National

Pastor Jamie Coots says his Pentecostal church is really not that different from other churches. "We sing, we preach, we testify, take up offerings, pray for the sick, everything like everybody else does. Just, every once in a while, snakes are handled," he says.

The Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland is often the last resort for patients who have mysterious, rare or terminal diseases. Patients sometimes call it the "House of Hope." But the government shutdown may mean that prospective patients will be turned away.

A 54-year-old California man has never had health insurance and wasn't much interested in the debate over the Affordable Care Act. But after some recent health setbacks, he is eager to sign up for coverage made possible by the law.

City officials say what's been a "generous" hotel program has to end, and they sent displaced families a letter saying they have to move out by Friday. But others say the city could have done more to help the storm's neediest victims stay out of homeless shelters.

There's been a near boom of Noah's arks around the world. The latest is in Miami, where a group wants to create a Noah's ark theme park with rides and gardens. The man behind a 450-foot long ark in the Netherlands says his goal is to spread his faith, but he thinks the appeal of the Noah story these days is obvious: climate change.

A team of eight people overseeing the critical foodborne illness tracking database PulseNet has been reduced to three. And a CDC division chief says that a multistate outbreak would push the remaining staff beyond their capacity.

The fight over Mexican tuna, and whether it is truly fished using dolphin safe practices, rages on. Mexico recently won a two decade long fight to get its tuna labeled dolphin safe. The WTO this month ruled in its favor. But the U.S. still refuses to allow Mexican tuna with a dolphin safe label on store shelves. Mexico says it's had enough and is preparing to retaliate with trade sanctions on U.S. imports. Ensenada, Baja California, was once the thriving heart of the Mexican tuna industry.

President Obama says he won't negotiate with Republicans over the debt ceiling, but he's happy to talk once the government is open and the full faith and credit of the United States is assured. Experts in negotiation weigh in about the tactics and the strategy being used during the budget impasse.

President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner have had five years of fights and negotiations to learn how to work together. But today, their relationship is as sour as it's ever been. While closer ties might not solve the shutdown, the mutual suspicion and mistrust aren't helping.

As the leader of Senate Democrats, Harry Reid has been in a lot of fights — but this one may be different, in that Reid has drawn a line. After a meeting with other congressional leaders and President Obama on Wednesday, Reid said: "The one thing we made very clear ... we are locked in tight on Obamacare."