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Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Top lawmakers to meet Obama for US shutdown talks

Top lawmakers to meet Obama for US shutdown talks

Top lawmakers to meet Obama for US shutdown talks

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 01:01 PM PDT

The White House is seen behind a stop sign in Washington on October 1, 2013Washington (AFP) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday called congressional leaders to a White House meeting on resolving the US government shutdown, but prospects for a quick solution seemed bleak, with neither side giving ground.

Davis takes national stage with gubernatorial bid

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:58 PM PDT

File - In this July 25, 2013 file photo, Texas State Senator Wendy Davis speaks at a fundraiser, in Washington. Davis is expected to announce her bid for Texas governor on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013. When she does, she'll be speaking not only to Texans but also national Democratic fundraisering she'll need to compete in the predominantly Republican state. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — When Wendy Davis walks into the coliseum where she received her high school diploma on Thursday to announce a bid to become Texas governor, she will also walk onto a national stage from which she'll call on Democrats from across the country to help finance her long-shot bid.

Pressure mounts to fix health insurance exchanges

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:56 PM PDT

Debora Costa right, tries to sign up for insurance coverage for her two children, including 2-year-old Victoria, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013, with help from Champaign Urbana Public Health District employee Alice Cronenberg in Champaign, Ill. Costa, who recently moved to Illinois from Brazil with her graduate-student husband and children, found after about 10 minutes that she didn't have all the information she would need to sign up. (AP Photo/David Mercer)The pressure is on for the federal government and states running their own health insurance exchanges to get the systems up and running after overloaded websites and jammed phone lines frustrated consumers for a second day as they tried to sign up for coverage using the new marketplaces.

Berlusconi U-turn secures Italian government survival

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:55 PM PDT

Italy's PM Letta is congratulated by Interior Minister Alfano at the Lower house of the parliament in RomeBy Paolo Biondi ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta won a confidence vote in parliament on Wednesday after Silvio Berlusconi, facing revolt in his own center-right party, backtracked on threats to bring down the government. As dozens of center-right senators prepared to defy their media magnate leader and salvage the left-right coalition led by Letta, Berlusconi staged an abrupt U-turn and said he too would back the center-left prime minister, just days after he sparked the crisis by pulling his ministers out of Letta's cabinet. ...

Obama seeks to strike a balance during shutdown

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 01:08 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attend a black-tie gala? No. Meet with business leaders who oppose a government shutdown? Yes. Jet off to Asia for a four-country tour? Maybe, but shorten the trip and keep the option to cancel.

NSA chief admits testing US cellphone tracking

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:46 PM PDT

National Intelligence Director James Clapper listens at left, as National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith Alexander testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013, before the Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act . U.S. intelligence officials say the government shutdown is seriously damaging the intelligence community's ability to guard against threats. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON (AP) — National Security Agency chief Gen. Keith Alexander revealed Wednesday that his spy agency once tested whether it could track Americans' cell phone locations, in addition to its practice of sweeping broad information about calls made.

Russian Embassy in Libya attacked, no injuries among diplomats

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:41 PM PDT

By Thomas Grove MOSCOW/ (Reuters) - Russia's embassy in the Libyan capital of Tripoli came under fire on Wednesday and a group of people tried to force their way into the compound, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. A diplomatic source in Libya said security guards fired shots to disperse about 60 people that had approached the embassy. The compound was quickly secured by guards and according to the Foreign Ministry no diplomats were wounded in the incident. The attack was symptomatic of the volatility of the country two years after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. ...

Multiple fatalities reported in Tenn. bus crash

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:38 PM PDT

DANDRIDGE, Tenn. (AP) — A spokeswoman for Tennessee's Safety Department says there are multiple fatalities and injuries in an interstate bus crash between a passenger bus, a tractor-trailer and another vehicle.

Bank CEOs warn of consequences from U.S. shutdown, default

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:38 PM PDT

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the Affordable Care Act in WashingtonBy Jeff Mason and Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chief executives from major financial institutions met with President Barack Obama on Wednesday and warned of "adverse" consequences if government agencies remain closed and if lawmakers failed to raise the U.S. debt ceiling by mid-October. Congressional Republicans and the White House are in a stalemate over government funding, which has forced the first government shutdown in 17 years. ...

Italian PM Letta wins lower house confidence vote

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:30 PM PDT

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta won a confidence vote in the lower house as expected following his earlier victory in the Senate on Wednesday after center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi backtracked on his threat to bring down the government. The Chamber of Deputies, where Letta has a commanding majority, voted 435 to 162 in favor of the government, after the Senate earlier backed the prime minister in a similar vote. (Reporting By Catherine Hornby)

Marathon suspect wants prison restrictions lifted

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:27 PM PDT

BOSTON (AP) — Lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev asked a judge Wednesday to lift restrictions placed on him in prison, arguing that the conditions are overly harsh, have left him nearly totally isolated and are impairing their ability to defend him.

'Red October' novelist Tom Clancy dies at 66

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:25 PM PDT

This 2010 image released by G.P. Putnam Sons shows author Tom Clancy in Huntingtown, Md. Clancy, the bestselling author of "The Hunt for Red October" and other wildly successful technological thrillers, has died. He was 66. Penguin Group (USA) said Wednesday that Clancy died Tuesday in Baltimore. The publisher did not disclose a cause of death. (AP Photo/G.P. Putnam Sons, David Burnett)NEW YORK (AP) — In 1985, a year after the Cold War thriller "The Hunt for Red October" came out, Tom Clancy was invited to lunch at the White House, where he was questioned by Navy Secretary John Lehman.

House rejects Democrats' attempt to end shutdown

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:23 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-run House has rejected an effort by Democrats to force a quick end to the partial government shutdown.

The numbers that show how essential an agency is

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:22 PM PDT

FILE - This Oct. 7, 2009 file photo shows a NASA tent is erected on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington in preparation of an event with the President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama who will be joined by local area middle school students as the use telescopes to star gaze. NASA may have the Right Stuff, but it's not essential. In fact, of all the larger government agencies, NASA is sending the largest percentage home in the government shutdown because they are considered not essential. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Veterans Administration, which usually doesn't grab attention unless something goes wrong, has one of the highest percentage of workers considered essential and staying on. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — NASA may have the Right Stuff, but it's not essential.

Obama, congressional leaders to meet with shutdown in its second day

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:21 PM PDT

Reid departs rally celebrating Obamacare at the U.S. Capitol in WashingtonBy Richard Cowan and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama scaled back a long-planned trip to Asia on Wednesday and planned a meeting with Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress that both sides said was unlikely to yield an end to the government shutdown. Obama plans to meet at the White House at 5:30 p.m. (2130 GMT) with the four top leaders in Congress - House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. ...

Weapons experts start Syria mission amid clashes

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:19 PM PDT

A convoy of inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons prepares to cross into Syria at the Lebanese border crossing point of Masnaa, eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013. An advance group of 20 inspectors from a Netherlands-based chemical weapons watchdog arrived in Syria on Tuesday to begin their complex mission of finding, dismantling and ultimately destroying an estimated 1,000-ton chemical arsenal. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)BEIRUT (AP) — Deadly clashes raged on the edge of Damascus on Wednesday and rival rebel factions battled each other in northern Syria as international chemical weapons inspectors began to secure the sites will they will work.

Conor McPherson's 'The Night Alive' jumps to NY

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:15 PM PDT

FILE - In this June 15, 2008 file photo, actor Jim Norton poses backstage with the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play Tony for "The Seafarer" at the 62nd Annual Tony Awards in New York. Irish playwright Conor McPherson's latest play NEW YORK (AP) — Irish playwright Conor McPherson's latest play "The Night Alive" will leap from the Donmar Warehouse in London to the Atlantic Theater Company in New York next month with the same cast led by Jim Norton.

Govt: court should not allow disclosure

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:08 PM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A secret federal court should not permit communications providers to reveal how often they are ordered to turn over information about their customers in national security investigations, the government argued in papers released Wednesday.

Suspect arraigned in motorcycle-SUV brawl in NYC

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:07 PM PDT

Christopher Cruz, right, appears in criminal court with his lawyer H. Benjamin Perez in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013. Cruz, 28, of New Jersey, was charged Wednesday with reckless driving after prosecutors said he touched off a tense encounter with the driver of a sport utility vehicle and a throng of other bikers that ended with blood and broken bones on a Manhattan street. He was also charged with unlawful imprisonment. His bail was set at $1,500 cash. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)NEW YORK (AP) — A motorcyclist was charged Wednesday with reckless driving after prosecutors said he touched off a tense encounter with the driver of an SUV and a throng of other bikers that ended with blood and broken bones on a Manhattan street.

'Grandmaster' leads Golden Horse film nominees

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:03 PM PDT

In this Thursday, May 30, 2013 photo, Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai poses during the Japan premiere of his latest film "The Grandmaster" in Tokyo. Wong's martial-arts epic "The Grandmaster" received a leading 11 nominations for Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, including best picture. (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Wong Kar-wai's martial-arts epic "The Grandmaster" received a leading 11 nominations for Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, including best picture. Other contenders include Jia Zhangke's "A Touch of Sin" and Anthony Chen's "Ilo Ilo," each with six nominations.

IRS at 100: How income taxation built the middle class

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 12:02 PM PDT

A general view of the Internal Revenue Service Building in WashingtonBy John Buenker and Sam Pizzigati Exactly a century ago, on October 3, 1913, President Woodrow Wilson signed the first modern federal income tax into law. The sky did not fall. That may have surprised the eminences of the American plutocracy. For years they had predicted the most dire of consequences should the federal government begin taxing the incomes of America's most comfortable. Those warnings took a shriller turn in 1909. A flurry of cynical congressional maneuvers sent the states a constitutional amendment, ostensibly designed to allow a federal income tax. ...

Neither side softening before White House meeting

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:55 AM PDT

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., right, accompanied by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., announces to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013, that President Barack Obama has invited the top leaders in Congress to meet with him at the White House to seek a solution to the government shutdown crisis. A funding cutoff for much of the government began Tuesday as a Republican effort to kill or delay the nation's health care law stalled action on a short-term, traditionally routine spending bill. Lawmakers in both parties have ominously suggested the partial shutdown might last for weeks. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama summoned congressional leaders to the White House on the second day of a partial government shutdown that has furloughed hundreds of thousands of workers and closed military cemeteries as far away as France. Republican and Democratic leaders agreed to meet Wednesday afternoon but showed no signs of yielding.

Stop being so stupid, voters tweet to Congress

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:55 AM PDT

People take pictures in front of the steps of the closed Lincoln Memorial, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013, in Washington. The museums that draw millions of visitors to the National Mall closed their doors Tuesday, memorials were barricaded and trash will go uncollected in the nation's most-visited national park due to the first government shutdown in 17 years. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)WASHINGTON (AP) — The roiling debate over the U.S. government shutdown is extending to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as fed-up Americans turn to social media to register their disgust with federal lawmakers for shutting down the government.

George Clooney hopes government shutdown ends soon

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:53 AM PDT

Actor George Clooney attends the premiere of "Gravity" at the AMC Lincoln Square Theaters on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)NEW YORK (AP) — George Clooney knows the country is going through a tough time with the partial government shutdown. But the actor is optimistic that "cooler heads will prevail" and things will get back to normal.

U.S. expels three Venezuelan diplomats in tit-for-tat move

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:51 AM PDT

By Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - Washington has expelled Venezuela's highest-ranking diplomat in the United States and two others from its embassy in retaliation for Venezuela's booting out three American diplomats accused of fomenting sabotage, both governments said on Wednesday. The flare-up appears to derail some tentative moves to improve relations between Caracas and Washington since President Nicolas Maduro took over this year from the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, whose 14-year rule was halted by cancer. ...

Obama shortens Asia trip because of shutdown

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:47 AM PDT

President Barack Obama gestures while speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013, to talk about the government shutdown. Congress plunged the nation into a partial government shutdown Tuesday as a protracted dispute over Obama's signature health care law reached a boiling point, forcing some 800,000 federal workers off the job. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has canceled two stops on his long-planned trip to Asia because of the partial government shutdown, the White House announced Wednesday.

Trail closed at least until spring after slide

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:46 AM PDT

This 2012 photo provided by the Johnson family shows Dawna Johnson, 45, third left, and Dwayne Johnson, 46, right, with their children, from left, Kiowa-Rain Johnson, 18, Gracie Johnson, 13, and Dakota Johnson, in front of Mount Princeton in Colorado. Dwayne, Dawna and Kiowa-Rain Johnson were killed in Monday's Sept. 30, 2013, rockslide near Buena Vista, Colo. Gracie Johnson was rescued from the rubble and hospitalized in Denver. Also killed were Baigen Walker, 10, and Paris Walkup, 22, both of Birch Tree, Mo. They were nephews of Dwayne and Dawna Johnson. (AP Photo/Johnson Family)DENVER (AP) — A popular Colorado trail where a rock slide killed five members of the same family will remain closed at least until spring, the U.S. Forest Service said Wednesday.

APNewsBreak: Enterprise Holdings to hire 11,000

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:41 AM PDT

FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 6, 2006, file photo, Sarah Street of Enterprise Rent-A-Car goes over the rental contract with Joe Sanford of Huntsville, Ala., in Romulus, Mich. Enterprise Holdings, the nation's largest rental car company, plans to hire 11,000 new full-time workers by the middle of 2014, the company told The Associated Press on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)ST. LOUIS (AP) — Enterprise Holdings told The Associated Press on Wednesday that it plans to hire 11,000 new workers by the middle of next year, thanks to the success of its trio of car rental companies.

House Dems offer immigration bill, fate uncertain

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:38 AM PDT

Rep. Joe Garcia, D-Fla., center, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., left, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., laugh in reaction to Garcia's statement that he corrected during a news conference on immigration reform, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. House Democrats have unveiled an immigration bill that includes a path to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants living here illegally and tightens border security. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats on Wednesday unveiled an immigration bill that provides a path to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants living here illegally and tightens border security, and they warned of political fallout if House Republicans fail to act.

Institute: Further signs NKorea reactor restarted

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:34 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — New satellite imagery offers further signs that North Korea has restarted a nuclear reactor capable of producing plutonium for bombs, a U.S. research institute said Wednesday.

Greek neo-Nazi leader appears in court in Golden Dawn crackdown

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:29 AM PDT

Golden Dawn lawmaker Ilias Panagiotaros shouts at journalists outside an Athens court on October 2, 2013Athens (AFP) - The leader of Greece's Golden Dawn neo-Nazi party appeared in court Wednesday, hours after four of his lawmakers were charged with belonging to a criminal organisation in a crackdown following an anti-fascist musician's murder.

Marc Jacobs bids farewell to Louis Vuitton

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:27 AM PDT

US fashion designer Marc Jacobs gestures prior to the Louis Vuitton Autumn-Winter 2012/2013 ready-to-wear men's fashion collection show on January 19, 2012 in ParisParis (AFP) - Paris fashion gave Marc Jacobs a standing ovation Wednesday as news broke that the designer who transformed Louis Vuitton from "stodgy luggage house" to global fashion giant is to leave.

Feds: Court shouldn't disclose surveillance

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:22 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government says a federal court should not permit communications providers to reveal how often they are ordered to turn over information about their customers in national security investigations.

Tevez to start for Juve against Galatasaray

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:21 AM PDT

Juventus' Argentinian forward Carlos Tevez plays at Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia on July 23, 2013TURIN (Italy) (AFP) - Striker Carlos Tevez has given Juventus a boost after passing a late fitness test ahead of the Champions League Group B clash against Galatasaray on Wednesday

Efforts resume to find 2 hikers in Wash.; 2 safe

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:18 AM PDT

SEATTLE (AP) — Search and rescue officials renewed their efforts Wednesday to find a man and a woman missing in separate, remote parts of southwest Washington after a helicopter rescued two other hikers from waist-deep snow.

Obama, lawmakers to meet on shutdown's 2nd day

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:14 AM PDT

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., right, accompanied by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., announces to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013, that President Barack Obama has invited the top leaders in Congress to meet with him at the White House to seek a solution to the government shutdown crisis. A funding cutoff for much of the government began Tuesday as a Republican effort to kill or delay the nation's health care law stalled action on a short-term, traditionally routine spending bill. Lawmakers in both parties have ominously suggested the partial shutdown might last for weeks. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama summoned congressional leaders to the White House on the second day of a partial government shutdown that has furloughed hundreds of thousands of workers and closed military cemeteries as far away as France. Republican leaders welcomed the Wednesday afternoon meeting but questioned whether Democrats were ready to deal.

Institute: More signs NKorea reactor has restarted

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:11 AM PDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. research institute says new satellite imagery offers further signs that North Korea has restarted a nuclear reactor capable of producing plutonium for bombs.

Shutdown gives Obama unlikely ally: big business

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 11:03 AM PDT

In this Oct. 1, 2013, photo, The Ohio Clock outside the Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill shows the time of 12:01 a.m., in Washington. Having failed to persuade their traditional Republican allies in Congress to avert a government shutdown, business leaders fear bigger problems ahead, and they're taking sides with a Democratic president whose health care and regulatory agenda they have vigorously opposed. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON (AP) — Business leaders are taking sides with Democratic President Barack Obama after failing to persuade their traditional Republican allies in Congress to avert a government shutdown.

World powers on 'right track' on Syria chemical arms: Putin

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 10:57 AM PDT

Russian President Putin speaks during VTB Capital Investment Forum "Russia Calling" in MoscowMOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday global powers were "on the right track" with a plan to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons and could avert military intervention in the conflict if they worked together. Agreement on the plan to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons was reached after U.S. President Barack Obama asked Congress to approve air strikes to punish Syria's government over an August 21 gas attack the United States says killed more than 1,400 people. "There is every reason to believe we are on the right track," Putin told an investment conference. ...

Chinese dissident has 3 new academic ties in US

Posted: 02 Oct 2013 10:56 AM PDT

Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng talks with colleagues before speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013. Guangcheng says he has new affiliations with Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, the Catholic University of America and the William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion and Constitution of the Witherspoon Institute after leaving New York University under disputed circumstances. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)WASHINGTON (AP) — Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng announced Wednesday that he had new affiliations with three U.S. institutions after leaving New York University under disputed circumstances. He said they would provide him a fresh platform to speak out against the Chinese's government's "inhumane brutality."
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