Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Military spending bill blocked in US Senate as shutdown grinds on U.S. Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a bill that would have funded the Pentagon for a full year, thwarting an effort by Republicans to restart some federal funding as the government shutdown stretched into its 16th day. The tally was 50-44, falling short of the 60 needed to advance the measure in the 100-member Senate. The vote was largely along party lines, with President Donald Trump's fellow Republicans voting in favor and all but three Democrats objecting. Trump says Venezuelan President Maduro 'doesn't want to fuck around' with US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro does not want to “fuck around” with the United States, amid escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas. Trump's comments followed a Reuters report, citing three sources, that the U.S. military was holding two survivors on a Navy ship after a U.S. strike on their suspected Caribbean drug vessel killed two others. US FDA announces recipients of national priority vouchers The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday announced the names of nine products, under a new fast-track review process, which could potentially get approval within one to two months of filing a complete application. The regulator said it has selected Merck KGaA's fertility drug Pergoveris, Sanofi's Type 1 diabetes drug teplizumab, Regeneron's DB-OTO for deafness and ketamine for domestic manufacturing of a general anesthetic. Trump says price of Ozempic will be lowered U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the price of Novo Nordisk's best-selling weight-loss drug would be lowered and that negotiations over price changes would be swift. Trump made the comments during a White House event on fertility treatments and drug pricing. He was asked by reporters to identify the name of a drug that he earlier in the event said would be made less expensive. US prosecutors charge voting tech company Smartmatic in alleged bribery scheme Voting technology company Smartmatic was charged in U.S. federal court in Florida on Thursday with money laundering and other crimes, in an alleged foreign bribery conspiracy involving three of its former executives to secure business in the Philippines. Federal prosecutors named Smartmatic parent SGO Corp as a defendant in the ongoing criminal prosecution filed in 2024 against three former executives for their alleged roles in the scheme. Exclusive-US Navy warship holding survivors from strike on Caribbean vessel, sources say The U.S. military is holding two survivors aboard a Navy ship after rescuing them from a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean hit by a U.S. strike that killed two others, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday. The disclosure, which has not been previously reported, raises the possibility that the survivors from Thursday's strike are the first prisoners of war in a conflict declared by President Donald Trump against a "narcoterrorist" threat he says is emanating from Venezuela. BP says fire extinguished at Indiana oil refinery; multiple units down A fire ignited at BP's 440,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana, before it was extinguished on Friday morning, the company said. The blaze at the largest refinery in the U.S. Midwest caused gasoline prices to spike in parts of the region. ICE arrests Chicago area cop legally working in US, town says A suburban Chicago police officer arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday was legally authorized to work in the U.S. and had completed a full background check by the FBI, according to the Village of Hanover Park, where he was employed. Radule Bojovic, who was born in Montenegro, was arrested "during a targeted enforcement action," according to a press release from the Department of Homeland Security. DHS said Bojovic was in the country illegally after overstaying a B2 tourist visa more than 10 years ago. But a statement from the Village of Hanover Park later on Thursday said its police department received a work authorization card for Bojovic issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which had recently been renewed. The Village also said Bojovic had successfully completed a background check with the FBI and the Illinois State Police. (The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)
