Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/197448
2B Daily News – Wednesday, October 23, 2013 WORLD BRIEFING Nuclear missile officers were twice caught leaving blast door open WASHINGTON (AP) — Twice this year alone, Air Force officers entrusted with the launch keys to nuclear-tipped missiles have been caught leaving open a blast door that is intended to help prevent a terrorist or other intruder from entering their underground command post, Air Force officials have told The Associated Press. The blast doors are never to be left open if one of the crew members inside is asleep — as was the case in both these instances — out of concern for the damage an intruder could cause, including the compromising of secret launch codes. Transgressions such as this are rarely revealed publicly. But officials with direct knowledge of Air Force intercontinental ballistic missile operations told the AP that such violations have happened, undetected, many more times than in the cases of the two launch crew commanders and two deputy commanders who were given administrative punishments this year. The blast door violations are another sign of serious trouble in the handling of the nation's nuclear arsenal. The AP has discovered a series of problems within the ICBM force, including a failed safety inspection, the temporary sidelining of launch officers deemed unfit for duty and the abrupt firing last week of the two-star general in charge. The problems, including low morale, underscore the challenges of keeping safe such a deadly force that is constantly on alert but is unlikely ever to be used. The crews who operate the missiles are trained to follow rules without fail, including the prohibition against having the blast door open when only one crew member is awake, because the costs of a mistake are so high. Insiders who worked on US health website describe high stress, complaints WASHINGTON (AP) — Crammed into conference rooms with pizza for dinner, some programmers building the Obama administration's showcase health insurance website were growing increasingly stressed. Some worked past 10 p.m., energy drinks in hand. Others rewrote computer code over and over to meet what they considered last-minute requests for changes from the government or other contractors. As questions mount over the website's failure, insider interviews and a review of technical specifications by The Associated Press found a mind-numbingly complex system put together by harried programmers who pushed out a final product that congressional investigators said was tested by the government and not private developers with more expertise. Meanwhile, the White House said that President Barack Obama's longtime adviser Jeffrey Zients will provide management advice to help fix the system. White House press secretary Jay Carney says Zients will be on a shortterm assignment at the Health and Human Services Department before he's due to take over as director of Obama's National Economic Council Jan. 1. Carney cited Zeints' expertise as a longtime management consultant and his ''proven track record'' since coming to the White House in 2009, both as interim budget director and as chief performance officer, when he headed an effort to streamline government and cut costs. ''We're engaged in an all-out effort to improve the online experience,'' Carney said. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a post on HealthCare.gov that her agency is also bringing in more experts and specialists from government and industry, including top Silicon Valley companies. Concerns about gov't shutdown are likely to persist WASHINGTON (AP) — The uncertainty and weakness that hung over the U.S. job market in September before the government shut down aren't going away. Employers will likely remain slow to hire as long as the economy struggles to accelerate, consumers limit their spending and Congress keeps putting off a resolution to a budget fight that will resurface early next year. Just a few months ago, many economists predicted that hiring would pick up by year's end as the effects of tax increases and government spending cuts that kicked in this year faded. No longer. The September jobs report made clear that hiring isn't strengthen- ing. It's slowing. Employers last month added 148,000 jobs, a steep drop from the 193,000 gained in August. From January through March, job growth averaged 207,000 jobs a month. For April through June, the average was 182,000. For July through September, it was just 143,000. 2 years after Gadhafi's fall, Libya ruled by explosive mix TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libya marks two years since the fall of Moammar Gadhafi on Wednesday, but instead of the freedom and development Libyans had hoped for, the country has fallen deeper into anarchy. Rival Islamist and Westernbacked factions are melding with the country's dizzying array of militias, turning political feuds into armed conflict. Militias that include Islamic extremists are lining up with Islamist politicians in parliament, who have been trying to remove Western-backed Prime Minister Ali Zidan and bring stricter Islamic rule. Other armed groups support Zidan's nonIslamist allies. The result is a fractured system where political rivalries have the potential to erupt into civil war. In recent months, the militia chaos has only escalated. Zidan was briefly kidnapped by militiamen this month. Over the summer, eastern militias seized control of oil exporting terminals, sending production plunging from 1.4 million barrels a day to around 600,000, robbing the country of its main revenue source. Other militias in the south cut off water supplies to the capital for days. US, Europe pressing Syrian opposition BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. and Europe are putting intense pressure on the main Syrian opposition group to attend a longdelayed peace conference aimed at ending Syria's civil war, even though agreeing to join the talks could irreparably split the already-fragmented opposition in exile. The Syrian National Coalition appears to be getting support from its patrons in the Gulf for its demands of key guarantees before it consents to take part in peace talks. Chief among those backers is regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia, which is growing more frustrated with its American ally.