Susie Warhurst

Despite plenty of drama and public rhetoric in the battle over the U.S. debt ceiling, President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner have not yet reached a compromise. The deadline is looming as is the possibility the country will have to default on its $14.3 trillion of debt. As time marches on, analysts are starting to think seriously about what would happen if no deal can be reached. A vote was expected today in the House on Boehner’s last bid to increase the debt limit and cut spending — but that all fell apart last night when Tea Party Republicans refused to vote for it.

The media giant News Corp. announced yesterday that it would close its most successful tabloid paper, News of the World, over claims its journalists hacked the private phones of celebrities, crime victims, bereaved military families and people involved up in the 2005 London bombings — a terrorist attack that killed 52 people.

After many months of speculation and political pressure, President Obama layed out his plans for the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan last night. In a prime-time address from the White House, the president said 10,000 American would be home by year's end and 33,000 by next summer. Perhaps the most significant moment was when the president said American involvement in Afghanistan will end in 2014, when American forces turn over full security control to the Afghans. Analysts are questioning what this means for the Afghan government. 

European Union Commission President Jose Manuel Borroso believes next week will be the "moment of truth" for the Greek government. Prime Minister Papandreou is facing a tough battle to secure parliamentary backing for further austerity measures. The economic instability continues to cause ripples across the world—including here in the U.S. within the Greek-American community.

Millions of children in the U.S. are covered by Medicaid and should receive the same access to health care as families with private insurance. But a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine suggests those families are finding it harder to make appointments with doctors and are waiting longer for care. The study carried out by the University of Pennsylvania is the first of its kind and looked at the experiences of parents making appointments at specialty clinics in Cook County, Ill. With Medicaid facing a reduction in funding the question of access to care is more important than ever.