First Thing: Chuck Schumer to back Republican funding bill to avoid shutdown

The minority leader argued a government shutdown would hand Donald Trump and Elon Musk a ‘carte blanche’. Plus, JD Vance booed at Washington concert

Good morning.

The Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, has announced he will vote for a Republican funding bill to avert a government shutdown, saying he believed a stoppage would carry “consequences for America that are much, much worse”.

Schumer’s comments suggest his members are willing to provide sufficient votes for the bill, which would fund federal agencies through September.

Senate Democrats are under pressure from colleagues in the House as well as their activist base to block the bill. In his floor speech, Schumer said Democrats faced a “Hobson’s choice” – that they were being asked to make a decision with only the allusion of choice, alluding to the futility of their position.

What does Schumer think the consequences would be? He said a shutdown would hand Donald Trump and Elon Musk a “carte blanche to destroy vital government services at a significantly faster rate than they can right now”. It could lead to the furloughing of staff without guarantee they’ll be rehired, he said.

Chorus of boos against JD Vance at Washington concert

JD Vance was booed by the audience at a National Symphony Orchestra concert as he entered his box tier at Washington’s Kennedy Center on Thursday evening.

The noisy protest – highly unusual in the world of classical music – took place as the pre-concert announcements got under way and the US vice-president and his wife, Usha, took their seats. As members of the audience yelled “You ruined this place!”, Vance ironically smiled and waved.

In February, Donald Trump fired the chair of the Kennedy Center board along with 13 of its trustees, appointed himself the new chair, and named new board members, including Usha Vance.

Why did Trump take over the Kennedy Center? In Trump’s words: “We didn’t like what they were showing and various other things. We’re going to make sure that it’s good and it’s not going to be woke.”

Zelenskyy warns Putin will manipulate Ukraine ceasefire plan

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has accused the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, of being “manipulative” in his response to the ceasefire proposal and aiming to make “reasonable solutions impossible”.

In his nightly address, Zelenskyy argued that Putin wanted the ceasefire to fail, saying: “That’s why, in Moscow, they are surrounding the ceasefire idea with such preconditions that it either fails or gets dragged out for as long as possible. Putin does this often — he doesn’t say ‘no’ outright, but he drags things out and makes reasonable solutions impossible.”

Speaking at a press conference at the Kremlin alongside the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, Putin appeared to outline a series of conditions for Russia to agree to the truce. He suggested that Ukraine should neither rearm nor mobilise and that western military aid to Kyiv be halted during the 30-day ceasefire. Kyiv has previously indicated it would continue mobilisation efforts during any ceasefire.

How has Trump responded? He said Putin had “made a very promising statement, but it was not complete”.

In other news …

James Edward Oakley, a 58-year-old homeless man killed during a trash sweep in California last December, was crushed to death by excavating machinery, a report concludes.

Taiwan’s new president has formally labelled China a “foreign hostile force” and announced plans to bolster national security, including by reestablishing peacetime military courts.

The former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte will appear at the international criminal court on Friday, charged with crimes against humanity over his “war on drugs”.

The Trump administration has asked the supreme court to approve attempts to restrict birthright citizenship, after district judges in three states blocked the president’s executive order.

Stat of the day: S&P 500 falls more than 10% below recent high as markets rattled by Trump

Trump’s escalating tariff announcements and subsequent retaliations have spooked investors and sent markets tumbling. The S&P 500, a key US stock market index, closed more than 10% down from its peak on 19 February. The Dow was also down 9% from its peak in December.

Don’t miss this: They moved in together on their first date during the pandemic – now they’re married

During Lora Betteridge and her now-wife Rachel’s first date in March 2020, the UK government announced it was imposing a national lockdown. Most people would probably take that as a cue to head home – instead, the pair decided to move in together. Within four days, Betteridge had bought an engagement ring, though the couple didn’t tie the knot until April 2022. Here’s their story in full.

Climate check: How a Chinese project led the way in water and soil conservation

At the end of the 20th century, overcultivation meant China’s Loess plateau – once a thriving, fertile landscape – was considered the most most eroded place on Earth, according to a documentary by the ecologist John D Liu. Then the government got serious about regreening the plateau. The results have been startling: the World Bank, which funded the project, described it in 2004 as “the largest and most successful water and soil conservancy project in the world”.

Last Thing: How do astronauts feel when they come down to Earth?

As they prepare to return to Earth after nine months in space, what will the adjustment be like for astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams? Experts say swollen eyeballs and ultra-sensitive skin are just a couple of the side-effects they can expect. They’ll also feel like they’ve finally got rid of a months-long cold: the sense of smell is diminished in space, which is “probably a good thing … because it reeks up there,” an astrophysicist explains, due to spacecrafts having held decades of visitors with no ventilation. Lovely.

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