NPR 2011-12-08

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“If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same, Patti and I and especially me, this is a time to be strong, this is a time to fight through adversity.”

 

Blagojevich was convicted on 18 counts of corruption, including attempts to sell or trade the Senate seat vacated by President Obama.

 

Jerry Sandusky’s facing new charges of child sexual abuse. The former Penn State assisting coach was arrested and arraigned³ today to face charges brought by two new accusers.

 

A Virginia man accused of failing to disclose his ties to Pakistan's government has pleaded guilty to conspiracy⁴ and tax charges. Prosecutors⁵ say Syed Fai received nearly four million dollars to influence Congress and Executive Branch. NPR's  Carrie Johnson reports the money helped pay for conferences and donations to lawmakers.

 

Fai lived a quiet life in northern Virginia, working for two decades as the director of the Kashmiri American Council. The group lobbied for more freedom for people in Kashmiri along contested territory between India and Pakistan, but prosecutors say Fai never told the US government he got money from the Pakistan intelligence service. Neil MacBride is the US attorney in Virginia.

 

“That is a big deal whenever a foreign government attempts to influence policy-making within Washington, without being transparent⁶ and open about what they’re doing.”

 

Fai will be sentenced early next year. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

 

Protests over alleged⁷ vote fraud in Russia's parliamentary elections are raging for a third night in two of the largest cities. Police have arrested large numbers of demonstrators. Jessica Gallaher reports from Moscow that activists⁸ plan to keep up the pressure for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party to be held accountable.

 

There’s a huge protest that is planned for Saturday. About 5,000 people on Facebook said that they would attend. People are still optimistic. Some people say that they hope things will change. Maybe this is a bad night as one lady said to me. So we will see more protests are also planned for tomorrow night at 7:00 on Triumphal Square. 

 

Jessica Gallaher reporting from Moscow where police had clashed with demonstrators who accused Putin's party of rigging the vote to retain the majority of seats.

 

Former Soviet⁹ leader Mikhail Gorbachev, meanwhile, has called on officials to scrap¹⁰ the results of that vote and hold new elections.

 

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down three points at 12,146 in trading of about two billion shares; NASDAQ Composite Index down 16 points or more than 0.5% now at 2,633; and the S&P 500 is down five points; it's at 1,254.

 

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A Philadelphia jury reportedly is ordering pharmaceutical¹¹ giant Pfizer to pay 72 million dollars in compensatory damages linked to a hormone¹² replacement¹³ drug. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the three women who sued claimed that the drug Prempro gave them breast cancer. Punitive¹⁴ damages have yet to be determined¹⁵. A spokesman tells Inquirer that Pfizer will examine its options after the verdict is final.

 

Today marks the 70th anniversary of Japan's attacks on Pearl Harbor, a day in which Franklin Roosevelt called a date of infamy¹⁶. As NPR's Brakkton Booker reports, a Hawaii senator remembers how ordinary that day began.

 

US Senator Dan Inouye still remembers how routine that Sunday morning was in 1941. He was getting ready for church.

 

“I was just putting on my necktie.” 

 

He knew something was wrong when the DJ on the radio started to panic. Here’s Inouye speaking on NPR's Tell Me More.

 

“All of a sudden the disc jockey stopped the music and started screaming. The Japanese are bombing Pearl Harbor.”

 

Inouye was a teenager at the time of the attacks. He eventually would go on to enlist¹⁷ in the army. And later, he lost his right arm, fighting in World War II. But looking back, he says he wouldn't change a thing.

 

“It's been a long time, but all I can say is if it happened again, I will do it again. Brakkton Booker, NPR News, Washington.

 

A ceremony was held today at Pearl Harbor that included a moment of silence.

 

US stocks are losing ground. So far at last check, Dow was down four points at 12,146.

 

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.

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