NPR 2008-10-05

European leaders are pledging to do all they can to curtail 1 the credit crisis that is spreading globally from the US. The announcement came after a meeting in Paris concerning the financial crisis. The BBC's Alasdair Sandford reports from Paris.

As expected, there's to be no big bailout fund, but the four European leaders have promised to work together to support European banks in trouble. Speaking after the three-hour summit, President Sarkozy said countries would operate with their own methods but in a coordinated 2 manner. He also said they would look to make sure that the leaders of failed banks were punished. The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso joined the French president in saying that the EU's strict budget rules would be applied 3 flexibly during the current exceptional circumstances. The BBC's Alasdair Sanford in Paris.

President Bush says the financial rescue plan enacted 4 by Congress will take some time to implement 5, so he said not all the benefits will be felt immediately. One that may though is the provision that will temporarily raise to 250,000 dollars, the amount the government will ensure for individual bank depositors. "These steps should reassure 6 Americans, especially small business owners that their money is safe and it should restore confidence in the health of our banking 7 system." Mr Bush speaking in his weekly radio address today.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is campaigning in Virginia today. It's a battleground state that has not gone to a Democratic presidential nominee 8 since 1964. NPR's Audie Cornish reports.

At a waterfront park rally in Newport News, Virginia, Obama opened up with an attack on Senator John McCain's health care policy, continued on that track for more than 15 minutes. "That's right, John McCain was to deregulate the insurance industry, just like he fought to deregulate the banking industry and we've seen how well that worked out." Obama's own plan requires employers provide health care or pay 6% of their payroll 9 in taxes and it would ban insurers from cherry-picking healthier patients or screening out those with pre-existing conditions. Audie Cornish, NPR News, Newport News, Virginia.

Engineers at the Kennedy Space Center are getting ready to roll the space shuttle Atlantis back off its launch pad. Atlantis' mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope has been postponed 10. Pat Duggins of member station WMFE reports.

Technicians will spend the weekend disconnecting electrical cables between Atlantis and its launch pad. On Monday, crews will unload the replacement 11 parts for Hubble that are latched 12 in the shuttle's cargo 13 bay. The list includes a new wide field and planetary cameras with six batteries weighing 125 pounds each. Astronauts were planning to snap these new components 14 onto Hubble. That is until the telescope's primary data transmitter failed. NASA's delaying the flight until at least February, so the shuttle crew can train to replace the broken unit with a new one. Once Atlantis is rolled off its launch pad, shuttle Endeavor is next in line to go to orbit on a mission to the International Space Station. NASA is taking steps to start that flight two days early. For NPR News, I'm Pat Duggins in Atlanta.

This is NPR News.

Poland's role in the US-led coalition 15 in Iraq has come to an end. Polish forces turned over control of an area south of Baghdad to American troops today. But even as the Polish troops head home from Iraq, Poland is sending more troops to Afghanistan.

Two US helicopters crashed into each other while landing at a base in Baghdad today. The crash killed one Iraqi soldier and injured two American troops and two Iraqis. Iraqi police say the incident occurred during clashes between gunmen and US-backed Iraqi forces in northern Baghdad.

A new report from the Transportation Department finds that nine of nation's major airlines are relying much more heavily on outside maintenance contractors 16 than they were four years ago. NPR's Jack 17 Speers has details.

It's no secret that the airlines, partly in an effort to cut costs, have been outsourcing routine scheduled maintenance. But the inspector 18 general's report found the volume of outside work has increased dramatically. The airlines examined included Continental 19, Delta 20, Untied 21, JetBlue and Southwest. Last year, they sent 71% of their heavy airframe maintenance checks to outside contractors, up from 34% in 2003. More than a quarter of that work was done by overseas contractors. At the same time, the report contends the Federal Aviation Administration has failed to closely monitor how the repairs have been carried out, relying on the airlines themselves to make sure they meet accepted safety standards. Not included in the list was the nation's largest domestic airline, American, which handles most of its maintenance in house. Jack Speer, NPR News, Washington.

Long time Democratic Congressman 22 William Jefferson of Louisiana is seeing his political career on the line today. He is fighting bribery 23 charges and competing with six other Democrats 24 in a primary for his New Orleans-based seat.