The latest news on Wall Street, Budget Deficit, Main Street, Candidates' Economic Plans, Race and Election, Death Penalty, ACORN, Torture, Canadian Election, Israeli Government, Jerusalem, Iraqi Christians, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, and Select Op-eds.

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Wall Street. Despite Big Rally, Grim Outlook on Profits and Jobs "The euphoria that swept Wall Street on Monday gave way to a sober reality on Tuesday: a recession, perhaps the deepest one in decades, may be unavoidable." Smaller Banks Resist Federal Cash Infusions "Community banking executives around the country responded with anger yesterday to the Bush administration's strategy of investing $250 billion in financial firms, saying they don't need the money, resent the intrusion and feel it's unfair to rescue companies from their own mistakes." Morning in America: Buying bank stock ends Reagan era "When the sun set on the nation's capital Tuesday, it marked the end of an era in the nation's economy, an end to the 30-year period ushered in by Ronald Reagan when the goal was to get government out of business." Brown ambushes EU summit agenda with world trade call "An emboldened Gordon Brown today ambushed the European summit agenda with a bold call to reopen world trade talks after calling on the 27 member states to shore up confidence in the financial system."

Budget deficit. Deficit Hits $455 Billion, Highest Percent Since '04 "The federal budget deficit rose to $455 billion in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 as financial market strains slowed economic growth while spending rose the most since 1990." Federal deficit hits record $455 billion "Compounding terrible economic news, budget officials announced that the federal deficit has soared to a record $455 billion, injecting new urgency into the closing days of the presidential campaign about spending in Washington, including efforts to stem the financial disaster."

Main Street. 1 in 4 Working Families Now Low-Wage, Report Finds "The ranks of low-wage working families increased by 350,000 between 2002 and 2006, raising their numbers to nearly 9.6 million, or more than one in four of the nation's working families with children." Record numbers of people are looking for food "But all over Wichita [KS], while recent news has been dominated by worries from Wall Street, the leaders of Wichita's food charities have watched with growing fear as the number of people showing up for meals and food has set records."

Candidates' economic plans. In Parallel Wording, Divergent Messages "Both John McCain and Barack Obama mention 'fear' when they talk about the nation's financial crisis, but any similarity in their messages ends with that word." If Elected ... - From 2 Rivals, 2 Prescriptions - Series "With Senator John McCain unveiling a $52.5 billion package of proposals on Tuesday, both presidential candidates have now outlined their plans for addressing the economic crisis, leaving voters with a clear choice when it comes to one of the biggest challenges the next president will face."

Race and election. In Voting Booth, Race May Play a Bigger Role "With less than three weeks until Election Day, a big question is looming over the campaign for the White House, and it has nothing to do with the economic crisis or the caustic exchanges between Senators Barack Obama and John McCain over character and credentials." Blue-collar politics struggle to rise above black-and-white issues "What doesn't come up in the hostile exchanges is the question on everyone's minds: whether the white Americans who live and work in towns like these will vote for a black man for president."

Death penalty. Supreme Court allows Troy Davis execution "The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Troy Anthony Davis' execution, declining to enter a contentious debate as to whether the condemned inmate was the real killer of a Savannah police officer in 1989." High court clears way for execution "Seven witnesses who identified Troy Davis as the killer of a police officer in Georgia almost 20 years ago have recanted their testimony, but his final appeal is turned down without comment." High Court Won't Hear Death Row Appeal "The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal by a Georgia man facing execution for the 1989 murder of a police officer, declining to decide whether the death penalty should be ruled out for a defendant who presents strong evidence of innocence."

ACORN. ACORN group targeted by GOP "A new class warfare front has opened in the campaign for president as Republicans mount an assault on the integrity of the nation's largest community organizing group and try to link it to Democrat Barack Obama, himself a former organizer for a different group." ACORN says it flagged problematic voter forms amid criticism and allegations about its effort "An activist organization defended its voter registration practices amid new allegations of voter fraud and a call from Republican lawmakers to investigate irregularities."

Torture. CIA Tactics Endorsed In Secret Memos "The Bush administration issued a pair of secret memos to the CIA in 2003 and 2004 that explicitly endorsed the agency's use of interrogation techniques such as waterboarding against al-Qaeda suspects -- documents prompted by worries among intelligence officials about a possible backlash if details of the program became public."

Canadian election. Harper bets the House, wins another minority "Stephen Harper's Conservatives have won a stronger minority government on the strength of gains in Ontario and British Columbia." Tories get another minority, but a stronger one "Prime Minister Stephen Harper finished close to his dream of painting half the Commons seats a dark blue on Tuesday night with 143 seats, less than a dozen shy of his end-to-dysfunctionality control goal for Parliament."

Israeli government. Labor: We achieved 100% of our goals "It took 18-and-a-half hours of nonstop negotiations, but Kadima and Labor representatives managed to complete a new coalition deal minutes before Succot began on Monday evening." Shas hardens line after Kadima, Labor sign coalition deal "A day after Kadima and Labor signed a coalition agreement, Shas is hardening its line for its own negotiations."

Jerusalem. Warring monks threaten destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre "A long-running row over the rights to a rooftop section of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre could bring the entire structure tumbling down, destroying Christendom's holiest site."

Iraqi Christians. Iraqi Christians Flee Mosul in the Wake of Attacks "A church in the northern city of Mosul was bombed as Christians continued to leave the city to escape recent violence that has been directed at them." Iraqi Christians' murders condemned "Muslim scholars have spoken out against a spate of attacks against Christians in northern Iraq, after more than 12 members of the community were killed in recent weeks."

Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Generals' Fears of Prosecution Threaten Deal "Zimbabwe's military commanders have pressed President Robert Mugabe to shield them from prosecution for the violent crackdown on his political foes this year, senior government officials say, and his response is threatening to derail a power-sharing deal that was supposed to halt the country's dizzying downward economic spiral."

Pakistan. New intelligence report says Pakistan is 'on the edge' "A growing al Qaida-backed insurgency, combined with growing economic and political conflicts, is plunging America's key ally in the war on terror deeper into turmoil, says a soon-to-be completed U.S. intelligence assessment."

Commentary. Next Victim of Turmoil: Your Salary (David Leonhardt, New York Times) "What, then, will the next stage of the downturn be about? It is likely to revolve around the worst slump in worker pay since - you knew this was coming - the Great Depression. This slump won't be anywhere near as bad as the one during the Depression, but it also won't be like anything the country has experienced in a long time."