From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Jonathan Jones reporting.

The U.S. Senate advanced a stop-gap funding bill on Monday that paves the way to reopen the federal government three days into a partial shutdown. The shutdown was triggered in part by a partisan brawl over immigration.

Democrats, who banded together to help defeat a funding bill late Friday, signaled a wary acceptance of the Republican offer to address a range of immigration topics, including hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to America as children. Their future was thrown into question when [Trump] President Trump rescinded a program that allowed them to work and study in the United States.

Democrats had been applauded by immigrant rights advocates for drawing a line in the sand Friday, but were blasted as weak-willed for taking the Republican deal.

President Trump imposed stiff tariffs on imported solar panels Monday in an attempt to protect American manufacturing jobs.

He has often promised to get tough with China and other exporters that he says compete unfairly with American manufacturers.

The tariffs start out at 30 percent on solar panels and decline over time.

Two solar panel manufacturing companies were seeking even higher taxes to protect them from competition by low cost imports in the hope of reviving their troubled firms.

China and other nations that face these new tariffs may end up challenging the president's decision at the World Trade Organization.

This is VOA news.

The United States is expressing concern about Turkey's offensive in northern Syria. Top officials are appealing for restraint. They are worried the conflict could spread.

At a briefing at the White House Monday, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the U.S. understands Turkey's "legitimate security concerns" and is "committed to working with Turkey as a NATO ally."

But she said "Increased violence in Afrin disrupts a relatively stable area of Syria" and "distracts from international efforts to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS."

Pope Francis apologized Monday for remarks he made defending a Chilean bishop accused of covering up sex abuse.

On a flight to Rome following a week-long trip to Chile and Peru, the pope told reporters he was sorry for his choice of words and the tone of his voice when answering a reporter's question about Bishop Juan Barros last week. He said his words "wounded many" and were a "slap" in the face.

The gradual repatriation of Rohingya Muslim refugees to Myanmar from Bangladesh, previously set to begin Tuesday, has been delayed.

It's not immediately clear when the process will begin.

Myanmar and neighboring Bangladesh recently completed an agreement to repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who fled Myanmar to escape a brutal military crackdown.

Aid workers and the Rohingya are worried that refugees will be forced to return to a place that they fled just a few months ago.

Vice President Mike Pence said Monday that the U.S. would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem by the end of 2019.

He told Israel's lawmaking body, the Knesset, "Jerusalem is Israel's capital and, as such, President Trump has directed the State Department to begin initial preparations to move our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem."

And former soccer star George Weah was sworn in Monday as Liberia's new president in a ceremony held at a packed sports stadium in the capital, Monrovia. The ceremony was the first peaceful transition of power in Liberia in more than 70 years.

The presidents of Gabon, Ghana and Sierra Leone were in attendance, as were Weah's former fellow soccer stars.

You can find more on these and other late breaking and developing stories, from around the world, around the clock, at voanews.com and on the VOA news mobile app. I'm Jonathan Jones reporting from the world headquarters of VOA in Washington.

That's the latest world news from VOA.