The world at a glance . . . United States

San Francisco

Bay Bridge closes: The busiest bridge in the San Francisco Bay area was closed indefinitely this week, after material used in an emergency repair last month crashed onto the roadway, striking three vehicles. The closure of the Bay Bridge, which links San Francisco and Oakland, snarled commuter traffic and boosted ridership on rapid transit. Officials said they can’t say when the bridge will be reopened until inspectors can determine why two steel rods and a crossbeam snapped. “We’re dealing with some high winds,” said transit authority spokesman Bart Ney. “We want to be as safe and as thorough as possible.”

Palo Alto, Calif.

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Suicides shake town: A rash of teen suicides has spread alarm through the wealthy town of Palo Alto, spurring parents and community leaders to look for reasons and remedies. Since May, four students from the same high school, ages 13 to 17, have killed themselves by stepping in front of commuter trains that pass by the school. The most recent death occurred last week. Local police say they’ve prevented six to eight similar fatalities. Details of the deaths have been closely guarded, including the victims’ names and whether they knew one another. But experts have voiced concerns that some kind of “contagion” has taken hold. “It’s like drugs,” says psychologist Nadine Kaslow of Emory University. “You pass around drugs and that encourages other kids to do it.”

Minneapolis

Straying pilots grounded: The Federal Aviation Administration has revoked the licenses of two Northwest Airlines pilots who overshot their destination by 150 miles last week before realizing it and landing safely at the scheduled airport. Federal authorities say the pilots, Timothy Cheney and Richard Cole, were flying 144 passengers from San Diego to Minneapolis when they became immersed in a discussion about Northwest’s new crew scheduling system. Cole allegedly started up his laptop computer, in violation of FAA regulations, to demonstrate the system to Cheney. For 91 minutes, the FAA said, the two ignored radio calls from air-traffic controllers until they were interrupted by flight attendants. Fearing the plane had been hijacked, the Air Force temporarily scrambled fighter jets to intercept it.

Chicago

Terror plot foiled: Federal prosecutors have charged two men with plotting an attack at the Danish newspaper that stirred worldwide controversy in 2005 by publishing cartoons that satirized the Prophet Mohammed. David Headley, 49, and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 48, were charged with planning to kill Kurt Westergaard, the staff cartoonist of Jyllands-Posten, as well as the newspaper’s editor. In a 2008 Internet post, Headley wrote that he felt “disposed towards violence for the offending parties” responsible for the cartoons. When the FBI arrested him at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, he had videotapes of Copenhagen and the newspaper’s offices in his luggage. Rana, a Pakistan-born Canadian citizen, is charged with financing Headley’s travel to Denmark.

Watertown, N.Y.

Campaign splits GOP: A special congressional election in upstate New York has brought internal Republican divisions into sharp relief. Rather than backing the Republican candidate for the open seat, state Rep. Dede Scozzafava, a supporter of abortion rights and gay marriage, many conservatives are backing a third-party candidate, Doug Hoffman. Last week, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin endorsed Hoffman, saying “there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race.” That drew a sharp response from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who warned that a “purge” of party moderates “guarantees Obama’s re-election.” Both Gingrich and Palin are possible GOP presidential hopefuls in 2012.

Washington, D.C.

Sex traffic raids: Federal officials have arrested nearly 700 people and rescued 52 children, in a three-day national sweep targeting child prostitution. The raids in 36 cities netted 60 alleged pimps, accused of forcing children as young as 10 into sex work. The arrests are the continuation of an initiative launched in 2003 against sex trafficking in the U.S. Since the initiative began, more than 900 children, most of them girls, have been rescued and 510 procurers convicted. An estimated 100,000 children are involved in prostitution in the U.S. and the problem is growing, experts say, as recession-related family conflicts drive children from their homes.