NPR 2008-08-02

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Barbara Kline.

General Motors second-quarter earnings 1 have come in far worse than Wall Street had expected. The company says it lost 15.5 billion dollars. From Michigan Radio, Dustin Dwyer reports.

GM got slammed by the rapid shift away from trucks and SUVs in the second quarter. It also faced a strike at one of its major suppliers and a few short strikes at its own plants, and it's being hurt by bad leases. Analyst 3 Rebecca Lindland of Global Insight says if people at GM are looking for a silver lining 4 in all of this, there isn't one. "There really are not any good, positive opportunities out there, that they are able to capitalize on right now. "  GM has announced a new plan to cut costs, speed up the production of small cars, and raise new cash through loans. Lindland says that plan has very little margin 5 for error. For NPR News, I'm Dustin Dwyer in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The US unemployment rate jumped last month to a four-year high. The Labor 6 Department reports the jobless rate rose to 5.7%, as employers cut 51, 000 more jobs in July. The manufacturing, construction and retail 7 sector 8 lost tens of thousands of jobs.

The House of Representatives adjourned 9 for August recess 10 today, but a handful of Republican lawmakers took over the chamber 11 this afternoon, to continue to debate energy policy. NPR's Brian Naylor has details.

The C-SPAN cameras were off, the speakers' rostrum was vacant, but a small group of Republican members of Congress stayed to talk some more, an effort to tweak Democrats 12 for refusing to allow their bill to expand offshore 13 oil drilling to come up for a vote. The seats usually occupied by lawmakers were filled with tourists. Among those staying to speak was Utah Republican Rob Bishop 14, dressed in a distinctly uncongressional pair of flip 15 flops 16 and cargo 17 shorts.  "We have to solve this energy problem for people who are on the bottom of the economic ladder, for people who are on fixed 18 income, for people who report（此处不确定，如果您有更好的答案，欢迎告知，不胜感激）  they have no opportunity. "  Democrats point to the government's own studies which show more offshore drilling will have a negligible effect on prices at the pump, but Republicans made no apology for their bit of summer theatre. Brian Naylor, NPR News, the Capitol.

An army researcher who studied anthrax apparently 19 killed himself this week just before the government was about to charge him with five counts of murder. Prosecutors 20 were closing in on Bruce Ivins as the key suspect in the anthrax mailings in 2001 that killed five people. According to his mental health counselor 21, the 62-year-old Ivins had a history of homicidal threats. That therapist was due to testify on the case before a grand jury today. Ivins' attorney says the scientist was innocent and had been cooperating with investigators 22 for more than a year.

On Wall Street today, the Dow fell 52 points to close at 11, 325. The NASDAQ was down 14, closing at 2, 310.

This is NPR News.

Another bank failed today, Florida-based First Priority Bank. It's the eighth to fail this year amidst a credit crisis, falling home prices and a weak economy. SunTrust Banks has acquired First Priority's six branches. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation says it will cost its insurance fund an estimated 72 million dollars.

The latest cost-cutting measure by an airline goes into effect today. Arizona-based US Airways 23 became the first to charge for all drinks including water. NPR's Ted 2 Robbins has more.

US Airways, the nation's sixth largest, began charging two dollars for soft drinks, juice or a bottle of water. Coffee and tea are now one dollar. Alcoholic 24 beverages 25 now cost seven dollars. The airline says it will continue serving free beverages to first class and trans-Atlantic customers and to passengers stuck on the ground for a long time. A US Air spokesperson did say if a passenger had no money, flight attendants would not refuse them water, if for no other reason than to avoid passengers drinking water from the lavatory 26. The airline says it needs to collect any revenue it can to make up for what it says is the 300 dollars it costs just in fuel to transport each passenger on an average flight. Ted Robbins, NPR News, Tucson.

Pakistan has angrily denied a report in the New York Times today, saying that Pakistan's intelligence agency played a role in the bombing of the Indian embassy in Afghanistan earlier this month. Quoting unnamed sources, the New York Times reports US intelligence agencies intercepted 27 communications between Pakistani intelligence officials and militants 28 who carried out the bombing.