NPR 2009-08-31

Fire crews in California have been unable so far to slow the spread of a wildfire that's raging in the mountains north of Los Angeles. The blaze has charred 1 more than 35,000 acres, forcing evacuation orders for more than 6,500 homes. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger blames the rapid spread of the fire on tinder-dry conditions and plenty of fuel for the flames. What makes this fire also very challenging is that there’s a very thick brush. Why is it so thick and so high? 10, 20 feet tall is because for 60 years there was no fire. Schwarzenegger is urging people living in areas threatened by the blaze to heed 2 evacuation orders and not to stay behind as many have reportedly done. Three residents suffered serious burns when they tried in vain yesterday to save their homes.

 Voters in Japan have broken with half a century of one-party rule and given the opposition 3 Democratic Party a sweeping 4 victory in a hard-fought parliamentary election. NPR's Louisa Lim reports from Tokyo.

 The call for change was overwhelming, with a landslide 5 vote going to the opposition Democratic Party of Japan. This untested left-center party will be in charge of steering 6 the world's second largest economy. Prime Minister Taro 7 Aso said he would take responsibility for a loss which he said was beyond his expectations. And he apologized for a lack of leadership. He said his party should start afresh with a new leader. Meanwhile the man who'll be Japan's next Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, pledged not to be arrogant 8 and said he would listen to the people. On Monday, the party will hold talks with its two allies on forming a coalition 9 government. It will have to deal with record unemployment and soaring welfare costs amid a rapidly aging society. Louisa Lim, NPR News, Tokyo.

 Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been indicted 10 on several corruption 11 charges. He's the first current or past Prime Minister in Israel's history to face criminal charges. Linda Gradstein has the story.

 The Former Prime Minister and a senior aide were charged with accepting cash envelopes from American businessman Morris Talansky. Olmert is also suspected of illegally double-billing several charities for travel expenses and then using the money to finance personal and family trips abroad. In a third case, Olmert allegedly granted financial favors to his former law partner. The charges against Olmert include fraud, breach 12 of trust and failure to report income. The charges follow months of investigations 13 and date back to when Olmert was Mayor of Jerusalem and trade minister in the 1990s, but surfaced when he was Prime Minister and eventually forced him to step down. The Attorney General dropped several other corruption cases against Olmert for a lack of evidence. For NPR News, I'm Linda Gradstein in Jerusalem.

 President Obama and his family will return to Washington this evening from their vacation on Martha's Vineyard. Mr. Obama will spend the Labor 14 Day holiday next weekend at Camp David.

 This is NPR News from Washington.

 The astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery are dealing 15 with a thruster malfunction 16 that could complicate 17 tonight's scheduled docking with the International Space Station. Pat Duggins of member station WMFE reports.

 The astronauts closed off the thruster after it started off leaking corrosive 18 fuel. The vernier jet on Discovery's nose helps to fine-tune the vehicle's path during the final critical moments before docking. The shuttle crew has to be within three inches of a target point on the space station for the aircraft in the outpost to link up. NASA's Tony Ceccacci says the astronauts are trained on what to do to get around this kind of malfunction. The crew just has to be a little bit more careful, like just a little bit more piloting-required; but nothing that's outside of our experience. The same jet thruster failed on space shuttle Endeavor's visit to the space station last November. Once docking occurs, the Discovery crew will prepare to perform three spacewalks and deliver science experiments and supplies. For NPR News, I'm Pat Duggins in Orlando.

Former Vice 19 President Dick Cheney is calling Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to name a federal prosecutor 20 to look into the CIA's interrogation of detainees “a political move”. Cheney added that a probe looking back at CIA practices during the Bush administration would be, in his words, “intensely partisan”. "It's a very, very devastating 21, I think, effect that it has on morale 22 inside the intelligence community." Cheney was interviewed on Fox News Sunday. Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts said he's not surprised that Cheney's upset. Kerry said that Cheney has shown through the years what Kerry called “ a disrespect for the US Constitution” and “for sharing  information with Congress”.