If the wildfires in his home state don't change his plans, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is scheduled to make his national debut Wednesday in his first debate with seven fellow candidates for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Mall of America officials say that thousands of mall visitors have been stopped and questioned in recent years. The interviews at the mall are part of a counterterrorism initiative that acts as the private eyes and ears of law enforcement authorities but has often ensnared innocent people, according to an investigation by NPR and the Center for Investigative Reporting.

The suspicious activity reports submitted by the Mall of America's security team frequently land at the Minnesota Joint Analysis Center, one of 72 "fusion centers" in the United States started with federal funding.

The reports are routed through various law enforcement and intelligence networks, often ending up in front of local analysts and the FBI.

Those networks include local police databases and state fusion centers that collect and disseminate homeland security intelligence, along with systems run by the FBI and other federal agencies.

The trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resumes today following scuffles inside and outside the courtroom. Libyan officials loyal to Moammar Gadhafi reportedly fled to neighboring Niger. And Turkey announced it was "totally suspending" all trade, military and defense ties with Israel. Guest host Jacki Lyden discusses the latest news in the Middle East and North Africa with Al Jazeera International's Abderrahim Foukara and NPR Foreign Correspondent Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson.

Ralph Swagler was in his family's barbecue restaurant in Carson City, Nev., Tuesday morning when he heard gunshots outside and saw a man armed with what authorities say was an AK-47 walk into a nearby IHOP restaurant.

A Russian jet carrying a top ice hockey team crashed while taking off Wednesday in western Russia, killing at least 36 people and leaving one critically injured, officials said.

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the Yak-42 plane crashed as it was trying to take off from Yaroslavl airport, about 185 miles east of Moscow. It said one person survived the crash with grave injuries.

The weather was sunny and clear at the time.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin immediately sent the nation's transport minister to the site, 10 miles east of Yaroslavl.

Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) has been among the more outspoken members of Congress calling for major reductions in federal spending to reduce the budget deficit.

Our friend Frank James over at It's All Politics will be watching the action, but we do want to at least take note of tonight's Republican presidential debate and pass along the coordinates in case you want to check it out.

A key story line, according to the conventional wisdom: How will the new "front runner," Texas Gov. Rick Perry, do in his first appearance with the other seven?

As the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks draws closer, we're pointing to some of the stories being told about that day and the days since.

Madeleine V. Leckie Elementary School in Washington, D.C., has a strong, painful connection to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, as NPR's Claudio Sanchez reported earlier on Morning Edition.