News Wrap: Three firefighters die in wildfire ‘hellstorm’ in Washington state

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• GWEN IFILL:

  This was Wall Street's worst day in a year-and-a-half, as the Dow Jones industrials plunged nearly 360 points. The sell-off was driven by growing turmoil on China's markets and falling energy prices. It accelerated late in the day, as programmed selling kicked in.

  In the end, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 358 points to close below 17000. The Nasdaq fell 140 points and the S&P 500 dropped 44. The declines on the Dow and the S&P amounted to about 2 percent. The Nasdaq loss was nearly 3 percent.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Wildfires in the Western U.S. turned deadly again overnight, killing three firefighters in Northern Washington State. Officials said a hellstorm of flame caught them after their vehicle crashed near the town of Twisp. They're the latest of 13 firefighters to die this year.

  GOV. JAY INSLEE (D) Washington: These are three big heroes protecting small towns. And we are going to remember them. And there are seven million Washingtonians that today are embracing them and their families and praying for them and hoping for the speedy recovery of our injured. These are people who were lost doing what firefighters do, which is to rush towards the fire, rather than away.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Hundreds of people poured out of Twisp and a neighboring town overnight and today to escape the flames.

• GWEN IFILL:

  The same heat that's fueling wildfires made July the hottest month ever recorded on Earth. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that goes back to 1880, when record-keeping began. According to NOAA, the average land and sea temperature was 61.86 degrees, a fraction hotter than the old record. And the span of January through July was also the hottest ever for that seven-month period.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Community leaders in Saint Louis appealed for calm today after the killing of a black teenager sparked new trouble. Police say they shot Mansur Ball-Bey early yesterday when he pointed a gun during a drug search. Hours later, police fired tear gas at protesters and arrested nine people they said were throwing bricks and bottles.

  Today, local church leaders appealed to both sides.

• REV. CHARLES BROWN, President, Clergy Coalition:

  Until there's some type of dialogue, until people take responsibility as to what's going on, this is not going to stop. We can put people up here in front of the camera all we want. It's not going to stop until there's a great dialogue. And the dialogue is, is that everyone is at fault.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Tensions have been running high since the police shooting of Michael Brown in the Saint Louis suburb of Ferguson one year ago this month.

• GWEN IFILL:

  Rising tensions between the two Koreas erupted into artillery fire today. The North fired several shells, and the South answered with dozens of rounds of its own. There were no reports of casualties, but scores of people were evacuated from at least one village in the South. They took refuge in underground bunkers. The trouble's been building since land mines in the demilitarized zone wounded two South Korean soldiers this month.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  The military junta in Thailand is ruling out any link between this week's Bangkok bombing and foreign terror groups. Monday's blast killed 20 people and wounded more than 120 others. There's been wide-ranging speculation about who carried out the attack and why, leading to the military statement today.

• COL. WINTHAI SUVAREE, Thailand (through interpreter):

  The security agency has collaborated with intelligence agencies from a lot of countries, and has come to the same preliminary conclusion, that the incident is unlikely to be linked to international terrorism, and that Chinese tourists were not the direct target.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  The prime suspect, spotted on security video, remains at large. Police today cleared two other potential suspects, but they said, in all, as many as 10 people may have been involved in the plot.

• GWEN IFILL:

  In Egypt, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a car bombing that wounded at least 30 people in a Cairo suburb overnight. Daylight revealed the extent of the damage. The blast ripped through the building's facade, blowing out its windows, and leaving a crater in the road.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  And Britain and France announced new joint efforts today to stop thousands of migrants trying to sneak through the Channel Tunnel. British Home Secretary Theresa May and her French counterpart toured security operations in the port city of Calais, near the tunnel's entrance in France. They promised more guards, fences and cameras.

  But May said that's still not enough.

• THERESA MAY, British Home Secretary:

  The situation we are facing in Calais is the result of a global migration challenge. And that is why our two countries will continue to work closely together, to make sure the rest of the European Union and the transit and source countries from which migrants are coming are also playing their full part in solving this problem.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  An estimated 3,000 migrants are camped in Calais, with more arriving daily. At least 10 have died since June trying to get through the tunnel to Britain.