NPR 2009-11-17

General Motors says it's ready to begin repaying its federal loans years before they're due. The automaker reported that it lost nearly 1.2 billion dollars in the third quarter after emerging from bankruptcy 1 protection in July. But GM’s Chief Executive Fritz Henderson says that loss represents an improvement.

Certainly much lower than what has been, uh, although it’s not necessarily comparable and certainly better than our plan going into bankruptcy. But nonetheless, it's a loss, and you can not be satisfied with it.

Henderson says he’s intent on proving wrong a Government Accountability Office report that said GM was unlikely ever to repay all of its government loans.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke says he expects the US economy to keep growing in the New Year.

However, some important headwinds, such as constrained 2 bank lending and a weak job market, likely will prevent the expansion from being as robust 3 as we would hope.

Bernanke's speaking at the Economic Club of New York. He said FED policy makers 4 are likely to keep interest rates at low levels in the coming months.

The global economy is expected to be one of the topics discussed when President Obama confers with China's President Hu Jintao tomorrow in Beijing. The two leaders met informally over dinner this evening.

Inspectors 5 from the UN's nuclear watchdog agency are raising new questions about whether Iran has any more secret nuclear facilities. NPR's Mike Shuster reports the inspectors have made their first visit to Iran's recently disclosed nuclear site.

The facility is located at a military base at Fordo, about 12 miles north of Qom. Its existence was secret until late September. Iranian officials told the IAEA they decided 6 to build the facility in 2007 when there was much talk of a US or Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear sites. But the IAEA says it has satellite photos that show construction at the site began in 2002. Currently there are no gas centrifuges installed at the Fordo facility. Iran uses the centrifuges to enrich uranium. There is also no nuclear material at the site. The IAEA has asked Iran to provide a letter stating there are no other secret nuclear sites in the country. Mike Shuster, NPR News.

The space shuttle Atlantis is safely in orbit after a launch from the Kennedy Space Center today. From member station WMFE, Judith Smelser has more.

There were concerns earlier in the day about low clouds at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. But the launch time weather cooperated longer enough for a picture-perfect liftoff.

One, zero, and lift off...

Atlantis is carrying more than 27,000 pounds of spare parts to the space station. The equipment will be stored on big platforms outside the orbiting lab for use after the space shuttles are retired 7. The shuttle is the only existing spacecraft capable of carrying up the heavy equipment. Atlantis will also be bringing astronaut Nicole Stott back to earth. She's been on the Space Station since August. For NPR News, I'm Judith Smelser, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Just before the close on Wall Street the Dow was up 133 points.

This is NPR News.

Insurgents 8 in Afghanistan fired rockets into a crowded market area northeast of Kabul today. The attack killed 12 Afghan civilians 9 and wounded dozens of others, but missed its presumed target-a meeting between France's top general in that country and dozens of local officials and tribal 10 elders.

A new report from the Agriculture Department finds that a record number of Americans had trouble providing enough food for their families last year. NPR's Pam Fessler has details.

Almost 15% of US households faced food shortages at some point during the past year. That's up from 11% in 2007, and the highest level since 1995 when the government first began to measure the level of food security. About 2/3 of the affected 11 families were able to make up some of the shortfall with Food Stamps and other government programs, as well as with the emergency aid from Food Pantries and Soup Kitchens. But some 17 million Americans did not have enough food last year for active healthy lives according to the Department, and more than a million of those were children. Agriculture officials say rising unemployment was one of the main reasons for the increasing hunger last year. Pam Fessler, NPR News, Washington.

This year's Rookies of the Year in Major League Baseball are Florida Marlins' left fielder Chris Coghlan in the National League. He edged out Philadelphia Phillies' pitcher 12 J.A. Happ. The American League honors go to Oakland A's closer Andrew Bailey.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is pledging to veto a bill set for enactment 13 by the City Council that would give drivers a five-minute grace period when time expires at thousands of electronic parking meters. Bloomberg said that measure would create chaos 14 in the city.

I’m Craig Windham, NPR News in Washington.