NPR 2009-10-02

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President Obama is calling today’s talks between US officials and Iranian diplomats¹ concerning the country’s disputed nuclear program “a constructive² beginning”, though the president also said Iran must match its promises of cooperation with deeds. And Mr. Obama said “Talk is no substitute for action.” as he called on the country to allow international inspectors³ to look at a recently revealed nuclear plant. “If Iran does not take steps in the near future to live up to its obligations, then the United States will not continue to negotiate indefinitely. And we are prepared to move towards increased pressure.” President’s remarks follow a meeting in Switzerland involving Iran and six world powers. Mr. Obama also called on Iran’s leaders to take steps to show the country’s nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and not designed to pursue the development of nuclear weapons.

 The death toll⁴ from an earthquake in Sumatra surged today as rescuers searched the rubble⁵ of a densely⁶ populated city. United Nations puts the number of fatalities⁷ there more than 1, 100 as Indonesia intensifies⁸ aid operations. Chard Bushard reports from Jakarta.

 Indonesian officials fear hundreds of people may still be trapped in a wreckage⁹ of toppled hotels, schools and a shopping plaza¹⁰ more than a day after the quake decimated the regional capital of Padang. Relief operations kicked into gear as the country’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arrived from the G20 summit in the US to oversee¹¹ the response. Tens of thousands of tents and blankets were flown into the region, but survivors¹² reported widespread food and fuel shortages as they faced another night without electricity. Makeshift hospitals stopped performing critical operations on patients due to a lack of power for key medical equipment. The mayor of Padang begged for help from outside in a radio broadcast. The country approved 26 million dollars to pay for initial relief effort. For NPR News, I’m Chard Bushard in Jakarta.

 Facing Congressional unease over proposals to make the Federal Reserve a super-regulator for the financial system, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke today offered a more nuance¹³ to approach on Capitol Hill. NPR’s John Ydstie reports.

 The Obama administration has proposed that the Fed take a central role in spotting and eliminating threats to the financial system along with an advisory¹⁴ council of regulators chaired by the Treasury¹⁵. Opponents say the Fed shouldn’t get more powers since it failed to head off the current crisis. Before the House Financial Services Committee, Bernanke sought to defuse opposition¹⁶ by describing a system of shared responsibility. “The Treasury ought to be a share of the council and the council ought to have the overarching responsibility, but underneath¹⁷ the council, you still need agencies to perform specific task.” The Fed’s task would be to regulate all kinds of systemically important institutions. It already regulates large bank-holding companies. Congress hopes to pass the financial reform bill by the end of the year. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.

 On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 200 points today. The NASDAQ lost 64 points.

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Drugstore chain CVS says it plans to offer vouchers¹⁸ for free flu shots to as many as 100, 000 unemployed¹⁹ people beginning next week. CVS announced today it will hand out the vouches²⁰ which can be redeemed²¹ at CVS pharmacies²² that are running flu shot clinics at one-stop career centers sponsored by the US Labor²³ Department. CVS says it plans to hand out the vouchers for the free flu shots at the One-Stop Career Centers located in 16 states, including California, Georgia, Michigan, and Washington D.C.

Americans say they are less supportive of abortion²⁴ than they used to be and the issue is less important than in previous years. That’s according to a new poll by the Pew Research Center on Religion and Public Life. The poll suggests the number of people opposing abortion is nearly as many as those in favor of it, NPR’s Barbara Bradley Hagerty reports.

Support for abortion has been dropping, but until this year, a comfortable majority supported abortion in most or all cases. But when Pew researchers polled more than 4, 000 people in August, they found that 45% of Americans now wanna make abortion illegal while 47% want to keep it legal. The shift appears across most demographic groups, but is particularly pronounced among non-Hispanic Catholics who attend Mass weekly and Democratic men. What’s happened, pollsters believe, is that liberals have become less concerned about restrictions²⁵ on abortion since the election of Barack Obama, a pro-choice president. The conservatives have been galvanized, saying they worry that President Obama will change laws to make abortions²⁶ easier to obtain. Barbara Bradley Hagerty, NPR News.

Crude oil futures²⁷ prices rose today. Oil was up 21 cents a barrel to close at $70.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.