NPR 2011-09-12

 Today marks the 10th anniversary of the day when four hijacked planes crashed in three places in the US. The remembrances began in New York, where the first and then the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center. President Obama was there this morning along with former President George W Bush. Relatives of those who died read their names aloud, some by children who barely remember their parents. Music was provided by choirs, James Taylor and Yo-Yo Ma. 

 
President Obama and the first lady later flew to the site of the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania to lay a wreath in the middle of a wall of names. NPR’s John Ydstie attended the ceremony. 
 
The President and Mrs. Obama walked down toward the site of the crash and observed that for a while quite solemnly and then they began to talk to some of the people along the fence line and the mood changed a bit and you could see the president smiling and shaking hands with members of the public. He then spent almost the better part of an hour shaking hands and talking to the families of the passengers and crew who decided to fight back and tried to take back control of Flight 93. 
 
NPR’s John Ydstie reporting from Shanksville, Pennsylvania
 
The President came back to Washington where he laid a wreath a short time ago to honor those who died when a Boeing 757 slammed into the Pentagon. Each of the 184 people is memorialized with a bench in a reflecting pool. 
 
Thousands of people in south central Pennsylvania continue to clean up as floodwaters from the Susquehanna River recede. Craig Layne from member station WITF reports the Borough of Middletown was especially hard-hit. 
 
The swollen river and a nearby creek inundated entire blocks in this community of about 9,000 people. Mick Shrauder says floodwaters lifted his heating oil tank from its base, spilling the fuel into the murky water that filled his basement to the brim. 
 
“Oil’s floating everywhere on top of the water. It’s just, everything in the house reeks of oil, it’s a mess. We would have really weathered it pretty good. We are used to flooding and stuff going on down here, but when, you know, when the oil tank goes over, there is not much you can do about that, you know.”
 
Shrauder says the flooding brought out the best and worst in people. As neighbors helped each other with clean-up efforts, National Guard members earlier this weekend helped stop teenagers accused of looting homes in the flood zone. For NPR News, I’m Craig Layne in Middletown, Pennsylvania. 
 
Officials in central Texas told some residents they can return to their homes tomorrow a week after they were forced to flee a huge wildfire. The fire has burned more than 34,000 acres and destroyed more than 1,500 homes. 
 
This is NPR News from Washington.
 
British Prime Minister David Cameron goes to Moscow today, the first visit by a British leader to the Russian capital in six years. He’s to meet with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The visit is designed to increase business and trade opportunities to buoy the stagnant British economy. Cameron had made similar trips to India and China, prompting concerns from those who fear the United Kingdom will overlook the human rights records of new allies. 
 
Egypt’s military ruler will not appear at the trial of the former President Hosni Mubarak until later this month. NPR’s Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports his testimony was delayed because the ruling military council is still dealing with the international fallout from a mob attack on the Israeli embassy in Cairo over the weekend. 
 
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi was to testify, but according to news reports, sent a note to the judge saying he couldn’t make it. If Tantawi does take the stand on September 24th, he will likely to be asked about who in the Egyptian government gave the orders to stop protesters at all costs. Prosecutors are trying to prove that Mubarak and his interior minister Habib Adly are linked to the police killing some 850 protesters during the uprising that ousted the men from power. If convicted, they could face the death penalty. Mubarak and Adly’s trial resumes Tuesday with former vice president and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman expected to testify, but the Egyptian interim government has banned coverage of his testimony as it is doing with Tantawi. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, Cairo. 
 
The US Department of Agriculture said today that Cargill, Incorporated is recalling more ground turkey because a sample tested positive for salmonella. The same company recalled 36 million pounds of ground turkey last month.