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Facebook was inaccessible for at least 1.3 billion users for around 15 minutes this morning.
People trying to log on to the site were faced with a message saying: “Something went wrong. We’re working to get it fixed as soon as we can.”
Facebook was inaccessible for at least 1.3 billion users for around 15 minutes
The short shutdown drew attention across the web with many taking to Twitter to ask what all the fuss was about.
Facebook apologized for the problem but did not say what caused it.
“Earlier this morning, we experienced an issue that prevented people from posting to Facebook for a brief period of time. We resolved the issue quickly, and we are now back to 100%. We’re sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
It is not yet clear how many countries were affected.
GOP operatives in Louisiana were trying to court Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson for retiring Rep. Rodney Alexander’s, R-La., Congressional seat, but this time around, that’s not happening.
“I ran for about a week, but I wasn’t aware that I was running,” Willie Robertson said in Washington last week.
“I never rule anything out,” he added.
“I like staying involved in politics, in trying to help shape things.”
Willie Robertson and his wife Korie were in Washington DC for the annual Angels in Adoption gala
Willie Robertson also advised current Members of Congress on how to solve the government shutdown: “I’m trying to get people to work in my duck call room, that’s hard enough.”
The Duck Dynasty star revealed he didn’t suffer from the shutdown on this Washington trip.
“No, it didn’t affect me getting in here at all, we’ll be back to work tomorrow,” Willie Robertson said.
“See, we still have to work down in Louisiana, so we’ve got to go to work and make some duck calls, try them out and keep making the TV show.”
Willie Robertson and his wife Korie were in Washington D.C. for the annual Angels in Adoption gala and were honored for the positive portrayal of adoption on their reality show.
“I asked Korie to marry me when she was 17, so really, I feel like I adopted her,” Willie Robertson joked.
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Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao has warned that the “clock is ticking” to avoid a US default that could hurt China’s interests and the global economy.
China, the US’s largest creditor, is “naturally concerned about developments in the US fiscal cliff”, Zhu Guangyao said.
Washington must agree a deal to raise its borrowing limit by October 17, or risk not being able to pay its bills.
Zhu Guangyao asked that “the US earnestly take steps to resolve” the issue.
US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has said that unless Congress agrees an increase in the debt ceiling by October 17, Washington will be left with about $30 billion in cash to meet its obligations – about half the $60 billion-a-day needed.
China, the US’s largest creditor, is naturally concerned about developments in the US fiscal cliff
For many governments and investors the approaching deadlock over the debt ceiling is far more critical than the current impasse over the federal shutdown caused by Congress’s failure to agree a new budget.
On Sunday Republican House Speaker John Boehner reiterated that Republican lawmakers would not agree to raise the debt ceiling unless it included measures to rein in public spending.
Zhu Guangyao said that China and the US are “inseparable”. Beijing is a huge investor in US Treasury bonds.
“The executive branch of the US government has to take decisive and credible steps to avoid a default on its Treasury bonds,” he said.
“It is important for the US economy as well as the global economy.”
“We hope the United States fully understands the lessons of history,” Zhu Guangyao said, referring to a similar deadlock in 2011 that led to a downgrade of the US “AAA” credit rating.
That deadlock ended with an eleventh-hour agreement.
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Business is starting to suffer from the US shutdown, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker has warned.
Penny Pritzker’s comments at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) came as leaders gathering for the summit voiced worries about the US situation.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino said that what happens in the US “affects us all”.
On Friday, the US defense contractor Lockheed Martin said it would put 3,000 workers on unpaid leave.
The US government closed non-essential operations on Tuesday after Congress failed to agree a new budget.
President Barack Obama cancelled a scheduled trip to Asia because of the shutdown.
“The shutdown is not good for business. It’s not good for the economy,” Penny Pritzker said.
The US government closed non-essential operations on Tuesday after Congress failed to agree a new budget
One consequence of the shutdown had been her department’s inability to collate vital economic data.
“We’re a huge source of data for American business and that is a problem… It’s affecting businesses and it’s affecting their ability to get data,” she said.
From Monday, Lockheed Martin will put 3,000 staff on leave, but the defense giant said this number would rise if the shutdown continued.
“I’m disappointed that we must take these actions and we continue to encourage our lawmakers to come together to pass a funding bill that will end this shutdown,” Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed’s chief executive and president, said in a statement.
“We hope that Congress and the Administration are able to resolve this situation as soon as possible,” she added.
The announcement followed United Technologies’ decision to temporarily lay off 2,000 employees.
The company, which makes Blackhawk helicopters, said some manufacturing had been halted because there were no government inspectors working to sign off products.
The widening impact of the shutdown sparked concern at APEC meeting in Bali on Sunday.
Benigno Aquino said: “The US economy is the number one economy in the world, what happens there affects all of us.
“The world economy obviously is not in a position to withstand too much shock at this time when we are just recovering as a global economy.”
Meanwhile, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said the US had to confront its fiscal problems “in a better way than they are doing it now with shutting down the government”.
Barack Obama is refusing to negotiate with the Republicans over the budget issues until they pass a temporary bill to reopen the government.
The president also wants agreement to raise the $16.7 trillion US borrowing limit, to avoid the country defaulting on its debts.
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President Barack Obama has warned that Wall Street should be concerned that a conservative faction of Republicans is willing to allow the country to default on its debt.
The US government has begun a partial shutdown after Congress failed to agree a budget and will run out of cash on October 17 unless its debt ceiling is raised.
In a TV interview on Wednesday, Barack Obama said he was “exasperated”.
The president later held talks with Congressional leaders that ended without agreement.
The US government closed non-essential operations on Tuesday after Congress failed to strike a deal on a new budget.
Republicans and Democrats are blaming each other for the impasse.
The shutdown has left more than 700,000 employees on unpaid leave and closed national parks, tourist sites, government websites, office buildings, and more.
However, as one budget crisis raged in Washington DC, another one – potentially more dangerous – loomed in the coming weeks.
On October 17, the US government will run out of cash to pay its bills unless the debt ceiling is raised.
President Barack Obama has warned that Wall Street should be concerned that a conservative faction of Republicans is willing to allow the country to default on its debt
On both issues, the Republicans who control the House of Representatives have demanded concessions from Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats in return for funding the government’s continued operation and for raising the debt ceiling.
Chiefly, the Republicans demand the repeal, delay or defunding of a healthcare reform law – dubbed Obamacare – passed by the Democrats in 2010.
Major portions of that law, which was subsequently validated by the US Supreme Court and was a major issue in the 2012 presidential election, took effect on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Barack Obama met the heads of some of Wall Street’s biggest banks – including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America – to discuss the debt ceiling and other economic issues.
The bankers are members of the Financial Services Forum, a lobby group which has, along with 250 other businesses, sent a letter to Congress urging it to raise the debt limit.
Following the meeting, Barack Obama told CNBC “it’s important for them to recognize that this is going to have a profound impact on our economy and their bottom lines”.
Barack Obama also said he was unwilling to negotiate “with the extremist wing of one party” as the October 17 deadline neared.
“The message I have for the [Congressional] leaders is, as soon as we get a clean piece of legislation that reopens the government… until we get that done, until we make sure that Congress allows [the Department of the Treasury] to pay for things that Congress itself already authorized, we are not going to engage in a series of negotiations,” he said.
As foreign markets anxiously monitored the US budget crisis, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi warned that a protracted shutdown was “a risk not only for the US, but also the world economy”.
On Wednesday evening Barack Obama met Republican House Speaker John Boehner, as well as Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi at the White House.
John Boehner later left the talks complaining that the Democrats would not negotiate.
“All we’re asking for here is a discussion and fairness for the American people under Obamacare,” he told reporters.
Nancy Pelosi, however, accused the Republicans of “moving the goalposts” on the budget deal.
Harry Reid said Democrats were “locked in tight on Obamacare” and neither the president nor Democrats in Congress would accept changes to the law as the price for a deal on reopening the government.
Analysts say John Boehner could end the current government showdown by allowing the House to vote on a “clean” budget bill that does not alter the health law, because that could pass with a coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans.
But doing so would risk his standing with the most conservative elements of his caucus.
Earlier on Wednesday, senior US intelligence officials warned the shutdown of the government seriously damaged the ability of spy agencies to protect the US.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a Senate panel that an estimated 70% of intelligence workers had been placed on unpaid leave.
Also on Wednesday, the White House announced Barack Obama would cut short a planned four-nation tour of Asia next week.
The president will attend regional summits in Indonesia and Brunei, but skip Malaysia and the Philippines due to the government shutdown.
The US government ceased operations deemed non-essential at midnight on Tuesday, when the previous budget expired.
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Senior intelligence officials have warned the government shutdown “seriously damages” spy agencies’ ability to protect the US.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a Senate panel that an estimated 70% of intelligence workers had been placed on unpaid leave.
Also, the head of the US electronic spy agency said morale had been devastated.
The US government closed non-essential operations on Tuesday after Congress failed to reach a new budget deal.
James Clapper appeared before a Senate judiciary committee hearing on Wednesday, warning lawmakers the damage to US intelligence capabilities caused by a shutdown would be “insidious”.
“This is not just a Beltway issue,” he said, referring to the Washington DC area.
“This affects our global capability to support the military, to support diplomacy, and to support our policymakers.”
James Clapper told a Senate panel that an estimated 70 percent of intelligence workers had been placed on unpaid leave due to shutdown
James Clapper also warned that foregoing paying employees during the shutdown could cause them financial hardship, making them inviting targets for foreign spies.
“This is a dreamland for foreign intelligence services,” he said.
General Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency (NSA), said the electronic spying agency had placed thousands of mathematicians and computer scientists on unpaid leave.
“Our nation needs people like this,” he said.
“And the way we treat them is to tell them, <<you need to go home because we can’t afford to pay you, we can’t make a deal here>>.”
The government shutdown has left more than 700,000 employees on unpaid leave, and closed national parks, tourist sites, government websites, office buildings and more.
It came after weeks of wrangling between Democrats in the White House and Senate and the Republicans who control the US House of Representatives.
House Republicans have demanded repeal, defunding or delay of a healthcare law passed in 2010 by the Democrats as a condition for continuing to fund the government. President Barack Obama and the Democrats have refused, leading to the current morass.
The spy chiefs’ remarks came after the White House announced Barack Obama would cut short a planned four-nation tour of Asia next week.
President Barack Obama will attend regional summits in Indonesia and Brunei, but skip Malaysia and the Philippines due to the government shutdown.
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The White House has announced President Barack Obama would not now visit Malaysia and the Philippines because of the government shutdown but would still travel to Indonesia and Brunei on his four-nation Asian tour.
Malaysia had already announced Barack Obama would be replaced by Secretary of State John Kerry for the visit next week.
The US government has partially shut down after the two houses of Congress failed to agree a new budget.
More than 700,000 federal employees face unpaid leave, and national parks, museums and many buildings are closed.
Barack Obama earlier vowed not to allow Republicans to undermine his signature healthcare legislation as a condition to restart the US government.
“They demanded ransom,” Barack Obama said.
Barack Obama had been scheduled to begin his four-nation Asian trip on Saturday to boost economic ties.
President Barack Obama would not now visit Malaysia and the Philippines because of the government shutdown
Earlier, the office of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Barack Obama had called him on Wednesday to inform him that Mr Kerry would address an entrepreneurship conference in Kuala Lumpur on October 11 in his place.
Barack Obama has been forced to call off trips to Asia before.
In 2010, a vote on health care and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill forced separate cancellations in March and June, though he did make it to India, South Korea, Japan and Indonesia in November of that year.
The US government ceased operations deemed non-essential at midnight on Tuesday, when the previous budget expired.
National parks and Washington’s Smithsonian museums are closed, pension and veterans’ benefit cheques will be delayed, and visa and passport applications will go unprocessed.
However, members of the military will be paid.
One group of elderly military veterans managed to bypass the shutdown when the WWII Memorial in Washington DC – that they had travelled from Mississippi to see – was opened for them.
President Barack Obama has blamed conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives for the government shutdown, saying “one faction of one party” was responsible because “they didn’t like one law”.
“They’ve shut down the government over an ideological crusade to deny affordable health insurance to millions of Americans,” the president said.
The White House rejected a Republican plan to fund only a few portions of the government – national parks, veterans’ programmes and the budget of the District of Columbia.
The Republicans have called for more negotiations.
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As the US Congress has failed to agree a budget by October 1st and a federal government shutdown has begun, more than 700,000 federal workers will be sent home and national parks, museums, federal buildings and services closed down.
How will key departments be affected by the government shutdown?
Department of Defense
The nation’s 1.4 million active-duty uniformed military personnel will stay on duty.
About half of the defense department’s 800,000 civilian employees will have to stop work, but there is a blanket exception for activities that “provide for the national security”.
But where employees are needed to work, they may have to do so without pay:
“Military and other civilians directed to work would be paid retroactively once the lapse of appropriation ends,” according to Defense Department Comptroller Robert Hale.
Department of Energy
Most Department of Energy facilities will close, with only 1,113 out of 13,814 required to work.
Exemptions include staff overseeing the safety of the nation’s nuclear arsenal and operating dams and power lines across the country.
The National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons and naval reactor programmes, will have 343 employees on duty to “perform functions related to the safety of human life and the protection of property”.
More than 400 employees will stay on to work at the Southwestern Power Administration and the Western Area Power Administration, which are in charge of overseeing hydroelectric power and power lines in the south and western US.
Some staff in other areas will remain at work to oversee “the protection of human life and property”.
A federal government shutdown has begun as the US Congress has failed to agree a budget by October 1st
Department of Transportation
Transport roles ranging from air traffic control to airport and hazardous materials inspections will continue and 36,987 out of 55,468 personnel will remain at work.
Staff involved in overseeing commercial space launches would also continue operations – as at least one of a succession of launches will occur between the end of September and the first week in October in support of the International Space Station, according to the department.
Suspended activities will include facility security inspections, routine personnel security background investigations and the employee drug testing program.
Smithsonian Institution
The National Zoo and 19 museums and galleries, including the Natural History Museum, the Portrait Gallery and the Air and Space Museum, would close.
Of the 4,202 employees, 688 will be retained to “protect life and property” – security guards, maintenance staff and people to care for and feed the animals at the National Zoo.
The Smithsonian Institution says: “During a shutdown, the Institution cannot legally accept voluntary services from federal employees to continue their regular duties.”
National Parks
National parks – from Yosemite to Alcatraz and the Statue of Liberty – will be shut down with 3,266 essential staff out of 24,645 remaining on duty. These will include some fire management, law enforcement and emergency responders.
Day-use visitors will be instructed to leave the park immediately and visitors using overnight facilities will be asked to make alternative arrangements and leave.
Where possible, park roads will be closed and access denied.
Department of Homeland Security
About 86% of the Department of Homeland Security’s 240,000 employees are expected to be exempt from the shutdown, including uniformed agents and officers at the country’s borders and ports of entry.
Most members of the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration, Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies are exempt.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services employees will continue to process green card applications.
Department of Justice
Of 114,486 Department of Justice employees, an estimated 96,744 will be exempt from the shutdown.
All Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and support personnel in the field will be exempt as their operations are focused on national security and investigations involving protection of life and property.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents working on active counternarcotics investigations, agents in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and US attorneys will be exempt.
Staff at federal prisons will also be expected to work
US Postal Service
The self-funded US Postal Service will remain open and deliver as usual. The agency receives no tax dollars for day-to-day operations and relies on income from stamps and other postal fees to keep running.
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The US government begins a partial shutdown after the Republican-led House of Representatives refused to approve a budget for next year.
A midnight deadline passed without agreement despite a last-gasp appeal by President Barack Obama.
More than 700,000 US government workers face unpaid leave with no guarantee of back pay once the deadlock is over.
Republicans have insisted on delaying President Barack Obama’s health care reforms as a condition for passing the budget.
It is the US government’s first partial shutdown in 17 years.
With less than one hour to go before midnight, the Republican-led House called for a conference – a bipartisan committee with the Senate to try to thrash out a deal – but Democrats said it was too late to avoid a shutdown.
The White House’s budget office began notifying federal agencies to begin an “orderly shutdown” as midnight approached.
One of the first casualties of the shutdown was the Twitter account for the US Capitol.
“Due to a lapse in government funding, this account will not be active until further notice,” it posted.
The US government begins a partial shutdown after the Republican-led House of Representatives refused to approve a budget for next year
Earlier it had warned that the Capitol’s visitors’ centre would be closed if the shutdown went ahead, and all tours would be suspended.
Shortly after midnight, President Barack Obama tweeted: “They actually did it. A group of Republicans in the House just forced a government shutdown over Obamacare instead of passing a real budget.”
House Speaker John Boehner told reporters he hoped the Senate would accept an offer of conference with the House “so we can resolve this for the American people”.
“The House has voted to keep the government open but we also want basic fairness for all Americans under Obamacare,” he said.
The Senate is to meet again at 09:30 on Tuesday, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.
On Monday afternoon, the Democratic-led Senate voted 54-46 against a bill from House Republicans that would have funded the government only if President Barack Obama’s healthcare law – dubbed Obamacare – was delayed for a year.
The US stock market dropped amid fears of political deadlock, although analysts say serious damage to the economy is unlikely unless the shutdown lasts for more than a few days.
Early on Monday evening, Barack Obama went on national television to criticize Republicans for trying to refight the last election.
A shutdown would have “a very real economic impact on real people, right away,” he said, adding it would “throw a wrench” into the US recovery.
“The idea of putting the American people’s hard-earned progress at risk is the height of irresponsibility, and it doesn’t have to happen.”
After the Senate vote, the chamber’s Democratic majority leader blamed Republicans for the imminent halt to all non-essential government operations.
“It will be a Republican government shutdown, pure and simple,” said Harry Reid, referring to the Republicans as “bullies”.
The House then passed another bill on Monday evening to fund the government – but with a one-year delay to one of the health law’s primary elements not due to begin on October 1, the individual mandate.
The Senate again rejected the Obamacare provisions with less than three hours before the deadline.
Major portions of the healthcare law, which passed in 2010 and has been validated by the US Supreme Court, are due to take effect on Tuesday regardless of whether there is a shutdown.
Under the shutdown, national parks and Washington’s Smithsonian museums will close, pension and veterans’ benefit cheques will be delayed, and visa and passport applications will go unprocessed.
Programmes deemed essential, such as air traffic control and food inspections, will continue.
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