Morning Must Reads: February 11

In the news: another ObamaCare delay; White House shifts Afghanistan plans; China and Taiwan hold 1st official talks since 1949; House Republican leadership unveils debt-ceiling strategy; movie star Shirley Temple Black dies at the age of 85.

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Mark Wilson / Getty Images

The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC.

  • “The Obama administration announced Monday that certain employers will have extra time to comply with the new health care reform law’s requirement that they provide health insurance to workers, the latest of many deadlines extended and rules tweaked during the law’s rollout.”  [TIME]
  • “The U.S. military has revised plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan to allow the White House to wait until President Hamid Karzai leaves office before completing a security pact and settling on a post-2014 U.S. troop presence…” [WSJ]
  • “The Obama administration is debating whether to authorize a lethal strike against an American citizen living in Pakistan who some believe is actively plotting terrorist attacks…” [NYT]
  • “China and Taiwan held their first official government-to-government talks on Tuesday since splitting during a civil war in 1949, in an attempt to forge closer economic links and reduce tensions over the thorny issue of eventual re-unification.” [WashPost]
  • “Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen can expect global financial markets to scrutinize her first public remarks since taking over the Fed’s leadership this month…Yellen will deliver the Fed’s twice-annual report to Congress, starting Tuesday before the House Financial Services Committee and then Thursday before the Senate Banking Committee.” [AP]
    • What to watch for in Yellen’s testimony [WSJ]
  • “The House could vote as early as Wednesday on legislation to raise the country’s borrowing limit, after Republicans met on Monday night in their latest effort to find elusive consensus on one of the final must-pass objectives before Washington goes into election mode.” [TIME]
    • “GOP lawmakers generally received the plan poorly, and the mood coming out of the meeting was grim…” [Breitbart]
    • “One clear loser stands out: Rep. Paul Ryan…” [National Journal]
  • “After holding their fire for years at the urging of the Obama administration, several immigration reform groups now plan to unleash their anger at the right.” [Politico]
  • “Congress may soon save you from ever having to deal with an annoying, horrible person who insists on yakking away on a cell phone during a commercial airline flight.” [Yahoo!]
  • “Shirley Temple Black, who as the most popular child movie star of all time lifted a filmgoing nation’s spirits during the Depression and then grew up to be a diplomat, has died. She was 85.” [L.A. Times]