Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rom. Congress must act by midnight Thursday to avoid a partial government shutdown. The Republican-controlled Congress has failed to pass the various spending bills to pay for government programs and a stopgap measure expires then. Today, House Republicans release the text of a bill that would pay for programs

at current levels for the remainder of the fiscal year that ends September 30th. NPR's Ron Elving has

more. Speaker Mike Johnson has said he wants a clean bill to extend current spending commitments

through the end of the fiscal year in September. That sounds like the

simple, typical kick-the-can solution here. But House Democratic leader Hockeem Jeffries points out

that the bill, Johnson is backing, would actually be a setup for the new Trump-Musk budget regime.

NPR's Ron Elving. Utah is one of eight states and the only reliably red state that conducts elections mostly by mail.

The legislature approved a bill yesterday that would make significant changes to the vote-by-mail system and sent it to the governor's desk.

Sage Miller, with member station KUERER reports from Salt Lake City.

Right now, all of Utah's 1.7 million active registered voters are automatically sent a ballot in the mail.

They can return it the same way. But that's likely going to change.

Most Republican lawmakers voted to have voters opt in to vote by mail every eight years. If they don't, they will have to vote in person. They will also have to add the last four digits of a valid ID to the ballot as a voter ID measure. Supporters say the revisions improve election security and integrity. Critics argue elections will actually become

less secure because it's easier to memorize the last four digits of an ID number than it is to

forage a signature. Republican Governor Spencer Cox is expected to sign the bill. For NPR news,

I'm Sage Miller in Salt Lake City.

Four European countries have announced their support for a reconstruction plan for Gaza drawn up by Egypt.

The proposal also endorsed by Arab states was drafted to counter President Trump's efforts to displace Palestinians from Gaza and rebuild it under U.S. ownership.

NPR's Hidal-Al-S.i reports. The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, it under U.S. ownership. NPR's Hediel Al-Sancho reports.

The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom said they are endorsing

an Egyptian plan that would cost $53 billion to reconstruct Gaza after more than 15 months

of war. In a statement, the ministers said the plan showed a, quote, realistic path to the

reconstruction of the strip and an improvement showed a, quote, realistic path to the reconstruction of the strip

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