NPR 2008-03-26

From NPR News in Washington, I am Jack 1 Speer.

 Concern is growing that a 7-month-old ceasefire between Shiite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and the US is about to end. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports.

 The clashes began in Basra. Iraqi security forces moved in on members of the Mahdi Army they said were allied 2 with Iran. Hours later, explosions rang out in Baghdad. For the second time this week, rockets and mortars 3 rained down on the heavily fortified 4 Green Zone. In Baghdad's Sadr city, Mahdi Army forces took on a rival militia 5. American forces sealed off the area and imposed a curfew. Muqtada al-Sadr has called for a nation-wide backlash against government crackdowns. The concern is that a 7-month ceasefire with the Mahdi Army is unraveling. A military spokesman told NPR that as far as the US was concerned, the ceasefire was still in force and rogue 6 elements of the Mahdi Army were responsible for the recent violence. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News, Baghdad.

 Pentagon officials announced today the military mistakenly sent missile components 7 to Taiwan two years ago, in the belief that they were helicopter batteries. Officials say all the equipment has been returned. NPR's Tom Bowman reports.

 The parts were four nose cone 8 electrical fuses used to trigger Minuteman nuclear missiles, but officials say there was no nuclear material in the package. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told reporters the parts were mistakenly sent to Taiwan in the fall of 2006, from a Utah facility run by the Defense 9 Logistics Agency, a division of the Pentagon that ships military supplies. Wynne said the nose cone fuses were placed in storage in Taiwan. There is no evidence they were opened or tampered 10 with. It was the Taiwan government that first alerted US officials last year they didn't receive their requested batteries. But it wasn't until the past week that officials learned the scope of what happened. A Pentagon investigation 11 is underway to determine how the mistake was made with an initial report due in April. Tom Bowman, NPR News, the Pentagon.

 For jittery 12 homeowners and others concerned about the economy, there is more reason for worry. A private index of home prices shows prices in large metropolitan 13 areas declined by more than 11% in January. The drop in the Case-shiller Index was the largest in its two-decade history. Meanwhile, a key barometer 14 of consumer sentiment also fell sharply this month. David Wyss is chief economist 15 at Standard & Poor's. He says clearly the mood of consumers isn't good. "People are scared. They're scared because their house price is dropping; they are scared because price of filling up their gas tank is going up; and they are scared because they see jobs disappearing out there in the economy." In some cities, year-over-year house price declines were even more severe. In Las Vegas and Miami, two of the hardest-hit cities, home prices are down upwards 16 of 20% from a year ago. On Wall Street, the Dow-Jones Industrial Average fell 16 points today to close at 12,532.

 This is NPR.

 Speaking in California, Republican presidential candidate John McCain said he thinks that pretty much every option should now be on the table in terms of dealing 17 with the nation's troubled housing market. Addressing a group of local business leaders near Los Angeles today, the expected GOP nominee 18 said he would evaluate everything in an effort to deal with the situation. He also said it isn't the government's job to "bail 19 out banks or irresponsible lenders".

 Two people were killed and five others injured today when a crane collapsed 20 at a high-rise condominium under construction in Miami. From Miami NPR's Greg Allen reports.

 The crane was mounted on Paramount 21 Bay, a high-rise condominium overlooking Biscayne Bay in Miami. Officials say workers were attempting to lengthen 22 the crane when a segment broke free. It plummeted 23 through the roof of a building next door that was being used as headquarters by construction personnel. The Paramount Bay is one of dozens of high-rise projects currently under construction in Miami. And construction cranes dot the skyline. The state of Florida doesn't require certifications or inspections 24 of construction cranes. But just last week after a crane collapsed in New York in which 7 people died, Miami-Dade's County Commission passed a measure that now requires inspections and certifications of construction cranes. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.

 Names of more than 3. 5 million people displaced after World War II have now been provided to Holocaust 25 memorial groups and museums in the US, Israel and Poland through a recently opened archive of Nazi 26-era documents. Committee of the International Red Cross announced it's handed over a batch 27 of digitized documents taken from those who were freed from Nazi camps and those listed as prisoners of war. Officials say there are millions of index cards in the files, some containing detailed 28 family histories.

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

 move in on: 向……逼进

 unravel: 分开，解开

 rogue: adj. not behaving in the usual or accepted way and often causing trouble

 nose cone: (火箭或飞弹)前锥体;头部

 upwards of: more than; in excess of

 codominium: 物业共管。在这里指 codominium apartment