NPR 2011-06-03

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

Mitt 1 Romney makes it official. Today, He declared his candidacy for the 2012 Republican nomination 2 for president. NPR's national political correspondent Don Gonyea has more.

Romney traveled to a farm in rural New Hampshire for the long-expected announcement. He delivered a speech highly critical of President Obama's economic policies, saying the recession was deeper and lasted longer because of the president's inexperience.

"Now, in the third year of his four-year term, we have more than slogans and promises to judge by. Barack Obama has failed America."

Romney highlighted his own experience in business. He called for the repeal 3 of the health care law signed by President Obama last year and touched only briefly 4 on the Massachusetts health care law he signed in 2006 while governor. Don Gonyea, NPR News.

The president's top lawyer Bob Bauer is leaving the White House to return to his law firm. He will advise Mr Obama's re-election campaign and serve as the president's personal lawyer. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports Bauer will be replaced by a veteran prosecutor 5.

Kathryn Ruemmler has spent most of her career at the Justice Department. She started out handling drug and violent crime cases in Washington DC, and then took on a leading role in the prosecution 6 of former Enron executives. Ruemmler helped run the Justice Department in the early days of the Obama administration, and since last year she's been a top deputy in the White House Counsel's Office, giving advice on sensitive issues such as the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

The man convicted of kidnapping and raping 7 a girl he held captive for 18 years will spend the rest of his life in jail. Today, a California judge sentenced Phillip Garrido to the maximum 431 years. His wife Nancy got 36 years to life. Jaycee Dugard, the 31-year-old woman who was abducted 8 when she was just 11, was not in court, but she issued a statement in which she said the couple had stolen her life. Dugard also made clear the Garridos no longer mattered.

The World Health Organization knows more about the rare strain of an E. coli bacteria outbreak in Europe, but it's still stumped 9 over its source. WHO says the strain stems from two different bacteria. At least 18 people died, and hundreds were sickened. Nearly all the victims either live in Germany or recently traveled to the region. Russia has banned all vegetable imports meanwhile from the European Union.

First time unemployment claims are down, but there are still above 400,000, a level suggesting job growth. The Labor 10 Department's figure on last week's new jobless claims is out a day before the government releases its monthly unemployment report.

Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow was down 41 points at 12,248.

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NPR has learned that Qatar is deporting 11 the Libyan woman who drew media attention in March, when she publicly accused Libyan forces of raping her. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson says UN authorities confirmed that Iman al-Obeidi is being flown back to Libya despite earlier pleas against deportation 12.

The UNHCR official in Washington who I spoke 13 to Vincent Cochetel tells me that at 6:15 this morning Washington time, Iman al-Obeidi was deported 14 by Qatari authorities back to Benghazi as what is believed. There's been no communication from her or her parents who are with her since the time that she was deported.

Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reporting.

Bill Keller, the executive editor of the New York Times, has stepped down to write full-time 15 for the newspaper. NPR's David Folkenflik reports on this.

Keller took over in 2003 after the brief and turbulent tenure 16 of Howell Raines, who was caught up in the Jayson Blair plagiarism 17 and fabrication scandal. Keller led the Times during difficult days. The Times was not immune to the woes 18 of the newspaper industry, and the Bush White House vigorously objected to the paper's investigative reporting on counter-terrorism measures. Abramson is a veteran journalist who came to prominence 19 at the Wall Street Journal as an investigative reporter. She co-wrote a book on the charge confirmation 20 hearings of US Supreme 21 Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and later she became the journal's Washington bureau chief. Abramson joined the Times in 1997 and rose through the ranks to DC bureau chief and managing editor. Once her appointment takes effect in September, Abramson will become the paper's first female executive editor. David Folkenflik, NPR News, New York

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.