government shutdown.
With a Thursday deadline drawing closer, the vote kicks action over to the Senate. The House will need to vote again if the Senate makes anticipated changes.
While the House bill would fund the military for a full year, it would keep the government open only through late March and eschews a larger policy debate over immigration — the latest in a series of budgetary stopgap measures in recent months.
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In January the government shut down for three days as Democrats blocked a funding deal, seeking to force an immigration compromise. In the end they extracted only a promise from Republicans to continue debating.
Congress has passed a series of short-term spending measures as legislators and Donald Trump seek to craft an immigration deal that would address border security, avenues to legal immigration and a lapsed initiative offering legal status to young unauthorised immigrants.
Senators seeking to forge a longer-term deal have expressed hopefulness they’re getting closer, with Republican leader Mitch McConnell saying he was “very optimistic” and top Democrat saying they were “closer to an agreement than we have ever been” after a meeting.
World news in pictures
World news in pictures
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1/45 6 February 2018
Anti-North Korean protesters push against police as a ferry carrying a North Korean art troupe for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games approaches the port of Mukho in Donghae. Around 120 North Korean art performers in matching red coats and fur hats left for the South, its state media said on February 6, the latest in the flurry of cross-border exchanges in the run-up to the Pyeongchang Olympics.
AFP/Getty
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2/45 5 February 2018
Philadelphia Eagles' Nick Foles celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl LII
Reuters
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3/45 4 February 2018
Authorities investigate the scene of a fatal Amtrak train crash in Cayce, South Carolina. At least two were killed and dozens injured.
The State via AP
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4/45 3 February 2018
Members of security services react as a man in the crowd tries to shake hands with French President Emmanuel Macron, who walks next to Senegalese President Macky Sall in a street of Saint-Louis, Senegal.
Reuters
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5/45 2 February 2018
County Sheriffs restrain Randall Margraves, the father of three daughters who were abused by Larry Nassar, after he tried to attack the former team USA Gymnastics doctor who pleaded guilty in November 2017 to sexual assault charges, during victim statements of his sentencing in the Eaton County Circuit Court in Charlotte, Michigan.
REUTERS
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6/45 1 February 2018
Abu Rabih, 65, walks through the rubble with his eight-year-old grandson Yahya following air strikes by regime forces which hit the building where they live in Arbin, in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus. Arbin is in the Eastern Ghouta region which has been under government siege since 2013.
AFP/Getty Images
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7/45 31 January 2018
A 'Supermoon' shines its blood red colors during a full eclipse above the Big A Sign of Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. A 'Supermoon' commonly is described as a full moon at its closest distance to the earth with the moon appearing larger and brighter than usual.
EPA
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8/45 30 January 2018
A man wears a mask among fellow supporters as Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga (not pictured) takes a symbolic presidential oath of office in Nairobi.
Reuters
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9/45 29 January 2018
Tractors are parked outside a meeting of European Union agriculture ministers during a protest by Belgian farmers in Brussels.
Reuters
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10/45 28 January 2018
Bruno Mars accepts Record of the Year for '24K Magic' with his production team onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Getty Images for NARAS
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11/45 27 January 2018
Students with torches gather prior to a march in celebration of the 165th birth anniversary of Cuba's independence hero Jose Marti, in Havana.
Reuters
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12/45 26 January 2018
A firefighter inspects a burnt hospital after a fire in Miryang, South Korea. 37 people were killed in the fire, with the number of casualties likely to rise further.
Kyungnam Shinmun via Getty
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13/45 25 January 2018
Rescue workers and police officers stand near derailed trains in Pioltello, on the outskirts of Milan.
Reuters
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14/45 24 January 2018
Afghan police officers take position during a blast and gun fire in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
Reuters
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15/45 23 January 2018
Workers clean the beach of the coastal town of Zouk Mosbeh, north of Beirut, as garbage washed up and piled along the shore after stormy weather.
AFP/Getty
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16/45 22 January 2018
A Free Syrian Army soldier takes a selfie as fighters join up with Turkish troops near the Syrian border at Hassa, Hatay province. Turkey shelled Kurdish militia targets in Syria and claimed progress in a cross-border offensive that has stoked concern among its allies and neighbours
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17/45 21 January 2018
Palestinians take part in a protest against aid cut, outside the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) office, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Reuters
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18/45 20 January 2018
Oscar Janicki, 6, participates in the Second Annual Women's March in Philadelphia.
Reuters
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19/45 19 January 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin bathes in an ice-cold water on Epiphany near St. Nilus Stolobensky Monastery on Lake Seliger in Svetlitsa village, Russia. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers will plunge into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day.
Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
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20/45 18 January 2018
People protest to call for a new DREAM Act to replace DACA in Los Angeles, California.
Reuters
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21/45 17 January 2018
Pro-democracy activists Raphael Wong and Joshua Wong arrive at Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre after they were jailed on protest related charges following their sentencing at the High Court in Hong Kong.
AFP/Getty
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22/45 16 January 2018
Skyscrapers Oriental Pearl Tower and Jin Mao Tower (L) are seen from the Shanghai World Financial Center on a hazy day in the financial district of Pudong in Shanghai, China.
Reuters
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23/45 15 January 2018
Martin Luther King III, US Secretary of the Interior and others wait to place a wreath during an event at the Martin Luther King Memorial on the National Mall.
AFP/Getty
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24/45 14 January 2018
A boy stands with women loyal to the Houthi movement during a gathering held to show their support to the movement in Sanaa, Yemen.
Reuters
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25/45 13 January 2018
Diego Martin Duplessis of Argentina drives his Honda during the 2018 Peru-Bolivia-Argentina Dakar rally, 40th edition stage seven, La Paz to Uyuni.
Reuters
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26/45 12 January 2018
Angela Merkel speaks during a joint press conference after exploratory talks in Berlin. According to reports, the leaders of CDU, CSU and SPD parties after night-long talks agreed on a plan for formal coalition negotiations.
EPA
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27/45 11 January 2018
A Pakistani girl holds a picture of Zainab Ansari, an 8-year-old girl who was raped and kidnapped in Kasur, during a protest in Karachi, Pakistan. Anees Ansari, Zainab's father, accused the police of being slow to respond when his daughter went missing in the eastern Punjab province. Two people were killed and three others were wounded in clashes between angry Kasur residents and police after protesters enraged over her death attacked a police station in the city.
AP
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28/45 10 January 2018
India's Border Security Force (BSF) ‘Daredevils’ women motorcycle riders perform during a rehearsal for the Republic Day parade on a cold winter morning in New Delhi.
Reuters
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29/45 9 January 2018
Members of the South Korea delegation (R) shake hands with members of the North Korean delegation (L) during their meeting at the border truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas. North and South Korea began their first official talks in more than two years, focusing on the forthcoming Winter Olympics after months of tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.
AFP/Getty
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30/45 8 January 2018
Migrants in a dinghy are rescued by Libyan coast guards off the coast of Garabulli, east of Tripoli.
Reuters
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31/45 7 January 2018
French President Emmanuel Macron observes a minute of silence in front of the plaque commemorating late police officer Ahmed Merabet to mark the third anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack, in Paris.
Rex
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32/45 6 January 2018
Nicolaos Solis from Greece kisses the wooden cross which was thrown into the waters by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, during the Epiphany ceremony to bless the waters at the Golden Horn in Istanbul.
AP
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33/45 5 January 2018
Women mourn the death of a family member following a landslide in Kinshasa. Thirty-seven people died overnight when torrential rain and mudslides swept though shanty homes.
AFP/Getty
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34/45 4 January 2018
Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Mosab al-Tamimi, 17, who was shot and killed by Israeli troops, during his funeral near the West Bank city of Ramallah .
Reuters
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35/45 3 January 2018
People take part in pro-government rallies, Iran.
Tasnim News Agency via Reuters
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36/45 2 January 2018
Indonesian bus passengers watch as Mount Sinabung spews thick smoke in Karo, North Sumatra.
AFP/Getty
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37/45 1 January 2018
People take part in the traditional New Year's Day swim in Scheveningen, Netherlands.
Rex
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38/45 31 December 2017
Fireworks explode over Sydney Harbour during New Year's Eve celebrations.
EPA
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39/45 30 December 2017
An Indian muslim lifts a stool with a metal rod pierced through his cheeks to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Rafai Papa Miyan Sai at the Shah-E-Alam Dargah shrine in Ahmedabad.
AFP/Getty
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40/45 29 December 2017
A New York apartment fire killed at least 12 people, including a baby, with four more critically injured. Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference from the scene that 'it is the worst fire tragedy we have seen in this city in at least a quarter century.'
Reuters
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41/45 28 December 2017
Afghan women mourn inside a hospital compound after a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Reuters
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42/45 27 December 2017
Pope Francis greets newlyweds during his weekly general audience at Aula Paolo VI in The Vatican.
AFP/Getty
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43/45 26 December 2017
Rohingya refugees walk next to a pond in the early morning at the Balukhali refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
Reuters
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44/45 25 December 2017
Members of ice swimming club "Berliner Seehunde" (Berlin Seals) take a dip in the Orankesee lake in Berlin as part of their traditional Christmas ice swimming session, in Berlin, Germany.
Reuters
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45/45 24 December 2017
Mourners carry the body of 19-year-old Mohamed Sami al-Dahdouh, a Palestinian youth from Jabalia who was killed in clashes with Israeli forces east of Gaza City.
AFP/Getty
But Mr Trump has cast doubt on that, once again embraced the use of a government shutdown as a bargaining tool.
In a meeting with law enforcement about the transnational gang MS-13 he advocated shuttering the government if immigration rules are not tightened.
“If we don't change it, let's have a shutdown,” Mr Trump said. “We’ll do a shutdown. And it's worth it for our country. I'd love to see a shutdown if we don't get this stuff taken care of”.
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