NPR 2008-09-17

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Investment bank Goldman Sachs reported a 70% drop in income today, following an eventful day yesterday. All eyes are now focused on the health of the remaining firms that make up the pillars of Wall Street. NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports.

With Bear Stearns gone, Lehman in bankruptcy¹ and Merrill Lynch bought up, Goldman is one of only two independent investment firms left on Wall Street. It said it's been hurt by slower client activity and investment banking² losses in recent months. But it's still making money and if it survives the shakeout, analysts³ say it could emerge stronger with more clients. Meanwhile the main drama centered on insurance giant AIG which is seeking as much as 75 billion dollars to stay afloat. AIG shares plummeted⁴ 60% on Monday, prompting agencies to cut the company's credit ratings. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News.

Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, said today he is skeptical⁵ about any potential aid for insurance giant AIG. Dodd made his comments when questioned about the possibility of a government bridge loan or some other form of support. Dodd said he would want the Bush administration to consult with him before making a move one way or the other.

On Wall Street today, the Dow gained 141 points. The NASDAQ added 28 points. The S&P 500 was up 20 points today.

The State Department is organizing flights out of Bolivia for US citizens who might want to leave the political unrest there. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

In a message to US citizens living in Bolivia, the embassy said that it's offering two flights on Wednesday from Bolivia to neighboring Peru. The embassy is closed for regular business because of street protests. News of the evacuation comes at a troubling time in US-Bolivian relations. Last week Bolivia expelled the US ambassador, accusing him of inciting⁶ protests against the country's leftwing government. The US denied that charge. The Drug Enforcement Administration has had to move its operations for security reasons and the Peace Corps⁷ has flown its volunteers out of Bolivia as well. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

The House has passed legislation that says the Bush administration cannot exempt⁸ countries from being sued for torturing American prisoners of war. The White House blocked a claim by a group of POWs who successfully sued the Iraq government in 2002. NPR's Jack⁹ Sahora reports.

The 17 POWs are captured during the 1991 Persian Gulf¹⁰ War. Years later they successfully sued the Iraq government in a Washington D. C. courthouse. But an appeals court said the White House could exempt Iraq from paying out a multi-million-dollar claim because of foreign policy interests. Monday night the House passed legislation that would take away that power of exemption¹¹ from the president. President Bush vetoed a defense¹² policy bill in 2007 for a similar provision, contending such lawsuits¹³ could hurt Iraq's economic and political progress. Jack Sahora, NPR News, Washington.

Crude oil prices fell $4. 56 a barrel today.

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Five state Republican lawmakers are now calling for a judge to halt an investigation¹⁴ into Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's firing of the state public safety commissioner¹⁵. The calls come after a bipartisan oversight¹⁷ committee unanimously approved an inquiry¹⁸ into whether Palin, now the Republican vice¹⁹ presidential nominee²⁰, dismissed the commissioner because he would not fire her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, after a messy divorce. The lawmakers in a filing in state Superior Court called the investigation unlawful, biased²¹, partial and partisan¹⁶.

Spain Supreme²² Court's outlawed²³ a Basque political party accused of supporting terrorism. The party has hundreds of representatives in local government mainly in the northern Basque region. Jerome Socolovsky reports from Madrid.

The Supreme Court President Francisco Hernando says the Basque Nationalist Action Party is an instrument of the armed group ETA. ETA has killed hundreds of people in Spain in its long running quest for Basque independence. The prosecution²⁴ had argued that the Nationalist Action Party took over from another Basque faction²⁵ Batasuna after it was outlawed in 2003. Spanish law bans any movement that politically supports terrorist violence. The ruling is likely to require more than 400 elected representatives in the Basque region and neighboring Navarra to relinquish²⁶ their seats on town and city councils. A spokeswoman for the newly banned party called the ruling anti-democratic. For NPR News, I'm Jerome Socolovsky in Madrid.

It was 100 years ago that General Motors came into being. GM Chairman Rick Wagoner used the occasion to unveil the automaker's new electric car the Chevy Volt²⁷ which is still several years away from being on the market. The car is designed to go 40 miles on a charge with a small gas engine to charge the vehicle during longer drives.