NPR 2011-07-08

No breakthroughs yet on raising the debt ceiling. But President Obama calls today's bipartisan meeting at the White House "very constructive 1." NPR's Ari Shapiro has our story.

President Obama spent more than an hour meeting with eight congressional leaders from both parties. Afterwards, he told reporters that everyone acknowledged the deal will involve political pain on both sides. He says negotiators will meet through the weekend.

"I will reconvene congressional leaders here on Sunday with the expectation that at that point the parties will at least know where each other's bottom lines are."

Back on Capitol Hill, congressional leaders did not say much about the meeting. House Speaker John Boehner said: "We had a conversation. It was productive." Ari Shapiro, NPR News, the White House.

Yemen's embattled president has made his first public appearance since he was injured last month in an attack on his compound. In a video today, Ali Abdullah Saleh accuses anti-government activists 2 of trying to destabilize his country.

The Pakistani port of Karachi is in the grip of more violence. NPR's Julie McCarthy reports at least 42 people have been killed in the last three days.

The city known for its ethnic 3 volatility 4 has exploded in a new paroxysm of killing 5 where the dead reportedly include women and young children. The violence was triggered by the murder of a local leader of the Awami National Party, which represents the ethnic Pashtuns, who have arrived in Karachi in great numbers from the war-torn northwestern Pakistan. They clashed with the mostly Urdu-speaking Mohajirs, who migrated from India in 1947 when the country was born. The Mohajirs are locked in a deadly struggle with the Pashtuns for control of the city. The impoverished 6 slum of Orangi town has been the worst-affected area. Rangers 7 have been deployed 8 as the killing spreads to other parts of Pakistan's largest city. Julie McCarthy, NPR News, Islamabad.

In the US, unemployment remains 9 a leading cause of home foreclosures. NPR's Tamara Keith reports the Obama administration plans to expand the program that's designed to help unemployed 10 homeowners.

Some unemployed homeowners are going to be able to put off making their mortgage payments for up to a year while they search for work under the expanded program. Before, it was just three months. But since 45% of the unemployed have been out of work for six months or longer, the Obama administration says borrowers need more time. The program's reach is somewhat limited. It will be required for Federal Housing Administration loans, but merely an option for lenders handling conventional loans. Mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac won't qualify, and they're behind a majority of US mortgages. Tamara Keith, NPR News, Washington.

Investors 11 are responding to upbeat news from the Labor 12 Department which says that first-time unemployment claims fell last week to a seven-week low of 418,000. Before the close, the Dow was up 94 points.

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Casey Anthony is expected to be out of jail next week. Two days ago, a Florida jury cleared her of charges that she murdered her young daughter Caylee. She was found guilty of lying to investigators 13 for which she was sentenced today to four years in prison, but she's being released for time served and good behavior. Meanwhile, anger over this week's verdict continued outside the Orange County Courthouse.

"Caylee, Caylee, Caylee..."

Authorities say there are concerns about security surrounding Anthony who many believe should not have been allowed to walk.

Music sales are up barely, according to new figures from Nielsen SoundScan. But as NPR's Neda Ulaby reports, even a slight increase is better than the double-digit drops in sales that have plagued the music industry over the past decade.

OK, it's only 1%. But according to Nielsen, this is the first time in six years the music industry has seen even the slightest glimmer 14 of improvement. That's thanks in part to respectable sales by Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Adele. Unsurprisingly, Adele has the year's top albums so far both physically 15 and digitally, but sales of brandnew albums actually tumbled by 4%. The overall gain came from older music — stuff like the Greatest Hits of Journey, "Don't Stop Believin'" in old-fashioned vinyl records either. They sold 41% more than they did last year. Still, that's a minuscule 16 fraction of sales so far this year. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

Before the close, the Dow was up 93 points or nearly 1% at 12,719, and the NASDAQ was up more than 1% at 2,873.

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