The Agriculture Department said it can't use contingency funds to pay for SNAP benefits, contradicting earlier guidance that the money was available.

The USDA, in recent statements and internal memos, underscored its position that using SNAP contingency funds in lieu of authorized appropriations would leave fewer resources for other nutrition programs such as WIC, the National School Lunch Program, and Child Nutrition Programs.

Tensions between the U.S. and China escalated in the weeks leading up to a possible meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping

The stopgap bill, which would extend government funding until Nov. 21, was defeated after a 49-45 vote. It required 60 votes to pass and has now extended the shutdown to two weeks. The Senate will reconvene and vote again on Oct. 15, marking the ninth voting session on the funding bill.

President Trump and his administration have politicized disaster relief,” one governor said, “and our communities are the ones who will pay the price.”

But for most of its 16-year history, the BRICS has not positioned itself in opposition to the United States and its allies. Several BRICS members have even been close U.S. partners. Washington has built a strong trade relationship with Brazil,

China likes to condemn the United States for extending its arm too far outside of its borders to make demands on non-American companies. In expanding export rules on rare earths, Beijing for the first time announced it will require foreign firms to obtain approval from the Chinese government to export magnets containing even tiny amounts of China-originated rare earth materials or produced with Chinese technology.

As part of President Trump’s trip to Asia, the United States signed Technology Prosperity Deals (TPD) with Japan and Korea, expanding, strengthening, and