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

The White House is reaffirming support for the head of the secret service whose subordinates are at the center of the prostitution scandal, and possible security breach during President Obama's trip to Columbia 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 to President'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 aren't likely to be revived any time soon. Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad decided not to attend the meeting with Israeli premier, though no reason was disclosed. In his stead, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat handed a letter from the Palestinians addressing their major concerns. The letter reportedly accuses Israel of undermining Palestinian authority, which rules in part 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 D.C. region were transfixed as they watched the iconic space shuttle Discovery passed above. It is now on the ground of Dallas 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 space ship was transported from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on top of a jumbo jet. The carrier airplane did loops around Washington D.C., taking the shuttle right past famous landmarks, like the Washington Monument, and the Capitol Building. Crowds of people gathered on roof tops, bridges, and the National Mall, staring up at the sky and snapping photos. Once workers detached Discovery from its carrier plane, it will be ready to go to an annex of Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, that's near the airport. A formal ceremony to welcome the Discovery is planned for Thursday. Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News.

Dow is up, more than one and a half percent. This is NPR News.

Reuters News Service reporting. The US appeals court has ruled that the National Voting Rights Acts 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 Apr. 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 are entitled.

I call those golf returns. In other words they probably have eighteen holes in them that need to be fixed. And most people are lazy and they will file that return and they will never go back and fill in those eighteen holes.

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

It's automatic until Oct. 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 S&P 500 is up 22 points.

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