Search results for

NPR's Jim Zarroli reports consumer confidence slipped again in April. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index has fallen six of the last seven months and fell more in April than expected. The Federal Reserve has been cutting interest rates in a bid to keep the economy from falling into recession. Today's report indicates that consumers are still worried about the economy.

NPR's Nina Totenberg has the second of two reports on what to expect when the Senate begins considering President Bush's nominees to the federal bench. There are 100 vacancies to fill, largely because the Republican- controlled Senate refused to even consider many of President Clinton's nominations. Today's report focuses on the main players. White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales heads a team of young conservative lawyers who are compiling a list of nominees. Republican Sen. Orin Hatch, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the committee, are trying to work out a set of confirmation rules acceptable to senators from both parties.

NPR's Debbie Elliott reports from Birmingham that testimony started today in the trial of Thomas Blanton Jr., who is charged with murder in the civil-rights-era bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Four girls died in the blast in 1963.

Host Bob Edwards speaks with Bishop John Ricard of The Catholic Conference, which is lobbying the Bush administration to work for peace in Sudan.

In his first 100 days in office, President Bush has pursued the tax cut and education plans he campaigned for last year. He has generated controversy over the environment and come to grips with his first foreign crisis. He has also shown a strong devotion to the country beyond the confines of Congress and the national's capital city. NPR's Don Gonyea reports from the White House.

Linda Wertheimer talks with Larry Elmore, a retired airplane pilot who is planning to jump from an airplane 60 times Tuesday. Elmore was forced retire from Trans World Airlines at the age of 60. He's decided to prove that he's still in top shape.

Linda Wertheimer talks with Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, about his latest poll concerning the public's opinion of President Bush's job during his first 100 days. The data show that the president is doing as well as his predecessors.

NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports that financial officials from around the world are gathering in Washington for meetings this weekend of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The semi-annual meetings will also draw hundreds of anti-globalization protesters. Many of these protesters want the Bank and the Fund to forgive the debts of the world's poorest nations, but the institutions say it would be unwise to speed up the debt relief they are providing.

The planet Mars could be the place human space explorers head next. But the danger -- not to mention the expense -- leads many researchers to question how much humans can do when they get there that a well trained robot couldn't. David Kestenbaum reports on the dream and the downside of human space exploration.

As the Chinese government cracks down on the Falun Gong spiritual movement, exercises used by the group are becoming popular in the United States. Jason DeRose has a report from member station KPLU in Seattle.