NPR 2011-05-30

A week after a devastating 1 tornado 2 hit the city of Joplin, Missouri, residents are coming together for a special memorial service. President Obama is attending the service.

"Today we gather to celebrate the lives of those we've lost to the storms here in Joplin and across the Midwest, to keep in our prayers those still missing, to mourn with their families, to stand together during this time of pain and trial."

Earlier this afternoon, Mr. Obama toured the barren landscape of Joplin, consoling the victims and promising 3 the government will help them rebuild their lives. The tornado killed at least 139 people, and at least 40 remain unaccounted for.

After a brief reprieve 4 from rain, the Midwest is being drenched 5 again, and forecasters say up to three more inches of rain is expected through tomorrow in already soaked Montana. Montana Public Radio's Emily Ritter reports the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be in Montana early this week to assess flood damage.

Governor Brian Schweitzer toured parts of eastern Montana Friday, where hundreds of homes have been damaged by flooding. That rising water is moving west, and the middle portion of the state is currently under water while people further west are bracing 6 for what's yet to come. State Disaster and Emergency Services spokesperson Monique Lay said she's never seen anything like this in the state.

"This is hitting every corner in the state, everything in between, and it's just that perfect storm of weather events and weather conditions that have come together to make it devastating statewide."

Record amounts of melting snow are starting to pour out of the mountains. At the same time, it's been raining pretty steadily 7 here over the last week. For NPR News, I'm Emily Ritter in Helena.

The giant defense 8 contractor 9 Lockheed Martin says its secrets are safe despite a recent cyber attack. But as NPR's Jamie McIntyre reports, the Pentagon and Homeland Security officials are still investigating.

Lockheed Martin issued a statement confirming the attack on its classified computer systems but saying the company's security team quickly detected the threat, and that no customer, program or employee data had been compromised. The Pentagon called the impact minimal 10, but said it's working along with Homeland Security officials to determine both the extent of the data breach 11 and the country of origin of the attack. In the past, Defense Department computers have come under attack from Chinese hackers 12. The cyber attack was described by Lockheed Martin as significant and tenacious 13, but no other details were released. Jamie McIntyre, NPR News, Washington.

Afghan officials say a NATO air strike in southern Afghanistan has resulted in one of the worst civilian 14 death tolls 15 by foreign forces. Yesterday's attack intended for insurgents 16 killed 12 children and two women.

This is NPR News.

A new study finds the American workplace may be contributing to the obesity 17 epidemic 18. Here's NPR Jennifer Ludden on what the study says.

The study finds that in 1960 half of American jobs required some amount of physical activity. But with the decline of agriculture and manufacturing, today only one in five does. Tim Church of Pennington Biomedical Research Center translated this changing employment trend into calories.

"On average for American male[s], they're burning 140 calories less than they used to per day at work."

Church says that closely matches American's average weight gain in recent decades. His study does not take into account technology like email. So he figures if anything, it's an understatement. Church acknowledges there are many factors in obesity, but he believes efforts to address it should include revamping this sedentary desk job. Jennifer Ludden, NPR News.

An outbreak of E coli bacteria is being blamed for at least ten deaths in Europe. Hundreds have been sickened. The source of the contamination appears to be Spanish cucumbers. Authorities in the Czech Republic and Austria are pulling the suspected vegetables from store shelves. Germany's health ministers are urging residents there not to eat any cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce 19 and other leaf salads.

Heartbreak today at the Indianapolis 500 on the race's 100th anniversary: Rookie JR Hildebrand was less than a lap away from victory when he slammed his car into the wall. So Dan Wheldon took the checkered 20 flag and captured his second Indy win. Hilderbrand's crumbled 21 car slid across in second place.

I'm Nancy Lyons, NPR News, in Washington.