美国国家电台 NPR 2012-10-21

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Monday's presidential debate is about foreign affairs, but at a rally in Daytona Beach last night, Mitt¹ Romney stuck to purely² domestic issues, saying President Obama has no plans for another four years in office.

 

The president has no jobs agenda. We keep on asking him. What are you going to do to create jobs? He has nothing new. He says well we are going to forward. Forewarned is a better term, I think.

 

Paul Ryan joined Romney at this beach site rally on the board rock. The vice³ presidential candidate gave a shout-out to American made harness, which are swarming⁴ the streets of Daytona this weekend for the motorcycle festival  called Biketoberfest. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Daytona beach, Florida.

 

President Obama is preparing for the debate at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland. 

 

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has just increased the death toll⁵ from the fungal meningitis outbreak, 23 people have now died from the illness, linked to tainted⁶ steroid injections, prepared at a compounding pharmacy⁷ in Massachusetts. The number of sick people also rose to 283. The facility that made the shots  is facing state and federal investigations⁹, and it's the target of lawsuits¹⁰. The CDC says nearly all of the people who may have been exposed to the tainted steroid injections have been contacted. 

 

In Libya, authorities say they have captured the well-known spokesman, a former strong man Moammar  Gaddafi. NPR's Leila Fadel reports that in the past, claims of his capture were proven faults.

 

The Foreign Minister's office issued a statement saying Libyan forces had captured Moussa Ibrahim, the face of the Gaddafi regime during the war last year. The statement said Ibrahim was captured in the town of Tarhouna, some forty miles south of the capital. He's been transported to Tripoli for an investigation⁸. If true, the man who was the mouthpiece of Gaddafi regime, he had regular press conferences for the foreign press in Tripoli Hotel during the war, was captured on the anniversary of the dictator's death. Ibrahim's Facebook page said the reports were false. Since the fall of Tripoli last year, Ibrahim went into hiding and his whereabouts were unknown. Leila Fadel, NPR News.

 

This is a day of mourning in Lebanon following a bomb attack yesterday in Beirut that killed eight people, including the country's intelligence minister. The Lebanese prime minister is blaming neighboring Syria which has been accused before of trying to start a terror campaign in Lebanon, using bombs and assassinations¹¹. 

 

Customs officials in HongKong uncovered a major fine this week, nearly $ 3.5 million in illegal ivory tusks¹² and ornaments¹³. These were containers shipped from Kenya and Tanzania and concealed¹⁴ in scraps¹⁵ of plastic. HongKong officials found out because they got a tip from Chinese officials. 

 

You are listening to NPR News.

 

On Friday, the stock market had its worst day since June. Steve Beckner of Market News International reports disappointing corporate¹⁶ profits from General Electric, McDonald and Microsoft battered¹⁷ Wall Street yesterday. 

 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 1.5% Friday. The Brother Gages fell even worse with the Standard & Poor's 500 losing one and two thirds percent. The Nasdaq Composite was the poorest performer falling well over 2%. During the week, upbeat economic numbers lent support to equities¹⁸ and countered some of the bad earnings¹⁹ news. For the week, the Dow was up slightly, while the S&P is up 0.3%, but the Nasdaq is down more than 1%. For NPR News, I'm Steve Beckner. 

 

NFL Commissioner²⁰ Roger Goodell is stepping aside from hearings involving football players accused of taking money to deliberately²¹ injure opposing players. Four members of the New Orleans Saints were suspended over the bounty²² program. They have appealed. Goodell's now recused himself from the matter and he's appointed the former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to hear it instead. Goodell says he has not talked to Tagliabue about Saint's bounty program and that Tagliabue has not been part of the NFL disciplinary process.

 

French emergency crews are evacuating²³ people from hotels near the Catholic Shrine²⁴ of Lourdes. Heavy rain is flooded nearby river causing havoc²⁵ for hundreds of religious pilgrims. And the Lourdes' grotto²⁶ is the site where in 1858 that Virgin²⁷ Mary is said to have appeared to a teenaged girl. The site attracts about 6 million visitors every year.

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