NPR 2011-01-07

President Obama formally announces his next chief of staff.

"Today I am proud to announce the appointment of an experienced public servant, a devoted 1 patriot 2, my friend, fellow Chicagoan Bill Daley to serve as my chief of staff."

William Daley is the brother of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. The new chief of staff has a strong business connection at a time when the administration has tried to strengthen ties with corporate 3 America. Daley served as commerce secretary during the Clinton administration and most recently as executive of J.P. Morgan Chase.

The shopping blitz that gave retailers 5 reason to celebrate over the holidays appears to be dying down. NPR's Giles Snyder reports retail 4 sales dragged in December.

Evidence that consumers have retreated after flocking to stores after Thanksgiving comes in the form of sales reports for December. Many of the top American retailers missed Wall Street expectations. The post-Christmas blizzard 6 on the East Coast is getting some of the blame, so are early holiday season discounts, which prompted consumers to get their shopping done before the December rush. Looking forward, retail analyst 7 Britt Beemer of America's Research Group expects retail sales to be a little better than usual in January because consumers are in better financial shape, but he says gasoline is among wild cards.

"Twenty-nine percent of consumers say if gasoline is four dollars a gallon, they are gonna have to start cutting back even more."

The International Council of Shopping Center says overall holiday spending rose at 3.8 percent from last year, the best showing since 2006. Giles Snyder, NPR News, Washington.

The government of Pakistan says it will roll back a rise in fuel prices that stirred public outrage 8 and fractured the ruling coalition 9 in parliament. NPR's Corey Flintoff tells us the move could help ease Pakistan's political turmoil 10.

As of the first of the year, Pakistan's government allowed fuel prices to rise by nine percent in a bid to reduce the country's growing deficit 11. The move was widely unpopular, and it gave opposition 12 political parties an issue they could use to attack the government. On Sunday, a key party walked out of their ruling coalition, leaving the prime minister without a majority in parliament. Analysts 13 say the decision to roll back fuel prices may help stave off political defeat for the government, but it will also drive Pakistan deeper into debt. It could endanger a loan from the International Monetary 14 Fund, which is propping 15 up Pakistan's economy. Corey Flintoff, NPR News.

Emergency personnel are on the scene of two government buildings in Maryland after reports of suspicious packages in Hanover and Annapolis. Police say there were no explosions and no serious injuries.

The latest from Wall Street, the Dow was down nearly 40 points at 11,685.

From Washington, this is NPR News.

The US is deploying 17 1,400 additional Marines to Afghanistan. They'll head out within weeks. Defense 18 Department spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan says the Defense Secretary Robert Gates is sending more combat forces in hopes of shoring up gains made in Afghanistan. A year ago, President Obama approved a troop surge of 30,000, but he said Gates could deploy 16 up to 3,000 more troops if the need arose. American forces are expected to start pulling out of Afghanistan in July.

In China, the local authorities have blamed battery factories after at least 200 local children were found to have lead poisoning. As NPR's Louisa Lim reports, this case is just the latest in a string of heavy metal poisonings.

Lead poisoning has hospitalized more than 20 children in Anhui province's Huaining county. At least 200 are reported to have alleviated 19 lead levels. This can impair 20 brain development, causing learning difficulties. The children were living close to two battery factories, which, according to Chinese law, should be a certain distance from residential 21 areas. Such cases can unleash 22 widespread public anger. Two years ago, protesters attacked a smelting 23 works, which they blamed for poisoning more than 600 children. But in profit-hungry China, safety standards are often ignored in the pursuit of wealth, even when protecting the most vulnerable members of society. Louisa Lim, NPR News, Beijing.

The latest look at unemployment number shows an increase in applications. Today, the Labor 24 Department announced applications rose last week by 18,000 to a seasonally 25 adjusted 409,000. This comes a week after those figures dropped to their lowest level in two years.