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NPR's Ted Clark reports that though the US has again singled out Iran as the terrorist training base of choice, neighboring Afghanistan is far more culpable. For while terrorism in Iran is state sponsored, it is the absence of government in Afghanistan that has nurtured a whole new Foreign Legion of Middle East terrorists, a generation known in intelligence circles as the Afghan Arabs.

The Target discount chain has decided to stop selling tobacco products at its 714 stores...making Target the first major retailer to pull tobacco products from its shelves. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports store officials say they weren't making much money from tobacco products anyway. The development has some people wondering whether other major retailers might follow suit.

NPR'S Linda Gradstein reports that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has called for a general strike tomorrow to protest what he said was Israel's declaration of war agains the Palestinians. Arafat's strike call comes after Israel demolished a Palestinian youth center in East Jerusalem. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would regard with severity any attempt to escalate tensions or violence.

The unemployment rate fell to a seven-year low in August as businesses added a quarter-of-a-million new jobs to their payrolls. The Labor Department released its monthly survey for August this morning. It showed the unemployment rate had fallen to 5.1%. Stock and bond markets were calm because the business payroll figures were almost exactly what analysts had been expecting. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

NPR's Joe Palca reports that a new prime number has been discovered. This new number is the largest known prime number. A prime number is a number that can only be divided by itself and one.

In the lastest flurry of Middle East diplomacy that's developed since the election of hardline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Syrian President Hafez Assad met with Egyptian Pesident Hosni Mubarak in Alexandria as Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat met with King Hussein of Jordan in Aqaba. NPR's Sunni Khalid reports from Alexandria, Egypt that the main result of the meetings was Syria's rejection of Israeli efforts to separate the issue of Southern Lebanon from a broader land-for-peace deal with Damascus.

NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports that two little- known phone companies are shking up the telecom industry today. Long-distance provider WorldCom has announced it will acquire Omaha-based MFS in a stock deal valued at $14 billion. The merger plans come just two weeks after MFS completed its buyout of successful internet service provider called UUNet (YOO- YOO-net).

Owen Bennett-Jones reports from Geneva that the United States stands accused of dragging its feet on an agreement to safeguard the future of the world's forests. Nearly every country attending a conference in Geneva, sponsored by the United Nations, agrees that forests that have been logged must be replanted with native species. The consensus breaks down over a call for the formal agreement or convention.

NPR's Elizabeth Arnold reports that Hillary Clinton is a dominant presence at the Democratic National Convention, even though she has been a controversial First Lady. She's extremely popular among party regulars, even more so after she became a target at the Republican convention earlier this month. The day after addressing the convention, Hillary Clinton made the rounds of state delegations and caucus meetings.

As U.S. Forces come within striking distance of Iraq, Clinton Administration officials said today they aren't expecting any further Iraqi attacks against U.S. warplanes patrolling the skies above that country. But, NPR's John Nielsen reports that Defense Secretary William Perry warned today that further U.S. airstrikes against Iraqi targets are still a possibility.