Good morning.
An increasing number of federal agencies and staff are explicitly blaming Democrats for the government shutdown in possible violation of a law that bans federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity.
The messages range in tone. Furloughed employees at some agencies have been told to schedule automated email messages that say they are not working because the Democrats caused a shutdown, while some agency websites have used more hostile language. For example, the treasury department’s website reads: “The radical left has chosen to shut down the United States government in the name of reckless spending and obstructionism.”
The government shut down after lawmakers failed to reach a funding agreement before the Tuesday night deadline, with Democrats demanding a series of concessions related to healthcare, funding for public media and foreign aid that Republicans have refused.
What is the law prohibiting partisan political activity? The 1939 Hatch Act restricts federal employees from engaging in political activities while on the job. The Maryland representative Jamie Raskin, a top Democrat and a constitutional lawyer, said messaging had been a “naked violation” of the law.
Hamas to demand key revisions to Trump Gaza plan before accepting, sources say
Hamas will demand key revisions to Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire proposal but is likely to accept the plan in the coming days as a basis for renewed negotiations, analysts and sources close to the group have suggested.
Trump imposed a deadline of “three or four days” from Tuesday for Hamas to accept his 20-point plan, which aims to bring the two-year war in Gaza to a close and allow an apparently indefinite international administration of the devastated territory, or “pay in hell”.
What are the sticking points? A key one is the demand that Hamas disarm, according to a source close to the organization, especially without substantial progress towards a two-state solution.
US archivist ‘ousted’ after refusing to let Trump give Eisenhower’s sword to King Charles
The Eisenhower Presidential Library’s director has left his post after allegedly resisting Donald Trump’s request to give King Charles a sword from the collection as a gift during the president’s recent state visit, according to reports on Thursday.
Todd Arrington left his post on Monday after being told to “resign or be fired”, he told CBS News. It came after he allegedly pushed back on the request, which was meant to symbolise the US-UK relationship and the countries’ collaboration during the second world war.
Did Trump give him the sword? No – he ended up giving the king a replica sword donated by West Point, the army academy where Eisenhower began his military career.
In other news …
The US Food and Drug Administration approved a request to manufacture a new abortion pill this week, drawing ire from anti-abortion groups.
An American basketball player is facing execution in Indonesia over cannabis gummies that he told the Guardian he takes to ease symptoms from Crohn’s disease.
The parents of a teenager killed in a fiery crash involving a Tesla Cybertruck are suing Elon Musk’s company. When the blaze shut down the power to the truck’s electric doors, the passengers were locked inside.
A fire broke out at Chevron’s El Segundo refinery, California governor Gavin Newsom’s press office said.
Stat of the day: A plant-rich diet could prevent 40,000 early deaths a day worldwide
Eating a plant-rich “planetary health diet” could prevent 40,000 early deaths a day worldwide, according to a report that found it would also cut food-related emissions by half by 2050. The diet is flexible, and could include some animal products or be vegetarian or vegan – but would mean people eating more vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes and wholegrains than most people currently consume. People in the US and Canada eat more than seven times the diet’s recommended amount of red meat.
Don’t miss this: My life in Gaza: ‘We burned our copy of Nineteen Eighty-Four to bake bread. What would Orwell think of us now?’
Karim, a nurse in his early 20s from Gaza City, has been displaced 13 times. He wrote this diary for the Guardian over the course of a month, recounting his parents’ hopes that international negotiations would allow them to remain in Gaza City, his mother’s birthday, and his reaction to countries recognizing a Palestinian state: “Israel continues to bomb us, the genocide goes on. But now we can officially die as Palestinian people, we have a state. How nice.”
Climate check: Experts warn wildfires are becoming unstoppable
Around the world, wildfires are becoming more intense and damaging: of the 200 fires that cost most to tackle since 1980, 43% happened in the last 10 years. They’re becoming deadlier, too: the frequency of fires causing 10 or more deaths tripled (while the population only went up by 1.8 times). “It is clear climate change is playing a role. These aren’t just bigger fires, they’re fires occurring under increasingly extreme weather conditions that make them unstoppable,” the lead researcher said.
Last Thing: Irish language is a joy not a burden – in what other tongue is a penis a wild carrot?
With the number of students in Ireland seeking exemptions from learning Irish on the rise, columnist Una Mullally has this piece on the joys of the language, where “there are dozens of words for penis in Irish, including bliúcán (a wild carrot)” and “if you wanted to playfully yet emphatically berate someone, you could say “go n-ithe an cat thú, agus go n-ithe an diabhal an cat” (‘may the cat eat you, and may the devil eat the cat’).”
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