NPR 2012-05-26

 Indiana police are reporting a hostage crisis in the northwestern city of Valparaiso. According to the  Associated Press, a gunman is holding an unknown number of people captive inside a real estate office. So far, there are no known injures. Local media report that FBI agents have entered the building which is surrounded by police officers. 

 
 
In Alabama, DEA agents and local law officers have taken an elementary school principal into custody 1 for among other things, allegedly selling drugs at the school.  Dan Carson of member station WBHM in Birmingham has the story. 
The school year is not ending well for Shiloh Elementary School, just south of Selma, Alabama. After a month-long investigation 2, local police and DEA agents have arrested principal, Aaron McKinley, after reportedly witnessing him selling Oxycodone and Hydrocodone at the school. McKinley faces a more severe sentence, because the drug sales allegedly took place on school property. Some of police also say, McKinley knowingly bought and persisted the ** in vehicle. The up and coming young principal had a good reputation, and the committee is reeling. The county school board released a statement saying we were both shocked and saddened about the allegations. And that the school's assistant principal would run the school for the rest of the year, which ends Thursday. For NPR News, I'm Dan Carson, in Birmingham.
 
 
The man who confessed to killing 3 a little boy 33 years ago today faces a ** in New York. Pedro Hernandez worked in the neighborhood where Etan Patz was last seeing. While some people are questioning the validity of Hernandez's claim, saying it could be a hoax 4, which's come around anniversaries of crimes. Still, authorities were confident enough to pursue second-degree murder charges against Hernandez.
 
 
Consumers are feeling more a bit about the economy according to the latest numbers from the Thomson Reuters University of Michigan Index. NPR's ** reports consumers' sentiment  is at a four-year high.
The main Index rose nearly 3 points, that's a big change, it beat analysts 5 expectations, Richard Curtain is ** director, he says cheaper gas prices are helping 6 but the key for consumers is job growth. 
They expect the economy to continue to improve and to produce more jobs. 
Curtain is cautiously optimistic. 
The issue is whether consumers' optimism really has outpaced what the performance of the economy will be. 
He says consumer confidence rose nearly as high twice in the past two years, but the economy couldn't sustain  those positive vibes. Both times high gas prices and weak job growth reversed the gains. **, NPR News, Washington.
 
 
At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 67 points, now down more than 1.5% at 12,462; NASDAQ Composite Index off 2 points at 2,838; and the S&P 500 down 2 as well at 1,318.
 
 
This is NPR News.
 
 
 
 
The UN's Atomic Watchdog is reporting traces of uranium enriched at a higher level than previously 7 reported in Iran, raising concerns that the Islamic-Republic may be closer to developing nuclear weapons material. The International Atomic Energy Agency released its report a day after nuclear talks in Baghdad. Failed to yield  agreement over Iran's nuclear program. The west wants atomic activities to be halted. Iran says it has the right to continue its program. 
 
 
For the first time, Seoul Supreme 8 Court has ruled in favor of South Korean seeking compensation  from Japanese firms for forced labor 9 nearly seven decades ago. From Seoul, Doualy Xaykaothao  has details.
South Korea's top court reversed lower court rulings and says Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Nippon Steel Corporation must compensate 10 9 victims of forced labor during Japan's occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945. Then thousands of Koreans were forced to work for Japanese companies without pay and some were forced to leave South Korea. Tokyo's chief Cabinet Secretary says Japan has already fully 11 compensated 12 Koreans under a bilateral 13 agreement between Tokyo and Seoul singed 14 nearly 50 years ago. For NPR News, I'm Doualy Xaykaothao, in Seoul. 
 
 
The International Space Station has hooked up with its first commercial supply spacecraft. In a historic moment, the SpaceX Dragon capsule docked with the orbiting outpost today. The unmanned Dragon hold a thousand pounds of supplies. The space station's astronauts are scheduled to open the supply capsule tomorrow.