From NPR News in Washington, I’m Craig Windham.

 

　　The FBI is testing a letter sent to President Obama for the poisonous substance ricin. The letter was intercepted at a mail screening facility. The Secret Service says the letter is similar to those sent to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and to the director of his group Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Those two letters have tested positive for ricin in a preliminary check. NPR’s Dina Temple-Raston says authorities are looking for common themes in the letters.

 

　　Law enforcement officials say that there seems to be some gun-control connection here. Specifically there were threats made to Mayor Bloomberg about his effort to limit purchase of guns, and that seems to have been a theme that ran through a lot of these letters.

 

　　NPR’s Dina Temple-Raston, who says completing conclusive tests for ricin will take several days.

 

　　Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad says his military will respond to any future Israeli attack on his country. Israel carried out air strikes this month on suspected weapon shipments near Damascus. The main Western-backed Syrian opposition group says it will not participate in peace talks sponsored by the US and Russia while Assad’s regime is killing civilians. Farah Atassi is a spokeswoman for the coalition.

 

　　“That is not talks about any political process or any political efforts when people die, when there is 1,500 wounded people.”

 

　　In Moscow, Russia’s foreign ministry is criticizing the willingness of the US to consider a no-fly zone over Syria.

 

　　A new study finds a link between unemployment and shorter life expectancy. NPR’s Jennifer Ludden reports the research aims to explain a growing gap in mortality among white women.

 

　　At a time when many live longer, white women without a high school diploma have been dying increasingly earlier. To understand why, a study in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior surveyed data on tens of thousands of women over a decade. It looked at things like weight, marital status, alcohol consumption and poverty. But two factors stood out: smoking, already well-known, and unemployment. The study’s lead author suggests the social support and self-esteem that come with a job may help extend life expectancy. She recommends more family-friendly work policies to help keep less-educated women employed. Jennifer Ludden, NPR News.

 

　　The economy expanded at an annual pace of 2.4% in the first quarter. That’s just a bit lower than the Commerce Department’s previous assessment. Many economists are expecting growth to ease back a bit in the current quarter, and Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics is among them.

 

　　“The key driver of the economy is the cuts in government spending. There are quite significant, then tax increases. So we saw some big tax increases at the beginning of the year and households who kind of digest that.”

 

　　Economists say the pace of growth is likely to increase some in the second half of the year.

 

　　Wall Street, the Dow was up 25 points just before the close. This is NPR News.

 

　　The number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously owned homes edged up in April to the highest level in three years. Walter Molony with National Association of Realtors says a number of factors are fueling the increase in pending home sales.

 

　　“Pent-up demand, good affordability conditions, job creation, all the things that you need to see a strong housing market.”

 

　　But the increase in pending sales was not as large as in the previous month. Economists point to the limited inventory of homes for sale right now.

 

　　Best-selling novelist and newspaper columnist Andrew Greeley has died in Chicago. NPR’s Cheryl Corley reports Greeley was a Roman Catholic priest who often criticized the church over the child sex abuse scandal.

 

　　Andrew Greeley was a priest and a noted sociologist who wrote dozens of non-fiction books and more than 50 best-selling novels. During a NPR interview in 1999, the often controversial cleric said he understood his critics.

 

　　“They are upset with empirical sociology, which tries to describe not what an American Catholic should do, but what they are doing and what they do believe. And they object to a priest writing novels in which human passion plays a part as it does in human life.”

 

　　Father Greeley was 85. He suffered a traumatic brain injury after a fall five years ago and never fully recovered. Cheryl Corley, NPR News, Chicago.

 

　　Tornado warnings and watches have been posted for central portions of Oklahoma just ten days after the powerful twister that blitzed the town of Moore. Forecasters say some areas are at risk for hail bigger than golf balls and for winds gusting to hurricane strength. The National Storm Prediction Center has also posted tornado watches across large areas of Missouri and Arkansas.

 

　　I’m Craig Windham, NPR News in Washington.