LOCAL

» A federal judge dismissed forced-labor charges Thursday against brothers Alec and Mike Sou of Aloun Farms. They had been accused of illegally bringing in 44 Thai laborers and forcing them to work under threat of deportation. A related case remains pending against a Los Angeles-based labor contracting business, Global Horizons, that provided workers to Aloun Farms and other businesses in what the government has called the largest human trafficking case ever prosecuted in the United States.

» The state might have to lay off about 700 public school employees if it is ordered to cancel the pay cuts, furloughs and higher health care premiums it imposed July 1, the Abercrombie administration said Monday in response to the teachers union’s challenge to the forced employment terms.

» A state judge sentenced a Puna man, Marwan Jackson, on Friday to life in prison with the chance for parole for killing his pregnant girlfriend, Sarah Fay, in 2005. Fay was brain-dead but kept on life support until her son could be delivered by cesarean section.

» The city could save more than $10 million in five years if it merged its paramedic and lifeguard operations into the Honolulu Fire Department, a study released Monday concluded.

» An Oahu grand jury indicted a former Niu Valley Middle School employee Tuesday for allegedly coaxing a 12-year-old girl to send him explicit photos in the first "sexting" case here resulting in criminal charges.

» A former Kailua High School teacher charged with hitting a student with a hammer said it was an accident that happened when he swung the hammer in frustration and it slipped out of his hand. David Izumi, 51, pleaded no contest Monday to misdemeanor assault.

MAINLAND

» Ending a perilous stalemate, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders reached a historic deal Sunday on emergency legislation to avert the nation’s first-ever financial default. The deal would slice at least $2.2 trillion from federal spending over a decade and extend the Treasury’s authority to borrow.

» A Texas jury found polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs guilty Thursday of one count of sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child. He faces a maximum of 119 years in prison.

» Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., staged a triumphant return to Congress on Monday to vote on the debt deal. Giffords was shot in the head seven months ago while speaking with constituents at a Tucson mall.

» A teenager who was buried in 6 feet of sand Wednesday while digging a trench on a California beach said he was certain he would die before lifeguards, paramedics and beachgoers dug him out in a rescue caught on video. Matt Mina, 17, was born in Wahiawa and lived seven years on Hawaii island.

WORLD

» In the deadliest day for U.S. forces in the nearly decade-long war in Afghanistan, insurgents shot down a Chinook helicopter Saturday, killing 30 Americans — including Navy SEAL commandos from the broader unit that killed Osama bin Laden — and seven Afghans, U.S. and Afghan officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

» Syria’s government tightened the screws on demonstrators in Hama, the epicenter of anti-regime protests, as President Bashar Assad struggled to keep his grip on power and bloodshed across the country worsened.

THIS WEEK: AUG.7-13

LOCAL

» Wednesday: Honolulu Planning Commission public hearing on bill to try to curb illegal vacation rentals on Oahu by requiring legitimate vacation rental operators to include their permit number on advertising, 1:30 p.m., Mission Memorial Auditorium.

» Thursday: Hawaii Civil Rights Commission will discuss, among other topics, "Promoting Peace and Pono in the Schools," 3 p.m., 830 Punchbowl St., room 410.

MAINLAND

» Monday: About 4,000 furloughed Federal Aviation Administration employees head back to work after Congress reinstated funding for the agency through mid-September.

» Monday: An Education Department-sponsored drug-free schools conference kicks off in Washington and runs through Wednesday.

» Saturday: The Republican Party straw poll in Ames, Iowa, is the first test of candidate support in the state that holds the first-in-the-nation caucuses.