By Mark Memmott

Good morning.

The day begins with President Barack Obama in Germany, where he spoke about the Middle East peace process a short time ago, saying: "Ultimately, the United States can't force peace upon the parties. But what we've tried to do is to clear away some of the misunderstandings so that we can at least begin to have frank dialogue."

Among the things to watch for today will be the Labor Department's May jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET. As NPR's Jim Zarroli says that while the jobless rate likely rose to more than 9% as employment rolls shrank sharply, "the long erosion in the jobs market may be slowing":

As for stories making headlines this morning, they include:

-- Sotomayor's Speeches And Decisions: As The Washington Post writes, Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor's speeches over the years are "woven with ethnicity." But on Morning Edition today, NPR's Nina Totenberg reported that:

As a judge, Sotomayor has ruled in 100 cases that involve questions of racial discrimination of one sort or another. Tom Goldstein, Supreme Court advocate and founder of the leading Supreme Court blog, has read all of those decisions. He says that Sotomayor does not seem to put her thumb on the scale and has in fact, most of the time, ruled against those charging discrimination.
In only 1 of out 8 cases, he says, has she favored in some sense claims of discrimination.

-- Air France Flight 447: The Associated Press writes that "France's transportation minister said Friday that French forces have found no signs of the Airbus A330 airplane that vanished over the Atlantic and urged 'extreme prudence' about suspected debris taken from the ocean."

-- Hunt For Bin Laden; Is He Running Out Of Space? Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's presumed safe haven in Pakistan may not be so safe for him anymore, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly reported today on Morning Edition. She says that some counterterrorism experts think al-Qaida is on its heels, and she reports that 11 of the 20 most-wanted terrorists in the region have been killed by missiles fired from U.S. Predator drones:

-- Critical Day For Britain's Government: Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labor Party has, as The Guardian writes, "suffered heavy losses to both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in the first results from the local elections which saw them almost wiped out in former strongholds." It's also live-blogging the governmental crisis, which "could make or break Gordon Brown's leadership."

-- S.C. Gov. Ordered To Take Federal Money: From South Carolina, The State writes that Republican Gov. Mark Sanford has been told by a court that he "must apply for the disputed $700 million in federal stimulus money" designated for his state. Sanford opposes the federal stimulus program, saying it adds too much debt to the nation's balance sheet and that the federal government should not impose it on states.


categories: Morning Roundup

7:45 - June 5, 2009

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