The World - July 21, 2011

THURSDAY

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s warned there is a one-in-two chance it could cut the United States’ prized AAA credit rating if a deal on raising the government’s debt ceiling is not agreed soon. The dollar fell on the news. U.S. Treasuries were largely steady.

Judge Reggie Walton declared a mistrial in the perjury trial of baseball pitching great Roger Clemens because the lead prosecutor gave jurors information that had been barred from the courtroom.

For the first time births have overtaken immigration as the main driver of dynamic growth in the U.S. Hispanic population. The Mexican-American population grew by 7.2 million as a result of births in the decade to 2010, while new immigrants added 4.2 million people.

China ordained a third bishop without the Pope’s approval, the honorary president of the state-backed church said, in a move likely to further strain tense relations between the Chinese government and the Vatican.

FRIDAY

The Treasury said it would take the last step at its disposal to continue borrowing money in capital markets as Congress battles over raising the country’s debt ceiling. The previously announced decision to stop investments into the Exchange Stabilization Fund, a pool of money set aside as a contingency for possible instability in currency markets, will give the Treasury an additional $23 billion.

A love letter written to a Pennsylvania college student and proclaiming “love forever” was finally delivered — 53 years late. The tender note written in 1958 still waits forlornly in the mailroom at California University of Pennsylvania as officials search for its intended recipient, Clark Moore, now about 70 years old and living near Indianapolis. It included a return address, but little other information about the sender, who signed the letter, “Love Forever, Vonnie.”

A marauding black bear tore through a mountain campsite at a bowhunters gathering in west-central Colorado and mauled a teenage boy, who sustained minor lacerations to his leg, was treated at a local hospital and released.

WEEKEND

The Senate began considering a fallback plan proposed by Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell to avert an unprecedented U.S. default of its debt. The measure would authorize Obama to raise the debt limit by $2.5 trillion — without any mandatory spending cuts — provided Obama’s fellow Democrats go along with it.

President Barack Obama on Sunday chose former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to head the new Consumer Finance Protection Agency, charged with protecting U.S. consumers from abusive mortgage lending practices and hidden credit card fees.

An unprecedented weekend shutdown of a 10-mile stretch of the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles prompted “Carmageddon” as motorists were delayed for hours on alternate routes.

The debut of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2” broke records with a worldwide opening box office tally to $481.5 million.

MONDAY

The White House said on Monday it was pursuing a last-ditch plan with Congress to compromise on a combination of tax increases and spending cuts that would allow the government to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling and avert a default that could plunge global financial markets into chaos.

The United Nations started airlifting food aid to rebel-held parts of drought-hit Somalia. Islamist insurgents had abided by a pledge to allow relief workers free access.

A Washington state man was listed in satisfactory condition on Monday and was “incredibly lucky to be alive” after his car flipped into the Pend Oreille River.

TUESDAY

The “Gang of Six” bipartisan group of senators offered a plan that would provide the government’s budget $3.75 trillion in savings over 10 years and add $1.2 trillion in new revenues.

Space Shuttle Atlantis departed the International Station, ending a 12-year program to build and service the orbital outpost, the primary legacy of NASA’s shuttle fleet. Atlantis is scheduled to return Thursday, concluding the 30-year-old U.S. space shuttle program.

WEDNESDAY

Attorney General Eric Holder said he is willing to meet the families of people killed in the September 11 attacks who are concerned about reports that News Corp journalists may have tried to get victims’ phone records.

At least five Amish farmers were killed in upstate New York when a car trying to overtake a slow-moving tractor collided head-on with a van carrying Amish farmers in what police described as a horrific crash.

Compiled by the Gazette from a variety of sources.