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US officials said the scheduled capacity for flights was being cut by 10% in 40 busy air traffic areas nationwide today, as the longest government shutdown drags on.Federal agencies have been grinding to a halt since Congress failed to approve funding past September 30, with some 1.4mn federal workers, from air traffic controllers to park wardens, still on enforced leave or working without pay."There is going to be a 10% reduction in capacity at 40 of our locations," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told a White House news briefing on Wednesday, adding they would come into effect on Friday.Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chief Bryan Bedford said the cuts would be at "40 high traffic environment markets."According to a proposed list provided to CBS News, some of the nation's busiest airports in Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York City could be among those hit.AFP contacted the Department of Transport and FAA seeking details about which airports would be affected.The government shutdown became the longest in history on Wednesday, eclipsing the 35-day record set during President Donald Trump's first term.Airport workers calling in sick rather than working without pay — which led to significant delays — was a major factor in Trump bringing an end to that 2019 shutdown.More than 60,000 air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration officers are now working without pay, and the White House has warned that increased absenteeism could create chaos at check-in lines.House Speaker Mike Johnson said in late October that 5% of flight delays had been the result of staffing shortages but that number had now increased to more than 50%.He warned at the time that the "longer the shutdown goes on, and as fewer air traffic controllers show up to work, the safety of the American people is thrown further into jeopardy."However, Democrats and Republicans have both remained unwavering over the main sticking point in the shutdown: health care spending.Democrats say they will only provide votes to end the funding lapse after a deal has been struck to extend expiring insurance subsidies that make health care affordable for millions of Americans.But Republicans insist they will only address health care once Democrats have voted to switch the lights back on in Washington.Trump has sought to apply his own pressure to force Democrats to cave by threatening mass layoffs of federal workers and using the shutdown to target progressive priorities.He repeated on Tuesday his administration's threat to cut off a vital aid program that helps 42mn Americans pay for groceries for the first time in its more than 60-year history, even though the move was blocked by two courts.The White House later clarified that it was "fully complying" with its legal obligations and was working to get partial Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments "out the door as much as we can and as quickly as we can."

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jacquemain Shabani Lukoo, met on Sunday with Shafi bin Newaimi Al Hajri, Acting Charge d'Affaires at the Embassy of Qatar in Kinshasa.The two officials discussed ways to strengthen cooperation between Qatar and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Nearly a week after an earthquake killed more than 2,200 people in Afghanistan and left tens of thousands homeless, the United States has not taken the first step to authorise emergency aid, and it was unclear if it plans to help at all, two former senior US officials and a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.The lack of response by Washington to one of Afghanistan's deadliest quakes in years underscores how President Donald Trump has forfeited decades of US leadership of global disaster relief with his deep foreign aid cuts and closure of the main US foreign assistance agency, said the source and the former officials.The US Agency for International Development was officially shuttered on Tuesday.The State Department on Monday extended its "heartfelt condolences" to Afghanistan in an X post.As of Friday, however, the State Department had not approved a declaration of humanitarian need, the first step in authorising US emergency relief, said the former officials, both of whom worked at USAID, and the third source, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.Such a declaration is usually issued within 24 hours of a major disaster.The sources said State Department officials had considered recommendations for US disaster aid for Afghanistan. One former senior official said the White House also has considered the issue, but decided against reversing a policy of ending aid to Afghanistan. When asked if the US would provide any emergency aid to Afghanistan following the magnitude 6 quake on Sunday, which was followed by powerful aftershocks on Thursday and Friday, a State Department spokesperson said: "We have nothing further to announce at this time."The United States was, until this year, the largest aid donor to Afghanistan, where it fought a 20-year war that ended with a chaotic US withdrawal and the Taliban's seizure of Kabul in 2021. But in April, the Trump administration ended virtually all aid totaling $562mn — to Afghanistan, citing a US watchdog report that humanitarian groups receiving US funds had paid $10.9mn in taxes, fees, and duties to the Taliban.Asked whether the US would provide emergency relief for earthquake survivors, a White House official said, "President Trump has been consistent in ensuring aid does not land in the hands of the Taliban regime, which continues to wrongfully detain US citizens.”United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher said the Afghan earthquake was "the latest crisis to expose the cost of shrinking resources on vital humanitarian work.”"Massive funding cuts have already brought essential health and nutrition services for millions to a halt; grounded aircraft, which are often the only lifeline to remote communities; and forced aid agencies to reduce their footprint,” he said in a statement on Thursday.The Trump administration also has yet to respond to a request by the International Rescue Committee humanitarian organisation to send $105,000 worth of US-funded medical supplies following the first earthquake.The materials include stethoscopes, first aid supplies, stretchers, and other essentials, said Kelly Razzouk, vice president of policy and advocacy for the IRC."The stocks are stuck in storage," said Razzouk, who served on former US President Joe Biden’s National Security Council. "In recent memory, I can't remember a time when the US did not respond to a crisis like this."The IRC needs Washington’s permission to send the equipment to Afghanistan because it had been funded by an unrelated US grant that the Trump administration had since canceled."Beyond the loss of life, we have also seen basic infrastructure and livelihoods destroyed," Stephen Rodriguez, the representative in Afghanistan for the UN Development Programme, told reporters on Friday.He said donations of money, goods, and services have come from Britain, South Korea, Australia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkiye, and other countries."Far more is needed."