NPR 2010-09-23

President Obama is arriving in New York where he will speak at the United Nations anti-poverty conference. Mr. Obama is expected to outline his administration’s goals for helping 1 the world's poorest nations. But the UN gathering 2 is also expected to highlight Iran’s nuclear program, for which the UN has imposed sanctions as well as the fragile Middle East peace process.

More unrest breaks out in the Middle East. Protesters shouted during a funeral of a Palestinian man who was killed by an Israeli private security guard in Jerusalem. Crowds of young Palestinians rioted and vandalized vehicles. Israeli authorities say at least ten people were hurt.

The owner of an Iowa egg company that was one of the sources of a salmonella outbreak in the US says he’s sorry. Jack 3 DeCoster expressed remorse 4 before a House panel today.

"We were horrified 5 to learn that our eggs may have made people sick. We apologize to everyone, who may have been sickened by eating our eggs."

As many as 1,600 people are believed to have gotten salmonella poisoning.

Homegrown terrorism is on the rise as al-Qaeda recruits more Americans into its ranks. That was a message today from three of President Obama’s top national security advisors 6 who spoke 7 on Capitol Hill. More from NPR’s Rachel Martin.

FBI Director Robert Mueller, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and the head of the National Counterterrorism Center Michael Leiter all appeared before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. One by one they described how the terrorism threat has changed since 9/11. They each spoke to a disturbing trend. There is still a threat from terrorists abroad, but more and more it’s American citizens who are becoming radicalized. Mueller told the committee that groups affiliated 8 with al-Qaeda are now actively 9 targeting the United States and looking to use Americans who can travel on US passports and avoid strict new security protocols 10. Leiter said al-Qaeda in Pakistan has been weakened. Still, he says, the group remains 11 a capable and determined 12 enemy. Rachel Martin, NPR News, Washington.

Iranian authorities are investigating a bomb blast at a military parade that killed at least ten spectators today. Dozens of people were wounded in that attack. The explosion went off in the northwestern town of Mahabad, a predominantly Kurdish area near the borders of Iraq and Turkey.

The French government is bracing 13 for another massive labor 14 strike that could disrupt operations across the country tomorrow. It will be the third nationwide protest over President Nicholas Sarkozy’s pension reform plan. Demonstrations 15 earlier this month drew more than a million people. 

Last check on Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 20 points at 10,740.

From Washington, this is NPR News.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug for multiple sclerosis. As NPR's Richard Knox tells us it's the first to slow the course of MS that can be taken without an injection.

Studies show patients on the new pill had about half as many flare-ups of MS compared to those taking a widely used drug given by injection. The new drug also slows progression of the disease and reduces the number of new abnormalities in patients' brains. It's called fingolimod. Beginning next month drugmaker Novartis will sell it as Gilenya. A company spokeswoman says no information is available on the price of the new drug, but one analyst 16 expects it will cost at least 30,000 dollars a year. Fingolimod works in a new way compared to the half dozen other MS drugs on the market. An official of the National MS Society says it might be somewhat more effective than most existing drugs. But it requires more monitoring for side effects such as heart and liver problems and infections. Richard Knox, NPR News.

The mayor of Bell and seven other high profile figures from a Los Angeles area suburb were arraigned 17 today on charges they bilked taxpayers 18 out of more than five million dollars. The defendants 19, who also include a former city manager and council members, were arrested yesterday. The district attorney said the group defrauded 20 residents of the working-class community while it paid itself hefty salaries.

The driver who is involved in a deadly tour bus crash last month in Utah is now in police custody 21. Authorities say Yasushi Mikuni faces at least 11 charges of having trace amounts of an intoxicant in his blood. The crash led to three deaths; eleven people were hurt.