The thrust of the news story:

There cannot be a loss in/of focus for making sure budget solutions are met in time, subsequent the recent October 2013 gridlock situation.  Effective, successful, viable solutions, have to be attained before deadlines.
Events like the recent Los Angeles Airport attack this past weekend, cannot be allowed to distract an effort that many are needed to work on.

In some cases, an overexertion of focus is not necessary, as the wheel has already been invented.
That axiom applicable or not to the following matter, there arises that there are some that might perceive that there is a dilemma concerning the leadership of Egypt.  There are aspects of Egypt leadership and history that there are no dilemmas, as the knowledge will show, what has been done is done, and already manifest.
Loosely described here, and without going into detail, especially respective to that Egyptian historians and leaders know themselves at high level:
Currently, Egypt has Morsi under some kind of removal and arrest status; and some kind of interim arrangement has been set in place.  Strategies to prevent further outbreaks of violence, intensity of violence which at times warrants international attention, as world leaders must show they have degrees of being the caretakers of their neighbors, are reported to be in process.
Kerry is interfacing with Egypt as we speak.
Strategies in Egypt whereupon transitions in Egypt government, is nothing new. It almost appears that in some ways, history is repeating itself.  President Nasser is described by many historians as placing the previous leader viz President Naguib under some kind of arrest.  And, Nasser is described as representing two political parties, wherein his span of leadership as President, he abolished one of the parties.  The referent is 1962, when after the breakup of the UAR, the National Union was considered obsolete, and there-forward, was the new Party.  For those that know the history, the timeline continues, and an interim leader was set, reference Sufi Abu Taleb, after the departing of Nasser, this is what occurred before Sadat stated as President.

In Minsk, there has been at least a couple of important meetings either held, imminent, or in progress in terms of heads meeting there, reference Ecuador, Kazakhstan.

Upgrade on s 300 the 400 either in Minsk or imminent.

Over the past half dozen years, there are reports in Belarusian, of mobilization of heavy equipment.

For further reading:
http://www.rferl.org/content/minsk-cis-leaders-talks-putin-nazarbaev/25147260.html

http://nashaziamlia.org/2008/12/25/1700/

http://zviazda.by/2013/10/20519.html

Americans have the legitimate right to feel good about the fact that solutions have been put in place, which have ended the government funding related stifle which had marked beginnings in early October.

Included in the solutions to the finance gridlock, is that funding keeps going, on through about January the 15th, and suspends the debt ceiling, until February 7th.

A dimension of how Americans honor our country is making certain that conditions which are described as shutdown and impasse referring to our government are prevented and do not exist.

It is important to look at the whole picture all the way around.

The Injeel, known by many as the Bible, is the Holy Book revealed to Issa, known to many as Jesus.

Without going into detail about 'changes' which have been said to have occurred to this Book,

the way it reads today, includes a very basic principal, which is, Thou shalt not kill.

This means on an elementary level of understanding, do not murder in wrongdoing.

United States law upholds the same principal.  Murder is wrongdoing.  Murder is illegal.

The same applies to other statements in the Bible as it can be found today.  And the Bible is not the only Holy Book which brings forth the same point.  The Quran does too.

Man is not to lyeth as a woman, woman is not to lyeth as a man, is described in Bible, written in English.  The Quran, in making the same point, says 'la tufsidu', roughly translated, do not make mischief, the sense of mischief meaning the 'fasad', the word within 'tufsidu', slightly grammatically tense changed, and a word with the grammar tense changed to plural form, which is in the prayer that Lut said to the Lord describing his enemies when he asked for victory over his enemies.

Did the Lord step ahead on a few matters?

Elections for Governor are coming up.
In some cases, after a successful run for governor, or government seat, the politician will start crafting a move on the White House, or another top seat in government, described to them as progress in the political career path.
There are 'candidates' running for votes to try to be elected for upcoming governor race, such as for Governor, and for Lieutenant Governor, that blatantly contradict the statement in Bible as to how men and women should behave in accord to married values, and clearly contradict the way of living described in the Quran as honorable, the opposite of the tracks of what Lut was praying for.

Did the budgetary stalls, or 'shutdowns' of the government, ultimately, apart from thoughts and economic positions on matters, come about to warn, stepping ahead, that the government, that some persons who rashly do not abide by good morals of the Holy Books and who are otherwise described as openly -expletive- behaviorally abhorrent and rejected and associated with the rejected 'candidates', want to make a move on, does not have to be there, if the destiny does not keep it there, or destiny keep there in the same form, for them to have a government, up and running, to make a move on?

Family values is upheld repeatedly by leaders of the United States.
Do you think Issa, or some call him Jesus, tap a person on the shoulder that vehemently opposes family values as described in the Revealed Holy Books, and say, lead?
What describes a person as fit to lead, in consideration of high states of conditions of abiding by commands in the Holy Books, while we all should strive to keep up the basics set forth?

Severe Weather Simultaneous Shutdowns Would not be Comfortable

About midway through the time window lasting a few days over two weeks, where government offices were shut down, and a host of correlating side effects, a rainstorm came through the Washington DC area.  Fortunately it was not severe enough that the entire region was crippled due to 'minimizations' that could effect* emergency responses.  Then we ask, what if?  What if a rainstorm, or hurricane, or a series of back to back storms, or the storm that was south of the Gulf of Mexico that left thousands stranded, came up north and hit the continental U.S., while the financial gridlock was in occurrence?


*[some may say 'affect' is proper grammar] 

Broadly dabbed at, on the day of the festivity of Eid al Adha, culminating the Hajj season, and within the few days after, remember, Eid can have festivities for several days after the initial day, the painful news that bombings ran rampant the past few days in the regions of the world heavily populated by persons affirming their adherence to Islam, Eid being the major day of significance observed in the Islam belief.

Iraq
bombings
When: Thursday
Where: al-Mouafaqiyah locale, near Mosul, northern Iraq

Philippines
earthquake devastates, numbers near to 150 killed
When: Tuesday
Where: islands of Bohol, Cebu, and Siquijor 
   about two thirds of the almost 150 casualties reported to have been in Bohol
 
Pakistan
Mr Gandapur killed and about 30 wounded, when bomber struck
When: Tuesday
Where: Kulachi village

Iran
In Geneva, world powers talk on nuclear capabilities

China
Protests in the tens of thousands reaction after assistance measures respondent to flooding
When: Tuesday
Where: Yuyao in Zhejiang Province

Worldwide
Small to midsize plane crashes in the past few days are blamed as to have felt the brunt of weather conditions

An American is among those that did not survive a recent plane crash in Laos.
The plane is reported to have landed in the Mekong River.

Right click on picture for options to open in new window with larger view.

The site of the crash, in consideration of reports and maps, appears to be in the area where the Mekong River starts to break away from running alongside the Laos-Thailand border, and north of Pakse.  Alternate spelling of Pakse is Paxse.  Pakse/Pakxe is renown in the Province of Champasak.

The travel route to the plane was from the city Vientiane, in a southeastern direction, and went down about 5 miles from the locale immediate of Pakse.  Both of these cities sit near to the border of Thailand.

The list of casualties includes nationalities from about 10 countries.

Crash is reported to have occurred about 4pm in Laos locality, local time, Wednesday.

Exterior of the plane based on photographs of it in other conditions, has sea blue paint on the back and mostly white paint.

Resources for further details:

CNN

BBC online