NPR 2011-06-30

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

President Obama is pressing Congress to make tough choices to raise the debt ceiling before an August 2nd deadline. The president spoke¹ during a White House news conference as NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

The news conference was dominated by questions about the economy. Mr. Obama said any package to raise the debt ceiling while cutting spending would need to be balanced. He said revenue increases should be a part of the deal, including ending tax breaks for corporate² jet owners and big oil companies. He said he was hopeful an agreement will be reached.

"Hopefully, leaders at a certain point rise to the occasion and they do the right thing for the American people. And that's what I expect to happen this time. Call me naive³, but my expectation is that leaders are going to lead."

The president also defended US support for actions against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, saying no one should defend one of the world's worst tyrants⁴. Brian Naylor, NPR News, Washington.

Protesters are gathering⁵ again in downtown Cairo. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is there and tells us the demonstrators are demanding Egypt's military rulers speed up their prosecution⁶ of security forces accused of murder during the uprising that ousted⁷ Hosni Mubarak.

The scenes were similar to those during the 18-day uprising that ousted Mubarak as protesters dragged barricades⁸ into the streets to prevent police vehicles from getting in. Protesters like Olva Tito say even if the police continue to use tear gas and batons⁹, they will not give up.

"All the time I'm talking to my friends that we should start a revolution and never end before we catch everyone who killed the young people and remove the old regime by ourselves."

Egyptian officials say more than 1000 people were injured in the recent clashes. Fearing a backlash, army tanks have sealed off access to the Interior Ministry¹⁰. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, Cairo.

Police in Greece fired tear-gas grenades at crowds in one of the most violent confrontations¹¹ yet surrounding Greece's passage of the first in a pair of austerity measures. Sirens wailed¹² as security forces took on large numbers of activists¹³ in central Athens. John Psaropoulos is there where he describes why people are so angry about the austerity bills.

They are angry the political elite¹⁴ was willing to go into a parliamentary vote on an enormous austerity package and privatization package worth 111 billion dollars without putting it to a general referendum. So this is a spillover from a very large container of popular discontent that hasn't found an outlet¹⁵ in the political system.

But the austerity measures meet demands of an international bailout to avoid a Greek default, and that’s sending US stocks up. The Dow was higher 73 points at 12261.

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In an unprecedented¹⁶ vote by the Food and Drug Administration's advisory¹⁷ panel, cancer experts are ruling that Avastin should no longer be used in breast cancer patients. This was the second time the panel has come to this conclusion.

Two private equity¹⁸ firms are buying the nation's third largest warehouse¹⁹ club for 2.8 billion dollars. If shareholders²⁰ approved the deal, BJ's Wholesale²¹ Club would no longer be publicly traded. Curt²² Nickisch of member station WBUR in Boston has more.

If you go to Sam's Club or Coscto now, you may soon get another option. BJ's runs almost 200 stores in 15 states, mostly on the East Coast, but becoming a private company could help it expand to more parts of the country. Patty Edwards is a discount retail²³ analyst²⁴ at Trutina Financial.

"It can be a really good strategy."

BJ's new owners are private equity firms that have experience in national retail. They're also more likely to invest in expansion, knowing the payoff could take years. For NPR News, I'm Curt Nickisch in Boston.

Bank of America and its Countrywide unit will shell out 8.5 billion dollars settling claims that its lenders sold low-standard mortgage-backed securities that imploded²⁵ as the housing market collapsed²⁶. B-of-A says the settlement with nearly two dozen investors²⁷ is subject to court approval. The case forces Bank of America to post its second-quarter loss anywhere between 8.6 billion dollars and just over nine billion. But the bank shares rose 4% before the market opened today with investors' relief that a settlement's finally been reached.

Here's the latest from Wall Street: Dow was up 73 at 12261; Nasdaq up 11 points.

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