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President Donald Trump is using the government shutdown as an opportunity to reshape the federal workforce and punish detractors. He said on social media he planned to meet with budget director Russ Vought to determine 鈥渨hich of the many Democrat Agencies鈥� would be cut. Meanwhile, the White House is preparing for mass firings of federal workers. Today is the third day of the shutdown. 鈥� The Associated Press

U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle pushed for accountability over recent strikes on Latin American drug vessels in a closed-door meeting with the Pentagon鈥檚 top lawyer on Wednesday. President Trump reportedly called the anti-cartel campaign a 鈥渘on-international armed conflict鈥� in a confidential memo to Congress yesterday. Some Democrats and Republicans have expressed concern about the legal basis for the attacks. 鈥� Staff

An attack on a synagogue in Manchester, England, left two people dead and injured four others, according to the BBC. Police are treating it as an act of terrorism and thanked security and worshippers for their 鈥渋mmediate bravery鈥� in helping prevent the attacker from entering the synagogue. Congregants inside were marking Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised the Jewish community 鈥渢he security that you deserve.鈥� 鈥� Staff

The Czech Republic votes to elect a new parliament today and tomorrow. Polls suggest disillusionment with the current government will boost Andrej Babi拧, who was prime minister from 2017 to 2021 and the subject of numerous corruption claims. His political persona, however, is as a billionaire who will use his business sense to clean up politics and rein in migration. The election could replace the pro-Western, pro-Ukraine coalition currently in power. 鈥� Staff

Japan will select a new prime minister 鈥� again. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party will elect the country鈥檚 fourth prime minister in five years tomorrow, after Ishiba Shigeru stepped down. The next premier will face challenges in restoring trust in the party, which has dominated Japanese politics for 70 years, amid strained relations with the United States, a surge in far-right populism, and an ongoing rice shortage. 鈥� Staff

El Salvador鈥檚 journalist association decided to move its legal status out of the country in response to a foreign agents law passed earlier this year. President Nayib Bukele has consolidated his grip on power after winning reelection in a landslide. The association said that in order to continue defending journalists鈥� rights and freedom of the press it would have to leave. 鈥� AP

Syria, Turkey, and Jordan agreed to revive the historic Hejaz Railway. The Ottoman-era line was meant to connect Istanbul to the Arabian Peninsula but fell into disrepair during World War I. Under a draft agreement expected to be signed this year, Turkey will help complete nearly 19 miles of railway in Syria, while Jordan will work on maintaining and repairing trains. One expert told TRT World the revival represents a 鈥減owerful historical symbol鈥� while driving 鈥減rosperity and regional cooperation.鈥� 鈥� Staff

High-ranking women say they are watching the gains they spent their careers building being erased. Despite Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth鈥檚 speech on Tuesday, they are determined to keep serving their country.

Enhanced subsidies for 鈥淥bamacare鈥� are set to expire this year. The question of whether they should continue is at the core of a disagreement between Republicans and Democrats that has led to the government shutdown.

The outlook for peace in Gaza and the wider Middle East is not bright. But prospects for success were not encouraging in Northern Ireland 30 years ago, either. And that is not the only common factor between the two situations.

Ireland has long been barren soil for anti-immigrant, far-right politics. But that might be changing, to judge by a spike in attacks on Indians and increased agitation by nationalist firebrands.

Joseph Arthur was discovered by Peter Gabriel and has done projects with every member of R.E.M, including his new album. As 鈥淎rthur Buck 2鈥� debuts, the musician discusses the connection between humility and creativity, and how tough times have led him to see songwriting as a spiritual practice.

Like a great ape, we鈥檙e going to go out on a limb and say that Jane Goodall ranks high on the list of people who have altered for the better the human relationship with nature. She did so less by words of warning than by insights on the shared and often unique qualities of chimpanzees in their African habitat. Her legacy, as both a primatologist and conservationist, lies in her abiding focus on a better appreciation of the natural world, instead of an apprehension over its predicted demise.

Around the planet, not just in a Tanzanian rainforest, Dr. Goodall saw delight more than dread, bonds over breaches. Without being pantheistic or sentimental, this British scientist, who died this week, spoke of a 鈥渟piritual power鈥� that chimps and humans each express in, say, community compassion, while not neglecting their violent acts. Her patient observations of chimp behavior 鈥渋n the wild鈥� helped lift an understanding of life as more than material. She changed the way many people witness other living things each day, be it squirrel or bee.

Her work stands alongside that of Rachel Carson or John Muir in expanding concepts about intelligence beyond what humans think of that word. She prepared us for difficult discussions about the impact and possibilities of artificial intelligence. During the pandemic, with all its fears of a virus, her insights on learning to understand nature 鈥� before trying to exploit or obliterate it 鈥� expanded the path to some sort of harmonious equilibrium with all of Earth鈥檚 expressions, from climate to chimps.

鈥淚 hope we are going to learn a new relationship with the natural world, of which we are part and on which we depend for our very existence,鈥� Dr. Goodall told the John Templeton Foundation in 2021.

In 1991, she started the global Roots & Shoots program to help young people achieve compassionate influence in their communities. 鈥淚 have learned more about the two sides of human nature, and I am convinced that there are more good than bad people,鈥� she said in accepting the Templeton Prize.

鈥淚 am eternally thankful that my curiosity and desire to learn is as strong as when I was a child. And that I understand that the deep mysteries of life are forever beyond scientific knowledge. That 鈥榥ow we see through a glass darkly; then face to face.鈥欌��