WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers are returning to Capitol Hill to wrap up work on the budget, highway funding and taxes, an end-of-the-year stretch that will test the standing of Republican leaders like House Speaker Paul Ryan with the GOP's tea party wing and its anti-establishment presidential candidates.
There are less than two weeks until a deadline to pass a $1.1 trillion catchall spending bill to fund Cabinet agencies and avoid a holiday season government shutdown. If the process doesn't go smoothly, a last-minute temporary funding measure would be required to keep the government open when the current stopgap funding measure expires Dec. 11.
JERUSALEM (AP) — A Russian jet recently penetrated Israeli airspace but was not shot down thanks to an open communication system between the two countries, Israel's defense minister said Sunday as tensions continued to flare between Ankara and Moscow after Turkish troops downed a Russian warplane.
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said the plane entered about a mile (1.5 kilometers) into Israeli airspace by "mistake" and immediately turned around back to Syria when the Russians were notified. For two months, Russia has been carrying out airstrikes to support Syrian President Bashar Assad.
