Nation World late morning
NEW & DEVELOPING
— OBAMA-UNEMPLOYED VETERANS — Obama is calling on Congress to pass tax credits for companies that hire unemployed military veterans. Obama to speak late morning
ADDS:
— WALL STREET
— EAST AFRICA-FAMINE
TOP STORIES
WALL STREET
Even a good jobs report isn’t good enough to calm financial markets. The Dow Jones industrial average turns lower as traders focused on Europe’s latest efforts to contain the region’s debt crisis. The Dow had jumped as many as 171 points shortly after the opening bell on report that U.S. hiring picked up last month. By midmorning it was down 42 points. By Daniel Wagner.
AP photos.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON — Hiring picked up slightly in July and the unemployment rate dipped to 9.1 percent. The modest improvement may quiet fears of another recession a day after Wall Street posted its worst losses in nearly three years. Employers added 117,000 jobs last month, better than the past two months, which were also revised higher. By Economics Writer Christopher S. Rugaber.
AP photos, video.
SYRIA
BEIRUT — Security forces open fire on protesters, killing at least 10, as tens of thousands poured into streets across Syria, chanting for the fall of President Bashar Assad and defying a fierce military siege of Hama, where tanks shelled residential districts around dawn. By Bassem Mroue.
AP photos, video.
AVIATION SHUTDOWN
WASHINGTON — The Senate approves legislation ending a two-week partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration, clearing the way for thousands of employees to return to work and hundreds of airport construction projects to resume. The shutdown has cost the government about $400 million in uncollected airline ticket taxes. By Joan Lowy.
AP photos, video.
EAST AFRICA-FAMINE
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali government troops open fire on hungry civilians, killing at least seven people, as both groups made a grab for food at a U.N. distribution site in the capital of this famine-stricken country, witnesses say. Witnesses accused government soldiers of starting the chaos by trying to steal some of the 290 tons of dry rations as the aid workers tried to hand them out in the biggest camp in Mogadishu for famine refugees. By Abdi Guled and Katharine Houreld.
AP photos.
DEBT SHOWDOWN-DEFENSE
WASHINGTON — U.S. troops and their families are directly affected by the prospect of deep cuts in the Pentagon’s budget, which surely will shrink over the coming decade as the military closes out two wars, trims its ranks and possibly chops some budget-busting weapons systems. By Kimberly Hefling.
POLYGAMIST LEADER
SAN ANGELO, Texas — As a prophet for his polygamist sect, Warren Jeffs documented everything he did, keeping track of every marriage he performed, every young woman he wed, even recording his most intimate moments. Those meticulous records helped authorities secure two child sex assault convictions against Jeffs, and now prosecutors hope they will help them secure a life prison sentence for him. By Will Weissert.
AP photos, video.
LIBYA
BENGHAZI, Libya — Libyan rebel forces say they have unconfirmed reports that Moammar Gadhafi’s youngest son is dead in a NATO air strike on the western town of Zlitan. Khamis Gadhafi is in charge of the brigade that has been fighting around Zlitan, where Friday’s bombardment took place.
MEXICO-LIFE AFTER DEPORTATION
TIJUANA, Mexico — After 15 years of installing marble in homes in California, Porfirio Perez was caught without a driver’s license during a February traffic stop and deported. Now the 42-year-old just tries to survive in this sprawling border city, unable to get to his central Mexico hometown. He is among hundreds of deportees stuck in Tijuana because they don’t have the Mexican documents required and need permanent addresses to get them. By Omar Millan.
AP photos.
TEACHERS ON FACEBOOK
COLUMBIA, Mo. — As they prepare lesson plans for fall, teachers across Missouri have an extra chore: purging their Facebook friend lists to comply with a new state law that limits their contact with students on social networks. The law was proposed after an AP investigation found 87 Missouri teachers had lost their licenses between 2001 and 2005 because of sexual misconduct, some of which involved explicit online messages with students. By Alan Scher Zagier.
AP photo.
WEST COAST REPUBLICANS
WASHINGTON — Conservative Republicans flexed their newfound muscle in Capitol Hill’s chaotic debt showdown, but in left-leaning California, moderates are trying to push the party toward the center on immigration, guns and gay rights as the 2012 elections come into view. By Michael R. Blood.
GETTING ATTENTION
— NORWAY-POLAR BEAR ATTACK — Polar bear in Norway’s Arctic kills 1 British camper, injures 4, before being shot dead.
— BRITAIN-MR. BEAN — Reports: Mr. Bean actor Rowan Atkinson recovering in hospital after crashing supercar in UK/
— SCHWARZENEGGER-COMEBACK — With LA speech, Arnold Schwarzenegger continues a slow comeback after confirming his out-of-wedlock child.
— ARGENTINA-TWILIGHT FILM LAWSUIT — Argentine says she found unfinished scenes of the “Twilight” finale on the Internet; denies leaking them.
— FOOD AND FARM-RAW MILK — Regulations on raw milk tighten as local food movement spurs demand.
— EMIRATES-SELLING LINGERIE AND MORE — Risque offerings from Frederick’s of Hollywood offer window into Emirates’ retail appeal. AP photos.