Midday Roundup: Last-minute details tie up budget deal in Congress

Deadline. Time is running out for Congress to vote on a budget bill that would keep the government open past midnight tonight. The House and Senate tentatively agreed to a compromise bill Tuesday night, but a few outstanding issues are still generating debate. Legislators are trying to figure out what to do about a financially strapped government insurance program for multi-employer pension plans. If left alone, the insurance program likely will run out of funds in the next 10-20 years, leaving no backup for workers with the troubled pensions.

It’s an honor… The Golden Globe nominations came out today, kicking off Hollywood award season by highlighting the self-important, navel-gazing flick Birdman. The Michael Keaton head-scratcher about a washed out actor earned the most nominations. In second place were director Richard Linklater’s down-to-earth, coming-of-age film Boyhood and the intellectual thriller The Imitation Game. In the TV categories, Netflix and cable channels—HBO and Showtime, in particular—dominated network television, which had only several nominations for best comedy or best drama. The awards show will be Jan. 11, with comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting for the third year in a row.

Breaking camp. With chainsaws and bolt cutters, police in Hong Kong today dismantled a camp that hosted pro-democracy protests in a busy part of town for the past 2½ months. Students and others were protesting China’s restrictions on the election of a city leader. Police said they arrested 209 people who refused to leave the camp. Leaders of the pro-democracy movement say this protest was only the start of a campaign of civil disobedience to encourage reform in Hong Kong. As trucks removed debris from the site, protesters chanted, “We’ll be back.”

Wind and rain. A heavy storm is bearing down on Northern California, causing power outages and traffic woes in the San Francisco Bay Area. The National Weather Service said the storm could dump as much as 8 inches of rain on the area within 24 hours.

Cause of death. As thousands attended the funeral procession of Palestinian cabinet member Ziad Abu Ain, officials argued over what caused his death. Abu Ain died in a confrontation between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police in the West Bank. A Palestinian doctor said a blow to the chest killed him, but an Israeli doctor said it was a coronary artery blockage.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.