NPR 2008-03-27

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack 1 Speer.

Iraq is facing its starkest 2 security challenge this year as Shiite militiamen loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr battled Iraqi government forces in Basra, Baghdad and several other Iraqi cities. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports from Baghdad.

Iraqi security forces swarmed 3 Basra on Monday saying it would rid the southern city of rogue 4 militiamen linked to Sadr's Mehdi Army. Iraqi led offensive set off intense fighting which eventually migrated north to Baghdad. Fighting in the capital has been concentrated in eastern Baghdad and on the Green Zone where mortars 5 and rockets have been fired over the past three days. Technically 6 there's still a seven-month-old ceasefire between the Mehdi Army and Iraqi and US forces. Sadr has said that hasn't changed. Instead, he's called for his followers 7 to observe a nationwide strike until the crackdown on the Mehdi Army members in Basra is stopped. Prime Minister Nuri Kamel al-Maliki for his part has given the militias 8 72 hours to lay down their arms. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News, Baghdad.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain was in Los Angeles today, delivering what was termed "a major foreign policy address". The presumed GOP nominee 9 called on the US to work more cooperatively with allies, saying despite the nation's great power, that does not entitle it to do whatever it wants. McCain also said he believes pulling all US forces out of Iraq would be the wrong move. "It would be an unconscionable act of betrayal, a stain on our character as a great nation, if we were to walk away from the Iraqi people. " In the speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, McCain criticized his Democratic rivals, accusing them of seeking a path he said that would eventually draw the US into a wider and more difficult war. McCain's comments follow a recent fact-finding trip to the Middle East.

President Bush met with the Joint 10 Chiefs of Staff today at the Pentagon to talk about Iraq. They raised concerns about an overstretched military. The president's meeting with the chiefs comes two weeks before the American ground commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, is scheduled to brief Congress. NPR's Tom Bowman has more.

The last time Petraeus gave an update on Iraq was six months ago. The defense 11 officials say the chiefs would like to see more frequent assessments 12 from Petraeus about the conditions on the ground, perhaps every month or so, and whether more troops can come home. The chiefs are behind Petraeus's usual request for a so-called pause in troop reductions after the summer to make sure the security improvements are lasting 13. By July the number of US troops is expected to drop to 140, 000 from the current 156, 000. But the chiefs also sent these messages to the president: concerns about other global problems like Afghanistan, the strain of long deployments on soldiers and their families. Tom Bowman NPR News, the Pentagon.

On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 109 points to close at 12, 422. The NASDAQ was down 16 points. The S&P fell 11.

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Giant Citigroup said today it's reached a deal to pay out more than 1. 5 billion dollars to creditors 14 of failed energy trading company Enron who lost money when the company collapsed 16 in 2001. Citigroup is the last of a number of defendants 17 named in what was dubbed 18 a "Mega Claims" lawsuit 19 filed against 11 banks and brokerages in connection with the collapse 15 of the Houston-based company. The suit alleged 20 that Enron, with the help of banks like Citigroup, kept creditors in the dark about the company's true financial condition. Before filing for bankruptcy 21, Enron was the 7th largest energy trading company in the US.

About 10, 000 current and former African-American employees of the Walgreen drug-store chain will split a multimillion dollar settlement in two race discrimination suits. From member station KWMU in Saint Louis, Matt Sepic reports.

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claimed Walgreen assigned many of its black managers and pharmacists to low-performing stores and to those in predominantly black neighborhoods. The consent decree approved by a federal judge in east Saint Louis yesterday resolves both the EEOC lawsuit filed last year, as well as a class action suit from 2005. The workers will share 20 million dollars. The plaintiffs whose names are in the lawsuit will get about 300, 000 dollars each. In the agreement the company does not admit to any wrongdoing. A spokeswoman says Walgreen began implementing 22 the consent decree in July when the judge gave his initial approval. For NPR News, I'm Matt Sepic in Saint Louis.

Nation's manufacturing sector 23 showed more signs of strain last month. The government says orders for durable 24 goods, costly 25 items like automobiles 26 and air conditioners fell for a second straight month in February, dropping by 1. 7%.

I'm Jack Speer, NPR News in Washington.