NPR 2009-07-14

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack 1 Speer.

Today Judge Sonia Sotomayor described her judicial 2 philosophy as fidelity 3 to the law. Her opening statement capped the first day of her confirmation 4 hearing to the Supreme 5 Court. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports.

Republican Senators quoted Sonia Sotomayor's speech at length. They said her comments indicated she does not appreciate the impartial 6 role a judge is supposed to play. Sotomayor rejected that characterization. "My personal and professional experiences help me to listen and understand, with the law always commanding the result in every case." Before Sotomayor's statement, each member of the Senate Judiciary Committee delivered an opening statement. Democrats 7 focused on Sotomayor's life story and her record as a judge. Republicans treated the hearing as a broader referendum on the role that a judge is supposed to play. Questioning begins Tuesday morning. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.

The Obama administration's nominee 8 to be the nation's next Surgeon General today pledged to in her words make sure no one falls through the cracks as we improve our healthcare system. Doctor Regina Benjamin appeared today with the President at the White House Rose Garden. She said if she gets the job as the nation's chief spokesperson on health, she will work to help doctors care for patients and ensure patients have access to affordable 9 care. "This is a physician's dream, but for me, it is more than just a job, public health issues are very personal to me." Benjamin is an Alabama country doctor who three times resurrected a health clinic in a Gulf 10 Coast fishing village after disasters. She vowed 11 to help the president in his efforts to rework healthcare. Benjamin's nomination 12 requires Senate approval.

The World Health Organization says the flu viruses needed to produce vaccine 13 for the current pandemic are not growing well and that may slow the delivery of needed vaccine. NPR's Richard Knox has more.

Until now the WHO and countries around the world had hoped the new H1N1 virus would grow in eggs as well as seasonal 14 flu viruses. But WHO experts say the pandemic virus is growing only 25% to 50% as fast as ordinary viruses. So labs around the world are going back to square one. They're isolating 15 the new flu viruses from infected people and creating new hybrid 16 viruses in the hope they'll grow well. If they are lucky, they will have an answer this month. If a fast growing vaccine virus can’t be produced, the first doses of vaccine would still come off the production lines in the fall. But it would take months longer to produce the billions of doses needed in the coming flu season. And there might be none available at all for the poorest countries. Richard Knox, NPR News.

Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven member crew are hoping to give it another go after stormy weather cancelled the latest lift-off attempts over the weekend, though it is not clear whether today's weather will cooperate. The shuttle is expected to lift off at 6:51PM EST today.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 185 points to close at 8,332.

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The Chairman of the Joint 17 Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen arrived in Iraq today on an unannounced visit. Mullen is slated 18 to sit down with Iraqi officials in the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk. Tensions in that region have been high with Kurds hoping to make Kirkuk the capital of an autonomous 19 region despite Arab opposition 20. Police say two bombings last month in that area killed at least 100 people. Meanwhile, a sandstorm in the region has kept Admiral Mullen grounded today, delaying his plans for visiting other parts of Iraq.

European Union has secured a deal to receive gas through a new pipeline 21 planned through Turkey. It would bypass the Russia-Ukraine route that has proven unreliable in the past. Teri Schultz has more from Brussels.

Seven years in the making, the Nabucco deal would bring gas from countries such as Egypt and Turkmenistan to eastern Europe without relying on Russia and Ukraine, which currently provide more than a quarter of European supplies. European hopes to diversify 22 energy suppliers were hastened last winter when a dispute between Russia and Ukraine left many EU nations without fuel for weeks. While the deals cement the political willingness to build the pipelines 23 through Turkey to facilitate shipments from the Caspian region and the Middle East, it does not secure any financing for the estimated $10-billion price tag, nor does it specify 24 where the gas would come from. The US, a supporter of the project, opposes using Iranian gas as envisioned by Turkey unless relations with Tehran change. If all goes ahead, Nabucco could become operational in 2014. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.

Software maker 25 Microsoft is letting some testers have an early peek 26 at its latest version of Office, though the company is keeping web-based versions of some of its other popular programs, Word and Excel under wraps. The company lets some people have a technical preview of Office 2010.