Millions of Americans yesterday braced for a government shutdown that could impact their lives starting this weekend, unless Republicans and Democrats reach a budget deal.
In many cities, including the US capital, residents would not be able to register vehicles or renew driver’s licenses because motor vehicle departments around the country will shut down when the federal government does.
That could happen at midnight yesterday, after which building permits will not be issued because the department of public works will be closed and public libraries would remain shuttered, making it -impossible to check out books.
Garbage would not be collected and streets would not be swept in Washington during a shutdown, Washington Mayor Vincent Gray told a news conference.
Tom Tarantino, of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Association, said on the military.com Web site that a shutdown would halt military burials because the department in charge of internments at the Veterans Affairs Administration would be forced to close.
Americans who decide to head overseas to avoid all the headaches had better already have a passport, because processing of travel documents will stop if the government closes.
During the last shutdown, in the 1990s, 200,000 passport applications were not processed, according to the Omaha World-Herald newspaper.
The tentacles of the shutdown would even reach overseas, affecting visa services for foreigners seeking to visit the US, the US Department of State said.
Events scheduled this weekend in South Carolina to mark the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War could be called off if lawmakers in Washington fail to agree on how much to rein in spending.
Commemorative events are due to be held at Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired on April 12, 1861.
However, that national monument is run by the National Park Service, and “in the unfortunate event of a shutdown, the national park system will be closed,” parks spokesman David Barna said in a statement.
Government grinding to a halt in Washington would be disastrous for businesses 3,200km away in Estes Park, Colorado, a gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park.
“Tourism is our only industry. We rely heavily on visitation to the national park to bring people here,” said Suzy Blackhurst, communications manager at the Estes Park Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of