Emails Show White House Knew of Benghazi on 9/11

A series of email alerts sent as Obama administration officials monitored the attack on the U.S consulate in Benghazi last month are the latest to shine light on the chaotic events that culminated in the death of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

The names of the individual recipients of the emails, first reported by CBS News but independently obtained by ABC News Tuesday evening, are redacted. A source who requested anonymity said it appears they are sent by the State Department Operations Center to distribution lists and email accounts for the top national security officials at the State Department, Pentagon, the FBI, the White House Situation Room and the office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The first email, with a subject line of "U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi Under Attack," sent at 4:05 PM about 25 minutes after the attack began, describes an assault on the compound by 20 armed people.

"The Regional Security Officer reports the diplomatic mission is under attack," the email states. "Embassy Tripoli reports approximately 20 armed people fired shots; explosions have been heard as well."

"Ambassador Stevens, who is currently in Benghazi, and four COM (Chief of Mission) personnel are in the compound safe haven," the email continues. "The 17th of February militia is providing security support."

The next email sent at 4:54 PM states that the shooting has stopped and the compound was cleared, adding that a response team was "onsite attempting to locate COM personnel."

The third email updates officials that Ansar al-Sharia claimed responsibility for the Benghazi attack on Facebook and Twitter, and has threatened to attack the Tripoli embassy.

The timing of the emails is consistent with what a senior State Department official told reporters at a briefing on Oct. 9 .

Teenage brothers charged with killing NJ girl, 12

An overflow crowd that couldn't get in listens to the service outside Clayton Baptist Church Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012, in Clayton, N.J., as the small town tries to begin healing after missing 12-year-old Autumn Pasquale was found dead. Her body was found around 10 p.m. Monday, just blocks away from her house. Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton said two teenage brothers were charged Tuesday with murdering Pasquale, who had been missing since the weekend, prompting a frantic search by her small hometown. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Photos released by Clayton, N.J. Police Department show Autumn Pasquale, 12, of Clayton, N.J. Authorities say her family reported her missing Saturday. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Clayton Police Department at (856) 881-2301. (AP Photo/Clayton, N.J. Police Department

CLAYTON, N.J. (AP) — A teenage boy lured a 12-year-old girl into his house under the guise of getting parts for her treasured bicycle and then, with his older brother, killed her, police said Tuesday. The girl's disappearance had sparked a frantic search by residents of her small town until a tip from the boys' mother led police to her body, stuffed into a homerecycling bin.

The boys, ages 15 and 17, were charged with murderingAutumn Pasquale, who disappeared while riding her BMX bike Saturday, a little more than a week before what would have been her 13th birthday. She appeared to have been strangled, Gloucester County prosecutor Sean Dalton said at a late-day news conference.

The boys' mother had come forward with information about a posting on a son's Facebook account, Dalton said. He wouldn't say what was on the website or discuss a possible motive for the killing, but said there was no sign of sexual assault.

Autumn was lured to the house, where they apparently lived with their mother and stepfather, for the purpose of getting parts for her treasured BMX bike, which she rode frequently and talked about on her Facebook pages.

Both brothers were charged with counts including first-degree murder, body disposal and tampering with evidence. The 15-year-old was also charged with luring.

The boys' names were not released because they are juveniles, but Dalton said his office is considering trying to have the case transferred to adult court. The boys turned themselves in with their attorneys, public defenders, but it could not be immediately determined who they are. The boys are expected in court for detention hearings Friday.

The girl's body was found around 10 p.m. Monday in a recycling bin on a vacant property next to the home where the boys live, police said. The suspects had attended a community vigil for her shortly before the discovery, several residents said.

Autumn's BMX bike and other belongings were recovered from the boys' home, the prosecutor said. He did not detail all the items, but a backpack matching a description of the girl's was also seen being taken out.

One of the three teenage brothers who friends said live at the house traded BMX bike parts, according to a according to a young man, Corey Hewes, 19, who said he was among those who traded with him.

Neighbors also said the house was a place where teens frequently hung out and had parties.

The home is just blocks from Autumn's house and from the town hall, where thousands of people gathered for the tearful candlelight vigil to pray for her safe return in this town of 8,000 about 25 miles south of Philadelphia.

"The search for Autumn is over," Dalton said Tuesday morning in the first of two news conferences, at which he was asked to assure residents they were safe with an apparent child-killer on the loose.

The girl's great-uncle, Paul Spadofora, thanked the community for its help in the search.

"There's evil everywhere, even in the small town of Clayton," Spadofora said.

Tuesday was trash collection day, and many residents had dragged their trash cans and recycling bins to the curb the night before. The covered recycling bins are collected by an automated truck that picks them up and dumps the contents into the back.

Police barricaded the block Tuesday morning, and friends and neighbors came by. Some mothers said they were keeping their kids out of school for the day. Even before the body was found, students reported that Spirit Week had been canceled because of the sorrow.

One young man rode a bike up, sat on a porch of a home and cried, then biked away.

Clayton Mayor Thomas Bianco walked to the scene, cried, hugged a police officer and gave a brief statement to the gathered reporters.

"You hear about it in other places but never think it would happen in our little town," he said.

Autumn was last seen around 12:30 p.m. Saturday pedaling her bike away from the home where she lives with her father, her two siblings, her father's girlfriend and the girlfriend's children, authorities said.

Relatives said they believed she was heading to see a friend, and they became worried only after she did not return by her 8 p.m. curfew.

Sunday morning, her disappearance became not only a crisis but a town-wide cause in Clayton. Volunteers by the hundred joined the search, scouring malls, nearby towns and passing out fliers.

By Monday evening, officials were thanking the volunteers for their help but asking them to call it a night.

Hundreds of people returned anyway for the vigil. Spadofora, the great-uncle, said he hoped the town could gather again a week later, with Autumn back, with candles to mark her birthday.

Instead, the community awoke Tuesday to news that her body had been recovered.

"I know a lot of you are angry over what has happened, and deservedly you have a right to be angry," Dalton said at day's end. "I hope today there is some measure of closure, and we can all mourn in the loss of this beautiful child."

On Tuesday night, more than 600 tearful people gathered at Clayton Baptist Church for an hour-long healing service. Counselors from a local school and chaplains from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association assisted those present.

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Associated Press photographer Mel C. Evans contributed to this report.

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Iran arrests 50 over currency decline

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's intelligence chief says up to 50 people have been arrested in connection with the decline in the value of the national currency and the chaos that followed the slide.

Heidar Moslehi says those detained have been accused of cooperating with the country's enemies to create currency "disruptions" and economic instability. He spoke after a Cabinet meeting Wednesday.

Iran's rial has lost nearly 40 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar this month. The rate Wednesday — about 31,500 rials to the dollar — was a bit better than the record low of 35,500 rials to the dollar earlier this month.

The rial's decline has been blamed on a combination of government mismanagement and the bite from Western sanctions imposed over Iran's suspect nuclear program.

Eurozone debt hits 90 percent of its economy

LONDON (AP) — In spite of years of harsh spending cuts and tax increases, Europe's debt problems are getting worse.

Figures from the EU's statistics office Wednesday showed that, at the end of the second quarter, the total government debt of the 17 countries that use the single currency was worth 90 percent of the group's total economic output for the year — the highest level since the euro was launched in 1999.

The rise from the previous quarter's debt to gross domestic product ratio of 88.2 percent, and the previous year's equivalent of 87.1 percent, is a result of the eurozone's economic problems — which are making it harder for countries to handle their debts.

"The euro area economy remains stuck in a rut," said James Ashley, senior European economist at RBC Capital Markets.

According to Eurostat five of the countries that use the euro are in recession — Greece,Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Cyprus. Many analysts expect the eurozone to slip back into recession in the third quarter of the year when official figures are published next month. A recession is technically defined as two quarters of negative growth in a row.

Other figures Wednesday pointed to a deepening economic crisis in the eurozone. The purchasing managers' index — a gauge of business activity — from financial information company Markit fell from the previous month's 46.1 to 45.8 in October — its lowest level in more than three years. Any figure below 50 indicates a contraction in activity.

Meanwhile, a closely watched survey from the Ifo Institute found business confidence inGermany, Europe's biggest economy, confounded expectations of a modest increase and dropped for the sixth month in a row. Ifo's key figure for October dropped to 100 from 101.4 in September.

Germany has been the main reason why the eurozone has not fallen into recession. The country's powerhouse exporters, such as Volkswagen and BMW, have taken a slice of rising trade volumes around the world while its consumers have shown an increasing appetite to spend. However, the country's economy has recently lost its momentum as the debt troubles on its doorstep have weighed on economic confidence.

A shrinking economy makes the value of a country's debt as a proportion of the size of its economy worse. Over the past year, Italy's debt burden, for example, has risen from 123.7 percent in the first quarter to 126.1 percent in the second quarter — that's come while its economy has shrunk for four straight quarters.

Greece's finances, though, are in a league of their own. The country, which is struggling to convince debt inspectors that it's fulfilling pledges it has made in return for billions of euros worth of bailout cash, saw the biggest quarterly increase in its debt burden to 150.3 percent of national income in the second quarter from 136.9 percent in the first.

The increase comes despite a dramatic fall in debt in the first quarter after Greece had successfully negotiated a deal with private bondholders to accept a writedown of their Greek holdings. The country's debt was reduced to €280 billion in the first quarter from €341 billion in the second quarter of 2011 as a result of the writedown.

But any advantage gained is slowly being whittled away by the country's deep recession, which appears headed for a sixth year. Interest on the debt, as well as continued budget deficits, pushed the debt back above €300 billion in the second quarter of 2012.

In the second quarter of 2012, the Greek economy was 6.2 percent smaller than the same period the previous year and all forecasters think the recession will last for a while longer, especially as the country readies to implement even more austerity measures. Lower wages, for example, will impact consumer spending, often a vital ingredient of economic growth.