NPR 2008-04-05

Transcript 1

 From NPR news in Washington I am Jack 2 Speer.

 The Labor 3 Department today reported the biggest monthly job loss in five years. The unemployment rate rose to 5.1% in March. NPR’s Chris Arnold reports.

 The report was worse than expected, down 80,000 jobs. On top of that, the prior figures were revised upward, showing over the past three months the US has lost a total of 232,000 jobs. “This is a pretty bad number, that’s that’s, that’s no two ways about it.'' Nariman Behravesh is Chief Economist 4 of Global Insight. He says any industry related to housing is down but on top of that the service sector 5 looks like it's stalling out. ''I think the big worry is how weak the service sector jobs’ growth is, in fact, because that has been the powerhouse up until recently, you know, the service sector has provided about 80% of the jobs in the US. So the fact that it is so weak, almost zero growth, is very troubling.'' Behravesh says that's the sign that we are already in a recession but so far he expects it to be a mild one. Chris Arnold, NPR news.

 Today marks the fortieth anniversary of Doctor Martin Luther King junior’s assassination 6. He was slain 7 in Memphis a day after a speech in support of the sanitation 8 workers’ strike of 1968. K. repots.

 Members of the sanitation workers’ union marched in a rain from Beale Street to the National Civil Rights Museum. They carried signs just like those from the 1968 protest saying I am a man. While the strike was resolved two weeks after King’s assassination, Memphis sanitation worker Patrick Kerney says they are still not treated right. “That I feel that the Sanitation Department keeps mistreating, ‘cause we have not gained the full benefit that we are supposed to get. We are here working in the rain. We do everything at firm. We, yet we don’t even have a raise in three years.'' The Memphis Southern Christian 9 Leadership Conference says much more needs to be done to stop the violence and poverty that affect many African Americans. For NPR news I am K. in Memphis.

 Amid calls that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton make her financial records public, the formal first lady’s campaign today released financial records for she and her husband for the period between 2000 and 2007. The document showed that the Clintons earned more than 109 million dollars. Around 20 million of that amount was earned in 2007. Almost half the formal first couple’s money came from speeches delivered by formal president Bill Clinton. The record showed that the Clintons paid 33 million dollars in taxes and gave away more than 10 million dollars.

 Military officials now say all four crew members aboard a B-1 bomber 10 that caught fire after landing at an air force base in Qatar were able to escape safely. The Air Force which earlier said that the more-than-two-hundred-million-dollar airplane had crashed says the bomber was taxiing after landing at the base when it caught fire. The incident is still being investigated.

 On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 16 points today to end the session at 12,609. Upward for the week, the Dow was up 3.2%.

 This is NPR news.

 Paying a visit to Croatia today, President Bush called NATO’s newest recruit in the Balkans a close and trusted ally. The president’s visit comes after the official conclusion of NATO summit in Romania and ahead of a scheduled sit-down this weekend with Russian President Vladimir Putin. President Bush is scheduled to also deliver a speech to the Croatian people in the capital’s historic St. Mark’s Square. Mr. Bush then heads off to Russia with the two expected to hold talks at Putin’s Black Sea home.

 Palestinian gunman in Gaza opened fire on an Israeli government delegation 11 today, shooting and wounding one Israeli civilian 12 official. NPR’s Ivan Watson reports from. Jerusalem.

 Israeli officials were giving a visiting Canadian delegation a tour of kibbutz near the border with Gaza when a Palestinian gunman opened fire on their convoy 13. An aide to the Israeli Minister of Internal Security was hit while the Canadians dove on the ground and scrambled 14 for cover. Several Palestinian groups claimed responsibility for the attack including Hamas the faction 15 which now rules Gaza. After the shooting, Iraqi troops made an incursion into the Palestinian territory where they clashed with militant 16. At the time of the attack, the Canadian delegation was being given a tour of Israeli communities that have become the frequent target of rockets fired out of the Gaza Strip. Ivan Watson, NPR news, Jerusalem.

 A more than three-hundred-year old Stradivarius known for its sweet and bell-like sound has gone for 1.27 million dollars at auction 17 in New York today. The famous auction house Christie's says that rare violin known as "The Penny" for its formal owner pianist and violinist Barbara Penny went to an anonymous 18 buyer. The sale was below the more than 3.5 million dollars paid for another Stradivarius that was sold in 2006.