Nation & World | The Seattle Times

FILE – The Capitol is seen in Washington, Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. The U.S. government faces a shutdown unless Congress manages to overcome a budget impasse before the Sept. 30 funding deadline. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) WX418 WX418

Congress says its wants to avoid a shutdown. But the House and Senate are moving even further apart.

Congress is starkly divided over very different paths to preventing a federal shutdown. VIEW

Top Stories

A rocket launcher shell accidentally explodes at a home in southern Pakistan and 8 people are dead
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Takeaways from AP report on Maui fire investigation VIEW
Qatar Airways executive says invasive gynecological examinations of passengers won’t be repeated
How did the Maui fire spread so quickly? Overgrown gully, stubborn embers may be key to probe VIEW
China accuses Taiwan’s government of using economic and trade issues to seek independence
Climate change and the shift to cleaner energy push Southeast Asia to finally start sharing power
Judge considers accusations that New Mexico Democrats tried to dilute votes with redistricting map
Race to replace Mitt Romney heats up as Republican Utah House speaker readies to enter VIEW

Don’t Miss

Charley Gauxdown, left, and Sirius Bethel eat lunch in Dolores Park in San Francisco, Sept. 22, 2023. San Francisco’s national reputation has plunged since the pandemic began, and many residents say they are frustrated by how their beloved city is being viewed. (Jim Wilson/The New York Times) XNYT0239

Nation

‘Are you OK?’ San Francisco residents say they certainly are VIEW

A rare Blue Supermoon rises over Lake Michigan as spectators watch from Chicago’s 31st Street beach Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) ILCA101 ILCA101

Nation & World

What to know about the harvest moon, the last supermoon of the year

Hudson, 7, left, Callahan, 13, middle, and Keegan Pruente, 10, right, stand outside their school on their first Monday home during the new four-day school week on Monday, Sept. 11, 2023, in Independence, Mo. Hundreds of school systems around the country have adopted four-day weeks in recent years, mostly in rural and western parts of the U.S. Districts cite cost savings and advantages for teacher recruitment. Still, some experts question the effects on students who already missed out on significant learning during the pandemic. (AP Photo/Nick Ingram) XNI101 XNI101

Nation

More schools are adopting 4-day weeks. For parents, the challenge is day 5

The Nishant family: Smita Nishant and her husband, Nishant Kumar, with Anika Yadav and Atiksh Yadava, in Waukee, Iowa, on Sept. 14, 2023. For the first time in the nation’s history, there are two Indian Americans who are serious presidential contenders – Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley. (Rachel Mummey/The New York Times)

Nation & World

As Haley and Ramaswamy rise, some Indian Americans have mixed feelings

Nation

A plated meal ready for service at “Mehran’s Steak House,” a fake restaurant listing that grew so notorious that the pranksters opened it for one night only, at an event space in New York’s East Village neighborhood on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023. The food, made by untrained chefs, received mixed reviews from diners, from “incredible” to “a scam.” (Lanna Apisukh/The New York Times) XNYT0924 XNYT0924

New York’s hottest steakhouse was a fake, until Saturday night VIEW

National Politics

Military pay, typically exempted during shutdowns, is at risk

World

The Speaker of the House of Commons Anthony Rota delivers a speech following an address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. Rota is apologizing for recognizing in Parliament a man who fought for a Nazi military unit during World War II, just after Zelenskyy addressed the House of Commons on Friday. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP) SKP106 SKP106

Canada’s House speaker resigns over inviting a man who fought for a Nazi unit to Parliament

Consumer News

FILE – COVID-19 antigen home tests indicating a positive result are photographed in New York, April 5, 2023. The Biden administration has announced that it is providing $600 million in funding to produce new at-home COVID-19 tests and is restarting a website allowing Americans to again order up to four free tests per household. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File) WX110 WX110

Free COVID tests are coming back; here are the details

Oddities

Flamingos stand by the water along a Lake Michigan beach on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023 in Port Washington, Wis. The American flamingos spotted Friday at the beach, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Milwaukee, marked the first sighting of the species in Wisconsin state history, said Mark Korducki, a member of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology. (Paul A. Smith /Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP) WIMIL603 WIMIL603

Flamingos in Wisconsin? Tropical birds visit Lake Michigan beach in a first for the northern state