NPR 2012-07-17

 A fierce race for the White House is playing out on the campaign trail today for the 8th time this year. President Obama is in a battleground state of Ohio where he addressed supporters in Cincinnati a short time ago.

 
The problem is we got a stalemate right now in Washington. It's between two fundamentally different ideas about how we move the country forward.
 
Republican presidential candidate Mitt 1 Romney is blasting the Obama camp for attacking his record at bank capital??, including charges that he's more supportive of outsourcing than bringing more jobs back to the US. Romney says just look at the high employment rate on President Obama's watch. Romney's latest campaign stopped with Baton 2 Rouge 3, Louisiana where he appeared with Governor Bobby Jindal.
 
The resignation of Florida A&M president James Ammons is the latest in the fall out from the hazing 4 death of the band drum major and other problems at the Tallahassee university.  Florida public radio's Lynn Hatter reports Ammons was set to step down in October but was now leaving immediately under a deal reached with the school's board. A&M U president Ammons will leave with more than 98'000 dollars and bonuses agreed to by the school's board in exchange for speeding up his resignation date. University provost Larry Robinson will serve as interim 5 president until a permanent one is named. Board member and student body president Marisa West says Robinson's appointment is needed to steer 6 the school through the next a few months. Robinson returned FAMU last year after a temporary stand? at Obama administration. His appointment will have to be confirmed by FAMU's forward at August meeting. For NPR News, I'm Lynn Hatter in Tallahassee.
 
A senior United Nations official is warning many Syrians will die if donors 7 don't contribute more funds for humanitarian 8 aid. Lisa Schlein reports the official told participants attending the 4th Syrian humanitarian forum 9 in Geneva that one and a half million civilians 10 in war torn Syria are in need of help. 
 
The United Nations expects to increase food aid from half a million people last month to 850'000 this month. But UN operations director John Ging warns the situation in Syria is deteriorating 11 and the gap between the needs and means is widening. 
 
We need more money. If we don't get more money, people will die and will be more humanitarian suffering. The needs will continue to grow as long as this conflict continues. 
 
The UN has received only 20% of its 180 million dollar appeal for humanitarian operations inside Syria and only 20% for a separate 193 million dollar refugee appeal. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Schlein in Geneva.
 
Two Americans in Egypt have been freed days after they were taken hostage by a Bedouin tribesman. They were abducted 12 Friday along with a local tour guide along the Sinai Road to a Christian 13 monosque? area on Friday.
 
At a last check on Wall street, Dow was down more than 30 points. 
 
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The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first medication shown to reduce the risk of HIV infection. Studies in the past year reveal the drug Truvada if taken every day, can be most useful in situations where people are higher risk of HIV, such as a couple in which one person is HIV positive and the other is not. But the FDA is still urging individuals who take Truvada to practice safe sex to further reduce their risk of HIV infection. 
 
Consumers are still extremely cautious about spending as retailers 14 found out last month. Today the Commerce Department announced June sales had fallen half percent, maintaining a downward trend for a third month. 
 
A political shake up is reported out of North Korea. The government has fired the head of its army saying the official was ill. As NPR's Louisa Lim reports the surprising announcement has certainly sparked speculation 15. 
 
A worker's party central committee meeting on Sunday relieved Ri Yong Ho of his duties, issuing a terse 16 statement citing illness. The army chief had been one of the most powerful men in the country. He's deputy chairman of the central military commission and worker's party. He had been a key figure smoothing the transition to power to Kim Jong Un who took over after his father died in December. He was 69 years old and hadn't been seen in public recently. In Seoul government officials said such a prompt announcement was very unusual indeed for a normally secretive North Korean government. Such analysts 17 believe this could indicate a purge 18 is taking place and that Kim Jong Un has enough loyalty 19 among the military to take such action. Louisa Lim, NPR News.
 
I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.