World/Nation Briefs September 27, 2011

Congress avoids government shutdown

WASHINGTON - Ending weeks of political brinkmanship, Congress finessed a dispute over disaster aid Monday night and advanced legislation to avoid a partial government shutdown only days away.

The agreement ensured there would be no interruption in assistance to areas battered by disasters such as Hurricane Irene and last spring's tornadoes in Joplin, Mo., and also that the government would be able to run normally when the new budget year begins on Saturday.

The Senate approved the resolution after a day of behind-the-scenes talks and occasionally biting debate, spelling an end to the latest in a string of standoffs between Democrats and Republicans over deficits, spending and taxes. Those fights have rattled financial markets and coincided with polls showing congressional approval ratings at historically low levels.

Huge floods in Philippines as typhoon hits

MANILA, Philippines - Massive flooding hit the Philippine capital early today as typhoon winds and rains isolated the historic old city where residents waded in waist-deep waters, dodging tree branches and debris. At least seven people were killed.

Authorities ordered more than 100,000 people across the country to shelter from Typhoon Nesat's rains and wind gusts of up to 106 miles per hour. Schools and offices were shuttered, and thousands were stranded by grounded flights and ferries kept in ports.

The typhoon made landfall before dawn over eastern mountainous provinces of Isabela and Aurora, which face the Pacific Ocean, then headed inland through farmlands north of Manila, the government weather bureau said. It was packing sustained winds of 87 mph.

Libyan justice minister moves to abolish courts

TRIPOLI, Libya - Libya's transitional justice minister said Monday that he has approved a measure to abolish the country's state security prosecution and courts, which sentenced opponents of the old regime to prison.

At a press conference in Tripoli, Mohammed al-Alagi, part of Libya's new leadership after the ouster of Moammar Gadhafi, said he has signed a document to disband the bodies. The step still needs approval by the National Transitional Council that now runs the country.

"I am personally very happy to sign an approval to end the state security prosecution and court, and the state security appeals court," al-Alagi said.

He said the document includes a request to abolish a third court for special cases where many opposition members were sentenced to life terms in prisons like Abu Salim in Tripoli, where inmates were massacred by Gadhafi's regime.

Afghan kills a contractor working with CIA

KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan working for the U.S. government killed a CIA contractor and wounded another American in an attack on the intelligence agency's office in Kabul, officials said Monday, making it the latest in a series of high-profile attacks this month on U.S. targets.

The incident marked the most recent in a growing number of attacks this year by Afghans working with international forces in the country. Some assailants have turned out to be Taliban sleeper agents, while others have been motivated by personal grievances.

The assailant in Sunday evening's shooting was killed, and it was not yet clear if he acted alone or if he belonged to an insurgent group.

A U.S. official in Washington said the Afghan attacker was providing security to the CIA office and that the American who died was working as a contractor for the CIA. The official requested anonymity because he was speaking about intelligence matters.

The CIA declined to comment.

GOP's Perry implies cultural divide with foe

JEFFERSON, Iowa - Call it a personal class war: Texas Gov. Rick Perry is trying to draw sharp class lines with his chief GOP presidential rival, the well-heeled former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

"As the son of tenant farmers, I can promise you I wasn't born with four aces in my hand," Perry recently told about 200 central Iowa GOP activists. He grinned and then paused to allow chuckles to roll through the audience as the message became clear: Perry was a product of humble beginnings - ordinary folk like them - while Romney came from privilege.

The line was a riff on Romney's zinger during a debate in Tampa, Fla., when he suggested that Texas' job growth had more to do with the state's natural gas and oil supply than Perry's leadership.

Dead Sea Scrolls finally online after 2,000 years

JERUSALEM - Two thousand years after they were written and decades after they were found in desert caves, some of the world-famous Dead Sea Scrolls went online for the first time on Monday in a project launched by Israel's national museum and the web giant Google.

The appearance of five of the most important Dead Sea scrolls on the Internet is part of a broader attempt by the custodians of the celebrated manuscripts to make them available to anyone with a computer.

- Associated Press