- As Funding deal for US budget is reached, to avert shutdown
US president Donald Trump has invited Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte to the White House during a phone call that also addressed concerns over North Korea, the White House said in a statement.
The White House gave no details of when the leaders would meet in Washington to discuss their alliance, but said Trump looked forward to visiting the Philippines in November as part of two summits with other Asian nations.
A readout of the call on Saturday said the discussion between the two was “very friendly” and the US-Philippines alliance was “now heading in a very positive direction”.
The pair talked about “the concerns of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) regarding regional security, including the threat posed by North Korea”.
The phone call also touched on Duterte’s war on drugs, in which some 7,000 people have died at the hands of vigilantes and state sanctioned death squads. Trump has previously praised the drug war.
“They also discussed the fact that the Philippine government is fighting very hard to rid its country of drugs, a scourge that affects many countries throughout the world,” the readout said.
“President Trump enjoyed the conversation and said that he is looking forward to visiting the Philippines in November to participate in the east Asia summit and the US-Asean summit. President Trump also invited President Duterte to the White House to discuss the importance of the the United States-Philippines alliance.”
Last week a Filipino lawyer filed a complaint at the international criminal court (ICC) accusing Duterte and 11 other Philippine officials of mass murder and crimes against humanity.
In the 77-page complaint Jude Sabio says the president has “repeatedly, unchangingly and continuously” committed extra-judicial executions or mass murders over three decades, amounting to crimes against humanity.
In the meantime, congressional negotiators have reached an agreement on a spending bill to keep the US government running until 30 September.
The bipartisan deal boosts military spending but does not include funding for President Donald Trump’s proposed wall on the Mexico border.
The reported $1 trillion deal (£770bn) needs to be approved by lawmakers.
On Friday Congress approved a stop-gap spending bill that averted a government shutdown at midnight on that day.
That gave Congress one more week to work out federal spending for the last five months of the fiscal year.
Lawmakers are expected to vote on the package in the coming days.
The failure to act would have closed national parks and monuments and laid off federal employees.
The last shutdown, in 2013, lasted for 17 days.
Full details of the agreement on a spending bill are yet to be made public.
But US media reports that it gives President Donald Trump a $12.5bn increase in defence spending and another $1.5bn for border security.
White House proposals to cut popular programmes – such as funding medical research and community development grants – were rejected.
Democrats also fended off potential cuts to women’s healthcare provider Planned Parenthood.
New York City will reportedly receive a $68m boost for local law enforcement, in recompense for the cost of protecting President Trump and his family.
The deal also gives coal miners $1.3bn in health benefits, which will be funded by a rise in customs fees.
There were a number of key disputes during tense negotiations, and Republicans – who control the Congress, Senate and White House – were forced to make concessions.
Democrats had leverage in the talks because their votes will be needed to pass the bill.
The Senate requires 60 votes to pass legislation, so the 52 Republicans there will need support from at least eight Democrats.
President Trump earlier had to yield to Democratic demands not to include funding for the proposed wall on the US-Mexico border in the spending bill.
Another concession was over Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act.
Mr Trump made scrapping it a key campaign pledge, but divisions among Republicans have so far prevented attempts to get his own health plan through Congress.
In a statement on Sunday evening, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called the deal “a good agreement for the American people” that “takes the threat of a government shutdown off the table”.
He said the measure would increase investment in medical research, education, and infrastructure.
“Reports that the package makes a major down payment towards the president’s security priorities are encouraging,” said John Czwartacki, a spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Guardian with additional report from BBC
