NPR 2008-11-27

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Officials in Mumbai say four armed gunmen that launched a terror attack in the Indian commercial capital have been killed and nine terror suspects have now been arrested. The attacks which occurred at luxury hotels, a train station and other locations are blamed for at least 78 deaths and hundreds of injuries. At one point, flames could be seen coming from the luxury Taj hotel. William Butler was near the hotel when he heard gunfire. "We certainly heard the crack-crack-crack. And we sort of looked out, looked up expecting firework. But then other people said no, you can't go back that way. We can go back to a taxi. Obviously the panic started. And we managed to get in the taxi. But you go down one road it was closed off. You go down another road it was pandemonium¹. I mean we'd already just missed that first attack in the Taj. We were then by the domestic airport on the flier when the taxi-bomb went off, and we were behind it already, we had to then be rerouted to another way, I mean it took us four and half hours to do a one hour journey. It was very, very panic." There're reports a number of westerners were taken hostage. The motive² for the onslaught was not immediately clear. But Mumbai Bay has been frequently being targeted in terrorists attacks blamed on Islamic fundamentalists.

President-elect Barack Obama introduced two more members of his economic team. Mr. Obama said former Fed Chairman Paul Volker will head a panel he's creating to advise him on how to best stabilize⁴ the economy, while University of Chicago Professor Austan Goolsbee will be the top-rank staffer. "Those who serve in Washington don't always have a ground-level sense of which programs and policies are working for people and businesses and which aren't. This board will provide that fresh perspective to me and my administration. " Obama defended himself against some critics who accused him of recycling old Clinton administration officials. He said his administration will be ready on Day One with an economic plan.

European Union is proposing a two-year plan to coordinate⁵ member states’ responses to the global economic crisis. The 260-billion-dollar package suggests policy tools for member states to use. Teri Schultz has details from Brussels.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso says there will be an immediate³ improvement in Europe's economy if all EU member states enact⁶ fiscal⁷ stimulus⁸ plans using suggested policies such as tax cuts and expanding social benefits. "They will put money in the pockets of those who need it at home. And they will also stimulate⁹ demand in other Member States, giving a major boost to their own exporters. " Barroso insists the plan is not an attempt to impose a one-size-fits-all approach on the 27 governments, some of which have already announced wide-ranging economic programs while others say they can't afford them. "Everyone is suffering from this crisis, and everyone needs treatment, but not everyone needs the same kind of treatment. " The program outlined today would require EU governments to increase their spending by about 1. 5 percent of the block's GDP. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 247 points. This is NPR.

Iran is showing no signs of ramping¹⁰ down its nuclear program according to the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization. The country is now running around 5, 000 uranium enrichment centrifuges, a signal that it is expanding work, the West has maintained this is a sign to make nuclear weapons. Latest word from the Iranian official indicates the country has no intention of bowing to western pressure to halt or freeze its nuclear activities. President-elect Barack Obama has called for an international effort to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb, calling it unacceptable.

Zimbabwe's Prime Minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai is urging former South African President Thabo Mbeki to step down as mediator¹¹ in power-sharing talks, claiming Mbeki is favoring President Robert Mugabe. More from NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton in Johannesburg.

Morgan Tsvangirai called for Thabo Mbeki to retire from the Zimbabwe power-sharing talks, charging him with partisan¹² support for President Mugabe's Zanu-PF party. Tsvangirai concluded that this made it impossible for Mbeki to continue as a mediator. Tsvangirai said the former South African president seemed not to have grasped how desperate the situation was in Zimbabwe. He said the latest round of negotiations¹³ have made no progress on how to divvy up ministries¹⁴ in a national unity¹⁵ government. The talks will call to agree on the wording of a constitutional amendment¹⁶ that would provide the legal framework for the formation of a power-sharing cabinet with Tsvangirai as prime minister. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Johannesburg.

Former first lady Barbara Bush is said to be resting comfortably in the hospital after undergoing surgery for perforated ulcer¹⁷. Family spokesperson says Mrs. Bush will stay in Houston's Methodist Hospital through next week. She was accompanied to the hospital by her husband, the first President Bush.