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 | | | Shutdown skirted | | A Texas man was billed $54,000 for coronavirus tests at an emergency room. And Hawaii's Kilauea volcano is erupting. | | |
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| Congress approved funding to avert a shutdown of the federal government. The story of how one woman fled Afghanistan for freedom. And one of the most active volcanos on Earth is erupting. |
| 👋 Heyo! Laura here, with Thursday's biggest news. |
| But first, later, gator! 🐊 Florida man strikes again, and this time, it involves a man, an alligator and a trash can. |
| The Short List is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe to the newsletter here or text messages here. |
Congress passes bill to avoid government shutdown |
| Congress and President Joe Biden averted a government shutdown just hours before a midnight deadline Thursday with a bill that funds the government through Dec. 3. Congress passed the bill earlier in the day and the president signed it into law shortly after, with less than five hours to spare. The House voted 254-175 to approve the bill that raced through both chambers in a few hours. The approval came quickly after Democrats dropped attempts to combine the measure with an increase in the amount the country can borrow. The Senate voted 65-35 to approve the bill, which includes $28.6 billion for disaster assistance and $6.3 billion for Afghan refugees. The short-term funding bill would keep the government operating until Dec. 3, to give lawmakers more time to approve funding for the fiscal year that starts Friday. Catch up with the latest updates here. |
A harrowing escape from Afghanistan |
| Afghan journalist Fatema Hosseini, a young, educated woman and member of the Shi'a Hazara ethnic group, among the most oppressed in Afghanistan, was a Taliban target when the militia overran the country. Her parents' home in Herat was ransacked. The Taliban promised to honor women's rights, but their bloody track record suggests otherwise. Fatema faced gunfire, a Taliban whip, tear gas and a sexual assault, as she made her way to the Ukrainian military that would be her way out of the ravaged country. With the help of USA TODAY reporter Kim Hjelmgaard and some lucky connections, Fatema escaped – barely – on a Ukrainian flight out of Kabul. Read Fatema's story about her harrowing escape from Afghanistan. |
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 | | Afghan journalist Fatema Hosseini is greeted by USA TODAY Editor in Chief Nicole Carroll and publisher Maribel Wadsworth at Dulles International Airport after being evacuated from Kabul. | | Jarrad Henderson, USA TODAY | |
What everyone's talking about |
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DHS: No deportation just for being undocumented |
| The Biden administration issued guidelines Thursday to immigration officers that lacking documentation should "not alone be the basis" for deporting an immigrant. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the department will focus its resources on apprehending and removing undocumented immigrants who are a threat to national security or public safety. Congress hasn't passed legislation to create a pathway to citizenship for some of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the USA. |
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 | | The Haitian migrant encampment in Del Rio, Texas, thins out after migrants returned to Mexico or were deported. | | Omar Ornelas/USA Today Network | |
$54,000 for coronavirus tests? |
| The bill was "corrected," but it doesn't negate the shock factor. A Texas man who was charged $54,000 for his coronavirus tests at an emergency room says he negotiated it down to about $16,000, and his insurance company paid the full bill. Travis Warner said he and his wife's visit to a free-standing ER in Lewisville was, at first, a relief because he could return to work once he tested negative. Warner received PCR diagnostic tests for the coronavirus, plus the less-accurate rapid antigen tests because of time sensitivity in wanting to return to work. Warner is self-employed and has his own health care plan with Molina Healthcare. Molina Healthcare said in a statement, "This matter was a provider billing error which Molina identified and corrected." |
| 👉 Latest COVID-19 news: Panic buttons issued to hospitals; Lack of coronavirus tests could jeopardize school safety. Catch up on Thursday's updates. |
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 | | A health care worker at a 24-hour drive-thru site set up by Miami-Dade and Nomi Health in Tropical Park administers a coronavirus test Aug. 30 in Miami. | | Joe Raedle/Getty Images | |
Real quick |
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🌋 Kilauea is erupting |
| One of the most active volcanos on Earth is erupting on Hawaii's Big Island. Billowing clouds of volcanic gas and lava fountains were seen forming in the crater at the summit of the Kilauea volcano. The U.S. Geological Survey confirmed the eruption, raising the volcano alert level to "warning" and the aviation code to red. The eruption at the Halemaumau crater appears to be contained within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and posed no threat to homes in the area, USGS officials said. The release of gases remains the primary hazard in the eruption as water vapor, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide form "vog," or volcanic smog, downwind of the volcano. |
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 | | Kilauea Volcano bubbles and burns Sept. 29. | | M. PATRICK/US Geological Survey/AFP via Getty Images | |
A break from the news |
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