NPR 2008-09-22

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the administration's proposed $700 billion financial bailout plan lacks necessary safeguards to prevent abuses in the future. She wants better oversight 1 provisions, limits on the pay of Wall Street executives and protections for home owners. GOP Senator Richard Shelby, the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking 2 Committee, agrees with that last point. "This doesn't do anything for the home owner. This is doing something for the banks and if they get any relief, it'd be incidental. " But Treasury 3 Secretary Henry Paulson says the whole reason for the plan is to help tax payers and home owners. "We're not doing this to protect our financial institutions in and of themselves. We're doing it to protect the financial institutions because that's what is needed to protect the American tax payer and unfortunately the American tax payer is right now at risk if there's a tough situation in the economy. " Paulson was on Fox News Sunday.

Democratic presidential nominee 5 Barack Obama says he agrees with congressional leaders that an independent overseer is needed for the bailout plan. He says much of the responsibility for the financial crisis lies with the policies of the Bush administration and congressional Republicans including his opponent John McCain. Obama made the statement at a rally today in Charlotte, North Carolina as Julie Rose of member station WFAE reports.

The Obama campaign had a busy week in Charlotte, starting with visits from vice 6 presidential candidate Joe Biden and Michelle Obama and culminating in an outdoor rally with Barack Obama and an audience of thousands. The visits are further evidence that Obama is treating North Carolina as a battleground even though the state hasn't elected a Democrat 4 for president in more than 30 years. Obama peppered his speech with references to North Carolina's economy and job losses. "I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that shift jobs overseas. I am gonna give tax breaks to companies that create good jobs right in North Carolina. " Republican Senator John McCain maintains a lead over Obama in the latest polls of North Carolina. But margins 7 vary widely between one point and 20. Neither McCain nor running mate Sarah Palin has visited North Carolina during the general election campaign. For NPR News, I'm Julie Rose in Charlotte.

Two US Defense 8 Department employees are among the victims of the suicide truck bomb attack that devastated 9 a hotel in Islamabad yesterday. At least 53 people were killed. NPR's Philip Reeves says a security camera inside the hotel caught images of the explosive-laden vehicle as it approached the building. "A dump truck rammed 10 into the security barriers outside the hotel. The guards there initially 11 ran away and then they returned. There was a small explosion then the truck caught fire. And for a while there was an attempt by several guards to try to put out the flames inside this truck and then the truck finally detonated. "

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Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has formally resigned amid investigations 12 of alleged 13 corruption 14 in his administration. The country's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is hoping to form a new coalition 15 government. She has 42 days to do so.

Iran's President Mohammad Ahmadinejad says Iran will break the hand of any nation that targets Iran's nuclear facilities. He said the statement today at a parade in Teheran, a parade that featured a banner that read Israel should be eliminated from the universe. Ahmadinejad will travel to New York this week to attend the upcoming session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The crew of the space shuttle Atlantis arrived at the Kennedy Space Center today for a final training before their October launch. The astronauts will perform NASA's final repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Pat Duggins of member station WMFE has more.

The training session at the Kennedy Space Center is called the Terminal Countdown Demonstration 16 Test. It's the last chance for commander Scott Altman and his six crew mates to practice inside the shuttle on the launch pad before blastoff set for October 10th. The astronauts will install new parts on Hubble but also try to repair two instruments on the telescope that have stopped working. Altman says his crew is ready to go. "I definitely feel that the crew has come together. Everybody knows their jobs and we're ready to execute and looking forward to heading down to the Cape 17, launching and getting to work on the telescope. " NASA's still assessing the impact of Hurricane Ike on mission control in Houston. That plus some delays in preparing Atlantis could delay the launch date by a day or two. For NPR News, I'm Pat Duggins in Orlando.

The United States has upset Europe to win the Ryder Cup, the most prized team trophy 18 in golf. It's the first time American golfers have won the Cup since 1999.