NPR 2009-09-03

President Barack Obama has now scheduled what is being billed as a major address to Congress on health care for September 9th. The speech will come just one day after lawmakers return to the Capitol from their August recess 2. The move comes at a time some Democrats 3 are saying the President's been too big about his goals for reworking the nation's health care system. Meanwhile Senate Republican leaders are disputing charges that they're not acting 4 in good faith in terms of trying to hammer out a compromise on the White-House-backed health care overhaul 5 plan.

Pharmaceutical 6 maker 1 Pfizer's agreeing to pay a record $2.3 billion in civil and criminal penalties. Pfizer was charged with inviting 7 doctors to meetings at resorts, paying their expenses and providing lavish 8 perks--all part of an effort to promote its drugs for so-called "off-label uses". Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called the settlement with the world's largest drug maker "historic". “This event marks a conclusion of just one investigation 9, but it's another step in the administration's ongoing 10 campaign to prosecute 11 any individual or organization who tries to rip off health care consumers and the federal government.” Agreeing to plead guilty to the charges involving a total of 13 drugs, Pfizer has said it will adhere to the US Department of Health and Human Services compliance 12 agreement for five years.

Crews in Los Angeles are making progress against a massive wildfire. NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports the fire's now 22% contained, but the situation is far from over.

Cooler temperatures and moisture overnight help firefighters build lines around some of the flames at the Angeles National Forest; but the fire continues to grow and has now reportedly reached 219 square miles. Officials say they are making excellent progress and began allowing some evacuees 13 to return home. Crews dropped water and fire retardant from a 747 Supertanker as well as a huge seaplane from the World WarⅡera. So far, they've managed to protect the top of Mount Wilson, the site of radio and TV transmission towers and a historic observatory 14. Mandalit del Barco, NPR News.

Envoy 15 Richard Holbrooke met in Paris with other international officials to discuss disputed elections in Afghanistan. Eleanor Beardsley reports.

The Afghan presidential election which took place August 20th has been marred 16 by fraud and violence. But officials played that down in Paris Wednesday, stressing that the Afghan people were taking charge of their future. Officials said that there were mechanisms 17 in place to deal with possible fraud. And US special envoy Richard Holbrooke said that the process was moving forward. “During that process there're gonna be many claims of irregularities. That happens in every democracy. We recently had a senatorial election in Minnesota which took seven months to determine the outcome. But that happens in democracies, even when they're not in the middle of a war. ” The Afghan votes are still being counted and a runoff between incumbent 18 President Karzai and his main rival is likely. For NPR News, I'm Eleanor Beardsley in Paris.

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More than 30 people are dead, several dozen are missing and dozens more were injured today after a powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia. The magnitude-7 quake hit off the southern coast of the main island of Java, home to 235 million people. Officials say the temblor lasted nearly a minute and they say its effects were felt over hundreds of miles. More than 700 buildings are either collapsed 19 or damaged by the earthquake. There are also reports of landslides 20 in some villages as a result of the quake.

James Von Brunn, the man charged with killing 21 a security guard at the National Holocaust 22 Museum in Washington, appeared in federal court today. Elliott Francis has his report.

The 89-year-old self-described white supremacist was brought into US District Court shortly after 10 a.m., confined to a wheelchair, result of an injuries sustained in the attack back on June 10th. Soon Von Brunn's attorney asked the judge to grant his client a mental competency test. Von Brunn disagreed, slowly shaking his head before suddenly calling out, "your honor". The judge quickly admonished 23 Von Brunn for speaking out. Von Brunn rejected the order, saying “your constitution guarantees me a speedy and fair trial". His voice is weak, Von Brunn continued, I'm a US citizen; and as a US naval 24 officer, I swore to protect my country. I take my vows 25 very seriously. In the end, the judge ordered the tests, deferring 26 Von Brunn's arraignment 27 until the results become available. The next hearing is set for October 13th. For NPR News, I'm Elliott Francis in Washington.

Major find by oil company BP in the Gulf 28 of Mexico, though experts are cautioning major technical challenges remain. It could be years before any oil is brought to the surface. BP said today it's discovered, what they called a giant oil field, located in some 4,000 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico, southeast of Houston.

On Wall Street, the Dow was down 29 points.