Iowa already enjoys an enviably low unemployment rate of just 6%. But the president says this state's economy is not as strong as it could be. He announced a variety of steps to encourage rural business development, including increased capital and help for hospitals trying to recruit doctors. His administration's also been working to expand broadband Internet service to millions of rural customers.

 

"It's helping people sell goods, not just down the street but across the country and around the world."

 

One dairyman taking part in the forum complained that government regulations are discouraging job growth. He urged to freeze on any new rules from the EPA. Scott Horsely, NPR News, with the president in Peosta, Iowa.

 

After slowing down the first half of the year, some parts of the economy are faring better than others. Steve Beckner of Market News International has a look at how two major areas are doing so far in the second half of the year.

 

Housing remains the weakest sector of the economy as shown by July residential construction numbers from the Commerce Department. Housing starts are down 1.5% to an annual rate of 604,000. That's not as bigger drop as feared, but building permits, a leading indicator of future home construction, are down more than twice as much. On the other hand, the Federal Reserve says July industrial production is up more than expected. Output by the nation's factories, mines and utilities is higher by 0.9%, helped by a jump in auto manufacturing. Car making had been disrupted due to supply line interruptions caused by Japan's tsunami in March. For NPR News, I'm Steve Beckner.

 

Heavy machine gunfire is heard across the besieged Syrian city of Latakia which has been under military assault for the past four days. Activists fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad accused troops of killing 35 people so far in Latakia. The military operation is part of a broad government effort to end the five-month-old uprising.

 

The president of Yemen is pledging to return home despite repeated calls by members of the opposition to stay away. Ali Abdullah Saleh said in a televised address from Saudi Arabia that he will not surrender to critics whom he calls "war merchants and street looters." Saleh has been recovering from wounds sustained in a June attack on his palace compound, fears rising that his return will lead to a civil war.

 

After three days of gains on Wall Street, US stocks were down before the close with investors' focus on growth in the global economy after Germany announced its economic growth stalled in the second quarter. The Dow was down 77 points at last check at 11,406. 

 

This is NPR.

 

Earlier, we reported President Obama was in Iowa meeting with voters. The newest Republican presidential candidate was also mangling with voters in Iowa today. Texas Governor Rick Perry was in Dubuque, where he said that some of the reasons the economy has not improved under President Obama is because it is "overtaxed, overregulated and overlitigated."

 

Newly released documents are shedding light on the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Phil Latzman with member station WLRN in Miami tells us they show that last-minute changes by the US may have doomed the 1961 mission to overthrow Fidel Castro.

 

The newly declassified documents were made available by a Freedom of Information lawsuit filed earlier this year by the Washington-based National Security Archive. Among the revelations in them, a CIA operative accidentally fired on friendly pilots during the invasion, and US officials authorized the use of napalm on Cuban targets. The records also show the Kennedy administration dramatically scaling back the covert operation for fear it would be traced back to the US government. About 1,300 Cuban exiles were used in the attempt to overthrow the Castro government that began in April 17th, 1961. They were defeated within a span of 72 hours. The release includes four of the five volumes. A fifth remains classified. For NPR News, I'm Phil Latzman in Miami.

 

Police in northeastern Illinois are investigating an explosion at a natural gas pipeline company. They say five people were injured this morning at the Herscher plant.

 

Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow was down 77 points or more than 0.5% at 11,406, and the NASDAQ was down more than 1% at 2,523.