NPR 2011-02-11

Protesters in Egypt's Tahrir Square are waiting for an announcement from embattled President Hosni Mubarak, who is widely expected to relinquish 1 some power after two weeks of anti-government demonstrations 2. NPR's Corey Flintoff reports that the army says it's acting 3 to preserve the nation.

Major General Hassan Roweny entered the square this afternoon and told protesters that "everything you want will be realized." He declined to say more, adding that there would be an announcement later in the day. The Egyptian military issued a statement entitled Communiqué No. 1. The statement said in part that a military council met today and decided 4 to remain in continuous session to consider what measures may be taken to protect the nation. Protesters in the square said they'd wait for Mubarak's announcement, but many expressed concern that what's happening now may be a military coup 5 rather than a realization 6 of their demands for democracy. Corey Flintoff, NPR News, Cairo.

There's been a serious attack at the northwest Pakistani city of Mardan, at one of the country's oldest military installations. From Islamabad, NPR's Julie McCarthy reports that a suicide bomber 7, whom local authorities say was a teenager, killed at least 31 military personnel and wounded 40 other people.

According to army sources, the bomber walked past the parade grounds this morning, where soldiers of the Punjab Regiment 8 were conducting physical training and blew himself up. While eyewitnesses 9 told police the bomber appeared to be in his early 20s, army sources say the suicide attacker was a teenager believed to be between the ages of 16 and 18. Mardan is one of the busiest cities in the northwest, and the military base lies in the main road. The army says the bomber gained access, dressed in a uniform of one of the two schools housed in the military base. The Punjab Regimental Center is a sprawling 10 complex founded by the British during the colonial era. Today's bombing comes as Pakistan announced it would resume ministerial talks with India on a range of issues including peace and Kashmir. Julie McCarthy, NPR News, Islamabad.

New data show fewer homes entered the foreclosure process in January in the US than in any month in more than three years. NPR's Giles Snyder reports numbers may not tell the whole story.

Compared to January last year, filings are down 17%. RealtyTrac spokesman Rick Sharga says the number might suggest the foreclosure problem is easing, but that's probably not true.

"What we're still seeing is a fallout from the paperwork issues that plagued the lenders due to the robo-signing scandal that hit late in the third quarter of last year, and ultimately we're going to see a return to higher levels of foreclosure activity."

Sharga says the numbers will go up. It's just a question of when. Giles Snyder, NPR News, Washington.

The Dow's down 36 at 12, 204; NASDAQ is down five.

This is NPR.

The federal government's budget deficit 11 is on track to hit a record high. The Treasury 12 Department says the deficit grew by $50 billion in January, the highest ever for that month. For the first four months of the budget year, the deficit reached nearly $419 billion. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the gap will widen to 1.5 trillion this budget year.

An investigation 13 is under way into last night's natural gas explosion in eastern Pennsylvania. Melanie Herschorn of member station WIFT [WITF] reports the blast destroyed several homes and killed at least three people.

The fire has been extinguished after burning for several hours while utility crews tried to shut off the gas main. The victims' names have not been released. Emergency crews are still trying to locate other residents. Fire Chief Robert Scheirer says he expects eight houses to be lost and another 16 to sustain considerable damage. The nearly 600 residents evacuated 14 last night are returning to their homes. The cause of the explosion has not yet been determined 15. A spokesman for Reading-based UGI Utilities says the company performed a routine leak check this week and found no issues in the gas main in that area prior to the explosion. For NPR News, I'm Melanie Herschorn.

The American security firm McAfee warns oil company computers in the United States and other countries have been breached 16 by hackers 17 traced to China. In a report released today, McAfee says the hackers stole data about the company's finances and other sensitive aspects of their operations, an attack that started over a year ago. The targeted computers were in the US, Greece, Kazakhstan and Taiwan.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.