America hurtles towards shutdown; German...

The United Nations said at least 798 Palestinians were killed near aid-distribution sites in Gaza between May 27th and July 7th 

As debate time ended for Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill”, the president’s tax-cutting package moved to a special session known as vote-a-rama. 

The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said that Iran could start producing enriched uranium again “in a matter of months”. 

Senate approves short-term government funding extension to avert shutdown. Listen for more details.To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy 

A look at the state of justice in Canada, as explained by the fervour over a convicted killer's move to a healing lodge and the utter failure of the Liberals to enact judicial reform.Support the show: https://backbench.supercast.tech/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform ... Show More

After the storming of the Capitol, can America recover its democratic values? Gideon discusses what the recent lawlessness means for the US and its place in the world with Anne-Marie Slaughter, head of New America, a think-tank. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inf ... Show More

Sources tell CNN that House Republican leaders are sending their members home for the week as a government shutdown appears increasingly likely. Lawmakers have yet to reach a deal to extend government funding past the critical deadline at the end of the month. House GOP members h ... Show More

The government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has expelled our correspondent. Abiy’s proxies at home and abroad are helping a propaganda push that is silencing criticism. California’s legal-marijuana market is enormous, but its growers are floundering under taxes and regulations; t ... Show More

America’s Congress may be gridlocked, but its state legislatures certainly aren’t. The laws they’ll pass this year will probably impact more people more directly than anything Congress does, with just a fraction of the public attention. Why things are looking up for Meta. And ref ... Show More

America’s Federal Reserve made its third straight 0.75% interest-rate hike, with Jerome Powell, the Fed’s chair, warning that more hikes would follow. But with inflation still high, and labour markets still tight, is the Fed doing all it can? A new report suggests that forced lab ... Show More

America’s Congress may be gridlocked, but its state legislatures certainly aren’t. The laws they’ll pass this year will probably impact more people more directly than anything Congress does, with just a fraction of the public attention. Why things are looking up for Meta. And ref ... Show More

Our election model suggests that at least one legislative chamber will revert to Republican control; we ask what sort of government would result. The breach of the Nord Stream pipelines is a reminder of how much infrastructure is at risk of subsea sabotage. And what the trendy te ... Show More

Senators voted to ban federal employees from loading TikTok on government-owned devices -- the vote now goes to the US House of Representatives. Plus Sam Bankman-Friend could face more than a century in jail if convicted. And Twitter stopped paying rent on its office space?See om ... Show More