Default Coming: Day 14. With the government shutdown in its second week, Washington and the world are counting the days to a US government debt default and potential economic collateral damage.

  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday on the Senate floor that he’s confident a deal will be reached. And Republican Sen. Rob Portman agreed, saying on NBC that he thinks Congress will reach a short-term deal by Thursday to stave off default. Portman said, “If we default on our debt, it will have a dramatic, negative impact on the savings account and retirement account for every American.” But Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said on ABC that he does not think a deal will happen by then. “I don’t see one,” he said.

Both the head of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have warned that a US default will have worldwide repercussions. IMF head Christine Lagarde told ABC News that default “would mean massive disruption the world over and we would be at risk of tipping yet again into recession.”

World: A 66-year-old American was found hanging by his belt and shoelaces in his Egyptian cell, six weeks after his arrest in the Sinai Peninsula. Egyptian authorities said he was detained for violating curfew, but also said he had a computer and maps of strategic installations. James Lunn was never formally charged with a crime, but his detention had just been extended by 30 days. He is the second American to die in Egyptian custody in recent weeks.

• Seven Red Cross and Red Crescent workers were kidnapped in northwest Syria by unknown gunmen, according to reports from the area. Witnesses reported that the gunmen blocked the road and fired at the convoy before taking the captives.
• An American soldier was killed yesterday by a gunman wearing an Afghan security forces uniform who fired on training officers. So far this year 15 coalition soldiers have been killed in what are known as “insider” attacks, but the number is a dramatic drop from the 55 killed in such incidents last year.

The Obit Page: Oscar Hijuelos, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of “The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love”, a novel about the lives of Cuban immigrants, died suddenly at age 62. His wife said he collapsed on a tennis court. He was the first Latino to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

Flag Waving Patriots: In what may have been a shockingly honest display of motivation yesterday, one of the protesters marching against the government shutdown waved a Confederate flag outside the home of the most prominent black family in America, The White House.

Kid Stuff: Halloween costumes have become a $2.6 billion industry in the US. Adult costumes account for $1.2 billion of that, according to the National Retail Federation. Women’s outfits are a big profit center because they are full price for half a costume.

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