美国国家电台 NPR 2012-09-29

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President Obama decided³ not to meet one-on-one with Netanyahu or any other world leaders during this week's United Nations gathering⁴ in New York. But on the phone, the two men agreed on their shared goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Netanyahu welcomed Mr. Obama's U.N. speech in which he said United States would do what's necessary to prevent that from happening. Mr. Obama in turn reaffirmed this country's unshakable commitment to Israel's security. The president and Netanyahu are often described as having a frosty relationship. Though the administration insists the two men talk regularly. An ads argued that cooperation between the U.S. and Israel has never been closer. Scott Horsley. NPR News, Washington.

 

New intel. suggest Syria has moved some chemical weapons capability⁵ to a more secure site. Defense⁶ Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters at the Pentagon today that there has been some limited movement, but he added Syria's main chemical weapon sites remain intact under government control. 

 

President Obama is preventing a Chinese company from moving ahead with four wind farm in Oregon citing national security risks. The White House did not say what risk the rolls corporation pose but the wind turbines were being built near a naval⁷  weapon system's training site.

 

Higher gas prices likely figure into the latest spike⁸ in consumer spending in the United States, the Commerce Department saying today went up by 0.5%. But NPR's Dave Mattingly tells us people save less as incomes barely rose. 

 

Americans spent more last month, but that was mainly because of higher gasoline prices, they jumped almost 50 cents a gallon in August, costing people more to fill up. And with inflation eating up the small increase and incomes. ClearView Economics President, Ken⁹ Mayland describes the numbers as awful.

 

We've taken a stepdown based on these results, we are flirting¹⁰ with zero growth or maybe even something slightly negative, the economy, pretty much contracted in August. Households saved less to pay for more expensive essentials. Dave Mattingly, NPR News, Washington.

 

Bank of America is agreeing to pay more than two billion dollars to settle a class action lawsuit¹¹ over its takeover of Merrill Lynch. Investors¹² accused BOA of misleading them about both company's financial health. Bank of America denies any wrongdoing.

 

Before the close on Wall Street, Dow was off 50 points at 13,437. 

 

This is NPR News.

 

Civil rights groups in France are sounding the alarm over the latest treatment over Roma migrants that they say could set a dangerous precedent¹³ at a time of rising anti-immigrant tensions in Europe. A group of residents in a poor neighborhood in southern France evicted¹⁴ Roma squatters whom they accused in a series of robberies. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports that the citizens didn't wait for the police or courts and acted on their own.

 

The residents of a working class largely immigrant neighborhood of Marseille. They said the Roma had been stealing. Officials say the explosion was planned because the police were notified in advance. The Marseille say residents even burned the camp after the 35 Roma departed. A Roma advocate group said Roma are victims of stereotypes¹⁵ as soon as they tried to set up camps somewhere people accuse them of stealing. Officials say the confrontation¹⁶ is a worrying sign of rising tensions in an increasingly desperate economic climate. Successive French governments have been stumped¹⁷ by how to deal with a huge influx¹⁸ of Roma from eastern Europe since E.U. borders were opened seven years ago. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris.

 

In California, Jury is recommending the death sentence for an arsonist¹⁹ convicted of murder for setting a wildfire nearly a decade ago that led the deaths of five men who suffered heart attacks. A judge will make the final decision and how to punish Rickie Lee Fowler.

 

Federal Health officials are rolling out a national awareness²⁰ campaign about bogus online pharmacies²¹. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner²² Doctor Margaret Hamburg says they are more prevenient than many people might think, "little bit less than 3%, I think, were in fact, legitimate²³ online pharmacies that consumers could count on." She says phony pharmacies are likely to sell counterfeit²⁴ drugs that could harm customers.

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