NPR 2012-04-15

 Forecasters say life-threatening weather could strike in the nation’s heartland today, a possibility growing stronger as the day wears on. At the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, Director Russ Schneider reminds if the twister is approaching, “you want to go to the lowest floor and put as many walls between you and the outside as possible. Into your bathroom or closet is always a fairly effective choice if you don’t have a storm shelter.” A particular concern, parts of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. The most dangerous conditions are projected for late this afternoon between Oklahoma City and Salina, Kansas.

 
While North Koreans celebrated 1 the birthday of their country’s founder 2 this weekend, South Korean warships 3 searched for debris 4 from Pyongyang’s failed rocket launch. Doualy Xaykaothao has more.
 
About ten naval 5 ships are out in the Yellow Sea, trying to locate broken parts from North Korea’s Unha-3 rocket. An official with South Korea’s Defense 6 Ministry 7 said at least one corvette is using sonar or radar 8 to recover parts. US Navy minesweepers were also expected to be helping 9 in the search. In Pyongyang, tens of thousands of North Koreans gathered in a stadium for a rally to honor the 100th birthday of North Korea’s founder Kim Il-sung. His grandson, Kim Jong-un,  waved to the crowd as a sea of people applauded. The audience later chanted his name and in unison 10 said “defend him to the death.” For NPR News, I’m Doualy Xaykaothao in Seoul.
 
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says neither the economy nor the financial system have fully 11 recovered from the collapse 12 of the housing market. Steve Becker of Market News International has details on the chairman’s latest comments.
 
Though unsound mortgages triggered the crisis, Bernanke says it was rooted in structural 13 problems with the financial system and its regulation. To avoid or at least mitigate 14 future panics, he says, the vulnerabilities that underlay 15 the recent crisis must be fully addressed. The Fed is best-known for setting interest rates and controlling the money supply. But the 2010 Dodd-Frank law gives the Fed expanded responsibility to supervise the biggest financial firms and oversea risk taking throughout the system, and Bernanke says that process is well underway. He says the Fed is now putting a promotional financial stability on an equal footing with monetary 16 policy. For NPR News, I’m Steve Becker.
 
At the Summit of the Americas in Colombia, President Obama says there’s reason for hemispheric optimism.
 
“It is remarkable 17 to see the changes that had been taking place in a relatively 18 short period of time in Latin and Central America and in the Caribbean.”
 
Trade is a major focus this weekend.
 
This is NPR News.
 
A US bankruptcy 19 judge has approved the sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers 20 to a group led by former NBA basketball star Magic Johnson. As NPR’s John Burnett reports, the selling price is 2.1 billion dollars.
 
With the sale approval, the team can finally leave Chapter 11 bankruptcy and its creditors 21 can be paid. The steep price includes the baseball team, Dodgers Stadium and the land underneath 22 it. A lawyer for Major League Baseball, however, expressed disapproval 23 of the deal and asked the Delaware-based judge to allow the league to stop the transaction. The Dodgers entered bankruptcy last June, the time when outgoing Dodgers owner Frank McCourt had been arguing with the league over a new television deal. The sale has to close by the end of this month, when McCourt has to meet a deadline to pay his ex-wife 130 million dollars. John Burnett, NPR News.
 
On both sides in the Atlantic and on the North Atlantic in between, there are commemorations of the sinking of the Titanic 24 100 years ago on this date. On board, the Balmoral, a liner retracing 25 the course of the Titanic and carrying history buffs and descendants of Titanic passengers, Captain Robert Bamberg kept passengers abreast 26 of the ship’s progress.
 
“A very good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, Captain speaking. Time has just gone 12 o'clock onboard. Balmoral’s en route to the Titanic wreckage 27 site.”
 
Meanwhile, onboard passengers dressed in Edwardian fashions attended a gala dinner. Fifteen hundred people died when the Titanic collided with an iceberg 28 and sank to the ocean floor.
 
I’m Louise Schiavone, NPR News Washington.