PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Aug 25

Aug 25 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* U.S. Representative Kendrick Meek won a come-from-behind victory in Florida's Democratic U.S. Senate primary, soundly defeating billionaire Jeff Greene on a night when voters in several states sent mixed signals about the strength of this year's anti-establishment wave. Arizona Senator John McCain won his primary.

* U.S. home sales plummeted in July as potential buyers stayed on the sidelines, spurring fears of renewed weakness in housing prices and the broader economy.

* An obscure Canadian export cartel has emerged as a key negotiating issue for BHP Billiton (BHP.AX: Quote) (BLT.L: Quote) and other potential buyers circling Potash Corp (POT.TO: Quote).

* The Bank of Japan is considering additional measures to loosen monetary policy further to ease the negative impact of the surging yen on the domestic economy, people familiar with the central bank's thinking said.

* Like homeowners walking away from mortgaged houses that plummeted in value, some of the largest commercial-property owners are defaulting on debts and surrendering buildings worth less than their loans.

* The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday the Obama administration's economic-stimulus plan has increased the number of employed Americans by between 1.4 million to 3.3 million during the second quarter.

* The group that sets U.S. accounting rules said Tuesday that its longstanding chairman would retire, causing new uncertainty over highly contentious accounting issues that have major bearing on how U.S. companies report their results.

* A former senior oil industry regulator at the Interior Department took golf tickets, lodging and meals from one of the companies he regulated, says a government report that was seized upon by advocates of tougher ethics standards at the agency.