Timeline: Congress' path to federal shutdown

A timeline of Congress' battle over the partial government shutdown and expiring federal borrowing authority:

Sept. 20: Republican-run House ignores White House veto threat, votes to keep government open through Dec. 15 if President Barack Obama agrees to cut off money for his 2010 health care law.

Sept. 24-25: Tea party Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and other conservatives speak on Senate floor for more than 21 consecutive hours about using shutdown bill to weaken health care law.

Sept. 27: Democratic-led Senate votes to remove House-approved provision defunding health care law, sends bill keeping agencies open through Nov. 15 back to House.

Sept. 29: House shifts demands on health care law, votes to delay implementation for a year and repeal tax on medical devices. Separately, House votes to pay troops in case of shutdown. Senate approves bill next day, Obama signs it into law.

Sept. 30: Senate rejects latest House provisions curbing health care law. House reworks shutdown bill again, delaying for a year health care law requirement that individuals buy health insurance and requiring members of Congress and staff to pay full expense of health insurance, without government paying part of costs. Senate kills latest House health care provisions.

Oct. 1: Government's new fiscal year begins, partial federal shutdown starts. House stands by language delaying required individual health coverage and blocking federal health insurance subsidies for Congress, requests formal negotiations with Senate. Senate quickly rejects House effort for formal bargaining.

Oct. 2: Embarking on strategy of voting to restart popular programs, Republicans push bills through House reopening national parks and National Institutes of Health and letting the District of Columbia municipal government spend money. Democrats mostly vote "no," saying entire government must reopen. Senate ignores the measures. Obama discusses impasse with congressional leaders at White House, no progress reported.

Oct. 3: House votes to pay members of the National Guard and Reserves and finance veterans' programs.

Oct. 4: House votes to finance federal disaster aid programs and feeding programs for infants and pregnant women. Republicans increasingly tie shutdown fight to need for Congress to renew federal borrowing authority by Oct. 17 or risk economy-rattling government default. GOP leaders increasingly shift their conditions for passage of the shutdown and debt limit bills to deficit reduction.

Oct. 5: House votes to pay furloughed federal workers when shutdown ends. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says he is bringing most of his department's 350,000 furloughed workers back to work immediately.

Oct. 6: House Speaker John Boehner says House won't pass bills ending shutdown or raising debt limit without negotiations on GOP demands.

Oct. 7: House votes to fund Food and Drug Administration programs.

Oct. 8: House votes to finance Head Start, pay civil servants working during shutdown and create panel of lawmakers to negotiate on deficit reduction. Obama and Boehner suggest they might consider short-term bills ending the shutdown and extending the debt limit to give them time to negotiate.

Oct. 9: House votes to pay halted death benefits to families of fallen troops and to finance Federal Aviation Administration.

Oct. 10: Boehner proposes six-week debt limit extension, conditioned on Obama bargaining over spending cuts and reopening government. House GOP leaders discuss standoff with Obama at White House, no deal but both sides cite progress. Senate passes bill providing death benefits for slain troops and Obama signs it, House votes to fund border security programs.

Oct. 11: White House, congressional Republicans continue bargaining. House passes bill financing nuclear weapons security, research. A bipartisan Senate group works on a measure that would reopen the government and prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its bills.

Oct. 12: Boehner tells House Republicans that negotiations with White House have stalled. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., begin talks. Senate rejects Democratic effort to debate debt limit extension through 2014.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/timeline-congress-path-federal-shutdown-194000519.html
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Work to restart on stadium after 2nd worker dies

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — After police and fire investigators determined the second worker death at the new $1.2 billion San Francisco 49ers showcase stadium was an accident, officials said the project's accelerated construction plan would begin again on Tuesday.

A delivery truck driver was crushed early Monday by a bundle of rebar being unloaded from his truck.

An ambulance rushed the severely injured worker to a local hospital, where he died, according to a spokesman for Turner/Devcon, the construction company building Levi's Stadium.

The spokesman, Jonathan Harvey, said state workplace safety officials said Monday that while their investigation is ongoing and could take months, "the jobsite has been deemed safe and is permitted to reopen."

The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner's Office identified the man as Edward Erving Lake II, 60, of Vacaville. He was an employee of Gerdau Ameristeel's Napa Reinforcing Steel facility, a subcontractor working on the stadium, Gerdau's spokeswoman Kimberly M. Selph said.

In a statement, the 49ers said their "sincerest thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and co-workers affected by this tragedy." The team also said there were plans to have support on-site Tuesday to help workers with their emotions following the tragedy.

The stadium is in Santa Clara, about 40 miles south of Candlestick Park, which it is replacing. Construction is slated to be finished in July, and officials say the accelerated work plan involves a highly coordinated scheme to maximize efficiency and avoid delays.

Construction firm investigators also were on-scene Monday, to see what could have been done to prevent the deadly accident.

An elevator mechanic, 63-year-old Donald White, was also killed at the stadium in June when he was struck by a counterweight while working in a shaft.

White worked as an elevator mechanic for more than 40 years and was employed by Schindler Elevator Corp. An investigation into his death by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is underway.

The stadium project is expected to open its doors just in time to host the 50th Super Bowl, in 2016, in the heart of the Silicon Valley. The airy, open stadium would have the largest lower bowl in the league, ensuring the 68,500 fans are close to the action.

The construction costs are being paid by $800 million in seat and luxury box sales, along with a 20-year, $220 million naming rights agreement with Levi Strauss and Co. announced in May.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/restart-stadium-2nd-worker-dies-053340261.html
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'Hundreds' of militants die in Nigeria army jails, Amnesty claims

London (AFP) - Rights group Amnesty International called for an urgent investigation after saying it had evidence that hundreds of people had died in detention facilities during a crackdown on Islamists in Nigeria.

The group on Monday said prisoners had been suffocated, starved and subjected to extra-judicial killings in the army-led operation in the country's north east.

A senior army officer told the NGO that around 950 people suspected of having links to militant group Boko Haram had died in custody during the first half of the year.

The Islamist group wants to topple the Nigerian government and impose an Islamic state, and has been responsible for thousands of deaths.

The Nigerian army did formally respond, but has always rejected accusations of human rights abuses.

In its report, Amnesty called for an immediate probe but experts warned that their demands are likely to go unheeded.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hundreds-militants-die-nigeria-army-jails-amnesty-claims-014420119.html
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'Walking Dead' Casts Two Pivotal Comic Book Characters

Josh McDermitt and his comic counterpart

AMC's The Walking Dead is bringing in two more pivotal characters from Robert Kirkman's long-running comic series on which it is based.

Retired at 35 alum Josh McDermitt has joined the zombie drama in the series regular role of Dr. Eugene Porter, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. He'll be joined by Southland alum Michael Cudlitz as his traveling companion (and series regular role) Abraham, producers announced Saturday at New York Comic-Con, where the actor was a surprise addition, appearing in character from the audience.

PHOTOS: 'The Walking Dead's' Most Shocking Deaths

[Warning: Spoilers from the comics series follow.]

In the Image/Skybound comics, Eugene is a former high school science teacher who first appears in the 53rd issue of the series. He travels with sports coach and Army Sgt. Abraham Ford (Cudlitz) and Rosita (new recurring player Christian Serratos).

The trio eventually crosses paths with Rick as they make their way to Washington. However, unbeknown to Rick as well as eventual couple Abraham and Rosita, Eugene is lying when he claims to know what caused the zombie outbreak and instead is using the physically superior former sports coach to protect him.

The character remains alive in the comics and proves to be a key part of Rick's group, using his science know-how to manufacture ammunition.

"We're going to tell a version of the Eugene, Abraham and Rosita comic stories, that's what we do," showrunner Scott Gimple tells THR, noting that like the series has done before, there will be similarities and differences to how AMC handles the characters. "I love those characters from the book; they are very different flavors of comic book characters than we've seen on the show."

PHOTOS: Inside 'The Walking Dead's' Spooky Season 4 Premiere

Eugene for his part, disguises the fact that he's a smart guy by altering his appearance in order to further protect himself. "Josh looks breathtaking in a mullet; he was born to wear one," Gimple said with a laugh. "I can proudly announce we will see a mullet!"

The arrival of the characters also opens the door for the series to explore different locations than the prison. "We're going to get to those characters in a bit, but before that, we're going to be exploring a lot of different locations," Gimple says. "We're at the prison the first two episodes. We start looking at other places in episode three on but that isn't even tied with them yet.

Abraham, meanwhile, is a married father of two who following the outbreak returned from a hunt for supplies to find his wife and young daughter had both been raped and his young son force to watch. He ultimately kills the culprits and loses his family, who flee him in fear and are latter found, turned. He eventually becomes Rick's right-hand man after his group loses a key member in battle.

Repped by Innovative and Trademark Talent, McDermitt's credits also include Work It, Last Comic Standing (where he was a semifinalist during season four) as well as ABC pilot Kings of Van Nuys. He was a regular on TV Land's recently canceled Retired at 35.

Cudlitz is repped by APA, Gold Coast and Stone Meyer. His credits include TNT's recently canceled Southland as well as Band of Brothers.  

The Walking Dead returns for its fourth season Sunday at 9 p.m. on AMC. What do you think of the castings? Check out Cudlitz in action as Abraham from season four, below.  

E-mail: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/THRComicCon/~3/eFLIOVoMk0I/story01.htm
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Immigration dispute shows fault lines in Italy's 5-Star

By Naomi O'Leary

ROME (Reuters) - The leader of Italy's 5-Star Movement has criticized party lawmakers for what he says is their lax stance on immigration, an issue that threatens to divide the party that took a quarter of votes in February's deadlocked elections.

The death of hundreds of migrants off Italy's coast last week prompted two 5-Star senators to propose reforming a law - hated by the left - that criminalizes irregular immigration.

Five-Star leader Beppe Grillo, who faces growing dissent from a minority inside the movement critical of his autocratic style, said he opposed the move and that the senators had no right to imply their opinion was official party line.

"This amendment is an invitation to migrants from Africa and the Middle East to head for Italy ... How many immigrants can we accommodate if one Italian in eight does not have money?" Grillo wrote on his blog.

"Their position ... is entirely personal. It was not discussed in an assembly with other 5-Star senators, it wasn't part of the program voted for by 8.5 million, it wasn't subjected to any formal internal approval."

Refusing to back any government led by traditional parties, 5-Star declined to go into coalition with the center-left Democratic Party of Prime Minister Enrico Letta. But its mass support could give it a decisive role in the future.

Grillo did not run for election, and runs the party from outside of parliament, using a scathing political blog and popular public appearances to express his views.

His support for the 2009 immigration law was met with surprise and disagreement from many supporters and went against a wave of demands for reform following the tragedy off the island of Lampedusa last week.

Fishermen said they were reluctant to go to the aid of the ship because of the law, concerned that they could face criminal charges of aiding illegal immigration if they helped.

The survivors of the shipwreck were put under investigation, potentially facing fines of 5,000 euros ($6,800) and forced repatriation.

"It was a little too hasty," 5-Star lower house leader Alessio Villarosa told reporters of Grillo's blog post, saying the proposal to overturn the law would go ahead.

Opinion polls taken before the row showed support for 5-Star at between 20 and 24 percent, down from the 25.5 percent it took in the February election.

($1 = 0.7395 euros)

(Editing by Catherine Hornby and Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/immigration-dispute-shows-fault-lines-italys-5-star-125219154.html
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'Supermoon' to light up night sky

22 June 2013 Last updated at 09:41 ET

The night sky is set to be illuminated later by what will appear to be a much bigger and brighter Moon.

The so-called "supermoon" occurs when the Moon reaches its closest point to earth, known as a perigee full moon.

The effect is to make the Moon seem 14% bigger and 30% brighter than when it is furthest from the planet

Skywatchers who miss the phenomenon this weekend because of cloudy skies will have to wait until August 2014 for the next one.

Space expert Heather Couper said "supermoons" were the result of coincidence.

"The Moon goes round in an oval orbit so it can come very close to us, and if that coincides with a full moon, then it can look absolutely enormous," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

She explained that when the Moon was high in the sky, it looked normal.

But as it got closer to the horizon, a "kind of optical illusion" occurred where it looked bigger when compared with trees or houses, she said.

She suggested it might be possible to dispel the illusion by turning away from the Moon, bending over and looking at the sky from between your legs.

Writing in Sky and Telescope about the "myth of the supermoon", Shari Balouchi said much of what we called the supermoon was just our eyes playing tricks on us.

"The supermoon might look bigger than normal if you see it in the evening when the Moon's just rising, but the real size difference isn't big enough to notice."

BBC Weather's Darren Bett said he was confident most people in the UK would be able to see the Moon at some point on Saturday night, but warned it might be fleeting.

Bands of showers are forecast over the UK, with some gaps in the clouds.

Sunday night should be better, he added, with people in south-west England and south Wales likely to have the clearest views of the Moon.

However Marek Kukula, public astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, said people should not expect the supermoon to look that much bigger than normal.

"It won't fill the sky," he said.

"It's at its most impressive when the Moon is close to the horizon ie when it's rising or setting - people will need to check online for rising and setting times for their locality."

Dr Kukula said the US Naval Observatory and HM Nautical Almanac Office had online tools for checking the moon's rising and setting times.

Scientists have dismissed the idea that the perigee can cause strange behaviour, like lycanthropy or natural disasters.

Dr Couper said the tides this weekend would be unaffected.

We'd like to see your pictures of the supermoon.

Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here. Read the terms and conditions.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23013393#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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US: ball is in Taliban's court for Afghan talks

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, center, walks through the airport with Ambassador Ibrahim Fakhroo, Qatari Chief of Protocol, left, after being greeted on arrival in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday, June 22, 2013. Kerry began an overseas trip plunging into two thorny foreign policy problems facing the Obama administration: unrelenting bloodshed in Syria and efforts to talk to the Taliban and find a political resolution to the war in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, center, walks through the airport with Ambassador Ibrahim Fakhroo, Qatari Chief of Protocol, left, after being greeted on arrival in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday, June 22, 2013. Kerry began an overseas trip plunging into two thorny foreign policy problems facing the Obama administration: unrelenting bloodshed in Syria and efforts to talk to the Taliban and find a political resolution to the war in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

This photo was taken on Thursday, June 20, 2013 shows the Taliban flag visible through a gap in a wall of the new office of the Afghan Taliban in Doha, Qatar after the opening of the office several days ago. The United States on Thursday welcomed Qatar's decision to take down a sign that cast the Taliban's new office in Doha as a rival Afghan embassy saying the militant group can't represent itself "as an emirate, government or sovereign." (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)

This photo taken on Thursday, June 20, 2013 shows the new office of the Afghan Taliban in Doha, Qatar after the opening of the office several days ago. The United States on Thursday welcomed Qatar's decision to take down a sign that cast the Taliban's new office in Doha as a rival Afghan embassy saying the militant group can't represent itself "as an emirate, government or sovereign." (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)

This photo was taken on Thursday, June 20, 2013 shows the Taliban flag visible through a gap in a wall of the new office of the Afghan Taliban in Doha, Qatar after the opening of the office several days ago. The United States on Thursday welcomed Qatar's decision to take down a sign that cast the Taliban's new office in Doha as a rival Afghan embassy saying the militant group can't represent itself "as an emirate, government or sovereign." (AP Photo/Osama Faisal)

DOHA, Qatar (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday urged the Taliban not to let differences on names and flags scuttle hopes for talks on ending 12 years of war in Afghanistan, saying the opening of an office in Qatar was an important step toward reconciliation that should not be squandered.

The announcement that U.S. officials and Taliban would begin formal peace talks in the newly opened office raised hopes the long-stalled process would finally get underway, but the plans quickly ran aground when Afghan President Hamid Karzai objected to the wording of a sign with the name of the former Taliban regime and their former flag.

A Qatar Foreign Ministry statement said the Taliban had violated an agreement to call the office the "Political Bureau of the Taliban Afghan in Doha." The Obama administration also said the U.S. and Qatar never had agreed to allow the Taliban to use that name on the door.

The Taliban have removed the sign and lowered their flag but are divided over whether to keep them down.

Kerry, in the Qatari capital for separate talks on Syria's civil war, said the Americans and the Afghan government's High Peace Council were ready, and he encouraged the Taliban to remain in the process.

"Nothing comes easily in this endeavor, we understand that. The road ahead will be difficult, no question about it, if there is a road ahead," he said at a press conference.

He said the U.S. hoped the opening of the office would be "an important step in reconciliation, if possible" but added "It's really up to the Taliban to make that choice."

"It remains to be seen in this very first test whether or not the Taliban are prepared to do their part," he said.

Meanwhile, James Dobbins, the U.S. special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, arrived in Doha on Saturday, suggesting the U.S. remains hopeful about the talks despite the recent flap.

Shaheen Suhail, the Taliban's spokesman in Doha, told The Associated Press that his office had received no word about when a meeting with Dobbins might be held.

Suhail also prevailed on all sides to calm the tensions over what he deemed a secondary issue.

"Everyone should save the process. Give a chance to the process. In one day everything cannot be resolved," he said in a telephone interview. "This is a very secondary thing and not important. I am also surprised that it should derail the process."

Karzai temporarily suspended participation in talks Tuesday angered by a sign identifying the office as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the name used by the Taliban during its five-year rule that ended in 2001 after the Islamic militant movement was ousted by the U.S. invasion for its support of al-Qaida. The Afghan president also suspended separate negotiations with the United States over a security agreement aimed at providing a framework for some U.S. forces to remain in Afghanistan after the Americans and their NATO allies withdraw combat forces by the end of 2014.

The Taliban spokesman said the spat has frustrated and angered some within the militant movement who said the Taliban have been meeting with representatives of dozens of countries and holding secret one-on-one meetings with members of Karzai's High Peace Council on several occasions, always under the banner of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

"There is an internal discussion right now and much anger about it but we have not yet decided what action to take," told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "But I think it weakens the process from the very beginning."

In Kabul, a member of the government's negotiation team said it was still prepared to begin talks in Qatar and called the removal of the sign and flag was a positive sign.

High Peace Council member Shahzada Shahid told the AP Saturday that it was too early to say when members of the council would travel to Qatar for talks. He also welcomed the participation of countries in the international coalition in Afghanistan and said they would have their own issues to discuss.

"Peace is very important and vital for us so we will take all measures for it," he said.

Meanwhile, as the "internal talks" continued over the sign, the Taliban were still cobbling together a negotiating team, the spokesman said.

The Taliban already have agreed to hand over U.S. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, in Afghanistan in 2009, in exchange for five Taliban members held in the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Suhail also said that a cease-fire and women's rights could be part of negotiations.

"It can be part of the agenda and be discussed, also foreign troops in Afghanistan after 2014 can be discussed as part of the agenda as well as the general concerns of the Afghan people," he said. "How can we achieve all those things if even from the first day there is so much public criticism?"

____

Gannon reported from Islamabad, Pakistan. Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez and David Rising contributed from Kabul.

___

Kathy Gannon is AP Special Regional Correspondent for Afghanistan and Pakistan and can be reached at www.twitter.com/kathygannon

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-22-Afghan-Peace%20Talks/id-126c258096ee4c249c61212bb2f11b45

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