October 8th, 2013
01:02 PM ET
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Obama calls Boehner; stalemate goes on

There were news conferences and a high-level phone call between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, but no immediate sign of progress on reopening the government a week into a partial shutdown or reaching a deal to avoid the first-ever U.S. default next week.

Obama called Boehner on Tuesday morning, and the White House then announced the president would make a statement and take some questions from reporters at 2 p.m. ET.

Earlier, Boehner demanded that Obama and Democrats negotiate with Republicans on steps needed to end the shutdown that began on October 1 and raise the nation's debt ceiling before the deadline for default on October 17.

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Filed under: Barack Obama • John Boehner • Politics
October 8th, 2013
01:00 PM ET
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More remains found on Costa Concordia

Divers have found what they believe are human remains on the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship, the Italian Civil Protection agency announced Tuesday.

The bodies of two people from the 2012 wreck have never been found: Russel Rebello of India and Maria Grazia Trecarichi of Sicily have been missing but presumed dead. Their bodies have long been believed to be either trapped beneath or inside the ship.

Italian authorities also said two weeks ago that divers found what they thought were human remains on the ship's Deck 4. But they later determined that the remains were animal.

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Filed under: Italy • Travel
October 8th, 2013
12:58 PM ET
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'God particle' scientists win physics Nobel

The Higgs boson, or the "God particle," which was discovered last year, garnered two physicists the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday, but it didn't go to the scientists who detected it.

Nearly 50 years ago, Francois Englert of Belgium and Peter Higgs of the United Kingdom had the foresight to predict that the particle existed.

Now, the octogenarian pair share the Nobel Prize in physics in recognition of a theoretical brilliance that was vindicated by the particle's discovery last year.
Filed under: Science
October 8th, 2013
06:08 AM ET
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SEAL team Somalia mission: Capturing suspect

U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six pulled out during a raid in Somalia to capture suspected Al-Shabaab leader Ikrima when it became clear that he couldn't be taken alive, a senior U.S. official told CNN.

"Their mission was to capture him. Once it became clear we were not going to (be) able to take him, the Navy commander made the decision to withdraw," said the official, who has direct knowledge of the entire Somalia operation but declined to be identified publicly.

The official said the SEALs faced heavy opposition and an intense firefight broke out, leading to the withdrawal.

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Filed under: Politics • U.S. • World
October 8th, 2013
06:06 AM ET
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Shutdown forecast: Week Two, and clouds ahead

Tuesday marks the eighth day of the partial shutdown of the federal government, and there's no end in sight.

President Barack Obama continues to refuse to negotiate with Republicans. They continue to insist that any government funding bill must somehow delay, defund or otherwise disrupt his signature health reform law.

What's more, the issue of funding the government has now fused with the issue of raising the nation's debt ceiling.

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Filed under: Politics • U.S.
October 8th, 2013
06:03 AM ET
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Syria: Weapons team faces many dangers - Ban

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said in a letter to the U.N. Security Council that the international mission to destroy Syria's chemical weapons is unprecedented and that the team faces many grave dangers.

The joint mission, made up of personnel from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations, is tasked with overseeing the elimination of all Syria's chemical weapons by the middle of next year.

Syrians began destroying their country's chemical weapons program Sunday under the oversight of an advance team of OPCW inspectors and U.N. security personnel, Ban said.

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Filed under: World