National and World News Digest

Grocer A&P files for bankruptcy

MONTVALE, N.J.

The Great Atlantic & Tea Co., best known to grocery shoppers as A&P, says it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to deal with heavy debt and high costs. The company, founded in 1859, says it will have access to $800 million in debtor-in-possession financing through JPMorgan Chase & Co. and that all of its 395 stores, which are located in eight states in the eastern U.S., are fully stocked and open for business.

Swedes shocked by terror attacks

STOCKHOLM

No one died except for the suspected bomber, but two explosions in Sweden’s capital tore at the fabric of this tolerant and open nation — a society that hadn’t seen a terrorist attack in more than three decades. Two people were wounded in central Stockholm on Saturday in what appeared to be the first suicide bombing in the history of Sweden, which has been spared the major terrorist strikes seen in several other European countries.

S. Korean boat sinks in Antarctic Ocean

SEOUL, South Korea

South Korea says four sailors are dead, 18 are missing and 20 have been rescued from a fishing boat that sank in the Antarctic Ocean. The Foreign Ministry and coast guard officials say the 614-ton ship with 42 sailors aboard sank around 4:30 a.m. today, South Korean time, about 1,400 miles south of New Zealand.

Mexicans march in support of kingpin

MORELIA, Mexico

A peace march called by local authorities in western Mexico turned into a show of support for a slain drug lord Sunday, with adults and children carrying signs lauding the capo known for handing out Bibles to the poor. Hundreds of people turned out for the march in Apatzingan, the birth place of La Familia cartel leader Nazario Moreno, who was known as “The Craziest One” and reputedly indoctrinated his gang members in pseudo-Christian ideology.

Palin: Haiti needs ‘military airlift’

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti

Sarah Palin urged Americans on Sunday not to forget Haiti as she wrapped up a weekend visit to an aid group’s sites in this country vexed by a cholera epidemic, earthquake reconstruction and political crisis. Accompanied by her husband, Todd; daughter Bristol, a Fox News crew and the Rev. Franklin Graham, who runs the aid group that hosted her, the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate arrived in Haiti during a respite from the riots and violence that have followed the Caribbean nation’s dysfunctional Nov. 28 election.

Boulders fall on Hawaii home

AIEA, Hawaii

Authorities say two people were hospitalized after two large boulders fell on their home in Hawaii. Fire officials say the boulders slammed into the back bedroom of the two-story home in Aiea, near Honolulu, Saturday evening. One of the rocks was estimated to be at least 5 feet in diameter, the other about half that size. A 50-year-old man suffered a fractured leg, while his 36-year-old wife was trapped under the debris.

Farmers across the South battle drought

LYONS, Ga.

Farmers across the South are contending with abnormally dry weather and a drought that began in the spring. Crops in dry fields then baked during stretches of record-setting summer heat that scorched peanut fields, stressed cotton plants and stunted citrus fruit. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared disasters in parts of 16 states, with some of the driest spots in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

Associated Press