NPR News

Pages

Politics
1:00 am
Thu February 9, 2012

Obama To Hold Talks With Italy's Prime Minister

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And that settlement is, of course, a priority for President Obama. But so is the debt crisis in Europe. Today, he hosts Italy's new prime minister, the technocrat who succeeded the controversial-but-flamboyant Silvio Berlusconi last fall. Mario Monti has not yet turned around Italy's economy, but as NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports, he's changed the government's image abroad.

Read more
Presidential Race
9:01 pm
Wed February 8, 2012

Powerful GOP-Linked SuperPAC Has Clear Agenda

Originally published on Thu February 9, 2012 6:00 am

Planet Money
9:01 pm
Wed February 8, 2012

What Do The Dow's Daily Swings Mean? Not Much.

Credit Mario Tama / Getty Images

Turn on the news on any given day, and you're likely to hear about the Dow Jones industrial average. It is the most frequently checked, and cited, proxy of U.S. economic health. But a lot of people — maybe most — don't even know what it is. It's just the stock prices of 30 big companies, summed up and roughly averaged. That's it.

And what does the daily movement of this number have to do with the lives of most Americans? Not much.

Read more
Crisis In The Housing Market
9:01 pm
Wed February 8, 2012

Potential Conflicts At Freddie Mac Draw Scrutiny

Credit Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
In December, Freddie Mac CEO Charles Haldeman (from left), FHFA acting Director Edward DeMarco and Fannie Mae CEO Michael Williams testified on Capitol Hill about the Federal Housing Finance Agency's performance.

A federal Inspector General's office confirmed Wednesday it is looking into Freddie Mac investments that act as bets against homeowners being able to refinance.

In addition, U.S. senators are expected to probe Freddie Mac's investment practices at a hearing on Capitol Hill on Thursday.

Freddie Mac, based in northern Virginia, is the taxpayer-owned mortgage giant whose public mission is to make homeownership more affordable for Americans.

Read more
Middle East
9:01 pm
Wed February 8, 2012

What Do Democracy Promoters Actually Do?

American lawmakers are furious with a mounting diplomatic crisis in Egypt, where dozens of nongovernmental workers, including 19 Americans, could face trial.

The United States says Egypt needs to let pro-democracy groups continue their work to help the country's transition, but Egypt accuses them of operating illegally.

The work of democracy promotion groups have raised suspicions in many countries, but Lorne Craner, who runs the International Republican Institute, says he's never seen anything like what's going on now in Egypt.

Read more

Pages