Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta, Everth Cabrera, Antonio Bastardo and a handful of players who are not on active Major League rosters have all been suspended for 50 games. Cruz and Peralta, who played for teams in the playoff hunt, can return by the post season. Alex Rodriguez will reportedly appeal his suspension, which is for 211 games including all of next season. Rodriguez is, in fact, playing in his first game of the season after coming off the disabled list and will play during his appeal. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig explained that Rodriguez’s longer sentence was for an attempt to cover up the investigation that led to these suspensions. Mike Pesca, NPR News. 

The State Department is keeping 19 overseas diplomatic posts closed for the rest of the week. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports this is on top of a global travel alert suggesting that al-Qaeda may be planning an attack on US interests abroad. 

White House spokesman Jay Carney says the decision to keep these embassies closed a few extra days does not come from new intelligence, but rather a reassessment of the same intelligence that initially led the US to close some embassies late last week, and Carney says the US is not certain about the intended targets. 

“The threat is emanating from and may be directed towards the Arabian Peninsula, but it is beyond that, potentially, and that is why we have taken some of the actions we've taken and we can't be more specific than that.” 

He says the available information suggests that al-Qaeda may try to stage attacks between now and the end of August. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, the White House. 

Emergency workers in Afghanistan and Pakistan are struggling to rescue and assist victims of flash floods. NPR's Sean Carberry reports that in eastern Afghanistan the death toll has risen to more than 80, and many people remain unaccounted for. 

Several days of heavy rain triggered flash floods in at least six different provinces in eastern Afghanistan. Officials say hundreds of houses have been washed away along with roads and agricultural land. The hardest-hit area is the Sorobi district of eastern Kabul province where dozens have died. Many of the bodies are being recovered miles downriver. Heavy deforestation and poor construction of houses in rural areas are exacerbating the flood damage. Officials expect the death toll to climb as emergency responders struggle with poor infrastructure and mountainous terrain to make their way into remote villages. Sean Carberry, NPR News, Kabul. 

Before the closing bell, Dow Jones Industrial Average down 46 points at 15,612, NASDAQ was up three at 3,693, and the S&P 500 off three points at 1,707. You’re listening to NPR News. 

The global campaign to fight hunger has made a breakthrough of sorts. Scientists have produced their first lab-grown hamburger. It was sampled at a news conference today in London. NPR's Philip Reeves reports the prospects for what this could mean for feeding the world were arguably more appetizing than the burger's actual taste. 

The burger is intended as an ethical, environmentally friendly way to produce meat in the face of growing global demand. It's made from tiny strips of muscle grown from cow stem cells at an institute in the Netherlands. Scientists there say it currently takes 440,000 cows to make 175 million burgers. Yet it should eventually be possible to make the same amount with cells from one cow. A food scientist who is one of two people to taste the burger today says it's pretty similar to meat but not very juicy. It also is a lot more expensive. The burger cost more than 330,000 dollars to develop in a project bankrolled by Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Philip Reeves, NPR News, London. 

Closing arguments are wrapping up in James Whitey Bulger's racketeering trial. The reputed Boston mob boss is accused of taking part in 19 murders, charges which he is pleaded not guilty. He is also charged with a number of other crimes. For more than 15 years, Bulger was among the most wanted fugitives in the US until 2011 when he was captured. 

The family of a tourist who was killed in a hit-and-run rampage on the crowded Venice Beach boardwalk over the weekend says she was robbed of her life. They issued a statement today on their loss of 32-year-old Alice Gruppioni, who was on her honeymoon when a man mowed down pedestrians Saturday, injuring 11 people as well. That driver is now in police custody.