NPR 2012-04-10

 Signs today that North Korea is getting ready for a long-range rocket launch in the next few days, defying international warnings. All three stages of the rocket are now in position, and Doualy Xaykaothao reports South Korea is suggesting the North is also likely to test a third nuclear device.

 
Three years ago, when North Korea last tested what it then called a rocket launch, an underground nuclear test followed less than two months later. The North may repeat that pattern. According to South Korean intelligence officials, satellite images taken only last week show what could be a new underground tunnel for a possible nuclear test. The photos and accompanying analysis were leaked to local media just two days before South Korea's parliamentary elections and ahead of North Korea's planned rocket launch later this week. Earlier, international reporters got a rare tour of the North Korean launch site. For NPR News, I'm Doualy Xaykaothao in Seoul.
 
A judge has issued a gag order in the child sex abuse case against former Pen State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. NPR's Jeff Brady reports the order prevents both prosecutors 2 and defense 3 attorneys from talking to the media.
 
Pennsylvania Judge John Cleland says in his order that the directive will help ensure a fair, impartial 4 and orderly trial. He says given the publicity 5 surrounding the case, the order is necessary. He’s barring attorneys along with their employees and investigators 6 from talking to reporters both on and off the record. The judge also is asking attorneys to limit statements from witnesses in the case. Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky is charged with sexually abusing ten boys. Some of the instances of abuse allegedly happen on the university campus. Sanduksy says he’s innocent. The trial is scheduled to start in June. Jeff Brady, NPR News.
 
The prosecutor 1 in the Trayvon Martin case says she will not use a grand jury. A previous prosecutor has scheduled one to convene 7 tomorrow. But State Attorney Angela Corey says she alone can determine whether to file criminal charges against George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watch volunteer who shot the unarmed black teen in February. In Florida, a grand jury is only required in first-degree murder cases.
 
Gas prices continue to rise up an average of four cents a gallon over the past two weeks. John Felmy of the American Petroleum 8 Institute says they are not going up because of a shortage.
 
“There a couple refiners have been shut down recently. But even so what we’ve seen is a record production of gasoline. There’s plenty of gasoline out there, and demand is down. It just costs more to produce.”
 
He says production has been marked expensive because crude oil costs have gone up sharply, and he says they are now going down and expects gas prices to follow suit.
 
On Wall Street at this hour, the Dow is down 90 points at 12,971; the NASDAQ is off 23 at 3,058; the S&P is down 12. 
 
This is NPR.
 
Cosmetic 9 seller Avon has appointed Johnson & Johnson executive Sherilyn McCoy as its new CEO. Avon is hoping to reverse declines in domestic sales and recover from a bribery 10 investigation 11 connected to the company's former CEO. Avon has been around since 1886, and for decades its Avon ladies have gone door to door in American neighborhoods, selling makeup 12. Now 80% of Avon's revenues comes from overseas. 
 
‘The Hunger Games’ is the box-office favorite for a third consecutive 13 weekend. NPR's Trina Williams reports audiences' appetite for the blockbuster is greater than for some reheated hits from the 1990s.
 
“The time has come to select one courageous 14 young man and woman for the honor of representing District 12 in the 74th annual Hunger Games.”
 
‘The Hunger Games’ is holding on to its top spot with an estimated 33.5 million dollars in ticket sales. 'American Pie' sequel ‘American Reunion’ and the re-release of juggernaut Titanic 15 this time in 3D settled for second and third place. Considering the Easter holiday, traditionally a slower weekend for theaters, both managed respectable debut 16 numbers. Titanic 3D’s opening coincides with the 100th anniversary of the cruise liner's tragic 17 sinking. ‘Wrath Of The Titans’ is fourth on the chart. ‘Mirror Mirror’ follows. Trina Williams, NPR News.
 
In box offices on Broadway, ‘The Lion King’ has now been crowned the highest-grossing show of all time on the Great White Way, surpassing ‘Phantom of the Opera.’ For the theater week ending yesterday alone, ‘The Lion King’ netted over two million dollars.
 
I'm Barbara Klein, NPR News in Washington.