The nation in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY “When we’re collecting in bulk all

of these records of Americans’ phone calls, we’re not

necessarily being any more effective

at protecting the country.” Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., on the contentious U.S.

intelligence-gathering programs, speaking on CBS’ Face the Nation Article, 5A2nd body found in Hudson River crash

PIERMONT, N.Y. - A day after a bride-to-be was pulled dead from the Hudson River, the body of her fiance’s best man was found a mile downstream Sunday, the second victim of a nighttime crash involving a speedboat and a barge north of New York City.

The deadly collision left the groom-to-be facing surgery for his own injuries as another friend is charged with manslaughter.

“I don’t think you can put words to what we have to tell these families,” Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco said a body believed to be that of Mark Lennon, 30, the best man, was found Sunday morning.

Lindsey Stewart and Brian Bond, both 30, would have been married Aug. 10.

Stewart, Bond, Lennon and three others were on a speedboat that crashed Friday night into a barge holding equipment for the construction of a replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Police said it was being piloted by Jojo John, 35, of Nyack, whom they suspect was intoxicated and who has been charged with vehicular manslaughter and vehicular assault.

2 swept away after heavy rains in N.C.

COLLETTSVILLE, N.C.

• Heavy rains that caused power failures and flash floods in western North Carolina were blamed for the deaths of a 10-year-old girl and 48-yearold man who were swept away while swimming in a rural creek.

The victims were from two Charlotte-area families who were swimming in a usually calm pool section of Wilson Creek that’s nearly 100 miles north of Charlotte, Caldwell County spokesman LouAnn Kincaid said Sunday.

They were identified as Juan Alberdi of Huntersville and Delilah Lovett of Charlotte. Alberdi and his two children and a friend and her two children visited the creek to swim Saturday evening, Caldwell County officials said in a statement Sunday.

The girl’s body was recovered Saturday evening after being spotted by kayakers about three-quarters of a mile from where she had been swimming, Kincaid said. Alberdi’s body was recovered Sunday.

2 leading ad firms reveal merger plan

Two leading advertising companies, Omnicom Group and Publicis Groupe, announced a merger Sunday that would create the world’s biggest family of agencies, with a stock market value of $35.1 billion and 130,000 employees.

The combination of Publicis, based in Paris, and Omnicom, based in New York, would supplant the advertising industry leader, WPP of London. Although Omnicom is slightly bigger than Publicis, the deal is designed as a merger of equals, combining companies that had total revenue of $22.7 billion last year.

The new company would be called the Publicis Omnicom Group.

The marriage, , would bring under one roof separate networks of ad agencies. Collectively, the conglomerates represent some of the world’s largest brands, including AT&T, Visa and Pepsi at Omnicom and McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Wal-Mart at Publicis.