NPR 2009-07-01

After a long battle, Republican Norm Coleman has conceded defeat to Democrat 1 Al Franken in Minnesota Senate race. That follows a state Supreme 2 Court ruling in favor of Franken today. NPR's Cathy Shaw reports.

The unanimous court ruling came after an extended battle between Franken and Republican Norm Coleman. Coleman, a one-term senator, conceded this afternoon at a press conference in St. Paul. It ended close to eight months of recounts and legal challenges.

"The Supreme Court of Minnesota has spoken. I respect its decision and I will abide 3 by its result. It's time for Minnesotans to come together under the leader it has chosen and move forward."

Franken, a former comedian 4 and "Saturday Night Live" star won the 2008 election by 312 votes out of close to three million cast. The victory opens a way for him to be seated next week when the Senate returns after the July 4th holiday. He will give the Democrats 5 control of 60 seats. That's enough to overcome Republican filibusters 6 if the Democrats stay united and that is a big if. Cathy Shaw NPR News.

Health experts are rejecting a call to pull NyQuil and a number of other medications that combine acetaminophen with other drugs off the market. But they say drugs such as Vicodin and Percocet which combine the popular painkiller 7 with stronger medicines should be eliminated because of their role in deadly overdoses. The decision by the Food and Drug Administration panel came at a 20 to 17 vote today. The use of acetaminophen is the leading cause of liver damage in the US, sending 56,000 people a year to hospital emergency rooms. The FDA has been looking at ways to rein 8 that in.

The top US commander in Iraq says he is personally encouraged by the departure today of US troops from Iraqi cities. General Ray Odierno says he is hopeful that Iraq will emerge as a stable long-term partner of the US. More from NPR's Mary Louise Kelly.

General Odierno briefed reporters via a video conference from Camp Victory on the outskirts 9 of Baghdad. Asked for his personal thoughts as he watched US troops exiting Iraq's cities, the general said he remembers the dark days of 2006 when he first arrived in Iraq as a corps 10 commander.

"When the violence was so high, it was hard to see a way out. Today, I have a lot of hope that Iraq is gonna be able to move forward as a secure stable sovereign Iraq."

That could be a partner for the US in the Middle East. Still General Odierno acknowledged there is a lot of hard work ahead as the US moves toward the larger deadline of pulling all US troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011. Mary Louise Kelly, NPR News, Washington.

Consumers were a bit less confident this month. That’s according to a key business research group. The New York-based Conference Board in its monthly assessment 11 of consumer confidence says its index fell from 54.8 to 49.3.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 82 points.

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A North Korean vessel 12 that was tracked for days by a US warship 13 is headed back the way it came. Though still not clear is whether the ship is returning to North Korea. The vessel which left North Korean port earlier this month is suspected of carrying illicit 14 weapons and is the first vessel monitored under new UN sanctions put in place to punish the country for a recent nuclear test as well as missile firings. A US official says it's believed the ship was headed to Myanmar. The ship was off the coast of Vietnam at last word.

The federal government has put aside $154 million from its economic stimulus 15 package to clean up and restore water ways in costal areas. NPR's Christopher Joyce reports.

When Congress included coastal 16 projects in this stimulus package, environmental groups in coastal states flooded the government with projects and ideas. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric 17 Administration has now selected 50 projects from 800 proposals. These projects range from tearing down old dams and levees that block waterways and wetlands to removing abandoned fishing nets and traps that continue to kill fish. And millions of dollars will be spent to clear algae 18 from coral reefs and rebuild the shellfish beds that have been damaged by pollution. Recent scientific study say shellfish beds and underwater grasses in coastal waters are in steep decline, a trend NOAA officials hope to reverse. Christopher Joyce, NPR News.

President Obama said today a new consumer financial protection agency being launched by his administration is designed to protect Americans from unscrupulous practices by financial firms. It will also make sure financial products sold by those companies and individuals are easier to understand. The president said today he sent a proposal to Congress that would create a new agency which has the role of making sure the information about mortgages is simple.