NPR 2009-5-30

In the wake of yet another short-range missile firing by North Korea, US officials now say there are scenes what appears to be increased activity at a long-range missile site. North Korea test-fired its sixth missile this week over strong objections by the United Nations. UN Security Council is trying to determine how to respond. During a regional security conference in Singapore, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called for much tougher sanctions.

"One of the only effective ways of seizing attention of the government in Pyongyang is by a harsh range of financial measures."

Further fueling UN concerns, North Korea claims to have conducted a nuclear test earlier this week.

Hourly workers at General Motors have signed off on a package of concessions 1 aimed at giving the struggling automaker a bit of breathing room. At a news conference today, United Auto 2 Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said about three quarters of the company's 54,000 US production workers voted in favor of the deal, which is designed to save the automaker more than a billion dollars annually 3. In exchange for concessions, the hourly workers will get 17.5% ownership in a post-bankruptcy 4 GM. Bondholders have till 5 pm tomorrow to vote on their part of the deal. Under the current plan which envisions a bankruptcy filing by the automaker early next week, US government will wind up with a more than 70% stake in GM.

The German government is meeting to discuss plans for the take-over of GM's subsidiary Opel. Financial (report) support from the government is necessary for that deal to succeed. The BBC's Steve Rosenberg reports.

Locked away in a luxury hotel by the Brandenburg Gate, Magna and GM bosses talked. They're trying to iron out their differences. If they failed to agree a deal, there will be no meeting at the German Chancellor’s Office and no financial assistance from the German government. By evening, Magna and GM announced they had reached a preliminary agreement over investment in GM's European operations. And if the blueprint 5 meets with Berlin's approval, that could pave the way for a vital package of emergency aid for GM Europe, courtesy of the German government. BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Berlin.

The US government is offering a new little revised look at the state of the economy. NPR's Giles Snyder reports.

The Commerce Department's reports suggest the recessions gripped on the economy at the beginning of the year began loosening. It says Gross Domestic Product contracted at an annual rate, a 5.7% in the first quarter. That was a slightly better annual decline than the Commerce Department first estimated, but the drop was still significant. GDP is a key gauge 6 of the nation's economic health. That measures the value of all goods and services produced in the US. The economic weakness was led by a sharp slowdown in business spending. Activity was also dragged down by cutbacks in federal government's spending and a plunging 7 US export. While the drop in economic activity was still steep and slightly worse than Wall Street expected, recent data have indicated that the rate of slowdown is easing. Many economists 8 are looking for growth to resume in the coming months. Giles Snyder, NPR News, Washington.

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A US official in France tasked with preparing for a President Obama's upcoming D-Day visit has been hospitalized with Swine Flu. A French official says 11 other members of US delegation 9 have been placed in isolation 10. The US embassy officials said that the French authorities are taking the appropriate measures. The case of reported swine flu comes as French, British and US officials who are headed to France ahead of the 65th anniversary of D-Day, June 6th.

A new report by Human Rights Organizations finds there has been a major shift in global opinion about cluster bombs in recent years, and countries that previously 11 favored them are now denouncing them as inhumane. The report says an increasing number of countries are signing the treaty to ban clustery ammunitions. Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva.

So far, 96 countries have signed the treaty to ban cluster ammunitions. Major holdouts include the United States, Russia, Israel and China. But Steve Goose of Human Rights Watch is optimistic the US will review its policy and join.

"We are optimistic in part, because as a senator, Barack Obama was supportive on this issue and we're hoping that he will continue that kind of support now that he is Commander in Chief.”

Though the US is not part of the treaty, Goose notes Congress has banned the export of cluster munitions 12. He believes the convention has created a new standard of behavior and acts as a powerful deterrent 13 to countries not to use these weapons. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Schlein in Geneva.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 96 points to close at 8,500. For the week, The Dows was up to 2.7%. The NASDAQ climbed 22 points today. The S&P 500 was up 12 points.

I'm Jack 14 Speer, NPR News in Washington.