NPR 2008-06-18

A car bomb attack has killed at least fifty-one people and wounded dozens more in a neighborhood of northwest Baghdad. The bombing hit shoppers at a market during the evening rush hour. NPR's Corey Flintoff reports from Baghdad.

Police say the bomb was planted in a parked car in the Huriya neighborhood just before six p.m. as people shopped for their evening meal. The attack took place during a heavy dust storm that has reduced visibility on many city streets. Huriya is a mainly Shiite neighborhood that was formerly 1 mixed with large numbers of Sunni Arabs who were forced from their homes by Shiite militias 2. The attack was the deadliest car bombing in recent weeks. Baghdad has been relatively 3 quiet, largely because of a strongly increased Iraqi army and police presence on the streets. Corey Flintoff, NPR News, Baghdad.

The rising Mississippi River busted 4 through at least one levee today with fears that in the days and hours ahead, more levees could be threatened. Authorities were able to rescue about half a dozen people by helicopter, boat and four-wheel drive as the waters moved south into Illinois and Missouri after the levee broke near Gulfport. Ron Fournier is with the Army Corps 5 of Engineers. He says levees further south are the real worry now. “Down the river towards St. Louis, the crest 6 is gonna slowly make its way down there in the river. Those high river levels are gonna be approaching those levee systems all during this week until the weekend.” Preliminary estimates are that flooding over the past several days has cost upwards 7 of one and a half billion dollars in damage in the State of Iowa alone. Thousands of people in Midwest have been evacuated 8 due to flooding. President Bush will visit the region on Thursday.

Barack Obama told community college students in Michigan he will give them a 4000-dollar tax break to help pay for college. NPR's Larry Abramson has more.

Obama spoke 9 to students at Wayne State Community College in Taylor, Michigan and invited them to tell stories about the financial struggles they face. Obama's education plan calls for an American Opportunity Tax Credit, which would completely cover the first four thousand dollars in college tuition. “We can't let the doors of opportunity close, because we couldn't come together to lower the cost of college, or extend the promise of our community colleges. It's time to put the American dream within reach for all Americans.” Obama also said he would push an initiative to help community colleges study what sorts of skills are needed to work in local industries. On the campaign trail, Obama has been highlighting his modest beginnings, and said that he and his wife spent years paying off the debt they piled up as they got law degrees from Harvard. Larry Abramson, NPR News.

Inflation at the wholesale 10 level took a bump up last month. The government reports its Producer Price Index, the cost of goods before they head down the pipeline 11 to consumers, rose by a larger-than-expected 1.4% in May. Much of that was due to the continued run-up in energy prices.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 108 points to close at 12,160. The NASDAQ lost 17 points. This is NPR.

Northwest has become the latest airline to announce further cutbacks as the carrier feels the squeeze from soaring jet fuel prices. The Minneapolis-based airline announcing today it may cut capacity by three to four percent. Northwest says it plans to also reduce the size of its workforce 12. The airline says it expects the cuts to take effect in the fourth quarter of this year. Other airlines, including American and Delta 13, have also said they would cut capacity and eliminate jobs.

The nation's home builders were a lot less busy last month. The Commerce Department reported today construction of new single family homes and apartments in May fell 3.3% as builders continued to roll back amid the ongoing 14 slump 15 in housing.

It's the start of the annual Royal Ascot horse-racing season. And as Larry Miller 16 reports from London, this year, the fashion police will be out in force.

The Queen and other British royals arrived in horse-drawn carriages, joining thousands of aristocrats 17 and commoners for the five-day Royal Ascot meeting. In recent years, the fashion for many Ascot-going fashionistas has been marked by bare backs, mini-skirts, halter tops, plunging 18 necklines and the general lowering of the tone. So this year, with the approval of the Queen, a new dress code is in effect, and any woman exposing too much flesh will be banned. They must wear formal day dresses with a hat or plume 19. The sartorial 20 outlook for man: black or grey morning suits with a vest and top hat. It's not all about betting and fashion, of course. Last year, 170,000 bottles of champagne 21 washed down 10,000 lobsters 22, 5,000 oysters 23 and 18,000 cartons of strawberries. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

Crude oil prices fell sixty cents a barrel today to end the session at just over $134 a barrel in New York.