NPR 2009-10-09

The Senate Judiciary Committee has passed a revised version of the USA Patriot 1 Act. Three provisions will sunset at the end of the year if the law is not renewed. NPR’s Ari Shapiro reports.

The committee voted eleven to eight in favor of the revisions. Support and opposition 2 came from both parties. Some of the committee’s most liberal members, such as Wisconsin’s Russell Findgold voted no. He is afraid the bill doesn't do enough to protect civil liberties. And some of the panel's most conservative Senators, such as Jeff Sessions of Alabama, also voted no. He's concerned the revisions to the bill will hurt counter-terrorism efforts. The Obama administration wants Congress to renew all three expiring provisions. One lets investigators 3 continue to eavesdrop 4 on people who frequently change cell phones without constantly seeking new authorizations. Another lets the government treat so called lone-wolf terrorists like members of a terrorist group. And the third expiring provision lets the government demand business records from companies as part of an investigation 5. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.

House lawmakers are moving to significantly expand the nation's four decades old hate crimes law to include protections for those attacked because of sexual orientation 6, a measure which is also expected to pass. The Senate will broaden the hate crimes law enacted 7 in the days after the assassination 8 of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior in 1968. The measure was attached to a must-pass $680 billion defense 9 bill.

Treasury 10 Department announced today it has reached a major milestone 11 for its foreclosure prevention program. The administration says half a million loan modifications 13 have been carried out through the effort. NPR’s Chris Arnold reports.

The administration's so-called "making home affordable 14" program is proving to be more successful than prior efforts to stand foreclosures. Every month now, there are more people getting loan modifications than there are homes getting sold through foreclosure. So, that's an encouraging sign. Mark Pearce is North Carolina’s deputy banking 15 commissioner 16.

"Well it is a big step in the right direction. And we certainly are making a lot of progress, but we still have an awful lot of families out there that are not in the process of getting a loan modification 12. “

Pearce says there is a tremendous backlog 17. A couple of million people who are delinquent 18 on their loans are heading into foreclosure. And so far, only sixteen percent of those loans have been modified through the program. Chris Arnold, NPR News.

A Thompson Reuters Survey of thirty retail 19 chains shows a six-tenths of percent rise in sales in September. Michael Niemira is Chief Economist 20 and Director of Research for the international council of shopping centers. He says the increase is important for another reason as well.

”What's really significant about that is not so much the small increase, but it’s the first year on year increase since July of 2008.” Economist Michael Niemira.

On Wall Street today the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained sixty one points, closing at 9,786. The NASDAQ was up thirteen points; the S&P 500 gained seven points.

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Another attack in the Afghan capital, the second in less than a month there has claimed at least seventeen lives and left dozens of others wounded today. Officials say a car bomb explosion outside the Indian embassy in Kabul claimed the lives of fifteen civilians 21 and two police officers. It’s not the first attack at that location. A suicide attack against the embassy last year killed more than sixty people. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the bombing but did not say why the embassy was targeted.

A day after Italy's top court overturned the law giving Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi immunity 22 from prosecution 23, the media mogul continued his vitriolic 24 attack against what he perceives as a leftist conspiracy 25 aimed at bringing down his government. NPR’s Sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome.

Berlusconi said he will go on TV and appear in court rooms to prove that charges of corruption 26 and tax fraud in two separate indictments 27 are false. "And I will ridicule 28 my accusers", he added. He has also unleashed 29 a sharp institutional confrontation 30 accusing President Giorgio Napolitano of having a leftist bias 31 against him and of not using his influence to ensure that the constitutional court judges uphold the immunity law. Napolitano summoned the speakers of the House and Senate, both allies of Berlusconi, who later issued a statement expressing solidarity 32 and respect for the president’s institutional role, which is above the political fray 33. Berlusconi now faces two major trials that had been temporarily suspended by the immunity law. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Rome.

The jobs picture may be showing some signs of brightening. The Labor 34 Department announced today first time claims for unemployment last week fell by 33,000, to 521,000. That’s a nine-month low.