NPR 2012-06-16

 President Obama is halting the deportation 1 of as many as 800,000 undocumented immigrants under the age of 30. 

 
“Let's be clear. This is not amnesty. This is not immunity 2. This is not a path to citizenship 3. It's not a permanent fix. This is a temporary stopgap measure that lets us focus our resources wisely while giving a degree of relief and hope to talented, driven, patriotic 4 young people.” 
 
The formal announcement came a short time ago from the White House within hours of drawing fire from conservative rivals who accused the president of trying to sidestep Congress in a bid to make political gains this election year. The criticism came in TV statements, tweets and inside the Rose Garden itself, when Neil Munro of the conservative online publication Daily Caller interrupted the president, asking why the president was acting 5 on immigration at a time of high unemployment. 
 
“It is the right thing to do. Excuse me, sir. It's not time for questions, sir. Not while I’m speaking.” 
 
President made his announcement a week before he is due to meet with Latino elected officials. 
 
Mitt 6 Romney kicked off his five-day bus tour through rural America this morning. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports he started at the same New Hampshire farm where he kicked off his campaign one year ago.
 
His tour is heavy on the retail 7 politicking 8, ice cream socials, outdoor cookouts and picture-perfect settings tailor-made for campaign ads. At his first stop in front of a banner saying “Every Town Counts,” Romney delivered a sort of tribute to rural America. 
 
“Washington's big government agenda should not smother 9 small-town dreams. In the America we love, every town counts, every job counts, and every American counts.”
 
After New Hampshire, this tour goes through Pennsylvania, Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan. Those are all states President Obama won last time, where Romney thinks he can compete this time. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Stratham, New Hampshire.
 
Defense 10 Secretary Leon Panetta is pledging to remove as many barriers as possible to turning the military into a model of equal opportunity. That includes paying tribute to gay and lesbian service members for their service during June’s gay pride month. In a video message to the troops today, Panetta spoke 11 of the impact “Don't ask, don't tell” had on the military and on gay men and women in particular because they were banned under law from serving openly. Panetta says now gays and lesbians can be proud to be in uniform. 
 
At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 85 points at 12,737.
 
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The Food and Drug Administration says certain shellfish products from South Korea should be removed from the market. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce reports that the move came after the FDA found serious problems with the country's sanitation 12 program for shellfish.
 
FDA officials are concerned that oysters 13, clams 14, mussels and some kinds of scallops from South Korea may potentially be contaminated with norovirus. It can cause nausea 15, diarrhea and stomach cramping 16. So far this year, there have been no reported cases in the US linked to Korean shellfish, but there were last year. And the FDA now says the norovirus has been detected in shellfish growing areas in Korea. They may have been contaminated with human waste. The FDA wants food distributors, retailers 17 and consumers to dispose of fresh, frozen and canned Korean shellfish products. The FDA says it is in discussions with Korean authorities to resolve the issue. Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News.
 
Syrian activists 18 are reporting another military sweep of rebellious 19 neighborhoods across their country today, especially in the northern town of Anadan, which is in Aleppo province. Members of the opposition 20 say troops bombarded the area today, killing 21 a number of people. 
 
Looking at the economy in the US, factory production lost some steam last month. The Federal Reserve saying today output fell 0.4% from April. The report indicates manufacturing is slowing down. But US stocks gaining ground, with the Dow up 93 points at 12,745, NASDAQ up now more than 1% at 2,865.
 
I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.