REUTERS

As a partial U.S. government shutdown hit the two-week mark, President Donald Trump and congressional leaders prepared to meet on Friday over ways to break an impasse pitting his demand for building a border wall against Democrats’ call for alternative security measures.

Democrats wasted no time flexing their new power in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday by approving legislation backed by new Speaker Nancy Pelosi that would end a 13-day partial government shutdown, ignoring President Donald Trump’s demand for $5 billion for a border wall.

Nancy Pelosi again became the most powerful woman in American politics on Thursday, gathering dozens of children around her as she took the oath of office as the next speaker of a diverse and deeply divided U.S. House of Representatives.

Spain has replaced Italy as the destination of choice for migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe, according to European Union estimates published…