NPR 2009-08-18

President Obama says US military operations in Afghanistan are crucial to national security. "If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency 1 will mean an even larger safe haven 2 from which al-Qaeda would plot to kill more Americans. So this is not only a war worth fighting, this is fundamental to the defense 3 of our people."

 Mr. Obama made the comments at a convention of veterans of Foreign Wars in Phoenix 4. They come just days ahead of Afghanistan's presidential election on Thursday--an effort to fortify 5 American support for the US mission there. The President also tried to reassure 6 vets 7 his health care overhaul 8 proposal will improve the delivery of their health benefits.

 The Federal Reserve is extending a program aimed at providing credit for commercial real estate loans as concern mounts about potential defaults. NPR's John Ydstie has more.

 Commercial property values have fallen more than 1/3 since they peaked in 2007. Officials are worried there won't be adequate credit available to roll over the nearly 165 billion dollars in commercial mortgages that come due this year. To help meet the need for new credits, the Fed is extending its TALF lending program, the acronym 9 stands for Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility. The Fed says that instead of ending on December 31st, the program will run through June 30th of next year. The Fed said it would consider a further extension if circumstances warrant. The Fed is also extending the TALF program for consumer and business loans through March 31st. The TALF has helped reduce interest rates in the auto 10, credit card and commercial real estate markets. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.

 California firefighters say they are making progress on several blazes in the northern and central parts of the state. Capital Public Radio's Ben Adler has details.

 You know how California's gusty 11 winds often make fires worse. Well this time, says CalFire's Daniel Berlant, it's the other way around. “Across northern California, our weather pattern has changed over last few days. We still have warm temperatures, but fortunately the winds had decreased. Um, it's that dissipation in the wind that has really allowed our crews to make a good stand against all the different fires across the state.

 Right now the state is focusing on two of those fires. The first is in the coastal 12 mountains about 90 miles south of San Francisco. It's burned more than 11 square miles in Santa Cruz County and is 65% contained. Most residents have been allowed to return to their homes. The other fire is in Yuba County, 70 miles north of Sacramento. That one still threatens hundreds of homes and is only 25% contained. For NPR News, I'm Ben Adler in Sacramento.

 On Wall Street today, the Dow closed down 186 points at 9,135. The NASDAQ lost 54 points to close at 1,930 and the S&P fell 25.

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 The nation's second largest home improvement store chain says worries over the economy continue to hurt its bottom line. From member station WFAE in Charlotte, North Carolina, Scott Graf reports.

 North Carolina-based Lowe's says its second quarter earnings 13 were off 19%, compared to the same period a year ago. Income totaled 759 million dollars or 51 cents a share. Sales were down 4.5%. In a statement, the company's CEO says business lag as consumers have continued to pull back on spending. Same-store sales, a measure of retail 14 vitality 15, fell for the 12th straight quarter. Lowe's is reacting by cutting back on planned expansion in North America, although, it still plans to open dozens of stores this year. The nation's largest home improvement chain, the Atlanta-based Home Depot 16 reports its earnings tomorrow. For NPR News, I'm Scott Graf in Charlotte.

 The State of New York has filed a civil lawsuit 17 against discount broker 18 Charles Schwab. The New York Attorney General's Office says the firm misled investors 19 about the safety of auction 20 rate securities. Schwab has maintained it played a peripheral 21 role in the sale of auction rate securities and had no way of knowing the market for them would collapse 22.

 The Justice Department has charged three computer hackers 24 with stealing 130 million credit and debit 25 card numbers in what they called the largest card data breach 26 in US history. The government says Albert Gonzalez of Miami, Florida and two unnamed co-conspirators used a sophisticated technique to hack 23 into the network supporting major financial and retail organizations including Heartland Payment Systems, 7-Eleven and Hannaford Brothers.