AP News in Brief at 12:04 a.m. EDT

Leaders of the two parties sought to blame the other side for the standoff. Democrats accused Republicans of not negotiating with them to address some of their priorities on health care as part of the funding measure, even though they knew Democratic votes would be needed to get a bill to the president's desk.

Republicans said Democrats were making demands that would dramatically increase spending and were not germane to the core issue of keeping agencies fully running for a short period of time while negotiations continued on a full-year spending package.

It's unclear how the two sides will be able to avoid a shutdown. Republicans are planning on what amounts to a do-over vote on their proposal close to the deadline in the hopes that more Democrats will have second thoughts. Democrats are repeating their demand that Republicans sit down with them and work on a compromise.

“The theater must end,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said after the vote. “Let's sit down and negotiate.”

Trump asks the Supreme Court to allow him to enforce transgender and nonbinary passport policy

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to let it enforce a passport policy for transgender and nonbinary people that requires male or female sex designations based on birth certificates.

The Justice Department appealed a lower-court order allowing people use the gender or “X” identification marker that lines up with their gender identity.

It’s the latest in a series of emergency appeals from the Trump administration, many of which have resulted in victories amid litigation, including on banning transgender people from the military.

The government argues it can’t be required to use sex designations it considers inaccurate on official documents. The plaintiffs, meanwhile, say the policy violates the rights of transgender and nonbinary Americans.

The State Department changed its passport rules after Trump, a Republican, handed down an executive order in January declaring the United States would “recognize two sexes, male and female," based on what it called “an individual’s immutable biological classification.”

Trump says he and Xi will meet in South Korea in coming weeks and he'll later go to China

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said he would meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a regional summit taking place at the end of October in South Korea and will visit China in the “early part of next year,” following a lengthy phone call between the two on Friday.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said Xi would come to the United States “at an appropriate time” and that they had made progress on “the approval of the TikTok Deal” to allow the popular social media app to keep operating in the U.S., though he didn't give details.

A statement from the Chinese government did not mention the visits, nor did it offer clarity on what Xi had agreed to regarding a sale of a controlling stake by TikTok’s Chinese parent company to avoid a U.S. ban. But Xi told Trump to avoid imposing trade restrictions to keep trade ties from getting worse, according to the statement.

While the highly anticipated call suggested a cordial relationship between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies, their statements showed the challenges facing two countries with conflicting worldviews that are so entwined. A fundamental sign of cooperation was a willingness to meet face to face.

“The call was a very good one, we will be speaking again by phone, appreciate the TikTok approval, and both look forward to meeting at APEC!” Trump wrote, referring to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group of 21 economies on the Pacific Rim.

Kennedy's vaccine advisers change COVID shot guidance, calling them an individual choice

ATLANTA (AP) — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new vaccine advisers added confusion Friday to this fall’s COVID-19 vaccinations — declining to recommend them for anyone and leaving the choice up to those who want a shot.

Until now, the vaccinations had been recommended as a routine step in the fall for nearly all Americans — just like a yearly flu vaccine.

The Food and Drug Administration already had placed new restrictions on this year’s shots from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax, reserving them for people over 65 or younger ones who are deemed at higher risk from the virus.

In a series of votes Friday, advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took the unprecedented step of not recommending them even for high-risk populations like seniors. Instead they decided people could make individual decisions after talking with a doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

The panel also urged the CDC to adopt stronger language around claims of vaccine risks, despite pushback from outside medical groups who said the shots had a proven safety record from the billions of doses administered worldwide.

Florida federal judge tosses Trump's $15B defamation lawsuit against The New York Times

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A Florida federal judge on Friday tossed out a $15 billion defamation lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against The New York Times.

U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday ruled that Trump’s 85-page lawsuit was overly long and full of “tedious and burdensome” language that had no bearing on the legal case. The judge gave Trump 28 days to file an amended complaint that should not exceed 40 pages.

“A complaint is not a megaphone for public relations or a podium for a passionate oration at a political rally,” Merryday wrote in a four-page order. “This action will begin, will continue, and will end in accord with the rules of procedure and in a professional and dignified manner.”

Trump's legal team plans to continue the lawsuit “in accordance with the judge’s direction on logistics,” spokesman Aaron Harison said.

The lawsuit named four Times journalists and cited a book and three articles published within a two-month period before the last election.

Kimmel’s rise from radio to cultural icon hits roadblock with ABC’s suspension of late-night TV show

LOS ANGELES (AP) — In a crowded late-night field, Jimmy Kimmel rose to become a cultural fixture.

For two decades, Kimmel has been one of the most familiar faces on television. He's the kind of entertainer who could blend slapstick humor with sharp political satire and still find himself entrusted with hosting Hollywood’s most prestigious ceremonies. His career arc has been impressive, rising from radio gigs in Las Vegas to rubbing elbows with the likes of Meryl Streep at the Oscars and turning world leaders into punch lines on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

In an industry that thrives on turnover, Kimmel's staying power has been rare. He's been the voice that helped anchor ABC in the late-night arena, until now with his show suspended indefinitely over his comments earlier this week about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10.

Just last week, Kimmel reminded audiences why he’s long been one of the sharpest voices in late night. He won his fourth Primetime Emmy for hosting “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” then used the moment to defend his friend Stephen Colbert, whose “Late Show” was canceled in July just days after criticizing the President Donald Trump–Paramount Global settlement. Kimmel cursed CBS from the stage and brushed off executives who called the cancellation “financial.” He told the crowd that he loved Colbert. Colbert's show is to end in May 2026.

Kimmel, 57, didn’t stop there. After the Creative Arts Emmy ceremony, he took aim at Donald Trump directly, saying, “I’m giving this guy a little poke, and he deserves it, and I enjoy it, and I hope that people enjoy it too.”

Clayton Kershaw soaks in the applause in his last regular-season home start at Dodger Stadium

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clayton Kershaw pitched the final regular-season home game of his 18-year career with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, welcomed and sent off with standing ovations a day after announcing his decision to retire at season's end.

Kershaw's longtime warmup song, “We Are Young" by Fun, blared as fans held up camera phones to capture the moment as the game began. The cheers quickly turned to boos when San Francisco Giants leadoff hitter Heliot Ramos turned on an 86-mph slider for a 431-foot home run.

But the cheers returned after Rafael Devers took a called third strike leading off the fifth. Manager Dave Roberts came to the mound and hugged Kershaw as his teammates on the field, in the dugout and in the bullpen joined the crowd in applauding the 37-year-old left-hander as he departed.

Kershaw left with the Dodgers trailing 2-1. He gave up two runs and four hits, struck out six and walked four in 4 1/3 innings on 91 pitches, 56 for strikes.

He waved and then wrapped his arms around himself in a hug gesture to the crowd. Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani stepped forward to hug Kershaw, one of many he received from everyone in the dugout. With fans clamoring, Kershaw came out for a curtain call, slowly turning around and taking in the scene.

Trump signs proclamation adding $100K annual fee for H-1B visa applications

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday signed a proclamation that will require a $100,000 annual visa fee for highly-skilled foreign workers and rolled out a $1 million “gold card” visa as a pathway to U.S. citizenship for wealthy individuals, moves that face near-certain legal challenges amid widespread criticism he is sidestepping Congress.

If the moves survive legal muster, they will deliver staggering price increases. The visa fee for skilled workers would jump from $215. The fee for investor visas, which are common in many European countries, would climb from $10,000-$20,000 a year.

H-1B visas, which require at least a bachelor's degree, are meant for high-skilled jobs that tech companies find difficult to fill. Critics say the program is a pipeline for overseas workers who are often willing to work for as little as $60,000 annually, well below the $100,000-plus salaries typically paid to U.S. technology workers.

Trump on Friday insisted that the tech industry would not oppose the move. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said “all big companies” are on board.

Representatives for the biggest tech companies, including Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta, did not immediately respond to messages for comment on Friday. Microsoft declined to comment.

What a new poll shows about where Americans think the country is heading

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republicans’ outlook on the direction of the country has soured dramatically, according to a new AP-NORC poll that was conducted shortly after last week's assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The share of Republicans who see the country headed in the right direction has fallen sharply in recent months, according to the September survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Today, only about half in the GOP see the nation on the right course, down from 70% in June. The shift is even more glaring among Republican women and the party's under-45 crowd.

Overall, about one-quarter of Americans say things in the country are headed in the right direction, down from about 4 in 10 in June. Democrats and independents didn't shift meaningfully.

Interviews with Republicans who took the poll suggest that political violence and nagging worries about social discord are playing a role in the notable shift in their mood after a summer scarred by killings of figures on both sides of the political spectrum, although they also mentioned another array of worries, including jobs, household costs and crime.

“I've spent a lot of time worrying about the worsening political discourse and, now, the disturbing assassinations,” said Chris Bahr, a 42-year-old Republican from suburban Houston.

Estonia says 3 Russian fighter jets entered its airspace in 'brazen' incursion

Estonia summoned a Russian diplomat to protest after three Russian fighter aircraft entered its airspace without permission Friday and stayed there for 12 minutes, the Foreign Ministry said. It happened just over a week after NATO planes downed Russian drones over Poland and heightened fears that the war in Ukraine could spill over.

Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said Russia violated Estonian airspace four times this year “but today’s incursion, involving three fighter aircraft entering our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen.”

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur also said the government had decided “to start consultations among the allies” under NATO’s article 4, he wrote on X, after Russian jets "violated our airspace yet again.”

The North Atlantic Council, NATO’s principal political decision-making body, is due to convene early next week to discuss the incident in more detail, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said Friday.

Article 4, the shortest of the NATO treaty’s 14 articles, states that: “The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.”