NPR 2010-02-06

From NPR News in Washington, I’m Lakshmi Singh.

The US economy shed 20,000 jobs last month, but the unemployment rate dropped to 9.7%. One reason: more people have stopped looking for work, so they’re no longer figured into the Labor 1 Department’s unemployment numbers. Mark Zandi, chief economist 2 at Moody’s Economy. com, says the report’s encouraging though, it could have been better. “It’s still not really good, and we’re still, uh, looking for some job growth and the unemployment’s still near double-digit, but, uh, we’re heading to a right direction.” The White House says job creation is its No.1 priority. To that end, President Obama is urging banks to provide more credit for small businesses. In a speech to small business owners in Maryland today, Mr. Obama also called for a 5,000-dollar tax break for each additional worker companies hire this year. “Today, we learned the job losses for this January were 20,000; the unemployment rate dropped below 10% for the first time since the summer.” The president plans to meet with lawmakers from both parties on Tuesday to talk jobs.

A powerful snowstorm is bearing down on the mid-Atlantic. The National Weather Service is expecting near-blizzard conditions by tomorrow morning. Winter storm advisories 3 are in effect from Georgia to New Jersey 4. Daniel Carson has details.

The Washington region will take a beating. It’s bracing 5 for up to two feet of snow again. That’s how much mother nature dumped on the D.C. area on December 20th, sending retailers 6 into a frenzy 7 over holiday sales. Airlines have canceled flights scheduled for this evening and Saturday. Food is flying off grocery shelves as residents load up with staples 8. Local transportation officials are deploying 9 thousands of trucks carrying tons of salt to spread over roads. Maryland has spent about 50 million dollars in snow removal so far this winter, almost twice what was budgeted. Virginia has spent almost 80 million and it’s dipping into emergency maintenance funds. But the snowstorm apparently 10 does have a silver lining 11 for some, ski operators in Virginia and Pennsylvania are cheering. For NPR News, I’m Daniel Carson in Washington.

In Portugal, lawmakers have rejected the government’s austerity plan, raising questions about the country’s ability to shrink its deficit 12. Concern over Portugal and other European countries’ ability to control their public finances are sending stocks worldwide falling. The FTSE dropped nearly 2% today; Germany’s DAX fell 1.4%; Asia’s stocks closed sharply lower, including Japan’s Nikkei; it fell nearly 3% to 10,057. Certainly feeling effects, on Wall Street at last check, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 100 points below to 10,000 mark now at 9,900, NASDAQ Composite Index dropping seven points at 2,119, and we see that the S&P 500 is down nine points at 1,054.

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A gun battle in Chechnya is blamed in at least 11 deaths. Details from Jessica Gallaher in Moscow.

Russian officials say that insurgents 13 and Russian troops are among the dead after a gun battle in war-ravaged Chechnya. Authorities say the fighting began on Thursday and continued into Friday in the mountains southwest of the capital Grozny. Violence in Russia’s North Caucasus region has escalated 14 in recent months. There’re nearly daily attacks in the region in which law enforcement and government officials are targeted. Officials blame Islamist insurgents. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev calls the violence the country’s biggest domestic problem. For NPR News, I’m Jessica Gallaher in Moscow.

Shiite pilgrims are again the target of the third deadly strike in Iraq this week. Authorities are reporting a double attack on worshipers today in Karbala where people were headed for a religious event. Either car bomb blasts or mortar 15 fires sent panic crowd running down the highway and into the path of a suicide bomber 16. The double attack killed at least 35 people and wounded more than 140. Shiite pilgrims are also coming under attack in Pakistan. Today in Karachi, authorities say, suspected Sunni militants 17 bombed a bus carrying Shiite worshipers. Hours later, militants attacked a hospital treating the victims. At least 13 people were killed and dozens more were wounded.

Two American aid workers in Haiti reportedly are dead. According to wire reports in local media in Santo Domingo, the men’s helicopter crashed last night in the Dominican Republican near the Haitian border. The victims’ identities have yet to be independently verified. The number of US aid and charity groups has grown, since an earthquake struck Haiti last month and left much of the impoverished 18 nation in ruin.

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