NPR 2010-08-31

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Law enforcement officials confirmed reports that two men were detained after flying from Chicago to Amsterdam. Officials tell NPR the men do not appear to have ties to al-Qaeda or its affiliates¹, but they are continuing to check those connections. One of the men had a number of cell phones, a medicine bottle and other items taped together that made officials suspicious. Their bags were removed from the planes before takeoff. Officials are cautioning against reading too much into the episode while they continue their investigation². Under Dutch law, the men can't be detained while that investigation continues.

President Obama says his advisors³ are looking for new ways the government can encourage companies to hang out the help-wanted sign. As NPR's Scott Horsley reports, that might include additional tax cuts and government spending on infrastructure⁴.

President Obama promised he'll have more to say about government moves to boost the economy in the days to come. For now, he's renewing his call for Congress to pass a small business assistance measure, an idea he's been tallying⁵ since his State of the Union speech seven months ago.

"The small business owners and the communities that rely on them, they don't have time for political games. They shouldn't have to wait any longer."

Mr. Obama spoke⁶ in the White House Rose Garden after his daily briefing on the economy. A closely watched report on unemployment comes out later this week. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

The White House's point man on Iraq, Vice⁷ President Joe Biden, has arrived in Baghdad for a three-day visit. NPR's Kelly McEvers reports Biden will meet Iraqi officials and attend a ceremony marking the drawdown of US troops in Iraq to fewer than 50,000.

The vice president is expected to meet Iraqi political leaders who're still deadlocked⁸ nearly six months after parliamentary elections in March. The results in that race were so close that political parties have yet to agree on how to form a government. The vice president also will attend a ceremony to mark the reduction of combat operations here in Iraq. The Americans are renaming their efforts as an "advice and assist" mission, but they still will be actively⁹ pursuing insurgents¹⁰ alongside Iraqi troops. Although violence is down from the worst days of the war in 2006 and 2007, there have been a wave of attacks in recent weeks. And more are expected, especially if the political impasse¹¹ continues. Kelly McEvers, NPR News, Baghdad.

Hurricane Earl, the latest storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, has reached Category 4 status. Earl, which is lashing¹² the northeastern Caribbean, has maximum sustained winds of 135 miles an hour. There're now warnings up to the Puerto Rican islands. The storm has already caused some flooding in low-lying parts of the Leeward¹³ Islands and has been picking up strength. Earl is currently on a course that could threaten the Eastern US later this week.

Stock market investors¹⁴ appear to be starting the week on a low note, many choosing to ignore some upbeat income in spending numbers as they wait key government employment figures due out of week's end. The Dow fell 140 points today to close at 10,009. The NASDAQ lost 33 points.

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A lawsuit¹⁵ filed by the parents of six deceased US soldiers is accusing life insurance company Prudential of paying paltry¹⁶ interest on military life insurance policies while keeping some of the more generous interest earnings¹⁷ on the policies for itself. That case, filed in US District Court, accuses the company of profiting from the dead soldiers' policies by using bookkeeping maneuvers¹⁸ and misrepresenting how beneficiaries could collect lump sum payments. Attorneys are seeking class-action status for the case, meaning ultimately it could affect tens of thousands of life insurance beneficiaries.

Personal spending was up 0.4 percent in July. The Commerce Department says it was the biggest increase in four months. Danielle Karson reports the savings¹⁹ rate, however, fell to its lowest level since spring.

People shelled out more than $44 billion last month, with auto²⁰ sales driving most of the spending boost. People also saved a smaller portion of their disposable incomes. How good things, say economists²², since consumer spending drives most of the country's economic output. Keith Hembre is chief economist²¹ at First American Funds.

"There was certainly a decent gain for real spending. The spending could be up by 1.5 percent or so on a real basis for the quarter, which is far from robust²³ but certainly better than things we're looking."

Economists agree the gains in spending all are a solid start to the third-quarter GDP. But they say job growth also dictates²⁴ how much people spend and a new employment report, which comes out Friday, could show the jobless rate went up this month. For NPR News, I'm Danielle Karson.

After a 30-year absence from the US market, Fiat²⁵ is apparently²⁶ poised²⁷ to return. Chrysler's notified its dealers²⁸ starting next year, and it plans to bring the Fiat 500 minicar to the US, which the car will be sold through some 165 Chrysler Group dealers.