Stars and Stripes Daily Headlines

 

VA secretary: If shutdown lasts until Nov. 1, benefits cease for 5.2 million veterans If the ongoing budget battle isn’t resolved by Nov. 1, the VA won’t be able to send out benefits checks to nearly 5.2 million veterans and family members, Shinseki told members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee on Wednesday.   Congress moves to reinstate military’s death gratuity amid shutdown Lawmakers scrambled this week to find a budgetary fix to resume death gratuity payments to families of troops killed overseas, the latest surprise side-effect of the week-old government shutdown.   Senate chaplain on shutdown: 'Enough is enough' As the federal government shutdown entered its ninth day Wednesday, Senate Chaplain Barry Black delivered a scathing rebuke in his morning prayer and tied it to the news that death benefits to military families are not being paid during the budget standoff.   Four sailors arraigned in deaths of Navy divers at Aberdeen A military judge has reserved most of January for the trials of four sailors charged for their roles in the accidental deaths of two Navy divers.   Pole who helped save Jews donates items to museum A former Polish foreign minister who helped save Jews from the Holocaust on Wednesday donated World War II documents and distinctions he received from Israel to a Jewish history museum opening in Warsaw.   Trial date for Morsi stokes Egypt political drama The trial of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi will begin on Nov. 4, authorities announced Wednesday, launching a politically charged prosecution of the country's first democratically elected leader on charges he incited the killing of opponents while in office - and taking the crackdown against the Islamist leader and his Muslim Brotherhood to a new level.   Veterans recall yesterday's Gitmo at annual reunion in Chattanooga The military's detainee holding facility in Cuba has been a flashpoint for debate about the U.S.-led war on terror. But nearly 50 veterans who were stationed at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay have different memories of their service there a half-century ago   Afghans take delivery of US transport planes Afghanistan took delivery on Wednesday of two C-130 transport aircraft from the United States, part of an effort to give the country's military the ability to better fight insurgents around the country.   Villagers, government battle over blame for Afghan coal mine collapse Two weeks after this village's coal mine collapsed, killing 23 men, Sejuddin crept back into the hole in the earth where his son, Merajuddin, had been buried alive. The body had been recovered, but Sejuddin wanted to gather his son's clothes and helmet — any reminders of his 18-year-old boy, no matter how tattered or charred.