Shea Stevens

Brazil's oil giant has received permission to start drilling off the country's northern coast.

The move is being celebrated by the government.

But as Julia Canero reports, a recent survey shows that environmentalists and more than a half of Brazilians oppose it.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has begun serving a five-year prison sentence.

70-year-old Sarkozy was convicted of criminal conspiracy charges,

stemming from his acceptance of Libyan funds to finance his 2007 campaign.

He's been ordered to stay behind bars while appealing his conviction.

This is NPR News.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens.

There are no signs of cracks in the congressional stalemate over how to end the government shutdown.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune insists that it is up to Democrats to just support the GOP resolution to continue current spending for about a month.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says the Democrats are only demanding an extension of health care subsidies that will soon expire.

Schumer says that Republicans have done nothing to lower health care costs and that members of the GOP-run House have not worked on Capitol Hill in weeks.

Venezuela's president is urging Americans to reject any aggression against his nation.

As NPR's Ada Peralta reports, the appeal comes after President Trump said he was considering ground strikes in Venezuela.

A federal grand jury has indicted the suspect accused of igniting the deadly Palisades fire in January.

Steve Futterman has details from Los Angeles.

U.S.

futures are flat and after-hours trading on Wall Street on Asia-Pacific market shares are mixed.

This is NPR.