“With the unemployment level having stuck above 8% for 43 straight months, we remember that the president promised that if we let him borrow almost a trillion dollars, he never let it reach 8%. It has been above 8% ever since.”

 

President Obama says the reason the US is in economic trouble is because of failed policies of prior Republican leaders.

 

“After all that we have been through, do we really think that it would make sense to roll back regulations on Wall Street? That, somehow, that’s going to help small businesswomen expand, or laid-off construction workers keep their homes. Let me tell you that. We have been there. We have tried what they are peddling. It didn’t work.”

 

Mr. Obama is on a two-day bus tour of Florida. Mr. Romney will attend a NASCAR event later today in Richmond, Virginia.

 

The National Weather Service says it appears a tornado touched down at a beachfront area of New York City. There aren't any reported injuries and damage appears small. But residents like Lusan Mayor were surprised when they saw something swirling.

 

“I kind of had that like a falling effect with the water, and then that got more concentrated as it went across over … like she had that area in Brooklyn.”

 

The weather affected the US Open Tennis Tournament, which is held in the area. Tonight’s women’s final between Sabrina Williams and Victoria Asranka has been put off until tomorrow.

 

Six civilians including children are dead in the wake of an attack by a 14-year-old suicide bomber near NATO’s headquarters in Kabul. NPR’s Allison Keyes reports.

 

The US-led NATO coalition is condemning the attack, saying in a statement “forcing underage youth to do their dirty work again proves the insurgency's despicable tactics.” The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, in which the bomber rode right up to the NATO gates on a bicycle in an area where children often sell gum and other goods. This a day after the US designated the Haqqani network as a terrorist organization. It’s been blamed for a number of high-profile attacks in Afghanistan's capital. Allison Keyes, NPR News.

 

Pakistan has released a young Christian girl from prison who was accused of burning pages from a Koran. She has been caught up in Pakistan’s severe blasphemy law. It can mean a death sentence for those who desecrate a Koran. Her supporters say she was set up, and a Muslim cleric has been arrested and charged with hiding the Koran pages in her bag to make it appear that she burned them. The cleric has denied the charge.

 

You’re listening to NPR News from Washington.

 

Italian and NATO rescue crews continued their search today for shipwreck survivors of the Italian island of Lampodusa. The victims were from Tunisia. Fifty-six people were rescued; one person died. NPR’s Sylvia Poggioli says at least 50 more people are missing.

 

Survivors said there had been at least 100 people on board when the 36-foot-long boat began sinking. Lampidusa, closer to Africa than the Italian mainland, is a frequent destination of North African smugglers. The shipwreck followed the recent deaths of 61 migrants, mostly Syrians and Palestinians, after their boat sank off Turkey. Amnesty International said EU governments must do more to rescue and assist the destitute people who arrive on their shores. And Human Rights Watch said Mediterranean rescue operations are hampered by poor coordination, disincentives for commercial vessels to conduct rescues and emphasis on border enforcement. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Rome.

 

At least 80 died in Friday’s double earthquake in southwestern China. Thousands of buildings were damaged in the rural area, and rescue crews are trying to get to isolated communities. They are clearing roads of boulders and setting up tent camps for survivors. The region had seen damaging quakes before. In 2008, more than 87,000 people died in a huge earthquake in southwestern Sichuan province.

 

Delegates to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit are gathered in eastern Russia, talking about the global economy. China and Russia both urged member nations to invest more in their economies. And they are urging member nations of APEC to keep inflation low.