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range of published works and public remarks were stamped by his immodest wit and unconventional wisdom, died Tuesday at age 86 in Los Angeles.
• Vidal died at his home in the Hollywood Hills at about 6:45 p.m. of complications from pneumonia, his nephew Burr Steers said. Vidal had been living alone in the home and had been sick for "quite a while," Steers said.
• Vidal "meant everything to me when I was learning how to write and learning how to read," Dave Eggers said at the 2009 National Book Awards ceremony, where he and Vidal received honorary citations. "His words, his intellect, his activism, his ability and willingness to always speak up and hold his government accountable, especially, has been so inspiring to me I can't articulate it."
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• WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve concludes its two-day policy meeting Wednesday with a big question looming: Will it take some new action to jolt the U.S. economy out of its slump?
• Investors are hoping the Fed will announce another round of bond purchases, known as quantitative easing. The goal is to lower long-term interest rates and encourage more borrowing and spending.
• But economists say the Fed is likely to hold off until September to wait and see if job growth and consumer spending to pick up.
• U.S. growth slowed to an annual rate of just 1.5 percent from April through June,

down from the 2 percent pace in the first quarter. And consumers spent no more in June than they did in May, even though their income grew by 0.5 percent.
• Fed officials have signaled their concern about weakening job growth and consumer spending, which have brought the economy closer to a standstill. And Chairman Ben Bernanke has said the Fed is prepared to take further action if unemployment stays high.
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• LONDON (AP) -- Around the 2012 Olympics and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of the games to you:
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