| | | | | | | Hello. I hope you'll have a quieter weekend than US Leader of the House Kevin McCarthy, who is scrambling for a last-minute budget deal to avoid a government shutdown. We're also going to Slovakia, ahead of general elections where support to Ukraine is on the ballot. Scroll to the end, and you'll never feel bad again about an old pair of shoes lying around in your closet. | | | |
| | | | Top of the agenda | | Furlough looms for thousands of US workers |  | | "I wake up every day optimistic" about the prospect of a last-minute deal, Kevin McCarthy said. Source: Getty Images | | | The likelihood of a US government shutdown is increasing as the leader of the House, Republican Kevin McCarthy, is scrambling for a last-minute deal. US lawmakers face a deadline of midnight on Saturday to pass a new budget, before thousands of federal employees are placed on unpaid leave. A short-term funding bill was voted in the Senate with bipartisan support, which would push back the deadline for a deal on a longer-term budget to 17 November. But for that bill to become law it would have to pass in the House, where at least nine hardline members of Mr McCarthy's narrow Republican majority are refusing to support any stopgap measure. The House is continuing to pursue conflicting funding plans. However, Mr McCarthy has said a shutdown could be avoided if Democrats better address the issue of border security in the Senate bill. | | • | Refresh your memory: What happens when the US government shuts down? Tom Geoghegan has all the answers. | | • | Point of view: A US government shutdown “is exactly what Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and our adversaries would relish,” Democrat representative Raja Krishnamoorthi tells the BBC. | | • | Meanwhile, in Arizona: President Joe Biden has no plans to meet Mr McCarthy at this stage. But he had a few words to say to a climate heckler during a speech honouring the late Republican senator John McCain. Watch the footage. | | | | | |
| | | | | | World headlines | | • | Chinese real estate: The BBC's Yan Chen and Frances Mao hear from home buyers suffering from Evergrande's crisis - many have bought apartments off-plan, but are uncertain if they'll ever get them. Meanwhile, Asia business correspondent Nick Marsh explains why it all matters to the rest of the world. | | • | Pakistan bombing: At least 50 people have been killed, with dozens more injured, in an explosion in the southwestern province of Balochistan. Police suspect it was a suicide attack targeting a religious gathering, although no group has claimed responsibility. | | • | In Russia: President Vladimir Putin has asked a former aide to late Wagner mercenary leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, to oversee volunteer fighter units in Ukraine, the Kremlin says. Read more about the man known by the alias Sedoi - "the one with grey hair". | | • | Tree of life: People in the UK and across the world are sharing memories of the Sycamore Gap tree that was felled, alongside Hadrian's Wall. There are hopes new shoots could grow from the base of the "healthy" tree stump. My colleagues would love to hear your stories about this tree, or others dear to your heart. | | • | Shot at redemption: Europe's golfers have made a strong start in their bid to avenge their 2021 Ryder Cup dubbing. To find out if Team USA have an answer - get the latest from BBC Sport's team, in Rome. | | | |
| AT THE SCENE |  Bratislava, Slovakia | | Ukraine on the ballot | | Slovaks are voting for a new government this weekend, after the collapse of the centre-right coalition in the small Central European country. Leading most polls is the populist SMER party of Robert Fico, who has pledged an immediate end to military support for Ukraine - setting alarm bells ringing in Western capitals. But is the threat real, or a red herring? |  | | Rob Cameron, BBC Prague correspondent | | | | "Over the past weeks, several foreign diplomats ask me - aren't you crying wolf too early?" said Beata Balogova, editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper SME. Balogova was pushing back against the optimistic notion that, once in office, Fico the populist will - as he has done in the past - give way to Fico the pragmatist, especially under the heavy demands of Slovak coalition building. "It's a very wrong assumption... Right now, he has to keep feeding his electorate," she told me. | | | | | | |
| | | | Beyond the headlines | | A painful history |  | | A controversial sculpture of Ukrainian soldier Roman Shukhevych, in Edmonton. Credit: Getty Images | | | A controversial part of Ukraine's WWII history was put under the spotlight after Canada's parliament praised a Ukrainian veteran who fought for Nazi Germany. Our reporter in Toronto, Nadine Yousif, looks at the contentious memorialisation of those who fought for the Galicia Division - a Nazi unit formed in 1943. | | | | | | |
| | | | Something different | | Chic flicks | | From Scorsese to the awkwardness of Cat Person... our 10 movies to watch in October. | | | | | |
| | | | And finally... | | Scientists in Spain say they have dated Europe's oldest shoes to be around 6,000 years old. The shoes were discovered in a bat cave by miners in the 19th century, but new dating techniques showed the grass-made sandals, as well as other ancient artefacts, were older than previously thought. Sadly, there's nothing in the study about how the shoes smell. Take a look. | | |
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– Jules | | |
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