NPR 2011-06-29

France's Finance Minister Christine Legarde will become the first woman to lead the International Monetary 1 Fund. She was elected today with the backing of the world's major economies. The changes at the IMF come during tumultuous times for the organization, especially in light of Greece's deepening debt troubles. But investors 2 are increasingly confident the country will pass sweeping 3 measures to avoid default, and that's sending US stocks higher. At last check before the close, the Dow was up more than 1% at 12167; Nasdaq up 1.5% at 2729. Watching the markets, here's NPR's Margot Adler in New York.

The stock indexes rose after a three-day slide. Speculation 4 for the upswing is focused on the parliament of Greece. The Greek parliament is debating austerity measures that must be passed for the country to get the next installment 5 of emergency loans. On Monday, French banks agreed that Greek debts could be repaid at a slower rate, which would help avoid default. There is some optimism that the government will approve huge austerity measures and avoid default in their debt crisis. Margot Adler, NPR News, New York.

But the sentiment is quite different in the streets of Athens, Greece. Public transport workers, doctors, ambulance drivers and workers from many other industries swarmed 6 Athens today, angered by Greece's push to make cuts that they say will make it much more difficult for the average person to earn a living. Reporter Joanna Kakissis is there.

The protests were part of a 48-hour general strike called by unions. A few thousand people surrounded parliament in a mostly peaceful demonstration 7 that degenerated 8 into street fights between young anarchists 9 and police. At stake is the fate of the new austerity bill, which includes tax hikes and a controversial plan to privatize state-owned enterprises. Protesters are hoping their very visible resistance of the bill will kill it. But if it doesn't pass, Greece could default on its massive sovereign debt. The country runs out of cash next month. European leaders and international lenders say they won't give Greece its latest installment of bailout loans unless parliament passes the austerity package. For NPR News, I'm Joanna Kakissis in Athens.

President Obama says he wants to see a robust 10 and growing manufacturing sector 11 in the US that he says would make the country that much more competitive. He toured in an Alcoa plant in Iowa today, saying it symbolizes 12 innovation.

"A big part of our future has to be a robust and growing manufacturing sector. We've got to make things right here in America."

Iowa has been attracting a number of politicians, attempting to draw a vote of support in the state that hosts the nation's first presidential caucuses 13.

The latest from Wall Street: The Dow was up 145 points, 1.2% higher; it's at 12189.

This is NPR News.

Pro-Palestinian activists 14 organizing a flotilla to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza say they have increased security around their vessels 15 after an alleged 16 act of sabotage 17. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports the propeller 18 of one boat has been damaged.

The organizers of the ship shared by Swedish, Norwegian and Greek activists say what they call "hostile divers 19" had cut the propeller of the "Juliano." The damage will be repaired, they said, adding that it will not affect plans to sail at the end of this week. But the flotilla has already been delayed by a series of administrative 20 problems with Greek port authorities. Organizers say the obstacles are the result of Israeli diplomatic pressure to prevent the operation from taking place. The activists say they're only bringing humanitarian 21 aid and messages of solidarity 22 with Palestinians in Gaza. But Israeli military officials claim the flotilla is carrying sulfuric acid to be used against Israeli soldiers if they try to board the boats. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Athens.

Associated Press reporting that Afghan police are saying at least one bomber 23 has blown himself up inside a Western-style hotel in Kabul. Afghan police were reportedly battling assailants with machine gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades as tracer rounds went up over the blacked-out building.

The International Criminal Court's prosecutor 24 is pressing Libyan officials to arrest their leader Muammar Gaddafi — or risk charges as well. Luis Moreno-Ocampo's appeal comes a day after the court issued arrest warrants for Gaddafi, his son Saif and his intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi for crimes against humanity.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.