Japanese retailer Aeon Co Ltd plans to raise about 90 billion yen (US$917 million) by listing a commercial-property REIT on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) as early as next month, the Nikkei said on Tuesday.
Aeon would raise around 170 billion yen by bank borrowing and the REIT's listing, which would be the third-biggest debut by a Japanese REIT this year, the business daily said.
More than 15 Aeon properties, including its biggest Aeon LakeTown mall in Saitama Prefecture and shopping centers in Malaysia, would be sold to the REIT and then leased back, the Nikkei said.
Use from the proceeds would be used to open new stores, the daily said.-- Reuters
Share prices on Bursa Malaysia opened higher in early trading today on renewed buying interest, dealers said.
At 9.03am, the benchmark index gained 3.25 points to 1,772.28 after opening 0.94 of a point better at 1,769.97.
Gainers thumped losers 125 to 55, with 128 counters unchanged, 1,287 untraded and 14 others suspended.
Trading stood at 52.94 million shares worth RM40.66 million.
HwangDBS Vickers Research said the key FBM KLCI is expected to stage a technical rebound following cumulative losses of 1.8 per cent over the past one week.
"On the chart, the benchmark index may recover towards the immediate resistance line of 1,785 ahead," it said in a note today.
The research house said despite a partial shutdown in the US government, major stock indices on Wall Street rose between 0.4 per cent and 1.2 per cent last night.
"Essentially, investors are taking a view that there would be limited economic consequences and the budget impasse could be resolved soon.
"This will likely give a lift to sentiments across the region today," it said.
Meanwhile, the research firm said stocks that could add interest today was Puncak Niaga following reports that it was close to selling its water concessions to the Selangor state government.
Others are Favelle Favco, which has received purchase orders for the supply of offshore cranes for a combined value of RM109 million and Bina Puri which has won a building construction job worth RM97 million.
On the scoreboard, the Industrial Index improved 25.64 points to 3,065.68, the Finance Index gained 29.6 points to 16,428.6 but the Plantation Index fell 3.82 points to 8,312.02.
The FBM Emas Index rose 22.63 points to 12,324.06, the FBM100 Index was 22 points higher at 12,059.88, the FBM Ace increased 7.9 points to 5,532.47 and the FBM 70 garnered 24.94 points to 14,033.48.
Among actives, INS Bioscience fell two sen to 30 sen, Sona Petroleum -WA was flat at 29 sen and Astral Supreme rose half-a-sen to 23 sen.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank added four sen to RM9.84, Axiata earned two sen to RM6.91 and CIMB was up one sen to RM7.51.-- Bernama
Washington (CNN) -- Second or third or fourth verse, same as the first.
A stalemate in Congress that caused a government shutdown on Tuesday continued with Senate Democrats voting for a fourth time to reject a spending plan by House Republicans that sought to undermine Obamacare.
This time, the House proposal also included a call for a conference committee to seek a compromise, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats turned down the package because it amounted to extortion by Republicans to force concessions on President Barack Obama's signature health care reforms.
Reid said the Senate wants to negotiate a budget with the House, "but not with the government closed."
"We're not going to relitigate the health care issue," Reid said after the latest Senate vote, calling for the House to now approve a "clean" spending plan to fund the government for a few months before separate negotiations on possible changes to the 2010 Affordable Care Act. "It's time for Republicans to stop obsessing over old battles."
Two GOP sources told CNN that House Republicans would meet at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday to discuss their next steps.
A game of political chicken ended in failure in the first minutes of Tuesday, when neither side blinked, leading to the outcome nobody said they wanted -- a shutdown that will stop 800,000 Americans from getting paid and could cost the economy about $1 billion a week.
The game is the same, but many of the players have changed. Congress and the president are facing off in another supreme spending showdown. If they don't agree on a funding bill by the end of September 30, much of government will shutdown. This last happened in 2011, when Congress avoided a shutdown by passing a spending measure shortly after the midnight deadline hit. Who controls what happens this time? Take a look at the key players who will determine how this fight ends: -- From CNN Capitol Hill Reporter Lisa Desjardins. CNN's Deirdre Walsh and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.
Key players in the shutdown debate
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A Park Service police officer stands guard in front of the Lincoln Memorial during a partial shutdown of the federal government in November 1995. Many government services and agencies were closed at the end of 1995 and beginning of 1996 as President Bill Clinton battled a Republican-led Congress over spending levels.
The last government shutdown
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"Agencies should now execute plans for an orderly shutdown due to the absence of appropriations," the Office of Management and Budget said in a note to federal employees.
It is the first time the government has shut down in nearly 18 years. The last time it happened, during the Clinton administration, the stalemate lasted 21 days.
Now, the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-controlled Senate will try to see if they can reconcile their two versions of the spending plan at the center of the debate. So far, each has refused to budge on how to fund the government in the new fiscal year, which started Tuesday.
The latest GOP counteroffer rejected by the Senate would have delayed Obamacare for a year and ended federally provided health care for the president, members of Congress and their staff while funding the government for 11 weeks.
In addition, the House GOP plan proposed a conference committee with the Senate to work out a compromise. Such a committee is usually the result of competing legislation from the two chambers on major issues, rather than a short-term continuing resolution intended to keep the government running for a matter of weeks.
Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, a leading liberal voice, told CNN that he is open to negotiations with the House on at least one specific provision of Obamacare -- a tax on medical devices that some in both party oppose.
However, Durbin echoed the position of Reid that such negotiations must be separated from the spending impasse that has shut down the government.
"The conversation should continue, but let's not do it with our government shutdown," he said, adding that Congress would have to replace the $30 billion in lost revenue over 10 years that would occur if it eliminated the medical device tax.
On the Republican side, Rep. Darrell Issa of California said he could vote to fund the government for a few days or weeks to provide time for a conference committee to work out a compromise.
"I personally would vote for 10 days, even 30 days if that was necessary so that we could resolve these differences," Issa told CNN.
'A dangerous message'
At the heart of the issue is the insistence by House Republicans that any spending plan for the new fiscal year include anti-Obamacare amendments. Senate Democrats are just as insistent that it doesn't.
Obamacare isn't directly tied to funding the government. But it's so unpopular among the Republican tea party conservatives that they want it undercut, if not outright repealed.
The health care law "is the most insidious law known to man," Republican Rep. Todd Rokita of Indiana said this week.
White House spokesman Jay Carney told CNN that such intransigence is the root of the shutdown, noting that conservative Republicans such as Rokita are the only ones pushing a political agenda for meeting the congressional responsibility of passing a budget.
Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the shutdown gives the United States a black eye.
"It is a dangerous message to the world," he said. "We tell other nations that we believe that they have to have certain disciplines. And yet, we cannot ultimately keep our own budget open and the nation and its government functioning."
Amid the finger-wagging and fulminating, major components of the new health insurance law went into effect on schedule on Tuesday.
"The Affordable Care Act is moving forward. You can't shut it down," said a post on Barack Obama's verified Twitter feed.
What's next
A predictable pattern of legislative stalemate took place in the run-up to Tuesday's simultaneous start of a new fiscal year and implementation of the Obamacare private exchanges, a major component of the health care reforms tied to the individual mandate for people to obtain health coverage that conservatives despise.
The House three times sent a version of the short-term spending plan with anti-Obamacare amendments to the Senate, which stripped away the provisions it opposed and sent it back. After the shutdown began at midnight Monday, House Republicans did it again, this time adding the call for a conference committee.
Democrats insist that the House instead pass a spending measure that contains no Obamacare amendments. That position is supported by the Democratic minority and enough moderate Republicans to overcome opposition by the GOP conservative wing, both Democrats and Republicans say.
However, House Speaker John Boehner has succumbed to pressure from the tea party right to avoid a vote that would pass a clean spending resolution.
Boehner, speaking in the early minutes of the shutdown, said he hoped Senate Democrats would agree to negotiate.
Asked if he had a message for the 800,000 furloughed employees -- or if he has a plan to restore back pay to them -- Boehner responded, "The House has voted to keep the government open, but we also want basic fairness for all Americans under Obamacare."
He then walked away from the podium.
A blow to the economy
The shutdown of the federal government -- the country's largest employer -- isn't happening all at once.
Federal employees who are considered essential will continue working. Those deemed non-essential -- more than 800,000 -- will be furloughed, unsure when they'll be able to work or get paid again. Most furloughed federal workers are supposed to be out of their offices within four hours of the start of business Tuesday.
The shutdown could cost the still-struggling U.S. economy about $1 billion a week in pay lost by furloughed federal workers. And that's only the tip of the iceberg.
While many agencies have reserve funds and contingency plans that would give them some short-term leeway, the economic loss would snowball as the shutdown continued.
The total economic impact is likely to be at least 10 times greater than the simple calculation of lost wages of federal workers, said Brian Kessler, economist with Moody's Analytics. His firm estimates that a three- to four-week shutdown would cost the economy about $55 billion.
Initial market reaction around the world was muted.
Lisa Buckley, who co-owns the Denver-based American Automation security firm, counts on government contracts for 60% of her business. She's worried about how she'll pay her employees if the shutdown drags on.
"It's quite irresponsible how the government has been running the country," Buckley said. "If I ran my business like Congress has been handling the budget, I'd lose my job."
The Senate approved a House-approved measure Monday to ensure members of the military would continue to get paid during the shutdown. Obama signed off on it.
But it's uncertain how the shutdown will affect military veterans, including the 3.3 million who are disabled.
If the shutdown stretches into late October, the Veterans Affairs Department -- meaning disability and pension checks could stop for elderly and ill veterans.
"That's what they need to pay rent, to pay food," said Tom Tarantino of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "It's not their total income, but it is a significant part of it."
Congressional paychecks also safe
Some conservatives led by GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas call for House Republicans to pass other limited spending plans for specific government departments like the one guaranteeing military pay in a shutdown.
Although much of the federal workforce will go without pay, checks will keep coming to the 533 current members of Congress.
Why? The 27th Amendment prevents any Congress from changing its own pay.
The president too will get paid. His salary -- $400,000 -- is considered mandatory spending.
On Monday, Attorney General Eric Holder said he would take a pay cut equal to the Justice Department employees most severely impacted by a shutdown.
Democrats have pressured Boehner to give up a losing fight over Obamacare forced by tea party conservatives.
Noting that the 2010 Affordable Care Act has been upheld by the Supreme Court, they say it is settled law that voters endorsed last year by re-electing Obama over GOP candidate Mitt Romney, who campaigned on repealing it.
"They are fixated on embarrassing our president, the president of the United States," Reid said.
Some Republicans too expressed frustration Monday with the tactics of their congressional colleagues. Veteran GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona noted that any attempt to repeal Obamacare would fail because of Obama's veto, which would require a two-thirds majority in the Senate to overcome.
GOP Rep. Peter King of New York said the problem is tea party conservatives driving the Republican agenda in the House.
"We have people in the conference, I believe, who'd be just as happy to have the government shut down," King said. "They live in these narrow echo chambers. They listen to themselves and their tea party friends. That keeps them going, forgetting that the rest of the country thinks we're crazy."
To former GOP Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, the Republican tactics are hurting the party she represented in Congress.
"This isn't a party that I recognize and the party I joined when I first enrolled, and that's regrettable," Snowe told CNN.
According to a CNN/ORC poll, 68% of Americans think shutting down the government for even a few days is a bad idea, while 27% think it's a good idea.
And it appears most Americans would blame congressional Republicans for a shutdown: Sixty-nine percent said they agreed with the statement that the party's elected officials were acting like "spoiled children."
Democrats, however, weren't far behind: Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they, too, were acting like spoiled kids.
Another poll showed public support for Congress at record low levels -- at 10%.
"Things like this can have such a big impact on people that aren't in the limelight. You know, people that are out working hourly positions" said Quinn Agard, who works on Liberty Island, the home of the Statue of Liberty.
More than 21,000 national park employees will be furloughed. Thousands more -- like cleanup crews and concession employees -- will be left without pay.
"This whole island will be shut down. So that's a ton of different positions that people wont be working and won't be getting paid for," Agard said.
The island draws up to 4 million visitors a year. And at $17 per adult ticket, it's also a big money maker.
CNN's Lisa Desjardins, Poppy Harlow, Lateef Mungin, Dana Bash, Z. Byron Wolf, Chris Isidore, Ted Barrett, Deidre Walsh, Barbara Starr, Sophia Yan, Ed Payne and John Helton contributed to this report.
President Obama's signature healthcare law went into effect starting Tuesday.
WASHINGTON – The online insurance marketplaces created by President Obama's healthcare law got off to a bumpy start Tuesday as some consumers were kicked off web portals and several states reported glitches that slowed enrollment on the first day Americans were supposed to be able to sign up for coverage.
The website for accessing federally run marketplaces – www.healthcare.gov – froze when some consumers tried to create accounts, the first step in selecting a health plan. Officials said the site got 1 million visits in the last day, five times more visitors than have ever been on the federal Medicare.gov site at one time.
And callers seeking information from a federal call center ([800] 318-2596) had to wait 20 minutes or more to get help.
In Maryland, which is running its own online marketplace, officials delayed opening of the website until noon and reported problems with their call center. Similar problems prevented consumers from getting information on health plans in Kentucky for a while.
Other states, including Oregon and Colorado, have already delayed some enrollment systems.
President Obama and his allies have warned that there would likely be glitches in the new systems for enrolling in health plans. And they have reminded Americans that they have six months to select a plan under the Affordable Care Act.
Health and Human Services Department spokeswoman Joanne Peters said in a statement: "We have built a dynamic system and are prepared to make adjustments as needed and improve the consumer experience. This new system will allow millions of Americans to access quality, affordable healthcare coverage – without underwriting. Consumers who need help can also contact the call center, use the live chat function, or go to localhelp.healthcare.gov to find an in-person assistor in their community."
Administration officials were hoping to minimize problems at a time when the 2010 Affordable Care Act is under increasing scrutiny and heightened attacks from critics.
Some states were reporting successes Tuesday. Connecticut announced mid-morning that a family of three were the first people to enroll in health coverage on its state marketplace.
The law is designed to allow Americans who don't get coverage through an employer to shop for health plans on new state-based insurance marketplaces.
Insurers for the first time must meet new basic standards and are prohibited from turning away consumers with pre-existing medical conditions. Millions of low- and moderate-income Americans who make less than four times the federal poverty level – or about $46,000 – will qualify for government subsidies to help with their premiums.
NEW YORK: US stocks on Monday retreated as a partial US government shutdown loomed due to Washington political gridlock over a new budget.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 128.57 points (0.84 percent) to 15,129.67. The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 10.20 points (0.60 percent) to 1,681.55, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 10.12 points (0.27 percent) at 3,771.48.
Stocks were in the red all day, but losses moderated as some investors hoped a last-minute compromise might avert the shutdown, slated for midnight Monday.
"We've seen this movie before and we know it ends," said Alan Skrainka, chief investment officer for Cornerstone Wealth Management. "Lots of drama, lots of excitement, and at the end, they kick the can down the road once again."
Several leading consumer-goods equities fell after European peer Unilever warned of weakening sales in "many" emerging market countries. Dow component Procter & Gamble lost 2.1 percent, Colgate-Palmolive fell 1.1 percent and Kimberly-Clark dipped 0.7 percent.
Some technology stocks faltered, including Oracle (-1.8 percent), Facebook (-2.0 percent) and Apple (-1.2 percent).
But Microsoft was flat and Cisco gained 0.4 percent.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals rose 2.4 percent after Bank of America Merrill Lynch raised its valuation target following a favorable presentation regarding its eylea drug at this weekend's Retina Society meeting. Eylea treats diabetic macular edema. -- AFP
WASHINGTON — It's been 17 years since the federal government last faced a partial shutdown because Congress and the president couldn't agree on a spending bill. A lot has changed in that time, leaving federal employees, citizens and even government decision-makers confused about what a shutdown would mean.
Every shutdown is different. The politics that cause them are different. Because of technology and structural overhauls, the way the government functions has changed since 1996. Much of what will happen is unknown.
Here's what we do know about Tuesday's looming shutdown:
THE BASICS
1. What causes a shutdown? Under the Constitution, Congress must pass laws to spend money. If Congress can't agree on a spending bill — or if, in the case of the Clinton-era shutdowns, the president vetoes it — the government does not have the legal authority to spend money.
2. What's a continuing resolution? Congress used to spend money by passing a budget first, then 12 separate appropriations bills. That process has broken down, and Congress uses a stopgap continuing resolution, or CR, that maintains spending at current levels for all or part of the year.
3. Why can't Congress agree? The Republican-controlled House has passed a spending bill that maintains spending levels but does not provide funding to implement the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The Democratic Senate insists that the program be fully funded and that Congress pass what they call a "clean" CR.
4. What is a "clean" CR? A continuing resolution without policy changes.
5. Why is this happening now? The government runs on a fiscal year from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. Shutdowns can happen at other times of the year when Congress passes a partial-year spending bill.
6. Could government agencies ignore the shutdown? Under a federal law known as the Anti-Deficiency Act, it can be a felony to spend taxpayer money without an appropriation from Congress.
7. When would a shutdown begin? When the fiscal year ends at midnight Monday. Most federal workers would report to work Tuesday, but unless they're deemed "essential," they would work no more than four hours on shutdown-related activities before being furloughed.
8. When would the shutdown end? Immediately after the president signs a spending bill. As a practical matter, it could be noon the following day before most government offices that were shut down would reopen their doors.
10. How long do shutdowns usually last? Most last no more than three days. Some last less than a day.
11. When was the longest shutdown in history? The longest was also the most recent: from Dec. 16, 1995, through Jan. 5, 1996. That's 21 days.
12. Would this shutdown be different from those in the 1990s? Yes. When the 1995 shutdown started, Congress had already passed three of 13 appropriations bills. (They funded military construction, agriculture, and energy and water projects.) Also, more government services are automated.
THE DEBT LIMIT
13. What's the difference between a shutdown and a debt crisis? In a shutdown, the government lacks the legal authority to spend money on non-essential services. In a debt crisis, the government is mandated to spend money — but doesn't have the legal authority to borrow the money to spend it.
14. Are the two related? Only by timing, which is somewhat coincidental.
15. When will the government run out of borrowing authority? Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew says it could come as soon as Oct. 17.
16. Has the United States ever defaulted on its debt before? No.
17. If the nation hits the debt limit, will government shut down? That's a big unknown question. The Treasury Department has said the most likely scenario is that it would delay payments, paying only those bills it can afford, using daily tax revenue.
GOVERNMENT SERVICES
18. Will I still get my mail? Yes. The U.S. Postal Service functions as an independent business unit.
19. Can I get a passport? Maybe, but hurry. The Department of State says it has some funds outside the annual congressional appropriation. "Consular operations domestically and overseas will remain 100% operational as long as there are sufficient fees to support operations," the department says.
20. Can I visit national parks? No. The National Park Service says day visitors will be told to leave immediately, and entrances will be closed.
21. What about campers already in the parks? They will be given two days to leave.
22. Will Washington museums be open? The Smithsonian, the National Zoo and the Holocaust Museum would all be closed. Private museums, such as the Newseum, the Spy Museum and Mount Vernon, would remain open. Rule of thumb: If it's usually free, it's probably closed.
23. What about the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts? The Kennedy Center does receive an annual appropriation from Congress, but also runs on ticket revenue and endowment funds. The center expects to stay open through a shutdown.
24. What about the National Archives?All archives and most presidential libraries will be closed, unless they're operated by a private foundation — as all pre-Herbert Hoover presidential museums are. The Federal Records Center Program, which supports other agencies, would continue to operate because it uses a revolving fund.
25. Will the District of Columbia shut down? The district does not have complete autonomy and relies on an appropriation from Congress to operate. So during the shutdowns in the 1990s, trash went uncollected, and many city departments closed. In a departure from past shutdowns, Mayor Vincent Gray has informed the Office of Management and Budget that he has deemed all city employees "essential." The district's own attorney general has declared the mayor's plan illegal.
28. Will the government still release economic data? Probably. The weekly unemployment claims number would still come out, and the September jobs report, due out Friday, probably will, too. The Department of Commerce reasons that some of its data is so economically sensitive that delaying it risks that it will be leaked.
30. Will disaster response be affected? No. However, all "non-disaster" grants — such as state and local preparedness programs — would be postponed, the Department of Homeland Security says.
31. Will e-Verify be affected? Yes. The government system to allow companies to voluntarily check the legal work status of its employees would be shut down.
32. Would a shutdown put the brakes on implementing the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare?" No. The state-run exchanges for the uninsured would open as scheduled Tuesday. "The marketplaces will be open on Tuesday, no matter what, even if there is a government shutdown," President Obama said Friday.
34. Would seniors continue to get Social Security benefits? Yes. Social Security is a mandatory spending program, and the people who send those checks would continue to work under a legal doctrine called "necessary implication."
35. Can I apply for Social Security benefits, appeal a denial of benefits, change my address or sign up for direct deposit?Yes.
36. Can I get a new or replacement Social Security card, benefit verification statement or earnings record correction?No.
37. Would the government continue to pay unemployment benefits? Yes. The Employment and Training Administration "will continue to provide essential functions, as occurred during the shutdown of 1995," according to the Department of Labor contingency plan.
38. Will I be able to get food stamps? Yes. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is funded through the Recovery Act and from funds that don't expire for another year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.
40. And the federal school lunch program? Schools are reimbursed for these costs on a monthly basis and are allowed to carry over funds from the previous fiscal year. The USDA expects most schools will be able to continue providing meals through October.
41. What will happen to veterans receiving compensation for service- or combat-related wounds and injuries? The Department of Veterans Affairs said if the shutdown continues into late October, it will run out of money for compensation and pension checks to more than 3.6 million veterans who rely on the money to support themselves.
42. Can I still get a federally backed loan? Maybe not. "Federal loans for rural communities, small business owners, families buying a home will be frozen," President Obama said Friday.
43. Does that mean I can't get an FHA mortgage? No. The Federal Housing Administration says it "will endorse new loans under current multi-year appropriation authority in order to support the health and stability of the U.S. mortgage market."
44. Does that mean I can't get a VA mortgage? No. The Department of Veterans Affairs says loans are funded via user fees and should continue. However, during the last shutdown, "loan Guaranty certificates of eligibility and certificates of reasonable value were delayed."
52. Why do some federal employees continue to work during a shutdown? The law — or at least, the Justice Department's interpretation of it — contains exemptions for several classes of employees: The biggest exemption is for employees necessary to protect public health, safety or property. But property could include government data, ongoing research experiments or other intangibles. Political appointees are exempt because they cannot be placed on leave by law. Employees necessary for the president to carry out his constitutional responsibilities are exempt. Finally, employees whose salaries are paid from sources outside an annual spending bill can still get paid and report to work.
54. Would the president be paid during a shutdown? Yes. The president's $400,000 salary is mandatory spending. If furloughs begin to affect the government's ability to process payroll, his paycheck could be delayed.
55. What about White House staff? Some high-ranking presidential appointees are exempt from the Annual and Sick Leave Act of 1951, which means they can essentially be made to work unpaid overtime. Also, any employee necessary for the president to carry out his constitutional duties would be exempt.
56. And the president's personal aides? The White House has 90 staffers who work in the residence. During a shutdown, 15 of them would stay on the job.
57. Would Congress continue to be paid during a shutdown? Yes. The 27th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1992, holds that "No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened." Intended to prevent Congress from voting itself a raise, it also protects members from a pay cut.
58. What about congressional staff? Like other federal employees, they would be deemed essential or non-essential. Essential staff would include those necessary to carry out constitutional responsibilities, such as the parliamentarians, or for protection of members, such as the sergeants-at-arms. Staff of the appropriations committees may also be needed to write the law that would end the shutdown.
59. Would active-duty military be furloughed? No. All active-duty military are essential and should report as scheduled Tuesday, the Department of Defense said Friday.
61. Would active-duty military be paid during a shutdown? If a shutdown lasts longer than a week, the Pentagon might not be able to process its payroll in time for the Oct. 15 paychecks, Defense Department Comptroller Robert Hale said Friday. The House passed a separate bill early Sunday that would appropriate money for active-duty and reserve paychecks regardless of the shutdown — and also pay for support services to make sure they get paid. That bill passed the House 422-0, but still must go to the Senate.
62. Could federal employees simply volunteer their services? No. A 19th-century federal law forbids volunteers because the government doesn't want them filing claims for back pay after the shutdown is over, according to a legal analysis by Washington attorney Raymond Natter.
63. Would federal employees get paid retroactively, even if they didn't work? Maybe. Congress granted retroactive pay to furloughed workers after the shutdowns of the mid-1990s, but that wouldn't necessarily happen again. "I believe this time is going to be much different. This is a much different Congress than the 1995 Congress," said Cox, federal employee union president. "I'm not sure that they'd even want to go back and pay the people who worked."
THE LONG TERM
64. How much money would a shutdown save taxpayers? Most likely, it wouldn't. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says shutdowns cost money in terms of contingency planning, lost user fees and back pay. A government estimate after the shutdown in 1995-96 estimated its cost at $1.4 billion.
65. What effect would a shutdown have on the economy? Economists say even a short shutdown — of three or four days — would begin to shave decimal points off economic growth. A sustained shutdown of three or four weeks "would do significant economic damage," economist Mark Zandi told USA TODAY.
66. What about the stock market? The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 3.7% during the 1995-96 government shutdown, according to S&P Capital IQ. Stocks quickly rebounded after the government got back to work, rising 10.5% the month after the shutdown ended.
Contributing: Adam Shell, Tim Mullaney in New York, Gregg Zoroya in McLean, Va., Raju Chebium of Gannett News Service; Rick Maze and Andrew Tilghman of Military Times; Surae Chinn of WUSA-TV in Washington; and the Associated Press.
American college student Amanda Knox spent four years in jail because of murder charges in the death of her roommate Meredith Kercher while studying abroad in Perugia, Italy. She and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted in 2009 to 25 years in prison (Sollecito got 26 years). The conviction was overturned in 2011. Here's a look at the characters in Knox's trial:
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Knox and her ex-boyfriend were acquitted in 2011 over the killing
But the Italian Supreme Court has sent the case back an appeals court
Knox is staying in the United States and will not be in court
She has said she is afraid to return to the country where she spent four years in jail
(CNN) -- The latest chapter in Amanda Knox's long legal battle began Monday in Florence, Italy, with a retrial over the 2007 killing of her British roommate Meredith Kercher.
But Knox, 26, who has expressed concern about returning to a country where she spent four years behind bars, was not in court.
She was convicted in 2009 of murdering Kercher, a 21-year old British exchange student who was found stabbed to death in November 2007 in the villa the two young women rented in the central Italian university town of Perugia.
But Italy's Supreme Court decided last year to retry the case, saying the jury that acquitted Knox didn't consider all the evidence, and that discrepancies in testimony needed to be answered.
Afraid to go back
Knox has said she's scared to return to Italy.
"I'm afraid to go back there," she said in an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo in May. "I don't want to go back into prison."
The high court also said evidence could support prosecutors' initial argument -- that Kercher was killed in a twisted sex game gone wrong.
Knox has said such claims are "a bombardment of falsehood and fantasy."
"No one has ever claimed that I was ever taking part in deviant sexual activity. None of my roommates, none of my friends, none of the people who knew me there. This is simply coming out of the prosecution," she told CNN in May. "I was not strapping on leather and bearing a whip. I have never done that. I have never taken part in an orgy. Ever."
The Supreme Court's decision to send the case back to the appeal court for retrial "may be interpreted by the American authorities as double jeopardy -- twice tried for the same fact or the same case," said Riccardo Montana, a law lecturer at City University in London. "In Italy it's not like this, because this is still the same trial."
Watching from afar
If the court convicts her, Knox will be ordered to return to Italy. If she refuses, Italy could request her extradition from the United States. But it's not clear if American authorities would comply.
Knox has said she would be willing to take a lie detector test.
"I'd do anything to prove my innocence," she told CNN affiliate ITV earlier this month. "I don't think that is necessary. But like I said, I'm doing everything to prove my innocence. It's just very sad that's what it has come to."
Knox isn't the only person watching the retrial from afar.
Sollecito, her former boyfriend, told CNN he plans to stay in the Dominican Republic with a friend. At the moment he says he has no immediate plans to return to Italy.
And as the legal saga continues over Kercher's death, her family remains in Britain.
"It took us as a family nearly five years to even begin to feel ready to lay Mez to rest and it is still extremely painful now," they said in a statement Sunday, according to ITV.
They also appeared to respond to recent comments by Knox that she would like to visit Kercher's grave.
"She now has a place near to us that we and her friends can visit to take flowers and spend time...her grave is now her safe place to sleep in peace and be with us and we hope that is respected by all," the family statement said.
CNN's Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong; Erin McLaughlin reported from London
NST Online Business Times : latest
The game is the same, but many of the players have changed. Congress and the president are facing off in another supreme spending showdown. If they don't agree on a funding bill by the end of September 30, much of government will shutdown. This last happened in 2011, when Congress avoided a shutdown by passing a spending measure shortly after the midnight deadline hit. Who controls what happens this time? Take a look at the key players who will determine how this fight ends: -- From CNN Capitol Hill Reporter Lisa Desjardins. CNN's Deirdre Walsh and Ted Barrett contributed to this report. 
A Park Service police officer stands guard in front of the Lincoln Memorial during a partial shutdown of the federal government in November 1995. Many government services and agencies were closed at the end of 1995 and beginning of 1996 as President Bill Clinton battled a Republican-led Congress over spending levels. 
American college student 