1. Rebels launch siege on Gadhafi compound
CNN Aug. 23, 2011
Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Libyan rebels surrounded Moammar Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli Tuesday, entering one of the gates and "attacking furiously," a rebel official told CNN.
As rebel fighters battled forces loyal to the Libyan leader, NATO also "hit some targets," said Mahmoud Shammam, minister of information for the National Transitional Council.
A CNN crew at a hotel nearby heard ferocious clashes and loud explosions coming from the compound, likely the sound of artillery shells being exchanged.
2. Hearing set after DA seeks to drop case against Strauss-Kahn
CNN Aug. 23, 2011
New York (CNN) -- The attorney for the woman who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her went on the offensive from Paris Tuesday, with an urgent plea for the disqualification of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.
Attorney Douglas Wigdor's news conference came just hours before a judge in New York was to consider a prosecution request to drop the charges against the former chief of the International Monetary Fund, citing questions about Nafissatou Diallo's credibility. A motion filed Monday by Wigdor's law partner, Kenneth Thompson, to disqualify Vance and appoint a special prosecutor, was rejected Tuesday by a judge.
"For the district attorney to now dismiss this case or seek to dismiss this case and turn his back on this victim because of so-called credibility issues is an affront not only on Ms. Diallo but an affront on all victims and sexual victims who come forward in the future," Wigdor said.
A "mountain of physical evidence" points toward a violent sexual assault during a 9-minute period inside Strauss-Kahn's New York hotel suite in May, Widgor told reporters in France, where he is gathering evidence for a civil lawsuit against the French citizen and onetime contender for that nation's presidency.
Prosecutors filed a "recommendation for dismissal" in the case Monday, noting more questions about Diallo's credibility.
"The nature and number of the complainant's falsehoods leave us unable to credit her version of events beyond a reasonable doubt, whatever the truth may be about the encounter between the complainant and the defendant," the document states. "If we do not believe her beyond a reasonable doubt, we cannot ask a jury to do so."
Prosecutors voiced concern that the case appeared to rest exclusively on the housekeeper's account, predicting her "falsehoods" would be "devastating" if revealed during a trial. They claim she "has not been truthful in matters great and small," including lying about a "gang rape, as well as other details about her life in (her native) Guinea."
3. Stocks may recover. But don't expect much.
CNN August 22, 2011
Despite the recent turmoil that has pushed major stock indexes into the red for the year, Wall Street experts are hopeful that the market will soon turnaround.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The major stock indexes are now down for the year thanks to the turmoil this August, but Wall Street experts are optimistic that the market will stage a comeback soon.
Investment strategists and money managers expect the S&P 500 will rally back almost 20% before the year is over, according to an exclusive CNNMoney survey. They expect the index to finish at 1,349, 7% higher than the start of the year.
In fact, only one of the 17 experts surveyed by CNNMoney thinks the S&P 500 finish in the red in 2011.
While strategists are calling for a pretty stellar run for the last four months of the year, they aren't as optimistic as they were just two months ago. In June, they were forecasting the S&P 500 to end 2011 with double-digit gains and hit 1,382. That would be a three-year high.
So what's changed?
"There's no doubting that we've entered into a much slower growthenvironment," said Tyler Vernon, Biltmore Capital chief investment officer. "And along with that, our debt has been downgraded and Europe's debt situation has gotten worse. It's really been a perfect storm for a market sell-off in fear."
But, he added that there is at least one constant amid all the uncertainty: corporate profits are still healthy.
"Company balance sheets have stayed really lean and mean since the last financial crisis," said Vernon, whose year-end target for the S&P 500 is right in line with the consensus estimate of 1,349. "Companies haven't hired and profit margins are the highest they've been in history, so they should continue to do fairly well even through this rough patch."
Those sound fundamentals should be enough to bring investors back into the market, especially considering the steep discount stocks are trading at after the recent slides. But Vernon thinks the Federal Reserve will also step in to help give Wall Street a boost.
"It may just be in rhetoric, but I think the Fed has some bullets left, and going into an election year, I think there will be some pressure on Ben Bernanke to keep this market afloat," he said.
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