Nation world
DEVELOPING
— DEBT SHOWDOWN-PENTAGON — Defense Secretary Panetta’s news conference at 2:45 p.m.
— AWOL SOLDIER — Suspect expected in federal court at 3 p.m.
TOP STORIES
WALL STREET
NEW YORK — The Dow Jones industrial average plunges more than 300 points as fear about the U.S. economy and debt problems in Europe grip the stock market. The Dow has lost about 1,000 points in less than two weeks, and broader measures of the market have fallen 10 percent since this spring, meeting the definition of a correction. Bank of New York says so many of its large customers are stashing cash that it will start charging to hold it. By David K. Randall.
AP photos, graphics, interactive.
— WALL STREET PHOTO PACKAGE: Photographer Jin Lee has taken a series of powerful images for AP that capture the reactions and emotions on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as the Dow slumps. Some of the best are AP photos NYJL114, 117, 113, 106 and 112.
DEBT SHOWDOWN-DEFENSE
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon got nearly everything it asked for during a decade of war shadowed by the Sept. 11 attacks and the rise of al-Qaida. No more. The debt deal approved by Congress opens the possibility of cutting up to $800 billion over the next decade, and new Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warns it will be painful. Among the places to look for cuts: a troubled new fighter jet, plans to upgrade the nuclear arsenal and perhaps some of the gold-plated benefits now guaranteed to military retirees. By Lolita C. Baldor and Donna Cassata.
AP photos.
VIRGINIA TECH-GUNMAN
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Sirens wail, text and email alerts go out and police swarm Virginia Tech’s campus after three children attending a summer camp tell police they spotted a man with what looked like a gun on the campus where a massacre four years ago left 33 people dead. Though authorities can’t find anyone matching the description of the possible gunman, the university that was fined for waiting too long to notify students and staff after the 2007 rampage takes no chances, telling people to remain indoors for hours while the search continues. By Zinie Chen Sampson.
AP photos, graphic, video.
TAINTED GROUND TURKEY
WASHINGTON — The first signs of the outbreak appeared in May. But it wasn’t until July that investigators were able to definitively link ground turkey to one death and 77 illnesses. And it wasn’t until this week that the public was notified and the turkey recalled. Health officials defend the lag time, saying a thorough investigation led to the nation’s third largest meat recall. By Mary Clare Jalonick.
AP photos by Danny Johnston.
EGYPT-THE MUBARAK EFFECT-ANALYSIS
CAIRO — Facing tenacious uprisings, the leaders of Syria, Libya and Yemen could only have thought of their own possible fates when they saw Hosni Mubarak in a defendants’ cage facing charges that could carry a death sentence. For the three authoritarian Arab leaders, the choices are limited: Cling to power at any cost, negotiate immunity or find a foreign haven. And those options make it hard to resolve their countries’ turmoil. An AP News Analysis by Hamza Hendawi.
AP photos.
— EGYPT-MUBARAK TRIAL — Seven of Hosni Mubarak’s co-defendants return to court as boxes of evidence are opened, including weapons, ammunition and the blood-soaked jacket of a dead protester. AP photos.
TEXAS DROUGHT
SAN ANTONIO — The drought that has turned Texas and parts of the Plains into a parched moonscape of cracked earth could persist for another year, prolonging the misery of thousands of farmers and ranchers. Climatologists say the La Nina weather phenomenon blamed for the crippling lack of rain might be back soon, just two months after the last La Nina ended. If it happens, the drought that is now the state’s worst since the 1950s would almost certainly extend into 2012. By Paul Weber.
AP photos.
WASHINGTON
DEBT SHOWDOWN-NO HAMMER
WASHINGTON — Speaker John Boehner was desperate in his search for votes to prevent a first-ever government default. Holdouts felt pressure “hour by hour by hour.” But there weren’t promises of bridges or campaign cash, and none of his rank-and-file Republicans came away feeling threatened or bullied — a major transformation from the not too distant past. By Larry Margasak.
AP photos.
— CONGRESS-TRADE — A Senate deal on extending some President Barack Obama’s stimulus aid for workers whose jobs moved overseas breaks a political logjam blocking free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.
— OBAMA — President celebrates his 50th birthday.
INTERNATIONAL
SYRIA
BEIRUT — People in the besieged Syrian city of Hama are forced to ration food and share bread, and phones, Internet and electricity are cut off or severely hampered as the military moves against anti-government protests. One resident says gunmen in plainclothes are randomly shooting people in the streets. Some families are burying loved ones in home gardens or roadside pits, fearful they will be killed if they go to a cemetery. By Zeina Karam.
AP photos.
— SYRIA-DIPLOMACY — Russian President Medvedev says Syria’s leader will face a “sad fate” if he fails to talk with his opponents.
— US-SYRIA SANCTIONS — U.S. imposes economic sanctions against prominent Syrian businessman and his company.
NORWAY MASSACRE-RETHINKING SECURITY
OSLO, Norway — If a man buys three boxes of aspirin, there is no reason to take notice. But Anders Behring Breivik went to 20 drug stores a day for four days and bought three packages of aspirin at each stop — then ordered six tons of fertilizer, chemicals and a semiautomatic rifle — and largely escaped attention. Breivik’s massacre of 77 people forces Norwegian authorities to look at what they could have done to identify his purchases and other suspect behavior. By Adam Geller and Ian MacDougall.
AP photos, video.
EAST AFRICA-FAMINE
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Kaltum Mohamed sits beside a small mound of earth, alone with her thoughts. It is her child’s grave — and there are three others like it. The famine has killed an estimated 29,000 children under age 5 in the last 90 days in southern Somalia. It devastated Mohamed’s family. She watched four of her five children die as the family trekked from the parched south to Mogadishu. By Mohamed Sheikh Noor and Jason Straziuso.
AP photos by Schalk van Zuydam and Mohamed Sheikh Nor. AP video.
NEW ZEALAND-EMPEROR PENGUIN
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Happy Feet, the wayward emperor penguin found on a New Zealand beach, has become a creature of the Internet age with his own live webcast. When he’s freed into the wild later this month, he will carry a GPS tracker on his back. By Nick Perry.
AP photo, video.
— TROPICAL WEATHER — Tropical Storm Emily causes flooding and damages hundreds of homes in Haiti.
— FRANCE-IMF CHIEF — A French court orders an inquiry into new IMF chief Christine Lagarde’s role in a $400 million arbitration deal. AP photos.
NATIONAL
DB COOPER
OLYMPIA, Wash. — The FBI has been chasing ghosts for nearly 40 years in the search for the never-captured hijacker named D.B. Cooper, the latest being a dead Korean War vet whose niece came forward this week to say her uncle was hijacker. It’s far from the first promising lead to materialize. There was an ex-con who made a false deathbed confession in 1995 that he was Cooper. There was a fugitive who briefly became a suspect after being accused of killing his family days before the hijacking. There was an airline employee who attracted interest because he was a paratrooper. As every lead has surfaced, the D.B. Cooper phenomenon has grown in allure. By Mike Baker.
AP photos.
— REMAINS IN COOLER — Pennsylvania woman pleads guilty to murder in the deaths of five newborns whose remains were found in her home.
— MORMON DEFENSE LEAGUE — Organization that defends Mormon beliefs launches organization to help journalists better understand the faith at a time when two church members are running for president.
— JERRY LEWIS-MDA — Muscular Dystrophy Association says Jerry Lewis no longer national chairman, won’t appear on next Labor Day telethon.
— BURIED IN SAND — Video shows teenage boy being rescued from beach after being buried in 5 feet of sand.
BUSINESS
RETAIL SALES
NEW YORK — Many retailers post solid sales during the kickoff to the back-to-school season as discounts and high temperatures in July drove shoppers to air-conditioned malls. But merchants worry that momentum won’t continue through the remainder of the second-biggest shopping period of the year as the weather gets cold and the deals dry up. By Retail Writer Anne D’Innocenzio.
AP photos.
— KRAFT FOODS-SPLIT — Kraft plans to split into two companies: A snacks business and a North American grocery business. AP photo.
GETTING ATTENTION
— PEOPLE-LIL WAYNE — Lil Wayne and Young Money sued for $15 million over the hit single “Bedrock.” AP photo.
— BRITAIN-AMY WINEHOUSE — Amy Winehouse, Tony Bennett duet on “Body and Soul” to be released as charity single. AP photo.
— YANKEES-RODRIGUEZ POKER — Publicist criticizes report, says Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez looks forward to cooperating with baseball’s poker probe. AP photos.
— HURRICANE FORECAST — U.S. forecasters upgrade Atlantic hurricane season outlook as peak storm period begins.
— MILES ARRESTED — Former NBA player Darius Miles arrested for carrying loaded gun at St. Louis airport. AP photo.
— BRITAIN-PHONE HACKING — British lawmakers call on CNN host Piers Morgan to answer questions over tabloid phone hacking scandal. AP photo.
— JERSEY SHORE-NEW SEASON — MTV’s “Jersey Shore” cast members missed the real Jersey shore when they were in Italy.