NPR 2010-08-28

The US economy’s growing more slowly than expected. The Commerce Department’s downgrading the nation’s second-quarter growth to 1.6 percent, down from 2.5 percent. Dean Croushore, chairman of the Economics Department at the University of Richmond, says the consumer holds the key to economic health.

"One good piece of news is that consumer spending was revised up a bit. But until we really get stronger growth in consumption spending, I don’t think the economy is going to grow at a very rapid pace."

But the downward revision wasn’t as much as investors 1 had feared and that coupled with the Fed chief’s promise today to take action if economy continues to falter 2 spurred gains on Wall Street. Dow was up 165 points at last check at 10,151.

Federal officials laid out plans today to replace the 50-foot-tall blowout preventer on top of BP’s crippled oil well in the Gulf 3 of Mexico. NPR’s Dan Charles reports that the operation is supposed to get underway early next week.

Engineers are ready to put a final cement plug into the base of the blown-out well. But before they do that, they want a more secure cap on top of the well. That means removing the existing cap along with the massive blowout preventer that failed to prevent the blowout back in April. If all goes well, on Monday or Tuesday engineers will lift that blowout preventer off of the well and cut off the pipe below it. The original blowout preventer will be preserved as evidence. A new, stronger one should be in place within a few days and then work can resume on the so-called “bottom kill” that’s suppose to seal the well forever. Dan Charles, NPR News, Washington.

The American held prisoner in North Korea for some seven months is back home. He arrived in Boston today with former President Jimmy Carter, who negotiated his release.

A pair of car bombs exploded early this morning in the capital of the Mexican state, Tamaulipas. This is the same state where 72 migrants were found massacred this week. We’ve more details from NPR's Jason Beaubien.

The cars exploded in front of a police station and the studios of Televisa television network in Ciudad, Victoria. There were no reports of injuries. Just north of Ciudad Victoria, investigators 4 continued to search a ranch 5 where on Tuesday Mexican Marines found the bound and blindfolded 6 bodies of 58 men and 14 women. President Felipe Calderon’s office says the migrants were gunned down because they refused to go to work for the drug cartel that was holding them captive. The lone 7 survivor 8 of the attack said in a statement that the migrants were killed because they refused to pay ransoms 10. Jason Beaubien, NPR News, Matamoros, Tamaulipas

And another development with this story: The president of Mexico announced today that the state prosecutor 11, who’d been investigating the deaths of 72 migrants, has been missing for two days.

Here’s an update from Wall Street: Dow’s up 165 points at last check at 10,151.

This is NPR News.

A Somali pirate pleads guilty for his role in a violent attack on a US Navy ship. NPR’s Carrie Johnson reports on a case that began off the African coast in April.

Jamal Idle Ibrahim is one of six men accused of attacking the USS Ashland. The plea deal says the pirates thought they had spotted 12 a merchant ship to seize and hold for ransom 9. They chased the ship on the open seas and strafed it with gunfire before figuring out it was a US Navy vessel 13. US Attorney Neil MacBride says the plea represents the first piracy 14 conviction in Virginia in more than 150 years. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

USA Today announced a sweeping 15 reorganization and a layoff 16 of approximately nine percent of its staff as it retools 17 for a more Digital Age. NPR’s David Folkenflik reports that advertising 18 revenue and paid circulation for the nation’s second largest paper has(have) declined.

The presentation to employees started with a quotation 19 attributed to the late management guru, William Edwards Deming: “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory 20.” Executives told staffers that growth was online, especially in Mobile, and that they needed to move more nimbly to break news to be cable channels’ news sites. They changed a lot of faces in the top editor and executive suites 21, redefined the newsroom structure and promised to deal fewer stories but better enterprise reporting in print and a lot more stories, a lot quicker on line. The paper’s realignment also places a greater emphasis on collaboration 22 between the editorial and business sites and developing content that appeals to readers and to advertisers. David Folkenflik, NPR News.