The world at a glance . . . United States

Terror plot uncovered: Federal authorities were working furiously this week to unravel a terrorist bomb plot that may have targeted mass-transit systems and stadiums in New York and other cities. Local authorities were put on high alert after the FBI last week arrested three men in connection with the investigation. Among the men arrested was Afghan immigrant Najibullah Zazi, 24, an airport-shuttle driver in Denver, who allegedly admitted to receiving explosives training in Pakistan from al Qaida. Authorities said Zazi was found entering New York two weeks ago with bomb-making instructions on his computer, and that he and accomplices planned to cause widespread terror by detonating homemade hydrogen peroxide bombs hidden in backpacks in a coordinated attack on multiple targets. Authorities were searching self-storage facilities for stores of chemical explosives.

Zazi may have recruited up to a dozen men to carry out the bombings, authorities said, and was actively preparing to execute the plot. Those men are now being sought. Zazi had been under surveillance by the FBI and New York City police; the FBI reportedly was forced to make the arrests before learning more details because a New York police informant had alerted Zazi that he was being watched. The informant, a New York imam named Ahmad Wais Afzali, was also arrested, as was Zazi’s father. “It is clear that something very serious and something very organized was under way,” said Attorney General Eric Holder.

Atlanta

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Fatal flooding: At least nine people died this week after record-setting rains flooded large swaths of Georgia, shutting down city streets and major highways and causing more than $250 million in property damage. Most deaths were from drowning when cars were swept off roadways. Authorities released a 911 call of one storm victim’s last moments. Seydi Burciaga, a 39-year-old mother of two, screamed to a dispatcher as water rose to her neck. The dispatcher advised her to try to break a window, but she couldn’t. “I don’t want to drown here, please!” Burciaga cried. Parts of Atlanta received more than 20 inches of rain, and additional rain was forecast.

Raleigh, N.C.

New Edwards allegations: Former Democratic Sen. John Edwards persuaded an aide to claim that he, not Edwards, had fathered the daughter of Edwards’ onetime mistress, the former aide now says. Edwards has admitted to an affair with videographer Rielle Hunter during his 2008 presidential bid, but denied reports that he fathered her child. In a book proposal, the former aide, Andrew Young, says he claimed paternity only to protect Edwards, and that Edwards promised to marry Hunter after the death of his wife, Elizabeth, who is suffering from inoperable bone cancer. Edwards, the proposal says, told Hunter their wedding would be held atop a New York skyscraper, with the Dave Matthews Band providing the entertainment. A grand jury is investigating whether Edwards used campaign funds to buy Hunter’s silence. Edwards had no comment on Young’s allegations.

New Haven, Conn.

Murder arrest: Connecticut police arrested a Yale University lab technician and charged him with the gruesome murder of Yale graduate student Annie Le, whose body was found Sept. 13 stuffed behind a wall in the animal-research lab where she worked. She had been strangled to death, just days before she was to get married. Raymond Clark, 24, was arrested after police matched his DNA with evidence found at the scene. Co-workers of Clark, who cleaned animal cages in the lab, say that he was compulsively neat and would berate graduate students for their messy work habits. “Ray has always been very controlling about what goes on in the mouse room,” one co-worker said. He is being held on $3 million bail.

Washington, D.C.

Baucus bill debate: The Senate Finance Committee debate on the $856 billion health-care reform bill introduced last week by Sen. Max Baucus quickly grew heated this week, with Republicans calling it “an assault on liberty” because it requires Americans to get health insurance or pay a fine. Baucus offered revisions to his own bill aimed at helping poor families buy insurance and lowering penalties on those who decline to purchase a policy. The revisions were calculated to win the support of Maine Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe, who called the bill “a good starting point.” Other Republicans made clear they would not back the bill in any form. “This could wreck the country,” said Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch. The White House did not endorse Baucus’ bill, but aides say it will likely form the basis of the final health-care legislation.