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NPR's Jack Speer reports the nation's economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter. The nation's gross domestic product, or GDP, expanded at a 2 percent annual rate, according to the Commerce Department. Most economists expected the economy to grow no faster than 1 percent in the first quarter. Analysts said the economy was helped along by strong consumer spending and a narrower trade gap.

NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from London that as the foot-and-mouth outbreak in Britain spreads, more countries are banning animal products from the European Union. Amid growing criticism of the way it's handling the crisis, the British government is responding by slaughtering more animals. Farmers complain, however, carcasses are already piling up.

British investigators trying to track the source of the catastrophic foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the UK are focusing on the idea that it may have come into the country with smuggled meat products. Robert Siegel talks to Lester Crawford, director of the Georgetown Center for Food and Nutrition Policy, and former president of the American Veterinary Epidemiology Society.

A new multimedia opera looks at the life of the brilliant but troubled inventor Nikola Tesla. The director of the show, called Violet Fire, talks about the production, which is currently running at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

The Unexpected Productions troupe of Seattle specializes in improvisational theater, and right now they're focused on Shakespeare. Actors Ron Hippe, Elicia Wickstead and Randy Dixon create a bit of the Bard on the fly for Debbie Elliott.

Apple computer is enjoying a boom in sales, led by the popularity of its iPod digital music players. Apple plans to expand its chain of retail stores and use those spaces to spotlight new products. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

President Bush has asked Americans to cut back on fuel usage as oil companies and refineries in the hurricane-affected Gulf Coast region work to resume production at facilities.

Once an electronic duo, Goldfrapp now embraces dance, glam-rock, and folk on Seventh Tree. British super-diva Allison Goldfrapp and her collaborator, Will Gregory, perform music from the new album with the legendary Steve Lillywhite at the production board.

The second part of independent producer Julian Crandall Hollick's series on the street kids of Mumbai. This installment focuses on two adults, Jockin and Celine d'Cruz, who have been working with the children. They have found that trying to foist middle class values onto the children is often counter-productive. Instead, they try to find ways to let the children help themselves.

NPR's Melissa Block speaks with Jenefer Mansfield, executive/artistic director of the Roanoke Ballet Theatre, about a production of a NASCAR ballet. On the surface, it may not appear that NASCAR auto racing and ballet have a lot in common -- but Mansfield says both activities involve movement and accomplish the seemingly impossible.

Elia Kazan, director of the original Broadway productions of Death of a Salesman and A Streetcar Named Desire, dies at the age of 94. Kazan also won Oscars for his film-directing work, including On the Waterfront. But he was villified by many of his colleagues for 1952 congressional testimony that identified Hollywood figures as communist sympathizers.

Slate contributor Seth Stevenson comments on the effectiveness of the new theatrical ad campaign from online bookseller Amazon -- a series of short films called Amazon Theater that are seen before the start of the feature, boasting big-name stars and heavy product placement.

One of their most beloved musicals -- Fiddler on the Roof -- is back on Broadway. The production, at the Minskoff Theatre, stars Alfred Molina as Tevye and includes a new song they wrote. There's a new cast recording of the show. Bock and Harnick collaborated on Fiorello (which won a Pulitzer Prize), She Loves Me and The Rothschilds.

In a one-day visit to Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld praises the country's efforts to register voters ahead of the October elections. Addressing Afghanistan's booming opium production, Rumsfeld says U.S. forces will step up their efforts to crack down on the country's drug trade. Hear NPR's Renee Montagne and reporter Rachel Martin.

A host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour takes a look at how the coronavirus is affecting cultural production — and offers some recommendations for home entertainment.

to proposed budget cuts. Germany is trying to cut its Gross Domestic Product level to three-percent -- the level required by countries aspiring to enter the European monetary union in 1999.

between General Motors and striking members of the United Auto Workers. The two-week strike has halted production at 25 GM plants and resulted in more than 140,000 lost jobs.

2: Mezzo-Soprano LORRAINE HUNT. She appeared in Peter Sellars' productions of Handel and Mozart. HUNT has been called the "reigning Handel diva of our day." HUNT's Handel recordings can be found on the Harmonia Mundi label. Her latest is "Handel: Ariodante." (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES AFTER THE 1:00 FL

NPR's Don Gonyea reports on today's tentative settlement between the United Auto Workers and Johnson Controls, an automobile seat manufacturer. The agreement ends a three-week strike that briefly stopped production of the hot-selling Ford Expedition, when Ford Motor Co. took the unusual step of refusing to accept seats made by non-union replacement workers.

Today is the deadline for hemophiliacs who acquired AIDS from tainted blood products to join a class action suit that would gain them 100,000 dollars in compensation. Critics of the settlement say this class of AIDS patients is being railroaded into accepting less money than they might receive from individual lawsuits. NPR's Vicky Que reports.