As the U.S. government nears a partial shutdown Tuesday, congressional Republicans vowed Sunday to keep trying to defund the Affordable Care Act, which goes into effect Tuesday, by removing its funding in the routine spending bill that would avoid the shutdown. House Republicans voted after midnight Saturday to delay by a year parts of the health care law, but the Democrat-led Senate is expected to kill the measure again when it meets Monday. Health care exchanges are set to open Tuesday.(read full story)

New evidence shows the terrorists who attacked a Nairobi mall Sept. 21 and killed dozens of people came prepared with religious trivia questions to ask of their hostages. Numerous survivors said attackers from al-Shabab, which is affiliated with al-Qaida, shot hostages who could not perform tasks such as naming the Prophet Muhammed’s relatives or reciting Quran verses. The Associated Press said al-Qaida has been shifting toward protecting Muslims after realizing it looked bad to the group’s Muslim audience to be killing indiscriminately.(read full story)

After a Los Angeles Dodgers fan was stabbed to death Wednesday, his father asked Sunday for help from witnesses in gathering evidence about the incident. Police said Jonathan Denver, 24, died after a fight broke out between Denver’s group of Dodger fans and a group of San Francisco Giants fans including Michael Montgomery, 21, a suspect. Montgomery’s father said Denver hit Montgomery with a chair and Montgomery stabbed Denver in self-defense, but police have said they do not have enough evidence to warrant criminal charges.

Information is from the Associated Press.

Carrie Blazina is the nation and world editor for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].