Systematic discrimination was discovered in Wells Fargo's lending practices. This resulted in more than 34,000 African-American and Hispanic wholesale borrowers, paying an increased rate for loans simply due to their color of their skin.

Part of the settlement includes 50 million dollars to help affected buyers with down payments or home improvements in cities that the government has identified as the most severely hurt in the housing crisis. 

 

 

The US is expanding its sanctions on Iran. It's targeting more firms and individuals for contributing to what the administration says is an effort for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.

 

 

More evidence has been released in the case of George Zimmerman, the Florida man charged with second degree murder in the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin. NPR's ** reports it includes phone calls Zimmerman made to police over several months. 

George Zimmerman identified himself as a neighborhood watch volunteer in the released phone calls telling dispatchers that there have been several break-ins in his community. He calls about kids playing in the street, a man picking up garbage, two men standing by gate and about unarmed Trayvon Martin on that fateful night last February and encounter that ended with this radio transmission released by officials.

I need somebody ASAP I've got one down with a gunshot wound and I've got another one secured.

Zimmerman was arrested 44 days after the nation. The delay prompted nationwide protests. He was released on bail last week again and is in what his attorney calls a safe house in Florida. ** NPR News.

 

 

Scaving criticism handed down today to the former leadership of Penn State University in the wake of the child abuse scandal. Former FBI director Louis Freeh has released a report on the school's handling of allegations against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky who has been convicted on abuse charges accuses university officials of a coverup and failing to protect the young victims. 

 

 

Travel through a Michigan tunnel connecting Detroit with Windsor, Ontario was shut down because of a bomb threat about  4.5 million vehicles, passed through that under water tunnel during all of last year. It is one of two international border crossings in Detroit. A new border tunnel apparently designed to smuggle drugs from Mexico into the US reportedly has been uncovered in the Tijuana. The Associated Press citing  Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lauren Mack says the incomplete tunnel began under a bathroom sink inside a warehouse, it did not reach the San Diego border. 

 

 

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was off 1 points at 12,604. 

This is NPR News.

 

 

New jobless claims in the US dropped by 26,000 last week. They fell to their lowest level in four years. But NPR's Dave Mattingly reports the decline may be seasonal. 

Economist Jew Johnson says automakers deciding to delay the retooling of their plans are largely behind the drop and weakly jobless claims.

We had expected at this time a year some shutdowns of automobile, of factories and manufacturing facilities, particularly in the case of Chrysler, Ford and Nissan. We didn't get those shutdowns because they are trying to keep those factories open to meet really pretty good demand for automobiles. 

Adjusted seasonally new claims declined 360,000, but Johnson expects that number to go back up over the next month. Dave Mattingly, NPR News, Washington.

 

 

The Syrian army is shelling parts of Damascus today in a further escalation of the conflict there. Russell Lewis reports activists say at least 34 people have been killed across Syria today. 

The Syrian government's crackdown on rebels is taking an unprecedented turn today. The Syrian military is shelling the densely populated neighborhood of ** in Damascus, about a ten-minute drive from the presidential palace. The government says it's pursuing what it calls armed gangs in the area. The Syrian military is using motors and tanks on the ground and some activists are saying there is also a helicopter fire. Violence elsewhere in the country continues with a focus on Damascus suburbs and rest of areas in the north. Russell Lewis NPR News, Beirut.

 

 

Meanwhile, the Syrian ambassador to Iraq, who defected to the opposition, is officially fired by the Assad regime.  

 

 

This is NPR News.