NPR 2011-06-01

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

Home prices across the US are at nine-year lows. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index reveals a steep drop from February to March in 18 of the 20 big metro 1 areas tracked. Patrick Newport, an economist 2 with IHS Global Insight, says he thinks one key factor is primarily to blame.

"The reason, I think, is related to the foreclosures. And we still have a lot of foreclosures still in the pipeline 3, and that's dragging housing prices down."

Meanwhile, a monthly survey reveals an unexpected drop in consumer confidence. The Conference Board's Index fell to 60.8, the lowest point in six months.

Hoping to bolster 4 US competitiveness in trade and production, President Obama is nominating energy executive John Bryson to be his new Commerce Secretary. NPR's Mara Liasson reports Bryson would succeed Gary Locke, who's going to be the new ambassador to China.

Bryson was the chairman and CEO of Edison International, but he also has environmentalist roots as one of the founders 5 of the Natural Resources Defense 6 Council. By picking Bryson, the president gets to add some badly needed business experience to his cabinet.

"By working with companies here at home and representing America's interests abroad, I'm confident that he's gonna help us meet the goal that I set of doubling our nation's exports."

President Obama has promised to double US exports in five years, but before Bryson gets started on that task, he has to get approved by the Senate. And Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, said that won't happen until the president submits trade deals with Panama, South Korea and Colombia. Mara Liasson, NPR News, the White House.

The World Health Organization is adding cell phones to its long list of items that might increase the risk of cancer. We have the latest from NPR's Richard Harris.

Cell phones are now ubiquitous with five billion in a world of seven billion people. So, if they raise the risk of cancer even slightly, that could affect a lot of people. Studies today have not found a clear link between cell phone use and cancer, but one major study published last year found that a small group made up of the heaviest cell phone users seemed to be at slightly higher risk of a type of brain cancer called glioma. That kind of cancer is not on the rise. So, if cell phones are increasing the risk of this cancer, it's not by much, but the World Health Organization now says the finding is enough to put cell phones onto its long list of substances that could possibly cause cancer. Scientists say people can reduce any risk by using hands-free devices rather than holding the phone up to their ears. Richard Harris, NPR News.

Fresh clashes between Yemen's troops and rival tribal 7 militiamen today. Gunfire rings out in Yemen's capital as violence edges closer to civil war in the country. Members of the country's tribal groups have joined the opposition 8 to oust 9 President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Fighting also erupted in Taiz and in the coastal 10 city of Zinjibar.

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was up 128 points at 12,570, NASDAQ gaining 38.

This is NPR News.

Pakistani authorities confirm they have found the body of a local journalist who disappeared two days ago, a case generating mounting criticism about the safety of reporters in the South Asian nation. Police say the remains 11 are those of Saleem Shahzad, a journalist who recently wrote about al-Qaeda's infiltration 12 of Pakistan's navy. NPR's Steve Inskeep is in Islamabad, where he says Shahzad's report followed a militant 13 siege last week of a naval 14 base in Karachi.

This journalist alleged 15 that the attack came after the navy captured a number of al-Qaeda fighters within their own ranks, an extremely sensitive story. And soon afterward 16, the journalist disappeared from, we believe, this neighborhood here in Islamabad.

NPR's Steve Inskeep reporting.

Pakistan's intelligence has denied it had anything to do with Shahzad's death.

Russian officials say the man suspected of pulling the trigger in the 2006 killing 17 of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya has been arrested. Peter Van Dyk reports from Moscow that the man was detained in Russia's restive 18 southern republic of Chechnya.

Russian investigators 19 say Rustam Makhmudov will soon be transferred to Moscow for questioning. He is suspected of being the man who shot Politkovskaya dead in her Moscow apartment building five years ago. The journalist was a harsh critic of the Kremlin, best known for her reporting on human rights abuses in Chechnya. Her murder sparked international condemnation 20. Makhmudov's arrest is the first breakthrough in the case since two of his brothers and another man were acquitted 21 in 2009 of involvement in the killing. For NPR News, I'm Peter Van Dyk in Moscow.

Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow had gained 128 points, more than 1%. It's at 12,570.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.