World/Nation Briefs October 8, 2013
Default threat becomes center of attention
WASHINGTON - A possible national default loomed closer on Monday as the partial government shutdown lingered, rattling markets in the U.S. and overseas. A gridlocked Congress betrayed little or no urgency toward resolving either of the threats.
Stocks got a case of the jitters on Wall Street, and halfway around the world China stressed the importance for the international economy of raising the U.S. debt limit.
"Safeguarding the debt is of vital importance to the economy of the U.S. and the world," Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. China holds $1.277 trillion in U.S. Treasury bonds, second only to Japan.
At home, the political rhetoric was unchanged - and generally uncompromising - while a new poll suggested Republicans are paying a heavier price than Democrats for the deadlock.
U.S. raid targets may have planned Kenya terrorism
NAIROBI, Kenya - U.S. interrogators headed to an American warship in the Mediterranean to question a suspected Libyan al-Qaida operative linked to the bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa, as new details emerged Monday about plots planned by a Kenyan militant who escaped a U.S. raid in Somalia.
The two operations, thousands of miles apart in Africa and approved by President Barack Obama, signaled an American readiness to go after militants in nations where authorities are unable to do so, even years later.
The suspect captured in Tripoli is under U.S. federal indictment but was being held in military custody aboard the USS San Antonio in international waters - detained under the laws of war as an enemy combatant.
A computer expert known as Abu Anas al-Libi, he is accused of using an early-generation Apple computer to assemble surveillance photographs in Nairobi ahead of the deadly 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy, according to a former U.S. law enforcement official.
The surveillance information was presented to Osama bin Laden, who approved the bombing, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak about the case.
Administration scrambles amid health glitches
WASHINGTON - The glitch-ridden rollout of President Barack Obama's health care law has opponents crowing: "Told you so!" and insisting it should be paused, if not scrapped.
But others, including insurance companies, say there's still enough time to fix the online enrollment system before uninsured Americans start getting coverage on Jan. 1.
After emergency repairs over the weekend, consumers in different parts of the country Monday continued to report delays on healthcare.gov, as well as problems setting up security questions for their accounts. The administration says the site's crowded electronic "waiting room" is thinning out. Still, officials announced it will be down again for a few hours starting at 1 a.m. Tuesday for more upgrades and fixes.
Despite the confusion, the insurance industry has held off public criticism. Alarmed that only a trickle of customers got through initially, insurers now say enrollments are starting to come in and they expect things to improve.
The last major federal health care launch - the Medicare prescription program in 2006 - also had big startup problems. Government leaders who oversaw it say things could look very different in a couple of months for Obama's law if the administration manages to get a grip on the situation.
Post-coup Egypt swept bynationalist fervor
CAIRO - While riots turned the neighborhoods of Cairo into deadly battlegrounds this weekend, Egypt's most powerful man - the head of the armed forces - enjoyed a star-studded show.
In a sports stadium, celebrities and pop singers lavished praise on the military in a televised extravaganza complete with dancers and an elaborate fireworks display.
The scene crystalized Egypt's situation since the July 3 coup that ousted the country's first freely elected president, Mohammed Morsi, and ended a year of rule by Islamists.
The new leadership has seemingly taken a two-pronged approach to building the future: On one hand, it pumps up a pro-military, nationalist fervor, while on the other it tries to crush Morsi's Islamist supporters and his Muslim Brotherhood. So far, the result has led to more turmoil.
The scenario raises doubts about whether Egypt can progress toward the democracy that those who supported Morsi's ouster say they want to achieve - or whether the leaders can tackle pressing issues like the damaged economy. Repeated bouts of violence since July have only worsened the slump in the vital tourism industry, amid high unemployment, low productivity and steep price increases.
- The Associated Press