Bill to avert a partial government shutdown passes on 54 to 46 votes after ten Democrats earlier vote to advance bill to full vote

• Democrats help advance Republican funding bill to avoid US shutdown

Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen rejected on Friday president Donald Trump’s latest remarks about annexing Greenland, saying the Danish autonomous island could not be taken over by another country.

“If you look at the Nato treaty, the UN charter or international law, Greenland is not open to annexation,” he told reporters, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Actor Susan Sarandon among demonstrators calling for pro-Palestinian activist’s release outside New York courthouse

• Government asks court to move Khalil case out of New York
• Who is Mahmoud Khalil?

Congressional brinkmanship, including repeated near-misses with shutdowns and over the nation’s $36 trillion in debt, has contributed to global ratings agencies’ moves to downgrade the US federal government’s once-pristine credit rating, reports Reuters.

Democrats have long chided Republicans for threatening or voting for government shutdowns, and Republicans were quick to call them out for considering votes that could risk one.