NPR 2009-07-27

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the Obama Administration has managed to build coalitions¹ to help pressure Iran and North Korea to give up their nuclear programs. Clinton said she had a message for the Iranian government if it is pursuing nuclear weapons to intimidate² neighboring countries and to project power. "We’re not gonna let that happen. First we’re gonna do everything we can to prevent you from ever getting a nuclear weapon, but your pursuit is futile³."
 
On NBC's Meet the Press, Clinton also praised China for its role in pressing North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions. "China has been extremely positive and productive in respect to North Korea." Clinton's remarks came on the eve of meetings in Washington with top Chinese officials to discuss the global economy and the U.S. trade deficit⁴ with China.
 
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy is spending the night in a military hospital after collapsing⁵ while jogging today. Frank Browning reports from Paris.
 
"Sarkozy who is 54 complained of feeling faint while he was exercising at his home near Versailles in suburban⁶ Paris. Sarkozy is a regular jogger and cyclist. He was seen immediately by his personal doctor and then flown by helicopter to the French military hospital Val-de-Grace in central Paris. Sarkozy underwent regular routine tests on July 3rd and according to his spokesman had normal heart and cardiovascular results. During his 2007 presidential campaign Sarkozy called for greater transparency in the health records of French leaders. Both President Georges Pompidou who died in office of cancer in 1974 and President Francois Mitterrand who suffered terminal prostate cancer kept their illnesses secret until their final days. For NPR News I'm Frank Browning in Paris."
 
One of the nation's largest mobile free medical and dental clinics wrapped up a three-day run today. Hundreds of volunteers treated nearly 3000 uninsured and underinsured people from 16 states. NPR's Howard Berkers was there.
 
"Volunteers are packing up dental chairs from the open-air fairgrounds, pavilion used as a dental field hospital. Close to 4000 teeth were pulled here in three days’ treatment. The optometry equipment has already gone from a poultry⁷ building. And the makeshift screens are down in a horse barn used for medical exams. Organizers of the Remote Area Medical Expedition say it shows major gaps in the nation's health-care system. Some people arrived three days earlier and slept in their cars so they'd be sure they’ll be seen. No one was turned away. This expedition focused on the Appalachian region. Eight more expeditions are planned this year from Virginia to California. Howard Berkers, NPR News, at the Wise County Fairgrounds in Virginia."
 
NASA engineers have managed to temporarily restart a malfunctioning⁸ air purifier on the International Space Station. There are currently 13 astronauts aboard the orbiting outpost including the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavor. Endeavor is set to depart on Tuesday.
 
This is NPR News from Washington.
 
The Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke is holding a town-hall style meeting in Kansas City this evening to explain monetary⁹ policy directly to Americans. It is an approach no Fed Chairman has ever taken before. Frank Morris of member station KCUR has the story.
 
Last fall, Chairman Bernanke took bold and unusual steps to derail what he feared could have become a second great depression. He propped¹⁰ the enormous private financial institutions and did it by not exactly printing but by creating huge sums of money with a few keyboard strokes. Those moves and others troubled some congressmen who got behind the push to submit Fed monetary policy to congressional oversight¹¹. Many economists¹² think that's a bad idea and Bernanke has taken the fight to preserve the Fed‘s independence directly to voters. This spring, he did lengthy¹³ interviews for “60 Minutes”, excerpts¹⁴ from tonight’s, town hall meeting in Kansas City will air this week on the News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS. Bernanke’s term as Federal Reserve Chairman ends at the end of this year. For NPR News I'm Frank Morris in Kansas City.
 
Gasoline prices have fallen further, dropping about seven cents a gallon over the past two weeks. The average price nationally now for a self-service regular is $2.49 a gallon. Industry analyst¹⁵ Trilby Lundberg says the decline in prices at the pump may have a little further to run but not much. "If crude oil prices stay more or less where they are, hovering¹⁶ near the 70dollar mark, we could see 10 or 12 cents more at the pump, just from margin¹⁷ recovery by the down streamers." Lundberg says recent increases in crude oil cost though will eventually be reflected in gasoline prices. Gas prices are about $1.50 a gallon lower now than they were this time last year.