NPR 2011-09-13

 Stocks have opened mixed on Wall Street. The stock prices are down sharply on overseas markets amid new concern that Greece may be edging toward a default and that the European debt crisis might spread to that region's banks. NPR's Paul Brown joins us now. And Paul, what seems to be behind this new anxiety?

 
Craig, I have spoken with the economist Jan Randolph, he is the Director of Sovereign Risk, IHS Global Insight in London. He says we’re watching investors react to policymakers, struggle with the effects what he calls a two-speed euro zone economic system.
 
“Until recently, a very strongly growing core, namely Germany and all the countries around Germany. But in the southern Mediterranean and also Ireland, we had a situation where most of these economies experience booms also busts.”
 
He says a big concern is whether a default by Greece if it occurs can be handled in a way that does not hurt the whole region.
 
“Whether it is orderly, something that can be managed or the European policymakers and the Greek government lose control of then.”
 
Randolph told me that investors are worried that if Greece defaults, the other second-speed countries he just mentioned could be drawn into a default.
 
So, Paul, what does he think lies ahead for investors and financial markets globally?
 
Well, he has a lot of possible trip wires ahead in a more and more interdependent global economy, things can keep markets very unsettled. Some of these are whether Greece actually defaults, whether borrowing costs for Italy and Spain and Ireland rise further, and whether investors would be willing to remain exposed in those countries.
 
Thanks, Paul. That is NPR's Paul Brown in Washington.
 
President Obama formally sends his plan for creating more jobs to Congress today. He’s set to speak at the White House within the hour, amid a gathering of teachers, police officers and fire fighters as he urges lawmakers to act quickly on his plan. Mr. Obama says he understands the people are frustrated with the economy.
 
“They are understandably impatient. I can say to them, look, all the actions we’ve taken would be the right actions. If we hadn’t taken those actions, things would be much worse, but the bottom line is unemployment is still at 9% and there’re still a lot of folks uncertain out there.”
 
President on NBC's Today Show.
 
An explosion at a nuclear reprocessing plant in France has left one person dead, several others injured. The BBC's Christian Fraser says the country's nuclear agency insists that no radiation has leaked from the plant.
 
The explosion was in a furnace in an area of the plant where they recycle nuclear waste for energy. Built in 1956, it is one of the oldest plants in France, though the first generation of nuclear reactors had been shut down and the plant modernized. The reactors are cooled by water from the adjacent Rhone River. BBC's Christian Fraser.
 
Floodwaters are receding further in Pennsylvania and New York State. Barbara Billing with the American Red Cross says the organization is offering help and support.
 
“We will be going through communities with clean-up materials whether it's mops, buckets, shovels, rakes, what they need to mark out their basements and homes.”
 
The Dow is currently down 22. This is NPR News.
 
Police in France are questioning the former head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn about charges of attempted rape dating back eight years. Eleanor Beardsley reports Strauss-Kahn is back in France after charges against him in New York were dropped.
 
He faces new criminal charges in France from 32-year-old writer Tristane Banon. Banon says Strauss-Kahn attacked her eight years ago when she came to his apartment to interview him. Banon said she was disgusted by the huge media turnout on Strauss-Kahn's return to France describing it as a hero's welcome. But since the New York investigation against Strauss-Kahn, many more French people are inclined to believe Banon's account of events. French judges investigating the charges will decide if the case should go to trial. Strauss-Kahn also still faces civil charges by the New York housekeeper whose criminal case was dropped. From NPR News, I'm Eleanor Beardsley in Paris.
 
A federal appeals court is considering the legality of a state amendment banning Muslim Sharia Law. NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty reports the court will decide whether Oklahoma's provision violates the constitution.
 
Some 70% of Oklahomans approved the measure in 2010 which would bar state courts from recognizing Islamic Sharia Law. Almost immediately a federal judge ruled that the state could not enforce the law. She said it violates the first amendment because it hinders Muslims from practicing their religion and it singles out Islam for discrimination. The law's supporters will argue before the appellate court that's striking down the amendment violates rights of Oklahoman voters. The case will be closely watched since several other states are considering similar bans. Barbara Bradley Hagerty, NPR News.
 
Rechecking Wall Street the Dow is now down 34 points but the NASDAQ is up seven.
 
I'm Craig Windham. NPR News in Washington.