NPR 2009-09-10

A hijacked 1 AeroMexico plane carrying 112 people including crew landed in Mexico City today and up to eight people have been arrested. Americans, Mexicans and French were reported among the people on the flight from Cancun. TV images reportedly showed security forces leading people from the plane in handcuffs. The Associated Press quotes the Mexican Transportation and Communication Secretary saying all passengers and crew are safe.

President Obama heads to Capitol Hill tonight to give a speech to lawmakers on what he wants to see in the health care overhaul 2 bill. NPR's Audie Cornish reports.

There are areas of agreement between Republicans and Democrats 3 that President Obama is expected to emphasize. For instance, there's support among lawmakers for policies banning insurance companies from dropping people with pre-existing medical conditions, but there is wide disagreement on whether or not there should be a government-backed public insurance option to compete with insurers in the private market. Republicans have said they won't support it and liberal Democrats insist they won't support a bill without one. Lawmakers will be listening for whether the President requires that a public option be in the bill to get his signature or if he cites it only as one of many tools in an overhaul program. The speech is aimed at jump-starting Congressional efforts to move the bill forward after a month of loud opposition 4 has threatened the Democrats' effort. Audie Cornish, NPR News, the Capitol.

Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa will become a major player in the debate over health care as he takes over the Health, Education, Labor 5 and Pensions Committee chaired by the late Senator Edward Kennedy.

In Afghanistan, a British Special Forces operation freed a kidnapped New York Times reporter from the Taliban. The operation led to the deaths of another hostage and one rescuer. NPR's Saria Sarhaddi Nelson has more from Kabul.

Times reporter Stephen Farrell was freed during the rescue operation in the northern province of Kunduz. But his Afghan colleague Sultan Munadi was killed, as was a British commando. Farrell told the Times that Munadi who was 34, stepped forward shouting "Journalist! Journalist! ", but was felled by gunfire. It was unclear who fired the fatal shots. The Times team was kidnapped in Kunduz on Saturday, the second from the newspaper to be kidnapped in Afghanistan in the past ten months. Farrell and Munadi had gone to the village of Omar Khel to report on the aftermath of a US air strike on two hijacked NATO tankers 6 that killed about 70 people. Officials said the reporters were warned of the danger of going to the village, which is sympathetic to the Taliban. Word of the kidnapping was kept quiet after the New York Times and Farrell's wife had asked the media not to report it for fear he'd be harmed if it were publicized. Saria Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, Kabul.

Wall Street today, the Down Jones Industrial Average closed up 49 points at 9, 547. The NASDAQ was up 22.

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A new poll suggests that many Americans believe Islam encourages violence. The poll by the Pew Forum 7 on Religion & Public Life comes just before the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty has more.

The nationwide survey found that 38% of Americans say Islam promotes violence among believers, down from 45% two years ago. Conservative Republicans and white evangelical Christians 8 take the dimmest view of the religion, with more than half of them saying the religion fosters violence. Only 25% of self-described liberal Democrats think so. Most Americans believe Muslims are discriminated 9 against more than any other group, and that only gay men and lesbians face more discrimination. As to the religion itself, Americans appear fairly ignorant, just over half knew that Allah is the name Muslims use to refer to God, or that the Koran is their sacred text. Only 41% could identify both Allah and the Koran. Barbara Bradley Hagerty, NPR News.

The Chicago City Council has unanimously approved a contract that would make taxpayers 10 financially responsible for the 2016 Summer Olympics if Chicago was chosen to host them. Mayor Richard Daley needed approval to sign the bill. Organizers of Chicago's Olympic bid say that they don't attempt to turn to taxpayers. They expect to put together financing that would include private donations, contingency 11 funds and insurance. But the International Olympic Committee requires that host cities be responsible for the costs. Competing cities are Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.