NPR 2010-08-19

President Obama, confronted with growing worries over economic recovery in the US, is trying to convince voters that his policies are, in fact, working.

"Slowly but surely we are moving in the right direction. We’re on the right track. The economy is getting stronger, but it really suffered a big trauma 1. And we’re not going to get all eight million jobs that were lost back overnight. It’s going to take some time."

The president speaking to voters at a backyard barbecue in Columbus, Ohio today. His three-day trip through five states also included fundraisers for Democrats 2 hoping to come out ahead of the GOP this election year.

The government is still deciding the best way to "kill" BP’s ruptured 3 oil well in the Gulf 4 of Mexico. Eileen Fleming of member station WWNO reports equipment is being shifted at the seafloor while more pressure testing is planned.

National Incident Commander Thad Allen says engineers are still reviewing ways to ready the broken well for a "bottom kill", which involves pumping heavy mud and cement through the bottom. Officials have been aiming for starting the "bottom kill" by this time.

"I’ve always said this will be conditions-based. We're concerned about the vital signs of this well. We continue to be concerned about the vital signs. Our first goal is to do no harm."

Allen says the relief well will be flushed and filled with seawater before pressure testing can help establish the condition of the line ahead of the "bottom kill". He says a blowout preventer to replace the one installed by the Deepwater Horizon rig will be moved to the wellhead. Engineers may also design and build a pressure relief system for the cap now in place. Drilling the final few feet of the relief well is on hold until a decision is reached. For NPR News, I’m Eileen Fleming in New Orleans.

A federal judge is giving his blessing 5 to a nearly 300-million-dollar settlement between the Justice Department and Barclays Bank. NPR’s Carrie Johnson reports prosecutors 6 accuse Barclays of violating US trade sanctions.

Judge Emmet Sullivan approved the government deal with Barclays Bank after expressing some reservations about the agreement. Barclays acknowledged taking part in financial transactions with banks in Cuba, Iran, Libya and Sudan, where the US government had put in place trade sanctions. Under the terms of the agreement, Barclays will escape prosecution 7, if it cooperates with the Justice Department and changes its culture. The bank voluntarily disclosed the violations 8. Barclays is the fourth major international bank to reach a settlement with US authorities after running afoul of economic sanctions. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

American Lori Berenson, who was recently released on parole, has turned herself into Peruvian authorities after a court revoked 9 her parole. It’s ordering Berenson to serve out the remaining five years of a 20-year prison sentence for providing aid to leftist insurgents 10. Prosecutors argued an earlier ruling to free the 40-year-old had a number of errors.

Dow’s up nine points at last check. This is NPR.

Low mortgage rates are prompting more homeowners in the US to refinance. As NPR’s Dave Mattingly tells us, there’s been a surge in activity.

Mortgage rates are at their lowest levels in decades. Nationwide, the average 30-year fixed-rate loan is hovering 11 at around 4.6 percent. Rates on 15-year loans are even lower. That triggered last week’s 13 percent jump in mortgage applications, mostly by those seeking to refinance. Demand there was up 17 percent. By contrast, the Mortgage Bankers Association says applications to buy new homes dropped more than three percent. Analysts 12 say high unemployment and a glut 13 of foreclosed properties on the market continue to weigh heavily on new homebuilders and potential buyers. Dave Mattingly, NPR News, Washington.

A South Carolina woman has appeared in court to face charges that she killed her two young sons. Shaquan Duley did not enter a plea and the judge did not set bail 14. Prosecutors say the 29-year-old admitted to strangling her two-year-old and 18-month-old boys, then placing their bodies in a car she rolled into a river to make it look like an accident.

International aid is flowing into flood-ravaged Pakistan, but still slow to get to the millions in need. Authorities are getting clearer picture the devastation 15 caused from three weeks of rains and floods, saying it’s worse than they could have ever expected. At least 1,500 people have died from floods in Pakistan.

In Mexico, President Felipe Calderon is condemning 16 the assassination 17 of the mayor of a town near Monterrey. The official’s body has been found days after he was kidnapped by suspected drug hitmen.

I’m Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.