All Things Considered

Cellphones have ushered in an age of interruption, with apps that notify you when you're mentioned on Facebook or Twitter, or even if your favorite ball team scores a run.

But Apple is the ultimate arbiter of what kinds of notifications iPhone users can receive — and some apps just don't pass muster with the tech giant.

Take Josh Begley's idea, for example. Begley created an app that sends a push notification — or beep — to an iPhone whenever there is a U.S. drone strike anywhere in the world.

Apple blocked it from its App Store.

For every farmer who is hurting this year during the drought, others are benefiting. Many fields in the South, Northwest and Upper Midwest are producing bountiful corn crops. And because the drought has pushed prices to record highs, farmers who have corn to sell expect a terrific payday.

"The corn has actually really, really taken off all the way through season. It's grown fast. It's been accelerated. The corn looks really good now," says John Scott, whose family farm in Sargeant, Minn., is just bursting with corn.

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Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi caused a diplomatic stir today in Tehran, opening a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement. Morsi denounced the Syrian regime, calling it oppressive and illegitimate. That prompted an angry walk-out by the Syrian delegation. And Morsi's comments cannot have pleased the summit's hosts either. NPR's Leila Fadel reports.

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We turn now to my co-host, Robert Siegel, who's at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, where tonight Mitt Romney accepts his party's nomination for president. We're going to hear about that in a moment. But, Robert, first, I understand there's some dissention in the ranks there at the convention center. What's going on?

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

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Tonight, Mitt Romney formally accepts the Republican Party's nomination to be president of the United States. The path to a presidential nomination is never smooth, but by Republican Party standards, this year's primary campaign was pretty choppy. NPR's Ari Shapiro has this look back.

ARI SHAPIRO, BYLINE: Mitt Romney launched this campaign on June 2nd, 2011, at a farm in New Hampshire.

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From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block. And we begin this hour with Isaac. After pounding the Gulf Coast with high winds, nonstop rain and a powerful storm surge, Isaac is now churning through northern Louisiana. There, heavy rainfall brings a new threat, inland river flooding. Some of that flooding has strained a dam in Mississippi; 60,000 people downriver have been ordered to evacuate.

A federal three judge panel has struck down a new voter ID law in Texas, ruling that it would disproportionately harm Hispanic and African American voters, who are less likely to have the required photo identification. Pam Fessler talks to Melissa Block.