10 things you need to know today: October 4, 2013

1. Car chase ends in shooting at the U.S. Capitol

A Connecticut woman led Secret Service and Capitol Police officers on a car chase Thursday through the streets of Washington, D.C., locking down Congress and sending elected officials and congressional staffers scurrying for cover. The suspect, 34-year-old Miriam Carey, rammed her car into a temporary barricade outside the White House before crashing into another barrier outside the Capitol, all with her 18-month-old toddler in the backseat. Carey was shot and killed at the scene, but the child survived and is in protective custody. [NBC New York]

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2. Congressional Republicans ramp up efforts to end shutdown

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) discussed a deficit deal Thursday with senior House Republicans that would concede some increases to federal programs hampered by sequestration in exchange for long-term changes to programs like Social Security. Meanwhile, about 20 lawmakers from both sides joined a proposal to reopen and finance the government for six months while repealing ObamaCare’s tax on medical devices. [The New York Times]

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3. Twitter files its initial public offering

Twitter filed its S-1 form Thursday as part of its journey toward becoming a public company. Providing data on finances and users, the S-1 lets investors analyze how Twitter stacks up in the industry. According to the form, Twitter has more than 200 million monthly active users, and its initial valuation is expected to surpass $10 billion. [New York]

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4. Boehner privately promises to avoid a federal default

House Speaker Boehner, whose refusal to allow a vote on a Senate budget bill stripped of ObamaCare provisions played a large role in the current government shutdown, appears unwilling to let the Treasury Department run out of money on October 17. Multiple Republican lawmakers said Thursday that Boehner had privately indicated he would use a combination of Republican and Democratic votes to raise the debt ceiling if necessary. [The New York Times]

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5. China and Malaysia announce major strategic partnership

During a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Malaysia on Thursday, the two countries debuted a five-year plan to significantly increase bilateral trade and boost military cooperation, especially between their navies. China is already Malaysia’s top trading partner, and new measures, such as supporting each other’s industrial parks, aim to triple bilateral trade by 2017, to $160 billion total. [Reuters]

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6. Pope Francis calls on Catholic Church to shun vanity

In a speech given in the central Italian town of Assisi on Friday, Pope Francis said the Catholic Church must strip itself of all “vanity, arrogance, and pride.” Francis has already been hailed for his appreciation of simplicity and his treatment of the poor — he visited a slum in Brazil this summer — and his declaration came after he discarded two previously prepared speeches and spoke off the cuff. [Reuters]

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7. Wendy Davis announces run for Texas governor

Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis announced her bid for the Texas governorship on Thursday. Davis, a Democrat, attracted national attention in June with her 13-hour filibuster of a controversial abortion bill in the state legislature. Her platform for governor, however, will likely focus on education and highlight her efforts to halt spending cuts. Her main competition will be Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican who is widely expected to win in the conservative state. [CBS News]

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8. Tropical storm Karen incubates in Gulf of Mexico

The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for the area between Grand Isle, La., and Destin, Fla. on Thursday as tropical storm Karen churned in the central Gulf. The storm was about 340 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River as of late Thursday night, and is expected to drop 4 to 8 inches of rainfall on the central and eastern Gulf Coast through the weekend. [CNN]

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9. Samsung on track for a record-setting third quarter

Samsung released a report saying it would claim an operating profit of $9.2 billion — a roughly 23 percent increase over last year’s third quarter. At $54 billion, sales for the South Korea–based company were also 11 percent higher than sales for the same quarter last year. [CNN]

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10. Miley Cyrus and Sinead O’Connor trade barbs on social media

Sinead O’Connor posted an open letter to Miley Cyrus on Thursday, in which she said Cyrus is being “prostituted” and should fire her advisers for exploiting her. Unmoved by O’Connor’s concern, Cyrus uploaded an image to Twitter depicting several tweets O’Connor posted two years ago and compared them to the notorious rants of Amanda Bynes. O’Connor then threatened legal action while Cyrus made light of the exchange. [USA Today]

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