NPR 2008-04-17

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A choir¹ singing at the Basilica in Washington D. C., where Pope Benedict XVI is meeting in this hour with 300 members of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops². Earlier in the day, Benedict celebrated³ his 81st birthday with a reception at the White House where the pontiff was greeted by 9,000 people and military bands. NPR's Barbara Bradley-Hagerty reports.

 The Pope told the crowd he brings a message of renewal⁴ and hope for the Catholic Church and admiration⁵ for the United States with its robust⁶ marketplace of religion. "I come as a friend, a preacher of the Gospel, and one with great respect for this vast pluralistic society." Benedict spoke⁷ of meeting the needs of the poor, of encouraging faith infused with reason and the freedom to worship. He also called for international diplomacy⁸ to resolve conflicts in what maybe a reference to the Iraq war and a preview of his speech to the United Nations on Friday. Benedict also meets with 350 bishops at the National Shrine⁹ where the sex abuse crisis may come up. On Tuesday, the Pope said he was deeply ashamed of this scandal. Barbara Bradley-Hagerty, NPR News, Washington.

 The head of the public defender's office in Kentucky says he is not discouraged by today's US Supreme¹⁰ Court decision upholding the state's method of lethal¹¹ injection. From member station WFPL in Louisville, Rick Howlett reports.

 The office of Kentucky Public Advocate, Ernie Lewis represented the two death row inmates¹² who contend the state's three-drug cocktail¹³ used for executions amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. But High Court rejected that argument in a 7-2 decision. Lewis says he will continue his call for a death penalty moratorium¹⁴. "I think capital punishment is a failed social policy; we spent a lot of money on it; I don't believe it is serving anything other than a retribution." The High Court ruling likely clears the way for executions that had been on hold for 8 months across the country to resume. The Reverend Pat Delahanty, head of the Kentucky Coalition¹⁵ to Abolish the Death Penalty said the ruling was not a surprise and predicted that executions will continue. For NPR News, I am Rick Howlett in Louisville.

 There was a moment of silence on the campus of Virginia Tech University today as students, faculty¹⁶ members and parents gathered for the one year anniversary of the shooting there that claimed the lives of 32 people. The moment of silence was followed by a tolling¹⁷ of the bells to mark the anniversary of the worst mass school shooting in US history. Students gathered in small groups with some downing their heads in reflection. Virginia Tech President Charles Steger told the crowd “we remain deeply and profoundly saddened by the events of that tragic¹⁸ day”.

 Government’s main inflation gauge¹⁹ shows an upward momentum²⁰ last month. The Consumer Price Index rose 3/10 of 1 percent in March.

 On Wall Street today the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 256 points.

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 President Bush today called for a halting of the growth of US green house gas emissions²¹ by 2025 as part of the administration initiative on climate change. Although there were few details on how to go about doing that, the president’s somewhat cautious approach in terms of a proposal on global warming also fell far short of European goals. The address by Mr. Bush at the White House Rose Garden comes as congresspersons consider more ambitious targets ahead of scheduled international climate change negotiations²² to be held in Paris.

 Pennsylvania Republican Senator Arlen Specter says a recurrence²³ of cancer will not slow him down or prevent him from seeking a sixth term in 2010. NPR's Julie Rovner has more.

 Specter told reporters at the Capitol that his recently diagnosed recurrence of Hodgkin's disease is less severe than the initial case he was treated for three years ago. But the 78-year-old Specter, who, in addition to his Senate duties, has been making around, promoting a book about his latest life-threatening illness, said he is taking his upcoming 12 weeks of chemotherapy in stride. "I've had a lot of bumps, and I've got good shock absorbers, had a vigorous game of  squash today with a guy slightly less than half my age. If you want authentication²⁴, I'll be glad to provide it for you." Specter has also been treated for a brain tumor²⁵ and undergone multiple bypass surgery. In the Senate, he has chaired the Judiciary Committee and the sub-committee that oversees²⁶ the nation's biomedical research budget. Julie Rovner, NPR News, Washington.

 Another record for crude oil prices, the price of benchmark grade crude oil was up $1.14 a barrel today to close at $114.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.