Nation/world from Associated Press
DEVELOPING
— PERSONAL INCOME — The government reports how much consumers spent and earned in June at 8:30 a.m.
— KATRINA-BRIDGE SHOOTINGS — A jury will hear closing arguments after 9:30 a.m. in the trial of five current or former police officers charged in deadly shootings on a New Orleans bridge after Hurricane Katrina.
— DEBT SHOWDOWN — Senate convenes at 9:30 a.m.; vote expected shortly after noon.
— POLYGAMIST LEADER — Trial resumes at 10 a.m.
— HOTEL HEIR KILLING — A Florida woman is still waiting to hear if prosecutors will seek the death penalty in her double homicide case; court hearing starts at noon.
— MISSING GIRL-NH — Autopsy scheduled for Tuesday, time uncertain.
TOP STORIES
DEBT SHOWDOWN
WASHINGTON — Congress is on track to send President Barack Obama a historic measure to avert a potentially disastrous government default and make a down payment toward taming out-of-control budget deficits. The emergency legislation easily passed the House and is virtually assured to clear the Senate by a bipartisan tally. By Andrew Taylor.
DEBT SHOWDOWN-GIFFORDS
WASHINGTON — The total number of votes on the historic debt-limit bill was 430. One vote was more memorable than the others. Seven months after she was shot in the head, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords returned to the House to cast her vote and be greeted by thunderous applauses and emotional hugs. By Donna Cassata.
SYRIA
BEIRUT — A human rights group says Syrian forces killed 24 people on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says most of the deaths were in the central city of Hama, the target of a heavy military operation since Sunday. By Bassem Mroue.
AP photos, video
— SYRIA-DIPLOMACY — Italy recalls ambassador to Syria over deadly crackdown on anti-government protests. AP photo.
NORWAY-MASSACRE
OSLO, Norway — The confessed killer in Norway’s twin terror attacks that claimed 77 lives has presented a long list of “unrealistic” demands, including the resignation of the government and that his mental condition be investigated by Japanese specialists, his defense lawyer says. By Karl Ritter And Louise Nordstrom.
AP photos.
US-IRAQ-MULLEN
BAGHDAD — The top U.S. military officer says American troops must be given protection from legal prosecution as part of any agreement to keep them in Iraq beyond the end of the year. But the comments by Joint Chiefs chairman Adm. Mike Mullen could make it more difficult for the troops to stay here. By Lolita C. Baldor and Rebecca Santana.
AP photos.
MISSING GIRL-NH
STEWARTSTOWN, N.H. — Investigators hope an autopsy on an 11-year-old New Hampshire girl sheds more light on her disappearance and death. An autopsy on Celina Cass of Stewartstown is scheduled for Tuesday. By Wilson Ring.
AP photos, video.
MORE ON DEBT SHOWDOWN
DEBT SHOWDOWN-ENDURING DEFICITS-ANALYSIS
WASHINGTON — The compromise debt limit deal may have resolved this year’s most clamorous political battle between President Barack Obama and Congress, but it takes only a modest swipe at the heart of the matter: the government’s relentlessly huge budget deficits. An AP News Analysis by Alan Fram.
DEBT SHOWDOWN-WALL STREET
Growing concern about the economy is overriding any relief investors may be feeling now that Washington appears to have a debt deal that will avert a default by the federal government. By Personal Finance Writer Dave Carpenter.
AP photo.
— WORLD MARKETS — Global stock markets tumble after downbeat U.S. data fuels fears the world’s largest economy might be sliding back into recession. AP photo, videos.
DEBT SHOWDOWN-PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS
EXETER, N.H. — Conservative groups are warning of lasting political consequences as presidential candidates outline conflicting positions on the debt-ceiling compromise. Some liken the political impact of the high-stakes fight over the nation’s borrowing limit to the debate that preceded the invasion of Iraq. And interest groups promise that presidential candidates’ positions will be remembered in the coming months. By Steve Peoples.
— DEBT SHOWDOWN-DEFENSE — Defense facing reductions of up to $850 billion over 10 years in debt-limit bill.
— DEBT SHOWDOWN-HEALTH CARE — Advocates for seniors and health care industry fear big cuts could flow from debt deal.
— DEBT SHOWDOWN-HIGHLIGHTS — Highlights of budget and debt limit pact sealed by Obama, congressional leaders.
— DEBT SHOWDOWN-Q&A — Questions and answers about plan for increasing government debt while reducing annual deficits.
WASHINGTON
TAINTED GROUND TURKEY
WASHINGTON — Federal officials say one person has died from salmonella poisoning that appears to be linked to eating ground turkey, but the government so far has declined to say who produced the meat or initiate a recall. Seventy-six people in 26 states have been made sick from the same strain of the disease. By Mary Clare Jalonick.
— FERTILIZER BOMB-RULES — Years after new law was passed, U.S. to propose rules over explosive chemical used in fertilizer bombs. AP photo.
— AVIATION SHUTDOWN — A Senate plan to end the FAA shutdown falls apart as the cost to the government and workers rises.
INTERNATIONAL
AFGHANISTAN
KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber blows up his car outside a small residential hotel frequented by foreigners just after dawn, killing four guards, as two other militants storm the hotel in Kunduz city and engage the Afghan police in a two-hour gunbattle. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault. By Amir Shah.
AP photos. An interactive showing the unique role played by police in Afghanistan counter-terrorism is available.
INDONESIA-RAILROAD THERAPY
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Ignoring the red-and-white danger sign, Sri Mulyati walks slowly to the train tracks outside Indonesia’s bustling capital, lies down and stretches her body across the rails. Like the nearly dozen others lined up along the track, the 50-year-old diabetes patient has all but given up on doctors and can’t afford the expensive medicines they prescribe. In her mind, she has only one option left: Electric therapy. By Michael Holtz.
AP photos, video.
ISRAEL-TEARING DOWN BARRIERS
JERUSALEM — A museum on the road separating Jewish west Jerusalem from the Arab neighborhoods in the city’s east is attracting a daring group of artists from Middle Eastern nations that shun contact with Israel, trying to erode political barriers through art. By Amy Teibel.
AP photos.
— CHINA-BULLET TRAIN ANGER — China’s bullet train disaster unleashes wave of public anger at reckless development. AP photos.
— LIBYA — Family of slain Libya rebel commander calls for speedy trials of his assassins. AP photos.
NATIONAL
WOMEN GUNNED DOWN
NEWARK — Their lives never intersected, but they were both daughters of Newark: two successful young women nearly the same age, both with good jobs and dedicated to improving their communities. Now, both are scheduled to be buried this week. The women were killed in separate shootings over the weekend, victims of the gun violence that has plagued New Jersey’s most populous city this summer. By Samantha Henry.
AP photos.
LAST OF THE LAMPREY
OREGON CITY, Ore. — As long as Indians have lived in the Northwest, they have looked to lamprey for food. But in the decades since dozens of hydroelectric dams have harnessed the power of rivers to make electricity, this jawless, eel-like fish has been following the path of the buffalo. Today tribes have just one remaining source for lamprey and three days a week during July each year, people drive hundreds of miles from their reservations to get it. By Jeff Barnard.
AP photos, video.
— SCHOOL VOUCHERS — More states than ever before have considered school vouchers this year, driven by resurgent Republicans who see the current economy as an opportunity for a fresh push on one of their most contentious education policies.
ENTERTAINMENT
— NEW SPIDER-MAN — Peter Parker is dead, but Ultimate Spider-Man lives on. Marvel Comics says the mantle of the famed web-slinger — killed earlier this summer — is being taken up by Miles Morales, an African-American teen keen following in Parker’s steps. AP photos.
BUSINESS
— JAPAN-EARNS-TOYOTA — Toyota ekes out $14 million first quarter profit despite the devastation of the quake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.
ALSO GETTING ATTENTION
— SLEEPY BROWNIES — APNewsBreak: FDA calls ‘Lazy Larry’ brownies unsafe, could seize them from store shelves. AP photo.
— TV-THE BACHELORETTE — ABC’s ‘Bachelorette,’ Ashley Hebert, picks her man and gets engaged to J.P. Rosenbaum .
— RUSSIA-CIRCUS ANIMALS — Russia’s 36-year-old Olympic bear, retired circus animals kept caged on parked bus. AP photos.
— SAUDI-TALLEST TOWER — Saudi billionaire’s investment firm signs $1.2 billion contract to build world’s tallest tower.
— TROPICAL WEATHER — Tropical Storm Emily churns across Caribbean toward Puerto Rico, Hispaniola.
— PARTY SCHOOLS — Ohio U in Appalachia called nation’s top party school in 2011 Princeton Review survey. AP photo.