NPR 2009-11-03

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Craig Windham.

President Obama is challenging both the public and private sectors 1 to come up with new ways to create more jobs to help bring down the nation's high unemployment rate.

This is my administration's overriding 2 focus, having brought the economy back from the brink 3, the question is, how are we going to make sure that people are getting back to work and able to support their families.

Mr. Obama is speaking at the White House after meeting with his economic advisors 4. He also braced 5 Americans for more negative employment figures in the coming weeks before the situation improves.

One of the nation's automakers is reporting a surprising improvement in its earnings 6. Ford 7 Motor Company has posted third quarter profits of nearly a billion dollars. Jerome Vaughn of member station WDET has more.

Ford surprised Wall Street analysts 8 by posting a profit of 997 million dollars. Most have forecasted that the automaker would see a loss in the third quarter. Company officials say gains in market share, successful cost-cutting efforts and the federal "Cash for Clunkers" program led to the improved earnings. Ford even saw its North American operation show a profit again, with a division earning 357 million dollars before taxes. That's the division's first profit since the first quarter of 2005. The automaker says it also continued its growth in China with sales jumping 63% during the quarter. Global revenues dropped by more than 2% to just under 31 billion dollars. For NPR News, I'm Jerome Vaughn in Detroit.

President Obama has congratulated Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai on his re-election. But in a phone conversation, Mr. Obama told Karzai he has to get serious now about cracking down on government corruption 9 and better serving the Afghan people. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the president is looking for action, not words.

"The conversations that now have to be had and continue with the Afghan government are the steps that they are going to take to improve their governance, to improve their civil society, and to address fraud and corruption."

Gibbs speaking after Afghanistan's Election Commission cancelled the upcoming runoff and declared Karzai the winner because his challenger had withdrawn 10 over the weekend.

The BBC's Andrew North says the US and the United Nations expressed security concerns.

In private, the UN together with the American, British and other governments had given a clear message. They were not prepared to risk the lives of their troops and workers to secure a second-round vote, when the result was already a foregone conclusion.

The BBC's Andrew North in Kabul.

A New York meat-packing firm has recalled more than a half million pounds of ground beef that might be contaminated with E.coli bacteria. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says two deaths and 26 cases of illness, mainly in the northeast may be linked to the tainted 11 beef.

Just before the closing bell on Wall Street, the Dow was up 66 points at 9,778. The NASDAQ Composite was up a point.

This is NPR News from Washington.

The Pentagon is warning that the vast majority of young Americans in their late teens and early 20s do not meet minimum requirements for military service. NPR's Claudio Sanchez has this story.

The study by a little known group, Mission: Readiness, made up of prominent military officials looked at young people 17-24 years old and found that most of them, three out of four, were unfit to serve in the armed forces. The reasons: many dropped out of high school, others had criminal records and some just weren't physically 12 fit. On Thursday, US Education Secretary Arne Duncan and former NATO Ally Supreme 13 Commander Wesley Clark will release a state-by-state breakdown 14 of the number of young people unfit to serve, but also propose ways to deal with the issue. The group is specifically lobbying Congress to approve eight billion dollars in grants for states to invest in early-childhood education, mental health and tuition services. Claudio Sanchez, NPR News.

The Navy's newest amphibious assault ship arrived in its namesake city today. The USS New York has 7.5 tons of steel, taken from the wreckage 15 of the World Trade Center towers in its bow. Among those watching were relatives of victims of the September 11th attacks, including Rosemary Kane, whose firefighter son was killed that day.

"It's very emotional to know that the steel from the towers lives on in such a special way, and sending such a mighty 16 message to the world, that the towers will continue to fight for freedom."

The ship was given a 21-gun salute 17. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the USS New York will represent the freedom, courage and resilience, exemplified by the city after the terrorist attacks.

I'm Craig Windham, NPR News, in Washington.