NPR 2011-09-18

 From NPR News in Washington, I'm Nancy Lyons.

 
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board are in Reno, Nevada today to look into yesterday's air show crash that killed three people including the pilot and injured more than 50. Mike Houghton is the president and CEO of the Reno Air Racing Association.
 
"There appeared to be some air flight problem with the aircraft that caused it to go out of control, and we all know what the end result was on that."
 
The plane was being flown by a 74-year-old veteran Hollywood stunt pilot. Witnesses say the pilot pulled up at the last minute and avoided further injury with his final actions.
 
General Motors and the United Auto Workers Union have finished working on a new four-year contract and without any strikes. The union says the deal reached last night includes improvements and profit sharing, promises of new jobs and better health care benefits. The proposal is expected to serve as a model for contracts still being negotiated with Chrysler and Ford.
 
With his country at the center of the eurozone crisis, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has suddenly canceled a planned visit to Washington and the UN General Assembly. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Athens local media are speculating that Greece's EU partners doubt the Papandreou's government can push through drastic fiscal reforms.
 
A government spokesman said the prime minister wants to ensure that all of Greece's commitments are fulfilled. Greek media are speculating that EU finance ministers have expressed serious doubts about the debt-ridden country's ability to meet international lenders' demands for further funding, and they may have decided to hold back the sixth installment, eight billion of the 110-billion-euro bailout agreed to last year. The funds had been expected by the end of September. Greece has fallen back on meeting fiscal goals this year due to a much deeper-than-projected recession caused by draconian austerity measures. This forced the government to further anger public opinion by slapping an emergency levy on property to make up for the shortfall. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Athens.
 
International efforts are moving forward on trying to seal the freedom for bail deal for two Americans held in Iran. The two men were convicted of spying, and Iran says they will allow their release in exchange for a million dollars. The bail arrangement is still under review by Iran's powerful judiciary. Mediators from Iraq and Oman are urging Iran to release the men on humanitarian grounds.
 
Rebels fighters in Libya with help from NATO are still trying to take control of Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte. They're engaged in street-by-street battles with Gaddafi loyalists, trying to topple the old regime stronghold. Rebel forces are refocusing their efforts in Bani Walid, where loyalists, snipers, and gunners beat them back and are holding the high ground. The staunch resistance is stalling Libya's move to a new government.
 
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The maker of the Blackberry smartphone is again taking a beating from investors. As Dan Karpenchuk reports, Canada's Research In Motion lost 20% of its stock value after second-quarter profits dropped. 
 
Those profits plunged 58% to about 330 million dollars, far below analysts' expectations, mainly over disappointing sales of its Blackberry smartphones and its Playbook tablet. Research In Motion also said profits were affected by the 120 million dollars that had to pay to cover the cost of cutting 2,000 jobs. The co-CEO Mike Lazaridis says the numbers don't truly reflect the company's sales since the new smartphones were only on the market for a couple of weeks before the second quarter ended. But some observers say RIM just hasn't been able to compete with Apple's popular iPhone and iPad and hasn't learned how to anticipate the market and respond to customers' needs. Analysts remain worried about its aging line of products, too few job cuts and the fact that it's losing market share faster than expected. For NPR News, I'm Dan Karpenchuk in Toronto.
 
President Obama is keeping up the pressure on Congress to quickly pass his 447-billion-dollar jobs package. In his weekly address today, he said it's what’s needed to boost the economy.
 
"It will create new jobs. It will cut taxes for every worker and small businesses in the country. And it will not add to the deficit. It will be paid for."
 
For the Republicans, Congressman Peter Roskam from Illinois says the way to increase jobs is to eliminate all the bureaucratic red tape.
 
"Job creators should be able to focus on their work - not on Washington's busy-work."
 
Roskam says the Senate needs to approve House Republican initiatives including legislation that would give Congress veto power over certain high-cost regulations.
 
I'm Nancy Lyons, NPR News.