NPR 2010-08-14

After sharp declines on Wall Street in recent days, stocks are ending the week relatively 1 calm, apparently 2 unaffected by today's economic data. Overall, retail 4 sales rose 0.4% in July, not as much as analysts 5 had hoped, but take up autos and gasoline, and the sales actually reflect a drop. Bernard Baumohl with the Economic Outlook Group says consumers are tough to attract.

"Consumers are just continuing to be very cautious about spending. There's just too much talk out there about weakening economy, double-dip recession possibilities. And I think all this has really scared away a lot of consumers."

On Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average down 18 points at 10,302 at last check, and NASDAQ down 17 at 2,173.

Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters is defending herself against ethics 6 charges, saying she did absolutely nothing wrong. At a news conference on Capitol Hill earlier today, Waters said she was anxious to clear her name.

"A truly robust 7 investigatory process would have taken all the available evidence into consideration. I believe that if this had been done, we would not be here today."

The California lawmaker's accused of seeking federal help for a bank where her husband served on the board.

The war crimes trial of a young Canadian at Guantanamo Bay is on hold for at least a month after an unexpected turn yesterday. As NPR's Dina Temple-Raston tells us, the defendant's lawyer fainted.

Even before Lieutenant 8 Colonel Jon Jackson collapsed 9, the opening day of Omar Khadr's trial was shaping up to be dramatic. Prosecutors 10 showed a video of teenage Khadr allegedly wiring up roadside bombs with other young men in a living room in Afghanistan. They said he admitted to being an al-Qaeda-trained terrorist. And they claimed he threw the grenade that killed a US Special Forces medic in Afghanistan in 2002. Defense 11 Attorney Lieutenant Colonel Jackson was questioning a witness about that 2002 grenade attack when he fainted. Officials say Jackson may be facing a complication from recent gallbladder surgery. And the trial will be put on hold for at least 30 days while Jackson recuperates 12. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News.

Illness spreads among the youngest victims of Pakistan's floods, children at a hospital in Multan being checked and treated for diseases that are being reported in greater numbers since a monsoon 13 two weeks ago. It inflicted 14 the worst flooding the country's seen in decades, affecting millions of Pakistanis. An estimated 1,500 people have died.  In China, the search continues for hundreds of people who went missing in landslides 15 in the northwestern part of the region. More than 1,100 people were killed.

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The suspect in a stabbing rampage across three states is waiving 16 extradition 17 to Michigan from Atlanta. In a hearing this morning, Elias Abuelazam told a judge that he was no longer interested in fighting the charges while in Georgia after hearing that battling extradition alone could take months.

"Why should I wait 90 days, right?"

"Well, that's up to you to decide."

"I mean, that's the most common sense. It sounds more logical to go right now than waiting three months."

The 33-year-old was arrested in Atlanta while attempting to board a plane to his native Israel. He's accused of 18 stabbings that led to five deaths. Most of the victims were African-American men.

A grand jury has indicted 18 a candidate for US Senate from South Carolina. NPR's Kathy Lohr reports Alvin Greene was indicted on two counts relating to an incident with a student.

A grand jury in Richland County indicted Greene for disseminating 19, procuring 20 or promoting obscenity, which is a felony, and for communicating obscene material without consent. The unemployed 21 Army veteran was arrested in November after police say he approached a student at the University of South Carolina and showed her obscene online photos. He then reportedly talked about going to her dorm room. Greene unexpectedly won the Democratic Senate primary in June even though he had no staff and did not campaign. He has refused to talk about the obscenity charges. Greene faces popular Republican Senator Jim DeMint in the November election who has raised three million dollars for his campaign. Greene is not considered a serious contender in the race. Kathy Lohr, NPR News.

Ames, Iowa's still without drinking water after record-setting floods breached 22 pipes. Tens of thousands of people have been affected 3.