It was his first individual gold medal of the London Olympics and he beat his teammate and rival Ryan Lochte. This was second of their two head-to-head matchups and Lochte got one, he got the first one and Phelps got the second. NPR's Tom Goldman in London.

Phelps now has broken his own record with 20 Olympic medals. 

 

 

The international envoy for Syria says he is resigning at the end of his term. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports Kofi Annan is blaming his failed mission on UN Security Council members preferring to unite to stop the violence. 

The former UN Secretary General told reporters in Geneva that he is giving up by the end of the month on what many had called mission impossible. 

At a time when we need, when the Syrian people desperately need action, there continues to be finger-pointing and name-calling in the Security Council.

Annan's reputation took a beating as he tried unsuccessfully to get Syria's government and opposition fighters to ceasefire and talk. US Ambassador Susan Rice says he should be commended for as she put it, taking on such a thankless and difficult task, at great personal cost. Michele Kelemen, NPR News Washington.

 

 

The number of people filing for unemployment benefits rose last week, though less than expected. But the four week moving average of applications went down, NPR's Sonari Glinton reports analysts are monitoring the weekly numbers in context. 

July is the typical time when the auto maker shut down their plants. They use this time to clean up, fix and change auto machines and get ready for the end of the year rush. This year, the Japanese car companies that build in the US are working overtime to make up for losses after last year's earthquake and tsunami. Economist Nigel Gault says these changes make it hard to get a real sense of what's going on, jobless.

We have a much better picture, tomorrow for the month of July. And in the next couple of weeks, all of the seasonal distortions that can boost the claims then as around. Those distortions are going to disappear from the numbers.

The Labor Department reports on the all important monthly unemployment number tomorrow. Sonari Glinton, NPR News.

 

 

The European Central Bank said today it may take steps directly in the open market to drive down high borrowing rates in the eurozone struggling nations. But it's offering no specifics and making more promises. The lack of concrete actions drove stocks down today, just before the close, the Dow was off 92 points; the NASDAQ was off 10; the S&P was off 10 at 1,365.

 

 

This is NPR.

 

 

Retailers say they made solid gains last month, some including Cosco say sales were better than expected. They say hot weather and clearance prices helped. 

 

 

A government survey finds the US is likely to rely less on oil imports in coming years. NPR's Jeff Brady reports that's because there is more proved reserves of oil and natural gas in the US than previously estimated. 

Controversial technologies like hydraulic fracturing or fracking are making it easier to extract more oil and natural gas in the US. Increasing supply and declining demand means the US is importing less oil. Last year, imports totalled about 55%. Adam Sieminski with the Energy Information Administration says some models show that number could decline dramatically by 2035. 

It could get down to as low as 14% or 15%. We will still be importing oil in the US. But a lot of that would be coming from Canada. 

Most of the domestic reserve increases are in Texas, Louisiana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and the Gulf of Mexico. Jeff Brady, NPR News.

US officials say there was no near mid-air collision of three US airways commuter jets are near Washington's Reagan National Airport Tuesday. They are calling it a loss of separation and blame it on miscommunication. The Flight Safety Foundation's Kevin Hiatt says the pilots of two departing planes didn't know there was about one that's approaching. 

They had no idea based on what they had been given at that particular time that another aircraft was inbound coming their direction. That's air traffic control. And could if they were all being even on a different frequency at that particular time. 

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident.