WASHINGTON — The US Senate on Sunday moved forward on a measure aimed at reopening the federal government and ending a now 40-day shutdown that has sidelined federal workers, delayed food aid and snarled air travel.

In a procedural vote, senators advanced a House-passed bill that will be amended to fund the government until Jan. 30 and include a package of three full-year appropriations bills. If the Senate eventually passes the bill, the package still must be approved by the House of Representatives and sent to President Donald J. Trump for his signature, a process that could take several days.

Under a deal struck with a handful of Democrats who rebuffed their party’s leadership, Republicans agreed to a vote in December on extending subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a person familiar with the negotiations said. The subsidies, which help lower-income Americans pay for private health insurance and are due to expire at the end of the year, have been a Democratic priority during the funding battle.

The vote to advance the bill passed by a 60-40 margin, the minimum needed to overcome a Senate filibuster.

“It looks like we’re getting very close to the shutdown ending,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House prior to the vote.

The bill would prohibit federal agencies from firing employees until Jan. 30, a win for federal worker unions and their allies. It would stall Mr. Trump’s campaign to downsize the federal workforce.

Some 2.2 million civilians worked for the federal government at the start of Mr. Trump’s second term, according to federal records. At least 300,000 employees are expected to leave the government by the end of this year due to Mr. Trump’s downsizing effort.

It would also provide back pay for all federal employees, including members of the military, Border Patrol agents, and air traffic controllers.

The deal was brokered by two New Hampshire Democrats, Senators Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, and Angus King, an independent from Maine, the person said. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the chamber’s top Democrat, voted against the measure.

“For over a month, I’ve made clear that my priorities are to both reopen government and extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits. This is our best path toward accomplishing both of these goals,” Ms. Shaheen posted on X.

Many Democrats on the Hill watched the deal unfold with displeasure.

“Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced,” wrote US Representative Ro Khanna on X. “If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?”

Sunday marked the 40^th day of the shutdown, which has sidelined federal workers and affected food aid, parks and travel, while air traffic control staffing shortages threaten to derail travel during the busy Thanksgiving holiday season late this month.

Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, said the mounting effects of the shutdown pushed the chamber toward an agreement.

“Temperatures cool, the atmospheric pressure increases outside and all of a sudden it looks like things will come together,” Mr. Tillis told reporters.

Should the government remain closed for much longer, economic growth could turn negative in the fourth quarter, especially if air travel does not return to normal levels by Thanksgiving, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett warned on the CBS Face the Nation show. Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 27 this year.

The wrangling on Capitol Hill came as Mr. Trump on Sunday again pushed to replace subsidies for the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces with direct payments to individuals.

The subsidies, which helped double ACA enrollment to 24 million since they were put in place in 2021, are at the heart of the shutdown. Republicans have maintained they are open to addressing the issue only after government funding is restored.

Mr. Trump took to his Truth Social platform on Sunday to blast the subsidies as a “windfall for Health Insurance Companies, and a DISASTER for the American people,” while demanding the funds be sent directly to individuals to buy coverage on their own. “I stand ready to work with both Parties to solve this problem once the Government is open,” Mr. Trump wrote.

Americans shopping for 2026 Obamacare health insurance plans are facing a more than doubling of monthly premiums on average, health experts estimate, with the pandemic-era subsidies due to expire at the end of the year. The ACA enrollment period, however, runs through Jan. 15, which would allow time for a legislative effort to extend the credits for next year. — Reuters

SEOUL — South Korea’s special prosecutor on Monday indicted former President Yoon Suk Yeol on additional charges of abusing power and aiding an enemy state related to his short-lived imposition of martial law last year.

Mr. Yoon attempted to provoke military conflict between South and North Korea in order to declare martial law, a prosecutor’s spokesperson told a briefing, citing evidence found on a military official’s mobile phone that included some words suggesting potential provocations against North Korea, such as “drones” and “surgical strike.”

Mr. Yoon was removed from office by the Constitutional Court in April and is on trial for insurrection stemming from his failed martial law declaration. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to death.

Mr. Yoon has said consistently he never intended to impose military rule but declared martial law to sound the alarm on wrongdoings by opposition parties and to protect democracy from “anti-state” elements.

According to the memo, Mr. Yoon, former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun and former military intelligence chief Yeo In-hyung planned to induce a North Korean attack against the South, the spokesperson, Park Ji-young, said.

The trio conspired to create tensions in the country as a justification for Mr. Yoon to declare martial law, she said.

Mr. Kim and Mr. Yeo were also indicted on the same additional charges, the prosecutor said.

The special prosecutor’s team has accused Mr. Yoon and his military commanders of ordering a covert drone operation into the North to inflame tensions between the neighbors and justify his martial law decree.

In October last year, North Korea said the South had sent drones to scatter anti-North Korean leaflets over Pyongyang, and published photos of the remains of a crashed South Korean military drone.

Despite intense scrutiny and political pressure, South Korea’s military declined at the time to comment on the suspicion of conducting a drone operation. A defense ministry official on Monday said it had no comment on the matter.

Mr. Kim is also on trial on charges related to the martial law declaration.

Mr. Yeo has said he deeply regretted not challenging the order from Mr. Yoon, according to media reports. The prosecutor’s spokesperson said Mr. Yeo was making excuses that did not make sense about the notes discovered on his mobile phone. — Reuters

JAKARTA — Indonesia awarded the title of national hero on Monday to late President Suharto, who was forced out of office in 1998 by violent protests that ended a three-decade rule marred by accusations of mass human rights violations, corruption and nepotism.

The title was conferred in a ceremony presided over by President Prabowo Subianto, Mr. Suharto’s former son-in-law, despite protests by pro-democracy activists and the families of those affected by the strongman’s iron-fisted rule. Mr. Prabowo took office one year ago.

“A prominent figure from Central Java province, a hero of the struggle for independence, General Suharto stood out since the independence era,” an announcer said as Mr. Prabowo handed the award to Mr. Suharto’s daughter and son.

Indonesia gained independence in 1945 from then colonial powers Netherlands and Japan.

Every year, the title of national hero is awarded to Indonesians who have contributed significantly to the Southeast Asian archipelago’s development. Mr. Suharto, who died in 2008, was one of 10 people to get the title on Monday.

Mr. Suharto, a military officer, formally became president in 1967 after he seized control of Indonesia from the country’s first president and independence leader, Mr. Sukarno.

He steered Indonesia through three decades of rapid economic growth and stability, only to see much of his work unravel as the country was plunged into chaos during the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98.

On Monday morning, ahead of the ceremony, a Reuters reporter saw Mr. Suharto’s portrait among a display of framed pictures of 10 people who will be awarded the title of national hero at the center of Jakarta’s state palace.

Mr. Suharto was wearing his military uniform in the portrait. His picture was in the front row, between a picture of former president Abdurrahman Wahid and labor activist Marsinah, who was kidnapped and murdered during Mr. Suharto’s rule.

‘STRUGGLES DISREGARDED’
Activists gathered last week in Jakarta to protest against the proposal to grant the title, reflecting wider concerns about historical revisionism in the country.

Among them was Tadius Priyo Utomo, 47, an Indonesian living in East Timor for the past 19 years who was one of tens of thousands of students who protested across the country against Mr. Suharto getting the title.

“Our past struggles will be disregarded… We are the traitors to the country because we fought Suharto and he is now a hero,” Mr. Utomo told Reuters at a protest last week in Jakarta, to which he flew from Dili, the capital of East Timor, especially to attend.

Under Mr. Suharto, Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 at the end of Portuguese rule and annexed the territory later that year, maintaining a heavy and sometimes harsh military presence. East Timor only won independence after Mr. Suharto was forced to step down.

Mr. Suharto, a former soldier, used the military to dominate civilian affairs and crush dissent. He was also accused of massive corruption and nepotism benefiting his family and cronies, although no charge was proven and he never went on trial due to his failing health.

Mr. Utomo said the current government comprised people favored by Mr. Suharto.

For others, the move is also a red flag for things to come under Mr. Prabowo, who was a special forces commander under Mr. Suharto aside from being married to his daughter before the two were divorced after Mr. Suharto’s ouster. Mr. Prabowo has also been accused of human rights violations in East Timor by troops under his command, although he has denied the charges.

“Prabowo can do everything that President Suharto did because he is protected by his heroism,” said Marzuki Darusman, a former attorney general who was also the head of 1998 riots fact-finding team.

Mr. Marzuki specifically pointed to the expanded role for the military that has already taken place since Mr. Prabowo took office last year.

WHITEWASHING HISTORY
Even after his death, Mr. Suharto’s party, Golkar, remains a major political force which backs Mr. Prabowo in his current presidency, and holds key ministries in his cabinet.

Political analyst Kevin O’Rourke, author of the book Reformasi: The Struggle for Power in Post-Soeharto Indonesia, said naming Mr. Suharto a national hero could whitewash history and be an attempt to restore some authoritarianism, although it would not be easy.

“It’s quite hard to put democracy back in the box when people are used to it,” he said. He added that the problem was that, for many Indonesians, the Suharto era is a remote era.

Half of Indonesia’s population would not have been born or be old enough to remember the era, according to official statistics.

But many still remember the hardships. A group of people, known as the Aksi Kamisan has held silent vigils outside the presidential palace in Jakarta every Thursday for nearly 20 years, dressing in black and demanding justice for excesses endured under Mr. Suharto.

Many of them say they still do not know the whereabouts of loved ones who went missing under his rule.

Officials have defended the move to nominate Mr. Suharto for the title, with Culture Minister Fadli Zon saying the government had conducted research and all candidates, including Mr. Suharto, had met the requirements.

Mr. Fadli also said Mr. Suharto’s role in mass killings in 1965 that ultimately spelled the end of Mr. Sukarno’s rule was never proven. Historians say about 500,000 people were killed.

Indonesia has never investigated the killings. — Reuters