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Colombia abruptly agreed to accept US deportation flights on Friday, an olive branch days before the countries’ dueling presidents meet face-to-face for the first time, at the White House.One is an alleged “racist” and “authoritarian,” the other a “low rated” “drug leader” who should “watch his ass.” After months of trading insults from their very active social media accounts, presidents Donald Trump and Gustavo Petro will hold an unlikely summit in Washington on Tuesday. Trump and Petro come from opposite ends of the political spectrum, and have sparred over everything from Israeli operations in Gaza to jailed migrants to Venezuela. Petro will have a US visa ban suspended for the visit — which comes after months of US sanctions, funding cuts and threats to bomb targets in Colombia. That the meeting is happening is a sign of improved relations, but in Bogota there is deep nervousness about what might happen. The Colombian leader is an ardent leftist, an ex-guerrilla and prone to long monologues laden with references to history and mythology. Trump rarely likes to share the spotlight and has admitted to having a short attention span. Diplomats joke darkly about Petro being “Zelenskyed” — receiving an Oval Office dressing down like the Ukrainian president. “Both Trump and Petro are volatile,” said Felipe Botero, a political expert at the University of the Andes. “The meeting could easily go off the rails.” – ‘It will work out’ – The meeting is likely to focus on drugs: Colombia is the world’s biggest producer of cocaine, and the United States by far its largest consumer. For decades, Colombia has been Washington’s closest partner in Latin America, with billions of dollars flowing to Bogota to boost the country’s military and intelligence services in the drug fight. But under Petro, coca production and cocaine exports have surged. Critics blame the end of eradication programs and his policy of negotiating with an alphabet soup of drug-running guerrillas, cartels and paramilitaries who still control swaths of the country. A January 7 phone call appears to have been a turning point between the two leaders. “I appreciated his call and tone,” Trump said after the call. “I am sure it will work out very well for Colombia and the USA.” Petro leaves office later this year, but for Colombia, the stakes are huge: hundreds of millions of dollars a year in military and other aid and the country’s most important trading relationship. Ahead of the meeting, Petro took steps to please Washington, announcing the resumption of migrant deportation flights to Colombia, the original trigger of the Petro–Trump conflict.There will be 20 flights, averaging “one a week,” according to Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio.Colombia will also restart glyphosate fumigation to destroy coca crops, a practice halted since 2015 and strongly opposed by Petro as a senator. The government says Petro also agreed with Trump to act jointly against the ELN — Colombia’s largest guerrilla group — near the Venezuela border, after failed peace talks. The visit comes before Colombia’s May elections, where left-wing candidate Ivan Cepeda leads polls to succeed Petro. Cepeda recently accused the United States of trying to “influence” the election. 

US senators on Friday approved a last-minute deal backed by President Donald Trump to avert the worst impacts of an imminent government shutdown, after Democratic anger over the killing of two protesters by immigration agents derailed funding talks.A shutdown is still set to begin Saturday because the House of Representatives is out of session until Monday, meaning it cannot ratify the upper chamber’s agreement before the midnight deadline — making a weekend funding lapse unavoidable.Senate leaders say the legislation will nonetheless greatly increase the chances that the shutdown ends quickly, potentially within days.The funding impasse has been driven by Democratic anger over aggressive immigration enforcement following the fatal shootings of protesters Alex Pretti and Renee Good, both 37, by federal agents in separate incidents this month in the northern city of Minneapolis.The deaths have become a flashpoint that has hardened opposition to approving new money for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) without changes to how immigration agencies operate.Under the deal negotiated between the White House and Senate Democratic leaders, lawmakers approved five outstanding funding bills to finance most of the federal government through the end of the fiscal year in September.Funding for DHS, which oversees immigration enforcement, was split off and extended for just two weeks under a stopgap measure intended to give lawmakers time to negotiate changes to the department’s operations.Trump publicly endorsed the deal and urged both parties to support it, signaling his desire to avoid a second shutdown of his second term, following a record 43-day stoppage last summer.Much of the US media interpreted the White House’s flexibility as a recognition that it needed to moderate its deportation approach following the Minneapolis killings.Shutdowns temporarily freeze funding for non-essential federal operations, forcing agencies to halt services, place workers on unpaid leave or require them to work without pay. Departments ranging from defense, education and transportation to housing and financial regulation would be affected in a prolonged shutdown, while pressure would mount quickly to resolve disruptions rippling through the economy.- ‘Sanctuary cities’ -Ironically, Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — the agency at the center of the immigration crackdown controversy — would be largely unaffected, since it was allocated some $75 billion over four years in Trump’s 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act.And a weekend-long stoppage, with a quick resolution in the House on Monday, would have a negligible impact on federal operations.South Carolina’s Senator Lindsey Graham had blocked the package Thursday night by withholding the unanimous consent required to fast-track the vote.He cited objections to the DHS stopgap and to House-passed language barring senators from suing the Justice Department if their phone records were seized during past investigations.On Friday morning, however, Graham announced he would allow the funding bill to advance if Senate leaders agreed to hold votes on legislation he is sponsoring to crack down on so-called “sanctuary cities” that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.”The American people overwhelmingly support ending sanctuary city policies. In my view, sanctuary city policies are the root cause of the problems we face,” he said in a statement.The broader funding fight has left both parties bracing for at least a brief shutdown. Congress has already passed six of the 12 annual budget bills, but those measures cover only a minority of discretionary spending.The remaining bills fund large swaths of the government, meaning funding for roughly 78 percent of federal operations is set to lapse.Speaker Mike Johnson has said the House intends to act quickly when it returns on Monday, although divisions among Republicans could complicate the process.If enacted, lawmakers would then have just two weeks to negotiate a full-year DHS funding bill — talks that both parties acknowledge will be politically fraught, with Democrats demanding new guardrails on immigration enforcement and conservatives pushing their own policy priorities.

An AI-enhanced image depicting the moments before immigration agents shot an American nurse ricocheted across the internet — and also made its way onto the hallowed floor of the US Senate.Social media platforms are awash with graphic footage from the moment US agents shot and killed 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, which sparked nationwide outrage.One frame from the grainy footage was digitally altered using artificial intelligence, AI experts told AFP.The manipulated image, which purports to show Pretti surrounded by officers as one points a gun at his head, spread rapidly across Instagram, Facebook, X, and Threads. It contained several digital distortions, including a headless agent.”I am on the Senate floor to condemn the killing of US citizens at the hands of federal immigration officers,” Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, wrote on X Thursday, sharing a video of his speech in which he displayed the AI-enhanced image.”And to demand the Trump Administration take accountability for its actions.”In comments beneath his post, several X users demanded an apology from the senator for promoting the manipulated image. On Friday, Durbin’s office acknowledged the mistake.”Our office used a photo on the Senate floor that had been widely circulated online. Staff didn’t realize until after the fact that the image had been slightly edited and regret that this mistake occurred,” the senator’s spokesperson told AFP.- ‘Advancing an agenda’ -The gaffe underscores how lifelike AI visuals — even those containing glaring errors — are seeping into everyday discourse, sowing confusion during breaking news events and influencing political debate at the highest levels.The AI-enhanced image also led some social media users to falsely claim the object in Pretti’s right hand was a weapon, but analysis of the verified footage showed he was holding a phone.That analysis contradicted claims by officials in President Donald Trump’s administration that Pretti posed a threat to officers. Disinformation watchdog NewsGuard said the use of AI tools to enhance details of witness footage can lead to fabrications that “misrepresent reality, in service to advancing an agenda.””AI tools are increasingly being used on social media to ‘enhance’ unclear images during breaking news events,” NewsGuard said in a report.”AI ‘enhancements’ can invent faces, weapons, and other critical details that were never visible in original footage — or in real life.”The trend underscores a new digital reality in which fake images — created or distorted using artificial intelligence tools — often go viral on social media in the immediate aftermath of major news events such as shootings.”Even subtle changes to the appearance of a person can alter the reception of an image to be more or less favorable,” Walter Scheirer, from the University of Notre Dame, told AFP, referring to the distorted image presented at the US Senate.”In the recent past, creating lifelike visuals took some effort. However now, with AI, this can be done instantly, making such content available to politicians on command.”On Friday, the Trump administration charged a prominent journalist Don Lemon and others with civil rights crimes over coverage of immigration protests in Minneapolis, as the president branded Pretti an “agitator.”Pretti’s killing marked the second fatal shooting of a Minneapolis protester this month by federal agents.Earlier this month, AI deepfakes flooded online platforms following the killing of another protester — 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good.AFP found dozens of posts across social media, in which users shared AI-generated images purporting to “unmask” the agent who shot her. Some X users used AI chatbot Grok to digitally undress an old photo of Good.

The US Justice Department began releasing millions of new pages on Friday from the Jeffrey Epstein files along with photos and videos, adding fuel to the politically explosive case that has dogged President Donald Trump.Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the White House played no role in the review of the extensive files related to the convicted sex offender, a once close friend of Trump.”They did not tell this department how to do our review, what to look for, what to redact, what to not redact,” Blanche said at a press conference.The Justice Department said some of the documents being released contained “untrue and sensationalist claims” about the 79-year-old Trump submitted to the FBI before the 2020 presidential election.But Blanche — who previously served at Trump’s personal lawyer — dismissed suggestions that embarrassing material about the president had been redacted from the more than three million documents, 180,000 images and 2,000 videos being released on Friday.”We did not protect President Trump,” he said. “We didn’t protect or not protect anybody.”Blanche said all images of girls and women were being redacted aside from those of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of trafficking underage girls for Epstein and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.”We did not redact images of any men unless it was impossible to redact the woman without also redacting the man,” the deputy attorney general said.A wealthy US financier, Epstein died in a New York prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking of underage girls. His death was ruled a suicide.Previous Justice Department releases have shed light on Epstein’s ties to top business executives such as Microsoft’s Bill Gates, celebrities such as filmmaker Woody Allen, academics and politicians, including Trump and former president Bill Clinton.In a draft email among the documents published on Friday, Epstein said Gates had engaged in extramarital affairs, a claim the Gates Foundation denied in a statement to The New York Times.”These claims — from a proven, disgruntled liar — are absolutely absurd and completely false,” it said.In other emails, Epstein connected Steve Tisch, 76, producer of the movies “Forrest Gump” and “Risky Business” and the co-owner of the New York Giants football team, with multiple women.In one exchange with Tisch, Epstein describes a woman as “russian, and rarely tells the full truth, but fun.”- Conspiracy theories -Trump’s right-wing base has long been obsessed by the Epstein saga and conspiracy theories that the financier oversaw a sex trafficking ring for the world’s elite.Only one person — Epstein’s former girlfriend Maxwell — has ever been charged in connection with his crimes and Blanche appeared to play down expectations that the latest files would lead to further prosecutions.Trump and Clinton both figure prominently in the records published so far but neither has been accused of wrongdoing.A Republican-led House panel voted recently to launch contempt of Congress proceedings against Bill and Hillary Clinton over their refusal to testify before its probe into Epstein.Trump, who used to move in the same social circles as Epstein in Florida and New York, fought for months to prevent release of the vast trove of documents about the disgraced financier.But a rebellion inside his Republican Party forced him to sign off on a law mandating release of all the documents.Trump has given varying accounts of why he eventually fell out with Epstein. He has criticized the file dumps, expressing concern that people who “innocently met” Epstein over the years risked having their reputations smeared.The Epstein Files Transparency Act called for all of the documents held by the Justice Department to be published by December 19.Blanche said Friday’s release “marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people.”He blamed the delay on the need to painstakingly carry out redactions that protected the identities of Epstein’s more than 1,000 alleged victims.Blanche said he did not expect the release of the latest documents would quell public curiosity and conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein.”There’s a hunger or a thirst for information that I do not think will be satisfied by the review of these documents and there’s nothing I can do about that,” he said.

A federal judge on Friday blocked prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down a health insurance executive in New York in December 2024.The judge dismissed two federal charges against Mangione that could carry the death penalty: murder and using a gun with a silencer.The 27-year-old suspect is still charged with two counts of stalking in his federal case, and separately faces state-level murder charges.Friday’s decision “is solely to foreclose the death penalty as an available punishment to be considered by the jury,” Judge Margaret Garnett wrote in her opinion.Mangione could be sentenced to life in prison without parole if convicted of the stalking charges. The federal trial is to begin with jury selection on September 8.Prosecutors declined to comment on the decision when contacted by AFP. Garnett has given the prosecution until February 27 to file an appeal.Mangione’s attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilotold a press briefing outside the courthouse Friday that the defense team was “very relieved,” hailing an “incredible decision.”The murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, captured on surveillance video, quickly captured national attention while exposing public anger with the profit-driven US healthcare system.Mangione was arrested five days after the killing at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, some 230 miles (370 kilometers) from the crime scene, following a tip from a staff member.Friday’s decision comes after Mangione’s legal team already succeeded in having state-level terrorism charges dropped.However, Garnett also dealt the defense a significant blow on Friday — rejecting their efforts to block the use of evidence found during Mangione’s arrest.Officers who arrived at the McDonald’s searched Mangione’s backpack, finding inside a handgun, a silencer, a magazine with bullets wrapped in underwear and a red notebook described as a “manifesto.”The defense had argued that proper protocol had not been followed during the search.Friday’s decision also marks a blow for President Donald Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, who has relaunched efforts to impose the death penalty at the federal level, reversing a moratorium during the administration of Joe Biden.A date for the state trial has not been set.Mangione — who has an avid fan base of mostly women that often attend his hearings — has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

President Donald Trump said Friday he would nominate former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh to be the next US central bank chief, a move that has sparked cautious optimism among observers.The decision caps a highly publicized search for a successor to Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whom the president has repeatedly lambasted for not cutting interest rates more swiftly.Trump told reporters Friday that Warsh “certainly wants to cut rates,” but added that he did not wish to question Warsh on commitments to do so.”I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, announcing his choice.”On top of everything else, he is ‘central casting,’ and he will never let you down,” Trump added.Warsh, 55, was the youngest person to serve as a Fed governor, a role he held from 2006 to 2011.Trump considered Warsh for the top Fed job too during his first presidency, but eventually chose Powell — a decision he quickly soured on.Prices of precious metals — seen as safe haven investments — sank Friday in a sign that investors were reassured by Trump’s choice. The dollar pushed higher.”I think markets are broadly happy at the moment,” Atlantic Council international economics chair Josh Lipsky told AFP.”It is a pick that another Republican president may have made,” Lipsky said. “He cares about the history of the Fed, the process of the Fed, central bank independence, he’s talked about this before.”Powell’s chairmanship ends in May, and it remains unclear if he will also step down from the Fed’s board of governors, which would free up another vacancy Trump could fill.- Senate hurdle -Warsh will need to be confirmed by the US Senate, where he will face tough questions from lawmakers amid growing concerns about threats to Fed independence.Trump’s attempt to oust Fed Governor Lisa Cook, and his administration’s investigation into Powell over renovation costs at the bank, have sparked worries about the institution’s insulation from politics.An erosion of Fed independence could have negative ramifications for the economy, experts warn.Warsh must now get through a Senate Banking Committee hearing while “maintaining the confidence of both markets and the president,” said economist Samuel Tombs of Pantheon Macroeconomics.After that, he must pass a confirmation vote in the Senate with a simple majority.But Republican Thom Tillis of the banking committee reiterated Friday his plan to oppose the confirmation of Fed nominees — including the next chairman — until the probe against Powell is resolved.The panel’s top Democrat, Senator Elizabeth Warren, warned that Warsh’s nomination “is the latest step in Trump’s attempt to seize control of the Fed.”With 13 Republicans and 11 Democrats on the committee, a single Republican’s opposition could trigger an impasse.- Economic challenges -Warsh was once seen as an inflation “hawk” favoring higher interest rates to curb price hikes.But he has stepped up criticism of the Fed recently, endorsing policy positions of the Trump administration.As Trump continues to call for lower rates, analysts are monitoring if Warsh defends the bank’s independence.He will need to convince markets and policymakers that he is upholding the Fed’s dual mandate of stable prices and low unemployment — despite political pressure.Already, the Fed’s job has become increasingly challenging as US tariffs fuel worries of stubborn inflation, while the employment market cools.Policymakers walk a tightrope in deciding if they should keep rates higher to curb inflation or lower them to support the economy.With the labor market likely deteriorating further and inflation expected to ease, the next Fed chief could uncontroversially reduce rates, Tombs said.But it remains to be seen if he will still push for cuts if inflation proves sticky in months ahead.Trump’s selection ends a race that narrowed to four contenders — Warsh; Fed governor Christopher Waller; Rick Rieder of BlackRock; and Trump’s top economic adviser Kevin Hassett.

ExxonMobil and Chevron said Friday that they were awaiting signs of greater fiscal and legal stability in Venezuela before significantly shifting their approach to the oil-rich country.ExxonMobil, which has not operated in Venezuela since its assets were expropriated in 2007, aims to help the Trump administration understand the need to “make sure the right legal framework is in place” in Venezuela, said ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods.The comments came in parallel with the first round of oil giant earnings reports since the United States seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in early January and took control of Venezuela’s oil sector. Woods’ cautious message about doing business in Venezuela at a recent White House meeting had drawn jeers from President Donald Trump.Trump told the January 9 White House meeting with executives from ExxonMobil, Chevron and other companies that he wanted them to rapidly rebuild the country’s dilapidated oil industry and boost production by millions of barrels a day.But Woods, recounting how the company had had assets seized twice by Venezuela, told Trump’s meeting that the country was currently “uninvestable.” That comment did not sit well with Trump, who later accused the company of “playing too cute,” and threatened to block ExxonMobil from doing business there.On Friday, Woods said his comments at the White House were meant to communicate the “significant challenges that have to be addressed if we are going to achieve the priorities that the White House has,” he told CNBC. Woods also noted that Venezuela’s unusually heavy crude is costly to develop but said ExxonMobil’s experience producing similar sites in Canada made the company a logical partner in Venezuela.- ‘Stability’ -Chevron, the only US oil company that has continued to operate in Venezuela, believes the country “has the opportunity to become a more sizable part of our portfolio in the future,” said CEO Mike Wirth on an conference call with analysts.”But we also need to see stability in the country. We need to have confidence in the fiscal regime.”Chevron is producing more than 200,000 barrels per day in Venezuela and could grow volumes by up to 50 percent over the next 18-24 months, Wirth said.While the company has been viewed as in pole position to benefit from the developments in Venezuela, Wirth said he would not deviate from weighing risks and opportunity in determining how much to invest.”I try to remind people, like anywhere we invest, (that) fiscal terms, stability, regulatory predictability are important,” said Wirth.He said the company is reviewing a new Venezuela hydrocarbon law.On Thursday, Venezuela’s parliament adopted reforms that offer greater guarantees to private players, relinquishes state control of exploration, and lowers taxes.”With the right changes, we certainly could see our operations and footprint expand in Venezuela,” Wirth said.- Earnings -In terms of earnings, both companies reported lower profits due to lower crude prices, offset somewhat by increased production volumes.ExxonMobil reported profits of $6.5 billion, down 14.6 percent from the same time last year.Revenues were $82.3 billion, down 1.3 percent.Chevron reported profits of $2.8 billion, down 14.5 percent from the year-ago period. Revenues dipped 10.2 percent to $46.9 billion.Shares of ExxonMobil rose 0.6 percent, while Chevron jumped 3.3 percent.

Gold and silver prices dived Friday and European stock markets ended the week up while Wall Street pulled back with investors reassured by US President Donald Trump’s pick to take over as head of the Federal Reserve.The precious metals, viewed as safe-haven investments, had already begun sliding on reports, later confirmed, that Trump had nominated former Fed official Kevin Warsh to replace Jerome Powell as chair of the US central bank.Trump announced his choice Friday on social media, saying that Warsh, a former Morgan Stanley investment banker and Fed governor, “will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best.”Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading group, said the “interesting pick…may give the market some hope that Fed independence will be preserved.”Trump’s personal attacks on Fed boss Jerome Powell — set to depart in May — have fueled widespread fears among investors that the central bank’s policy independence is under threat, potentially posing an inflation risk to the US economy.- A roller-coaster week -Precious metals prices tumbled on Friday after surging in recent days when investors sought a safe haven over doubts about Trump’s policies.Gold fell as much as 12 percent at one point, retreating below $5,000 an ounce after hitting a record high near $5,600 on Thursday.Silver, which Thursday reached an all-time peak above $120 an ounce, shed around 30 percent to about $82 an ounce. Financial markets have endured a roller-coaster ride this week as traders weathered a weaker dollar, Trump’s threats against Tehran, the president’s resumption of tariff threats and a possible US government shutdown.Asian stock markets closed out the week with some hefty losses following Thursday’s tech-led retreat on Wall Street on renewed concerns over vast investments in artificial intelligence.Healthy earnings from Meta, Samsung and SK Hynix provided much cheer early in the week but Microsoft was punished over worries its costly AI program might not result in financial gains.There are fears that firms’ valuations may be a little too stretched and that markets could be in a bubble, having soared in recent years to record highs on the back of a tech-fueled rally.The dollar pushed higher on Warsh’s nomination.”Most currency strategists would argue that his nomination may be good news for the dollar, which can price out some risks of a more dovish pick,” said Forex.com’s Fawad Razaqzada.”However, for as long as policy uncertainty hangs over the US economy with Trump’s tariff theatrics, the dollar debasement narrative is likely to hold back the greenback from making a meaningful comeback.”Among individual companies, Verizon surged 11.8 percent as it reported its highest quarter of mobility and broadband subscription increases since 2019.- Key figures at around 2110 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.4 percent at 48,892.47 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.4 percent at 6,939.03 (close)New York – NASDAQ Composite: DOWN 0.9 percent at 23,461.82 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 10,223.54 (close) Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 8,126.53 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.9 percent at 24,538.81 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 53,322.85 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.1 percent at 27,387.11 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.0 percent at 4,117.95 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1856 from $1.1929 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3688 from $1.3772Dollar/yen: UP at 154.64 yen from 153.61 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.63 pence from 86.62 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at $70.69 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.3 percent at $65.21 per barrel

Emmy-winning actress Catherine O’Hara, who starred in “Schitt’s Creek” and “Home Alone,” has died at the age of 71, her management agency said Friday.The Canadian-born performer starred in “Beetlejuice” and recently Apple TV’s Hollywood satire show “The Studio.”Her manager Marc Gurvitz’s office confirmed the actress’s death to AFP, without any further details.Page Six, citing a fire department spokesman, reported that O’Hara was rushed to hospital before dawn from her home in the swanky Brentwood area of Los Angeles.AFP was not immediately able to confirm that.O’Hara was born in Toronto in 1954, where she joined the legendary comedy theater Second City, alongside Eugene Levy, with whom she would collaborate throughout her career, including on the smash TV series “Schitt’s Creek.”Her break into movies came in 1980 with “Double Negative” — also alongside Levy, and John Candy.In 1988, she played Winona Ryder’s stepmother in Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice.” She would later marry the film’s production designer Bo Welch. The couple had two sons, Matthew and Luke.But it was in 1990 that she became widely known to a global audience, as the mother of Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin in “Home Alone.””It’s a perfect movie, isn’t it?” she told People in 2024.”You want to be part of something good, and that’s how you go,” she said.She would reprise the role in the film’s sequel — “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” which featured a cameo from Donald Trump, decades before he would become US president.In 1993 she collaborated again with Burton on “The Nightmare before Christmas.” The versatile comedienne also appeared in British filmmaker Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries that revel in silly spectacles of Americana, like zany dog handlers in “Best in Show,” vain folk singers in “A Mighty Wind,” and award-hungry actors in “For Your Consideration.””I am devastated. We have lost one of the comic giants of our age,” Guest wrote in a statement.But she is perhaps best known by modern audiences for her role in “Schitt’s Creek,” created by Eugene Levy’s son, Dan Levy.”I used to mostly get people named Kevin who’d come up to me and ask me to yell ‘Kevin!’ in their faces,” O’Hara told People, in reference to her famous line in “Home Alone.””Now it’s mostly about (her character) Moira and ‘Schitt’s Creek.’ I’ve never gotten this kind of attention in my life. It’s crazy.” The role brought her an Emmy for best lead actress in 2020. She was also awarded a Golden Globe and a SAG Award.As news of her death spread on Friday, fellow performers and other luminaries were quick to react.”Mama. I thought we had time,” Culkin wrote on Instagram, alongside a picture of the pair of them in “Home Alone.””I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you but I had so much more to say. I love you.”Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said he and other Canadians were mourning O’Hara’s death.”Over 5 decades of work, Catherine earned her place in the canon of Canadian comedy,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.”Canada has lost a legend. My thoughts are with her family, friends, and all those who loved her work on screen. She will be dearly missed.”

US senators began voting Friday on a deal backed by President Donald Trump to avert the worst impact of an imminent government shutdown, after a Republican holdout lifted his block following tense talks. Even if the Senate clears the package, a shutdown is still set to begin on Saturday because the House of Representatives is out of session until Monday, making a brief funding lapse unavoidable.Senate leaders say advancing the legislation would nonetheless greatly increase the chances that the shutdown ends quickly, potentially within days.The funding impasse has been driven by Democratic anger over aggressive immigration enforcement following the fatal shootings of two protesters in Minneapolis by federal agents.The deaths have become a flashpoint that has hardened opposition to approving new money for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) without changes to how immigration agencies operate.Senate aides said they were confident the package would pass Friday afternoon after Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina ended his blockade of the legislation.Under the deal negotiated between the White House and Senate Democratic leaders, lawmakers would approve five outstanding funding bills to finance most of the federal government through the end of the fiscal year in September.Funding for DHS, which oversees immigration enforcement, would be split off and extended for just two weeks under a stopgap measure intended to give lawmakers time to negotiate changes to the department’s operations.Trump publicly endorsed the deal and urged lawmakers in both parties to support it, signaling his desire to avoid a second shutdown of his second term.Some Democrats and political analysts interpreted the White House’s flexibility as a recognition that it needed to moderate its deportation approach following the Minneapolis killings.- ‘Sanctuary cities’ -Graham had blocked the package Thursday night by withholding the unanimous consent required to fast-track the vote.He cited objections to the DHS stopgap and to House-passed language barring senators from suing the Justice Department if their phone records were seized during past investigations.On Friday morning, however, Graham announced he would allow the funding bill to advance if Senate leaders agreed to hold votes on legislation he is sponsoring to crack down on so-called “sanctuary cities” that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.”The American people overwhelmingly support ending sanctuary city policies. In my view, sanctuary city policies are the root cause of the problems we face,” he said in a statement.”I also applaud President Trump for trying to lower the temperature, but not abandoning his efforts to clean up the Biden immigration fiasco.”The broader funding fight has left both parties bracing for at least a brief shutdown. Congress has already passed six of the 12 annual appropriations bills, but those measures cover only a minority of discretionary spending.The remaining bills fund large swaths of the government, meaning funding for roughly 78 percent of federal operations is set to lapse over the weekend.The package must still be approved by the House, which is scheduled to convene its Rules Committee on Sunday in an effort to speed the bill through the chamber once lawmakers return on Monday.Speaker Mike Johnson has said the House intends to act quickly, though divisions among Republicans could complicate the process.If enacted, lawmakers would then have just two weeks to negotiate a full-year DHS funding bill — talks that both parties acknowledge will be politically fraught, with Democrats demanding new guardrails on immigration enforcement and conservatives pushing their own policy priorities.