NPR News 2013-04-25 加文本

NPR News 2013-04-25

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

U.S investigators are trying to learn more about the Boston Marathon suspects with help from their parents in Dagestan. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston sheds more light on what federal authorities are hearing about one of the alleged bombers, Tamerlan Tsarnaev who traveled to Russia last year.

They are trying to piece together a timeline of how he spent his six months in Russia. Right now there is no evidence, but there are gaps in the timeline which would indicate training. So right now they don't think he went there to train for some, you know, in some camp there and looks like the radicalization was done in, it's a very of the traditional radicalization which was done on the Internet. There is another individual they think is involved, they calling him Michia. They are looking for him now. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police last week. His younger brother Dzhokhar was seriously wounded.

At a memorial service honoring the MIT police officer allegedly killed by the Tsarnaev brothers last week, singer James Taylor performed "Shower the People" in celebration of Sean Collier's life. Family and friends remembered him today as a deeply compassionate person during a memorial service. Thousands of people gathered at MIT's Briggs Field, among them, Vice President Joe Biden who also extended his gratitude to all families who lost loved ones in the line of duty.

We owe you so much more than just honoring you on days of grief and celebration.

Sean Collier was 27 years old.

There is more rain today in parts of the Midwest, where flood waters along the Mississippi river and many of its tributaries continue to rise. The Mississippi is overtopping a few small levees north of St. Louis and Missouri. But as NPR's David Schaper tells us some of the biggest problems are along the Illinois River near Peoria.

Illinois River crested Tuesday in Peoria at a record high flood level of just under 30 feet. Many roads, homes and businesses are flooded and dozens of Peoria-area residents have been evacuated. The flood waters are now beginning to recede, but slowly and Peoria Fire Chief Kent Tomblin the situation remains dangerous.

Right now it's just watching the river and making sure that everyone has created a levee with sandbags just keeping watch and make sure that levee doesn't break.

State Emergency Management officials say it could be four or five days until the water recedes enough for authorities to go in and assess flood damage. David Schaper, NPR News, Chicago.

Before the closing bell, Dow was down 43 points at 14,676; NASDAQ was up slightly at 3,270 and the S&P 500 up slightly at 1,579.

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The White House says it's willing to consider a bill that would give the administration more power to prevent air traffic controllers from being furloughed, but it also warns that kind of assistance to the Federal Aviation Administration would only be a band-aid approach at a time when sequestration is affecting vital programs government wide. Automatic spending cuts kicked in when Republicans and Democrats could not reach a budget compromise.

Boeing is planning to resume deliveries of its 787 in the coming weeks. The aircraft have been grounded for three months because of problems with its battery system. The company's troubles with its 787 Dreamliners apparently had little affect on its first quarter earnings. Boeing announced today that its earnings rose nearly 20%, surpassing analysts expectations.

Ford Motor Company is posing profits of $1.6 billion beating Wall Street forecast. NPR's Sonari Glinton reports Ford remains profitable despite weakness in Europe.

Ford's profit center right now is North America where vehicles such as the New Fusion and the Escape have gained market share and Ford's F140 is still king of the hill. David Whiston is an auto equity analyst with Morningstar. He says the weak spot for Ford is Europe which is the weak spot for the entire current industry.

That's because Europe is in a severe auto motor recession right now under depression. The industry is having some its worst registration declines since the industry has been recording data.

Meanwhile, Ford is growing in the increasingly important Chinese auto market, though the company and other automakers have been hampered by currency issues in South America.

Sonari Glinton, NPR News.

At last check on Wall Street, Dow was down 43 at 14,676; NASDAQ up slightly at 3,270; S&P 500 also edging up.

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