NPR 2010-08-12

The major indexes on Wall Street are down more than 2% with fresh concerns over the US economy. Last check, Dow was down 263 points at 10,381. The drop started in Asia, where stocks fell 2.7%, led to heavy selling in Europe and then (in) the US. Art Hogan, chief market analyst 2 for Jefferies & Company, says it's expected with economic recovery losing steam.

"Clearly, we're talking about a soft touch in the economic downstream, and the growth is slowing, and the Feds spoke 3 to that. And we got fresh evidence in that this morning both in China and in the US, so I think that's getting investors 4 concerned."

That includes worries over the US trade deficit 5. It widened nearly 19% last month to the highest level since October of 2008.

Hoping to turn things around, President Obama has signed a bill aimed at reducing costs for the nation's manufacturers. At the White House today, the president said the law will help them regain 6 their footing.

"We will rebuild this economy stronger than before, and at its heart will be three powerful words: Made In America."

The National Association of Manufacturers says(say) the new law will help create jobs and cut costs for(to) businesses and consumers.

A tropical weather system swirling 7 in the Gulf 8 of Mexico is blamed for suspending the final stages of killing 9 BP's blown-out well. Eileen Fleming of member station WWNO has details.

The system is prompting BP to delay the drilling for up to three days. Retried Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen says the response team has been extra careful while the relief well is about 30 feet away from its target under the seafloor. It's expected to intercept 10 the broken well next week, then kill the line with mud and cement. The massive drilling rig is staying in the area. Allen says it's designed to withstand wind and waves much worse than what's forecast. The site was cleared last month ahead of Tropical Storm Bonnie. Allen says the relief well should be able to quickly return to work when the storm subsides 11. More testing is under way to fine-tune plans of plugging the broken well from the bottom. For NPR News, I'm Eileen Fleming in New Orleans.

Former Democratic Congressman 12 Dan Rostenkowski has died. Rostenkowski served 18 terms in Congress. The once powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee served 15 months in prison and two months in a halfway 13 house after pleading guilty to two counts of mail fraud in 1996. He also paid a $100,000 fine. In December of 2000, the former Chicago congressman was pardoned by President Bill Clinton.

Federal investigators 14 are looking at the possibility that weather may have played a factor in a plane crash Monday night that killed former Senator Ted 1 Stevens and four others. Former NASA chief Sean O'Keefe was among four who survived. O'Keefe is in critical condition at a hospital in Anchorage.

Looking at numbers again, Dow is down 263 points.

This is NPR News.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she's more confident that the Senate will ratify 15 the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia. But NPR's Michele Kelemen reports the Obama administration has faced an unusually tough battle.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee put off a vote on the New START Treaty until mid-September, and Secretary Clinton says she thinks the treaty is too important to fall victim to election-year politics.

"There is an urgency to ratify this treaty because we currently lack verification measures with Russia, which only hurts our national security interests."

The ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee supports the treaty, and Clinton says she believes it will draw more Republican votes. She's trying to reassure 16 Republicans that the treaty won't limit US missile defense 17 plans. She says the administration is also committed to spending $80 billion over the next decade to maintain and modernize 18 America's nuclear arsenal 19. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department.

The death toll 20 from landslides 21 in northwestern China is now up to 1,100, maybe more now, making it one of the deadliest China's seen in decades. Hundreds more people are still missing. Authorities say heavy rains sent mounds 22 of mud and rocks over entire communities in one province over the weekend. There's certainly similar scene in other parts of Asia also enduring the aftermath of powerful storms. The United Nations is appealing for more than $450 million in humanitarian 23 help for Pakistanis hit by the worst floods in their country's history. Officials say more than 14 million people are affected 24. An estimated 1,500 have died since a monsoon 25 triggered floods over a week ago.