U.S. and world news for Sept. 14

Disaster on Wall Street: Tuesday was a very, very bad day on Wall Street as all three major indexes posted their respective worst daily drops since June 2020. After the release of the Consumer Price Index data that put inflation at 8.3%, which was higher than expected, investors went on a selling spree that resulted in the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling about 1,276 points, or 3.9%, with the S&P 500 index dropping 4.3% and the Nasdaq Composite Index crashing by 5.2%.

The Queen”™s death and the U.K. economy: The death of Queen Elizabeth might wreak havoc on the U.K. economy. According to a BBC report, financial analysts have said the 10 days of national mourning across the nation plus the holiday declared for Queen Elizabeth’s state funeral on Sept. 19 could impact economic growth and push the U.K. into recession sooner than expected. The U.K.”™s gross domestic product fell in June due to the extra bank holiday for the Queen’s Jubilee, and the Bank of England predicted the nation would be in a recession before the end of the year.

Gannett sells four Massachusetts newspapers: The financially troubled Gannett newspaper chain has arranged for the sale of four Massachusetts newspapers that were scheduled to be shut down. The newspapers are The Holden Landmark, The Leominster Champion, The Millbury-Sutton Chronicle and The Grafton News, and they are slated to be acquired by CherryRoad Media, which owns approximately 70 newspapers in a dozen states. The terms of the sales have not been disclosed.

Ken Starr dies at 76: Ken Starr, the lawyer whose investigation into President Bill Clinton”™s relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky led to the president”™s impeachment, died yesterday at the age of 76 following complications from surgery. Starr first gained national prominence when President Ronald Reagan appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1983, but the Clinton investigation made him a public figure. Starr”™s later career was dogged by controversy ”“ he was part of the legal team that represented Jeffrey Epstein in 2008 in a controversial plea deal, and he was later forced out of the presidency of Baylor University following his handling of allegations of sexual assault by the school”™s football players. Starr was President Donald Trump”™s attorney during his 2020 Senate impeachment trial.

A killer kangaroo: An Australian man died after being attacked by a kangaroo he had been keeping as a pet. The Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported the 77-year-old man was living on a rural property when a relative called an ambulance on Monday to report that he had serious injuries. When paramedics arrived, the kangaroo prevented them from treating the man ”“ police were forced to shoot the kangaroo dead in order to get to the man, who died at the scene. This is the first fatal kangaroo attack in Australia since 1936.