NPR 2010-08-08

You can now call her Justice Elena Kagan. She was sworn in this afternoon as the 112th justice for the US Supreme 1 Court. NPR's Allison Keyes tells us Kagan is the fourth woman to serve on the high court.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts first administered the constitutional oath to Kagan at a private ceremony in the court's justice's room with only her family present. At a second ceremony in the Supreme Court building, Kagan stood before wood-paneled walls and a fireplace in a dark suit and ivory top, raised her right hand and repeated the oath.

"I, Elena Kagan, do solemnly swear (that I will administer justice without respect to persons) that I will administer justice without respect to persons..."

As part of her oath, Kagan also vowed 2 to do equal right to the poor and to the rich. And finally Roberts said, "Congratulations."

Kagan won't be formally seated on the court until October 1st, but Roberts said she took the oath today, so that she can begin work right away. Allison Keyes, NPR News, Washington.

For a second straight day, Moscow is socked in by a layer of smog from wildfires that are burning in the region. Peter Van Dyk is in Kolomna about 75 miles southeast of Moscow.

Russians are used to hoping for themselves. And in that respect, each person will find his own solution, but everyone knows that with this level of smoke, there's really not that much you can do at this point in Moscow. All the apartments have smoke in them to some degree except for, perhaps, the apartments of the very wealthy, which will have very good air-conditioning. So, there is an acceptance that there's not a lot that they can do. And officials actually say the most important thing we can do now is get to grips with the fires, and the time for apportioning 3 blame and bringing negligent 4 officials to justice will only come later.

City health officials say the pollutants 5 in the air around Moscow are six times than normal levels.

Ten members of a medical team helping 6 villagers in Afghanistan are dead, victims of an ambush 7 in the northern part of the country. Six of the victims were Americans; two were Afghan interpreters. One was from Germany; the other from Britain. The Taliban says the group was carrying Bibles and spying for the US, an accusation 8 that's been denied by Dirk Frans, executive director of International Assistance Mission, which employed the medics.

"Some of them have actually been here for decades. The team leaders first came to Afghanistan in 76, all of them who came to basically serve the people of Afghanistan. And to kill these people is totally senseless."

The team was attacked as it was returning to Kabul.

It's unclear what caused an explosion today in the Iraqi city of Basra, but at least 14 are dead, dozens more are wounded. Police officials say there were twin blasts within minutes of each other in a downtown market. But the police chief says the explosion was caused by a malfunctioning 9 generator 10.

This is NPR News from Washington.

It'll take another spacewalk to fix a faulty ammonia cooling pump at the International Space Station. Two astronauts worked for hours, trying to free the failed part, but had to give up when they couldn't even remove the hoses. It's unclear if the repairs could be made during a scheduled second spacewalk or whether they'll need a third.

President Obama is taking credit for shoring up Medicare, the health care program for seniors. NPR's Giles Snyder reports the president says seniors are benefiting from his health care overhaul 11.

President Obama says Medicare has a stronger foundation thanks to the health care law he signed in March.

"Medicare isn't just a program. It's a commitment to America's seniors that after working your whole life, you've earned the security of quality health care you can afford."

Speaking in his weekly address, Mr Obama welcomed a report that says the costs cut prompted by the overhaul, but helped Medicare stay afloat for a dozen years longer than previously 12 projected. Republicans are taking a swipe at the president over taxes. The president wants to let a series of tax cuts for the wealthy expire, but Illinois Congressman 13 Peter Roskam says that would not be a good idea.

"Every dollar in new taxes owed is a dollar that can't be used to pay current employees or hire new workers."

Roskam was speaking in the GOP address. Giles Snyder, NPR News, Washington.

President Obama is wrapping up his birthday week with an afternoon of golf today and a barbeque tomorrow. The White House says he played golf with eight friends, some he'd known since college.

Tiger Woods could lose his No.1 golf ranking this weekend after three rounds of play in the Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio. Woods is 11-over-par, the worst score since he turned professional.

I'm Nancy Lyons, NPR News in Washington.