The White House is reaffirming support for the head of the Secret Service, whose subordinates are at the center of a prostitution scandal and possible security breach during President Obama's trip to Colombia last week. Press Secretary Jay Carney:

 

“The president has confidence in the director of the Secret Service. Director Sullivan acted quickly in response to this incident and is overseeing an investigation, as we speak, into the matter.”

 

Eleven agents have been placed on leave after they allegedly brought prostitutes back to their rooms in advance of President Obama's visit to Cartagena. Some members of the military are also under investigation for the scandal that has proved deeply embarrassing to the administration.

 

It was supposed to be the highest-level meetings between Israelis and Palestinians in nearly two years. But as NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro explains from Jerusalem, the Palestinian prime minister has pulled out of the meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

 

It's another sign, as if one were needed, that peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians are unlikely to be revived anytime soon. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad decided not to attend the meeting with the Israeli premier, though no reason was disclosed. In his stead, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat had handed a letter from the Palestinians addressing their major concerns. The letter reportedly accuses Israel of undermining the Palestinian Authority, which rules in parts of the West Bank. The Palestinians still want settlement construction to be halted before they will return to talks. But far from slowing down Jewish building in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu's government vowed this week to legalize settlement outposts that had been built on private Palestinian land. Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, NPR News, Jerusalem.

 

For a short while today, thousands of people across the Washington DC region were transfixed as they watched the iconic space shuttle Discovery pass above. It is now on the ground at Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia, where, as NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce reports, workers will get the shuttle ready to be rolled into the Smithsonian later this week.

 

Discovery will be the first of NASA's retired shuttle fleet to become a museum exhibit. The big white spaceship was transported from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on top of a jumbo jet. The carrier airplane did loops around Washington DC, taking the shuttle right past famous landmarks, like the Washington Monument and the Capitol building. Crowds of people gathered on rooftops, bridges and the National Mall, staring up at the sky and snapping photos. Once workers detach Discovery from its carrier plane, it will be ready to go to an annex of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum that's near the airport. A formal ceremony to welcome Discovery is planned for Thursday. Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News.

 

Dow is up more than 1.5%. 

 

This is NPR News.

 

Reuters news service reporting the US Appeals Court has ruled that the National Voting Rights Act supersedes Arizona's requirement that individuals who want to register to vote in federal elections must show proof of US citizenship.

 

The deadline for filing federal income tax returns is midnight tonight. However, tens of millions of Americans have not yet filed despite getting an extra two days this year beyond the usual April 15th day. NPR's Craig Windham reports the IRS says people who file at the last minute tend to make more mistakes.

 

Tax accountant Linden deMahler in Maryland says last-minute filers often make simple errors or fail to take all the deductions to which they’re entitled.

 

“I call those golf returns. In other words, they probably have 18 holes in them that need to be fixed, and most people are lazy, and they’ll file that return, and they’ll never go back and fill in those 18 holes.”

 

DeMahler advises people who have not yet finished their returns to request an extension of time to file instead.

 

“It's automatic until October 15th. So it gives you plenty of time to file.”

 

The extension request can be filed online at IRS.gov, but any tax owed is still due today. Craig Windham, NPR News, Washington.

 

The International Monetary Fund is apparently more optimistic about the global economy. The lending organization is now projecting a 3.5% growth, that in report that it released today. The IMF is encouraged by growth in the United States and EU efforts to head off financial disaster.

 

Here's the latest from Wall Street. The Dow is up 196 points at 13,117; NASDAQ is up more than 2% at 3,049; and the S&P 500 is up 22 points.