| Congress blew past a midnight funding deadline, triggering the US government’s first shutdown in almost seven years and the third under Trump, who’s threatening to oust federal workers and eliminate programs favored by Democrats in response. Agencies began shuttering the government aside from essential duties, and with the two parties locked in a stalemate over health-care subsidies and using the moment to frame the 2026 midterm elections, the close-down and its economic effects could be prolonged. A US accord that grants duty-free access for more than 1,800 products from 32 African nations expired last night, halting a decades-old program aimed at promoting development and democracy on the continent. Trump’s administration supports extending the non-reciprocal African Growth and Opportunity Act, though it needs legislation in Congress and that didn’t happen before the midnight deadline as lawmakers focused on the government-funding standoff. Unrest raged for a fourth night in Morocco, with youths taking to the streets in more than a dozen cities of the North African kingdom to decry their government’s lavish spending on the 2030 football World Cup as public services falter. Hundreds of Moroccans have been detained since the protests called by a loose, leaderless and tech-savvy group named GenZ212 began on Saturday, broadly echoing the youth-led demonstrations that have rocked Kenya, Nepal and Madagascar this year.  A demonstration in Rabat, Morocco, on Monday. Photographer: Abdel Majid Bziouat/AFP/Getty Images A barnstorming speech attacking populist Nigel Farage at Labour’s annual conference left UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s internal rivals humbled and the party unified behind him, for now. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves separately plans to scrap a cap limiting family-welfare payments to two children per family in an attempt to dispel party criticism that the government needs more progressive policies to demonstrate its purpose, while an indicator of business sentiment logged a record low as summit wound down. A military court sentenced former Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila to death in absentia for treason over his alleged support of an armed group in the east of the country and fined him more than $30 billion. Meanwhile, Rwanda-backed M23 rebels are expanding their territory in eastern Congo despite multiple peace agreements meant to end the fighting.  Joseph Kabila. Photographer: Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images Former South African Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa was found dead at a hotel in Paris, where he served as Pretoria’s ambassador. The prosecutor’s office said he booked a room on the 22nd floor and a security window had been forced open. The UN Security Council approved a US plan to send a 5,500-person multinational “gang suppression force” to Haiti to replace a Kenya-led mission that has failed to bring peace to the troubled Caribbean nation. The Trump administration’s crackdown on foreign students and academics violated the First Amendment by targeting them for expressing their political views, a federal judge ruled in an unusual opinion that broadly and sharply criticized Trump. Pakistan and the US are deepening cooperation in energy, mining and technology sectors, with Islamabad planning an investor conference in Washington this month to draw American investment, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in an interview. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Hours after the US government shut down, what are we watching from Wall Street to Washington? Bloomberg journalists will answer your questions in a Live Q&A today at 10 a.m. EDT. Stream here.  Photographer: Samuel Corum/Bloomberg | 
