NPR 2011-06-09

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

For the first time this year, economic recovery has actually slowed across several US regions. A Federal Reserve survey points to a slowdown in four of its twelve bank regions in April and May compared with the start of 2011, part of the reason [that] consumers spending less and pricier gas.

A big win for storeowners today. The Senate voted 54 to 45 to allow the Fed to limit the fees merchants have to pay banks each time a customer swipes a debit 1 card. David French of the National Retail 2 Federation 3 says debit and credit card fees benefit bankers at the expense of consumers.

"The average American family pays an extra 427 dollars a year because of swipe fees regardless of whether they shop with a debit card or with cash or with a check. It's embedded 4 in the cost of everything they purchase."

The Fed wants to cap fees at 12 cents per transaction compared with the current average of 44 cents. It takes effect next month. Banks warn they will have to raise other fees.

Thousands of people in eastern Arizona are evacuating 5, and residents in neighboring Luna, New Mexico are preparing to do the same, with the more than 600-square-mile wildfire raging on the border. It's still reported to be burning out of control. Fire information officer Jim Whittington says no one can say for sure if any part of that Wallow blaze is contained.

"We want to be really, really certain, very high confidence, that nothing is gonna challenge that line, and there aren't any places on this fire right now, given the weather we're having and given the fire we have ever seen, for we can say that we're really confident."

The fire has destroyed several structures, but no official word yet on serious injuries.

Prosecution 6's closing arguments are under way in Chicago in the federal corruption 7 retrial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. NPR's David Schaper reports the prosecution was expected to start shortly.

The former Democratic governor's charged with 20 counts, including fraud, attempted extortion and conspiracy 8 to commit bribery 9. Prosecutors 10 alleged 11 Blagojevich tried to shake down executives for huge campaign contributions, and that he tried to sell or trade the US Senate seat vacated by President Obama for a top job or campaign cash. Blagojevich's first trial last summer ended with him convicted of only lying to the FBI and a hung jury on the rest of the charges. So this time around, prosecutors simplified their case, and in their closing arguments, they're expected to go through each charge one by one and try to show the jury how the evidence they presented proves Blagojevich committed each of those crimes. Blagojevich's defense 12 team will argue the former governor's innocence 13 once the prosecution finishes. David Schaper, NPR News, Chicago.

Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow was down more than 20 points at 12,048; NASDAQ had lost 26 points, or nearly 1%; it's at 2,675.

From Washington, this is NPR News.

NASA's inspector 14 general is out with a report saying the space agency's upcoming Mars mission faces significant hurdles 15 that jeopardize 16 its launch planned for this November. NPR's Joe Palca reports the mission is already running two years behind schedule.

The mission is called Curiosity. It's a six-wheel rover, but bigger than the one currently on Mars. It was supposed to launch in 2009, but late delivery of some key pieces of hardware forced the postponement 17. The delay was expensive, and the cost of the mission has grown from 1.6 to 2.5 billion dollars. The inspector general's report suggests that even that amount may not be adequate. In addition, the report warns that there are still numerous unresolved technical problems involving both rover hardware and software and time to resolve them before a launch is dwindling 18. In a teleconference responding to the report, the mission manager said he was confident that there was time and money enough to launch the mission on time. Joe Palca, NPR News.

The National Weather Service says some satellites and power grids 19 on Earth may be slightly affected 20 by a solar flare 21 from the sun. NASA says its cameras have captured snapshots of a flare and large cloud that appear to span nearly half the surface of the sun. A news release states solar energy from the event is likely to deliver "a glancing blow" to this planet's magnetic field today or tomorrow, but no lasting 22 damage expected.

The public's getting a first-time glimpse of the torch that will symbolize 23 the 2012 London Olympics. The golden aluminum 24 tube was unveiled today. It bears a mesh 25 containing 8,000 holes that represent the number of runners who will carry the torch over 70 days across Britain.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.