When we pace a situation like we do on that mountain, with innocent people facing the prospect of violence on a horrific scale, when we have a mandate to help, in this case, a request from the Iraqi government. And when we have the unique capabilities to help avert a massacre, then I believe the United States of America cannot turn a blind eye.

President said he will not allow US troops to be dragged back into fighting another war in Iraq. He said he hopes the decision will be taken more seriously than the use of any military decision.

 

 

The White House says Russia is only hurting itself by banning the imported food from countries that have imposed sanctions on Moscow. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports the US says Russia has another way out.

The US has been wretched in up sanctions on Russia, hoping to pressure Moscow to stop supporting separatists in Ukraine, but Russian president Vladimir Putin announces he will ban import of western food. State Department spokesperson Marie Harfs says that Washington is studying what impact that will have on US businesses, but it's clear already, she says, that Putin's move will hurt Russian's.

Not only is he running their economy into the ground, and their gross is now predicted a zero, but he's also didn't have the basic things like food. She says Putin can either continue on this course, or take, as the US put it, a diplomatic offering to help ease the crisis in Ukraine. Michele Kelemen, NPR news, Washington.

 

 

People in Hawaii are breathing for two hurricanes that are bearing down on the Islands. The first of the storm Hurricane Iselle is expected to make landfall later tonight. NPR's Craig Windham reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency is making preparations to help those who would be affected.

State officials are telling Hawaiians to prepare not panic and FEMA administrator Craig Fugate says that's a good advice.

Each one of these hours is gonna be a little bit different for population and vulnerabilities.

He says getting supplies positioned there takes time.

Part of the challenges you have is the distances involved in getting supplies if they are needed from the mainland. That's why we stock a lot of things there on the Island: generators, water, conceivable supplies ahead of time just in case they're gonna use...

Fugate says the storms are likely to affect most of the Hawaiian Islands over the next couple of days. Craig Windham, NPR news, Washington.

 

 

US Senator Lamar Alexander has fought back a challenge from Tea Party-back challenger, State Representative, Joe Carr in that state's Republican Primary. He comes at victory today in Tennessee dealing yet another blow to the national Tea Party movement, which had been hoping to fill candidates in upcoming elections. 

 

 

On Wall Street today, the Dow was down 75 points.

 

 

This is NPR.

 

 

Israel says it wants Hamas to disarm before we will leave in consider lifting of blockade on Gaza, while a senior Hamas official is rejecting that, saying it's not going to happen. Speaking with reporters in Gaza City today, Hamas official MM, says the suggestion is out of the question, in adding the weapons of resistance, as he called them, need to remain on the negotiating table.

 

 

Prominent wine dealer has been sentenced ten years in prison for selling counterfeit bottles for millions of dollars. Sarah Gonzales with member station WNYC has the story.

The US attorney in Manhattan said Rudy Kurniawan had an intricate counterfeit wine scheme. He'd mix cheap wines to mimic the taste of rare, expensive wines, pour the blend into empty, vintage bottles, print fake labels and sell them from millions of dollars. The FBI found his laboratory when they raided his California home last year. He was also found guilty of trying to fraudulently obtain a loan from a financing company in New York City. Aside from the prison sentence, Kurniawan was ordered to pay 28 million dollars to the customers he schemed, and forfeit another 20 million. For NPR news, I am Sarah Gonzales, in New York.

 

 

Nation's major airlines suffered a worst on-time performance reading in June and pulled the previous month containing what has been a string of poor performances this year. According to the government during the first six months of this year, the rate of the late flight was the highest that has been since 2008. Cancellations are levels not seen since 2000. Transportation Department says the major airlines had an on-time arrival rate of 71.8% in June, down from 76.9% in May. Hawaiian and Alaska airlines had the best on-time performance rates; Southwest regional carriers and Boeing express jet had the worst.