Moderator Jim Lehrer of PBS will quiz the candidates on a variety of domestic topics and each man will have two minutes to answer. President Obama has been practising hard to stay within that time limit. Campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki says he hopes to make a good impression.

 

He wants to speak directly to the families, the people who are on their couches at home. You know, having snacks, drinking a beer and tuning in for the first time. 

 

Mitt Romney's also been busy preparing for the debate on the campus of the University of Denver. Romney arrived in town on Monday and spent much of yesterday huddled with advisers. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Denver.

 

Well as the economy takes center stage at tonight's debate, a new survey has been released on labor ahead of this Friday's monthly employment report by the government. The payroll processor ADP reveals that employers in the U.S. slowed their pace of hiring last month. More on this from NPR's Dave Mattingly. 

 

ADP says fewer workers found jobs last month, 162,000 as compared to 189,000 in August. Economist Joe Johnson says it's more of the same, modest gains in hiring amid a weak economy.

 

Yes, we have an economy that's expending, but it's certainly not expending as rapidly as you'd like or expect at this stage of recovery.

 

The Labor Department's jobs report for September is due out Friday. It's expected to again show the unemployment rate above 8%, where it's been for 3.5 years. Dave Mattingly, NPR News, Washington.

 

Service firms which employ about 90% of the nation's workforce have grown at their fastest pace in months. The Institute for Supply Management saying today its index of non-manufacturing activity rose to 55.1, any rating above 50 suggest expansion. September's activity was driven in part by an increase in new orders.

 

Massive explosions in the Syrian city of Aleppo are blamed in dozens of deaths today. Activists say three suicide car bombs exploded and mortar shells were fired in a government controlled district, housing a military officer's club. At least 40 people are reported dead. The coordinated attacks came just days after rebels launched an offensive against troops in Aleppo. 

 

At last check on Wall Street, Dow was off 6 points at 13,476; NASDAQ up eight at 3,128; and the S&P 500 also up two at 1,448. 

 

This is NPR.

 

Federal prosecutors in New York have indited 11 people and two companies as part of an alleged scheme to illegally export electronic technology to Russia. NPR's Corey Flintoff reports that eight people have been arrested.

 

The Justice Department says a Houston-based company called Arc has shipped as much as $50 million worth of microelectronic parts to Russia. Those goods included microchips and other items that can have military applications, including missile guidance systems and radar. A Justice Department told NPR that Arc bought the goods from American suppliers, but concealed the fact that they were being sent to a defense contracting company in Russia. The defendants are charged with export violations, money laundering and conspiracy. Eight people have been arrested in Houston and three others are reported to be at large in Russia. Corey Flintoff, NPR News, Washington.

 

Ballots are being counted in the Chicago teachers' contract vote. Union members at more than 600 schools voted yesterday on whether to ratify their labor deal.

 

Firefighters are trying to get a handle on a wildfire near Omak in north-central Washington state that's burned through at least 1,000 acres of sagebrush and grass. Charles LaPlant with the Bureau of Indian Affairs says  students from a historic native American boarding school have also been evacuated. 

 

They had to evacuate school kids. Because it's a school, a boarding school. And they are staying at a local motel, the one's actually board there. Pictures like 30 of them were boarding at that school. 

 

The cause of the wildfire is still under investigation.