Nation & World Briefly Oct. 1

US airstrike in Yemen kills American al-Qaida leader

SANAA, Yemen (AP) - The killing of U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and another American militant propagandist in a U.S. airstrike Friday wipes out the decisive factor that made al-Qaida's branch in Yemen the most dangerous threat to the United States: its reach into the West.

Issuing English-language sermons on jihad on the Internet from his hideouts in Yemen's mountains, al-Awlaki drew Muslim recruits like the young Nigerian who tried to bring down a U.S. jet on Christmas and the Pakistani-American behind the botched car bombing in New York City's Times Square.

Friday's drone attack was believed to be the first instance in which a U.S. citizen was tracked and killed based on secret intelligence and the president's say-so. Al-Awkaki was placed on the CIA "kill or capture" list by the Obama administration in April 2010 - the first American to be so targeted.

The other American killed in the strike, Samir Khan, published a slick English-language Web magazine, "Inspire," that spouted al-Qaida's ideology of attacks on Westerners and even gave how-to manuals on how to carry one out - like an article titled, "Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom."

Their voices elevated the several hundred al-Qaida fighters hiding out in Yemen into a greater threat than similar affiliates of the terror network in North Africa, Somalia or east Asia.

Obama approves 4 more solar energy loan guarantees worth nearly $5B

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Energy Department on Friday approved four more solar energy loan guarantees worth nearly $5 billion, hours before a controversial loan program was set to expire.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the department completed deals on four separate projects, including two that were sold late this week by Arizona-based First Solar Inc., a major solar manufacturer that had been seeking three federal loan guarantees for projects in California. The sales were announced Friday along with the loan guarantees.

The loans were approved under the same program that paid for a $528 million loan to Solyndra Inc., a now-bankrupt solar panel maker that has become a symbol for critics of the Obama administration's green energy program.

Two other solar loan guarantees worth about $1.1 billion were announced earlier this week, as the Obama administration pushes forward with the loan program despite pleas from GOP critics to halt it to avoid another Solyndra-like debacle.

Chu said the solar projects, which could cost taxpayers as much as $6 billion should help the U.S. as it competes with China and other countries to develop renewable energy.

GOP poll leaders Romney and Perry head toward clash

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is following his long-planned, tested and methodical strategy to secure the Republican presidential nomination, while his chief rival, Rick Perry, is challenging the experienced campaigner on the fly.

Meanwhile, two people close to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie say he's reconsidering his decision to stay out of the race. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the issue.

Neither Romney nor Perry is panicking nor retooling after an aggressive September battle in which each landed blows. But as they begin October, they will each reach deeper into the early contest state perceived to belong to the other man.

Romney has kept a low profile in Iowa, but his campaign is growing in the state now, hoping to generate momentum by finishing in the top three in the caucuses, the first of the 2012 nominating contests.

The former Massachusetts governor is dispatching his wife, Ann, there next week and plans his own visit later in the month. After scaling back sharply from his $10-million 2008 campaign in Iowa, Romney is now adding modestly to his small Iowa staff and building support among niche groups, such as the agricultural industry, local businesses and senior citizens.

Paramedic takes stand at trial of Michael Jackson's doctor

LOS ANGELES (AP) - After just a few moments in Michael Jackson's bedroom, the paramedic dispatched to save the singer's life knew things weren't adding up.

There was the skinny man on the floor, eyes open and a surgical cap on his head. His skin was turning blue. Paramedic Richard Senneff asked the sweating, frantic-looking doctor in the room what condition the stricken man had.

"He said, 'Nothing. He has nothing,"' Senneff told jurors at the involuntary manslaughter trial of Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray.

"Simply, that did not add up to me," Senneff said.

Over the course of the 42 minutes that Los Angeles paramedics tried to revive Jackson, several other things about the room and Murray's responses seemed inconsistent with what had really happened, Senneff said.

California man, 68, found alive a week after plunge off mountain road

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (AP) - David Lavau's children drove slowly along the perilously curved mountain road, stopping to peer over the treacherous drop-offs and call out for their father, missing for six days.

Then, finally, a faint cry: "Help, help."

Close to a week after his car plunged 200 feet into a ravine, Lavau, 68, was rescued Thursday by his three adult children, who took matters into their own hands after a detective told them his last cellphone signal came from a rugged section of the Angeles National Forest.

As he lay injured in the woods next to his wrecked car, he survived by eating bugs and leaves and drinking creek water, his children said in TV interviews.

One of the first things he requested after his rescue: a chocolate malt, his daughter Chardonnay Lavau said on NBC's "Today" show.