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PoliticsAFP NewsUS government hours from shutdown, funding chaos
The US government on Saturday was hours from shutting down after the far right of the Republican Party scuppered final attempts at a temporary budget agreement, throwing into doubt everything from access to national parks to Washington's massive support for Ukraine.However, a shutdown would mean the majority of national parks, for example -- from the iconic Yosemite and Yellowstone in the west to Florida's Everglades swamp -- would be closed to public access beginning Sunday.
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Fans pay tribute to Tupac after murder suspect's arrest
STORY: Fans gathered at a makeshift memorial near the Las Vegas intersection where the iconic rapper was shot in a drive-by shooting in 1996.On Friday, a Nevada grand jury indicted an accused former gang leader with the murder of the hip-hop star three decades ago, a breakthrough in a long-unsolved case that was a defining moment in the history of rap.Duane "Keffe D" Davis was charged with one count of murder with a deadly weapon for his alleged role in leading a group of men to kill Shakur in a 1996 drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip.Shakur, struck by four gunshots, died in a hospital six days later at the age of 25.Shakur became more popular in death than in life, and in 2017 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
NewsAFP NewsMuizzu: Maldives election's pro-China frontrunner
The frontrunner in Saturday's Maldives presidential vote is an ardent advocate of Chinese investment and has promised to steer the luxury tourism hotspot back towards Beijing's orbit if he wins.Imad said he expected Muizzu to renegotiate other bilateral agreements with India if he wins on Saturday.
NewsAFP NewsMaldives President Solih facing uphill re-election battle
Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was a career politician unexpectedly propelled to the presidency after other contenders were jailed or exiled. He was drafted at the last minute to replace his mentor, Mohamed Nasheed, himself a former president, who was disqualified after a conviction on spurious terrorism charges.
NewsAFP NewsMaldives vote begins in shadow of India-China power play
The Maldives began voting Saturday to decide their next president in a referendum on whether to hitch their fortunes to China or India, both vying for influence in the tropical paradise.His mentor, former president Abdulla Yameen, borrowed heavily from China for construction projects and spurned India.
NewsAFP NewsUS warns of large Serbian military build-up near Kosovo
The United States urged Belgrade to pull its forces back from the border with Kosovo on Friday after detecting what it called an "unprecedented" Serbian military build-up.Kosovo's government has accused Belgrade of backing the operation, while a member of a major Kosovo Serb political party admitted to leading the gunmen, his lawyer said Friday.
NewsAFP NewsPope to appoint 21 new cardinals, looking past the West
Pope Francis will on Saturday elevate 21 clergymen from all corners of the world to the rank of cardinal -- most of whom may one day cast ballots to elect his successor.Eighteen of the 21 new cardinals are under the age of 80 and thus currently eligible to vote as "cardinal electors" in the next conclave, when Francis' successor will be decided.
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Floods hit New York City subway, roads
STORY: Video shared on social media shows water drained into the tunnels at Grand Army Plaza station and flowing down the steps towards the platform.Almost eight inches of rain fell in some parts of the most populous city in the U.S. Another few inches could fall in the region before the storm system pushed out to sea later on Friday, forecasters said.
NewsAFP NewsUN experts urge Mexico to stamp out extortion of migrants
United Nations experts on Friday called on Mexico to crack down on extortion by police and other officials targeting vulnerable migrants in flagrant violation of their human rights.The experts were concerned over "frequent reports of bribery and corruption, where individuals who are in a vulnerable position... were asked for money, often by officials, including police officials," group member Matthew Gillett said.
NewsHuffPostMom Drowned Kids In Murder-Suicide, Told Neighbors To Suspect Husband: Police
Alabama authorities say they have ruled out the woman's estranged spouse as a suspect in the "horrific" crime that claimed three lives.
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People flock to D.C. zoo for last look at its pandas
STORY: Mei Xiang, 25, and Tian Tian, 26, came to the zoo in 2000 under a cooperative research and breeding agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association. The pandas were initially meant to stay 10 years, but the agreement has been renewed three times since 2010.The zoo is honoring the three giant pandas with nine days of events ahead of their return to China but a looming U.S. government shutdown has put something of a damper on the festivities. The festivities could end a day sooner than planned, however, if Congress fails to provide funding for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 due to an ongoing dispute between far-right Republicans and other lawmakers.
PoliticsHuffPostHow The GOP Could Play Dirty With Feinstein's Successor To Block Biden's Judges
They've already shown they'll go to extremes to deny the president his court picks. Their new option would test how far they're willing to go.
NewsAFP NewsFormer gang leader charged with rapper Tupac Shakur's 1996 murder
A quarter of a century after Tupac Shakur was gunned down in a gang feud in Las Vegas, a man was charged Friday with his murder, a killing that came to symbolize the violence of gangsta rap as it surged into the mainstream.Shakur, the best-selling hip-hop artist behind hits such as "California Love," "Changes," and "Dear Mama," was already a huge star in the world of rap when he was gunned down in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996.
- PoliticsReuters Videos
White House says government shutdown will hit GDP
STORY: Hardline Republicans in the U.S. House on Friday rejected a bill proposed by their leader to temporarily fund the government, making it all but certain that federal agencies will partially shut down beginning on Sunday.The House of Representatives rejected in a 232-198 vote a measure to fund the government for 30 days to give lawmakers more time to negotiate. That bill would have cut spending and imposed immigration and border security restrictions, Republican priorities that had little chance of passing the Democratic-majority Senate.
NewsAFP NewsInjuries in Scotland rail crash, Flying Scotsman involved
Several people were injured after two trains, one of which was the storied Flying Scotsman, collided at Aviemore railway station in the Highlands of Scotland on Friday, police said."We can confirm that steam locomotive Flying Scotsman has been involved in a shunting incident at Aviemore Station," the National Railway Museum said in a statement.
EntertainmentHuffPostThe Taylor Swift And Travis Kelce 'Romance' Is Such An Obvious PR Stunt
In this week's Culture Catchall, we're talking "Swiftce," Usher headlining the Super Bowl and the end of "Renaissance: Act I."
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Suspect indicted for 1996 shooting death of Tupac
STORY: There’s been a major breakthrough in the murder of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur.A Nevada grand jury on Friday indicted former gang leader Duane "Keffe D" Davis with Tupac's murder three decades ago.That’s according to officials who say Davis was arrested outside his home on Friday morning and was in police custody.Award-winning rapper Tupac Shakur was wounded in a drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip on September 7, 1996. He was struck four times and died in a hospital six days later at the age of 25.Davis had admitted in interviews and in his 2019 tell-all memoir that he was in the Cadillac from which the gunfire erupted during the shooting.It was not immediately clear on Friday whether Davis had secured legal representation.
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Business Lookahead: roll on Q4
STORY: From closely watched U.S. jobs data, to the Reserve Bank of Australia's new governor's first meeting, here are the top stories to watch in business and finance.Eyes will be on the world’s No. 1 economy as Washington tosses and turns over funding the government. Economists polled by Reuters expect the U.S. economy created 150,000 jobs in September versus 187,000 in August. If released as scheduled, stronger-than-expected data from the October 6 jobs report would likely bolster a ‘higher for longer’ stance on rates. The Reserve Bank of Australia's new – and first woman – governor Michele Bullock chairs her first meeting on Tuesday.Investors will be looking for signals on where the RBA stands on rates after some signs of inflation smoldering in the services sector. The consensus is for a pause.One risk for Australia's economy: China. Its property sector is teetering on the edge of collapse... which flashes red lights for Australian raw material exports. Any window into what Beijing is doing to prop the sector up – if anything – will basically be shut next week given the Golden Week holiday. World stocks are still up a respectable 8% for the year but have given back almost 5% in September, with even the global tech giants reversing.And while the AI boom still matters, analysts will be ultra-focused on what the traditional economy players say about the cost pain or lack of it that their customers are now feeling.Bring on Q4's earnings season.
NewsAFP NewsUS Senate titan Dianne Feinstein dead at 90
Veteran Senator Dianne Feinstein, a titan of US political history who notched a string of legislative achievements during a trailblazing three-decade career in the Senate, has died."Senator Dianne Feinstein was a pioneering American.
CelebrityHuffPostKate Beckinsale's Enormous Floor-Length Hat Is Her Most Dramatic Red-Carpet Look Yet
Her head-turning outfit will make you do a double take.
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Inflation eased in August... what's the Fed's next move?
STORY: The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, excluding the volatile food and energy components, increased 3.9% on an annual basis in August. It was the first time since June of 2021 that the annual core PCE price index was below 4.0%. Speaking with Reuters' Lisa Bernhard, Mayfield also discussed data showing an 0.4% uptick in consumer spending for August, with some economists predicting that third quarter GDP could be as high as 4.9% - evidence of a very resilient economy despite roughly 18 months of aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve."People are just less sensitive to rising rates than they've been in past cycles," Mayfield noted. "As a consumer- facing economy, there's less sensitivity as there might have been in the past when we were more manufacturing oriented... I think with time we will feel that, but in the near term it hasn't impacted the consumer as much as it might have impacted the economy 20 or 30 years ago."
CelebrityHuffPost23 Of The Funniest Tweets About Cats And Dogs This Week (Sept. 23-29)
"i shouldn’t have to go to work if it’s rainy. i should get to stare out the window all day like a cat"
- BusinessReuters Videos
UAW expands strike at Ford and GM
STORY: The United Auto Workers union expanded its strike to add two more plants on Friday......with workers walking off the job at Ford's Chicago assembly plant and a General Motors facility in Lansing, Michigan.But the union spared Stellantis after last-minute concessions by the Chrysler parent.The latest move by the UAW brings the total number of workers on the picket lines to 25,000, or about 17% of the union's 146,000 members at the three automakers. "Some of these people, the second tier workers, they start at $16, $17 an hour. You can make that at McDonald's" Reuters spoke to Margie Hamilton, a General Motors worker for 45 years."General Motors is supposed to be a quality place to work. It's supposed to be a place where you can raise your family. You can't raise your family on $17 an hour."Ford CEO Jim Farley warned on Friday that suppliers are (quote) "on a knife's edge" as a result of the strike and if it continues as many as 500,000 supplier employees could be laid off. GM said in an email to employees it still has (quote) "not received a comprehensive counteroffer from UAW leadership to our latest proposal made on September 21.”Adding that calling for more strikes is, (quote) “just for the headlines, not real progress."A source familiar with the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity said that the UAW is expected to continue work stoppages currently under way until a new contract is ratified.Meanwhile, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer wants automakers and the UAW to reach a new contract deal as soon as possible, warning of the impacts of a prolonged strike and partial federal government shutdown.
NewsAFP NewsTurkey's Kavala says life term confirmation 'does not value law'
Turkish civil society leader Osman Kavala on Friday said a decision by the top appeals court that upheld his life sentence disregarded law and human life. Turkey's top appeals court on Thursday upheld the life sentence for Kavala while overturning prison sentences for three other civil society leaders in the same case, who were subsequently released on probation.
PoliticsHuffPostAmerica's Early Childhood System Is About To Lose A Bunch Of Federal Money
Emergency child care funding expires this weekend, dealing a blow to providers — and families too — unless Congress acts soon.
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