News Headlines - 19 January 2018

▽U.S. government shutdown begins as spending bill fails in Senate

The U.S. government shut down at midnight on Friday after Democrats and Republicans, locked in a bitter dispute over immigration and border security, failed to agree on a last-minute deal to fund its operations.

▽Syria Turkey and Russia blast US-backed Kurdish border force as "terrorist army" - CBS News

Russia, Turkey and the Syrian government on Monday denounced the U.S.-led coalition plans to form a Kurdish-led border force to secure the areas along Syria's international border to the north with Turkey and to the east, with Iraq... According to the coalition, the core of the force is to be made up of fighters from the existing Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the coalition's main ally in the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants. The SDF currently controls nearly 25 percent of Syrian territory in the north and east.

▽Russia says North Korea summit undermines U.N., aggravates situation

Russia hit out on Wednesday at a U.S.-led effort to increase international pressure on North Korea, saying it was making the situation worse and undermining the United Nations.
Twenty nations hosted by the United States and Canada in Vancouver agreed on Tuesday to consider tougher sanctions to press North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

▽Sacked Catalan leader to travel to Denmark from Belgium - The Local

Catalonia's former leader Carles Puigdemont, who led a failed attempt to break from Spain, will attend a conference in Copenhagen on Monday in what will be his first public trip since fleeing to Belgium in October.

▽Rolls-Royce considers sale of commercial marine unit

Rolls-Royce will consider selling its lossmaking commercial marine business as chief executive Warren East launches a new round of cost-cutting in a bid to accelerate his shake-up of the blue-chip engineer.