Shutdown, India, Nicolas Sarkozy and the Booker Prize: the night's news

The US Senate votes to end the government shutdown. The agreement reached Sunday between Republican senators and eight Democratic senators was approved by a vote in the upper chamber Monday night (60-40). It “paves the way for the end of the longest shutdown in history,” Politico reports. The House of Representatives must now vote in turn, likely on Wednesday, and then Donald Trump will have to sign the bill. But the Democratic Party finds itself divided over the decision of eight of its members. On CBS, Bernie Sanders said he was “very disappointed,” believing his party had not obtained enough in return for the agreement. “A disaster,” he said, given that the Democrats' priority—extending the Obamacare tax credits beyond the end of the year—is by no means guaranteed. The Republicans have only promised a vote in the Senate, but even if this extension “gets 100 votes in the Senate, it won't go anywhere in the House of Representatives and the president won't sign it.” Chuck Schumer's position as Senate Democratic leader is weakened. The left wing of the party is calling for his resignation.

A car explosion in India killed nine people and injured at least fifteen others. The blast occurred near a metro station in New Delhi on Monday evening. The vehicle—a Hyundai i20—was moving slowly with two or three people inside before the explosion, according to The Indian Express. “We are exploring all possibilities,” a police spokesperson announced. Other vehicles nearby caught fire.

Nicolas Sarkozy has been released from prison. The former president left La Santé prison around 3 p.m. The news attracted the attention of the German , Spanish , Belgian , Italian , British , and Swiss press. Le Temps notes that while "the leading figure of the French right" has been freed, Mr. Sarkozy remains under judicial supervision and is prohibited from contacting the Minister of Justice. Gérald Darmanin had visited him in prison, "which shocked the magistrates," the newspaper explains. "Now that the appeal has been filed, Nicolas Sarkozy is once again presumed innocent before his second trial. Today's decision is therefore based on the principles of pretrial detention and no longer on those of serving a sentence," the newspaper specifies. Le Temps also highlights statements from his relatives regarding the former head of state's time in prison, according to which he ate only yogurt and was wary of the other inmates.

The Booker Prize has been awarded to David Szalay's novel Flesh. The sixth novel by the British-Hungarian author is "certainly the most monosyllabic Booker Prize winner," comments The Times. The book's "intriguing protagonist," a strip club bouncer, doesn't speak much, explains the newspaper, which describes it as "a laconic tale of a masculinity-centric thriller," where sex is also a central theme.