NPR 2010-09-25

A stronger-than-expected report on durable 1 goods sends stocks surging toward the fourth straight weekly gain. At last check, Dow was up 192 points at 10,854. Orders at factory shot up two percent in August, but that's excluding a decline in demand for aircraft and autos. Economist 2 Hugh Johnson says it's important to keep expectations in check.

“The economy is, yes, it's expanding, and that's the good news. But it's expanding at a very slow pace, and you see that whether you look at the durable goods numbers or you look at the employment numbers.”

In a separate report, the government found new home sales last month remained flat.

President Obama's blasting Iran's leader for saying that most people believe the US was behind the 9/11 terror attacks.

“It was offensive. It was hateful.”

Mr. Obama in New York speaking to the BBC reacting to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech to the UN General Assembly yesterday. Today, Ahmadinejad defended his remarks and called for an independent fact-finding commission. President Obama, meanwhile, is wrapping up his final day at the UN gathering 3.

US and Afghan forces have freed three Afghan journalists. NPR's Quil Lawrence reports from Kabul that Afghan President Hamid Karzai demanded their release.

US forces apprehended 4 two of the journalists. An official said extensive investigation 5 had suggested connections with the Taliban. Afghan forces arrested a third reporter. After President Karzai demanded an inquiry 6, all three journalists walked free. The men apparently 7 had regular contact with Taliban sources, a common practice for journalists in Afghanistan. The US military has periodically arrested local reporters here and in Iraq, often holding them for months without charge. None of the publicly known cases has resulted in a prosecution 8. Elsewhere, a suicide bomber 9 targeting a NATO convoy 10 killed one Afghan bystander in northern Balkh province, where the Taliban insurgency 11 has made recent inroads. Quil Lawrence, NPR News, Kabul.

The FBI says three bank robbers are on the run after a heist at a Bank of America branch in Coral Gables near the University of Miami. Police Chief Richard Naue says the robbers kidnapped a teller 12 and forced him to help them with the robbery.

"The individual was accosted 13 at his residence out on Kendall Drive proximately midnight last night, and he was held hostage just along with his father until the early morning hours where this explosive device was placed on his body and he was transported to the bank."

The employee was later released and nobody else was hurt.

Here's an update from Wall Street. Dow Jones Industrial Average near 200 points at last check at 10,860. NASDAQ Composite Index up 54 at 2,381. S&P500 gaining 24; it's at 1,149.

From Washington, this is NPR.

1950s pop singer Eddie Fisher is being remembered by his family as one of the greatest voices of the century. Fisher passed away Wednesday night at his home in Berkeley of complications from hip 14 surgery. He was 82 years old. NPR's Zoe Chace offers this look back at a life that had all the drama and romance of the songs Eddie Fisher sang.

Before Justin Bieber, there was Eddie Fisher.

Eddie Fisher was a dreamy bobby-sox idol 15 in the 1950s, a hugely successful singer and a flamboyant 16 celebrity 17. He was also a television star. His popularity rivaled that of Frank Sinatra. But his frequent marriages made him just as notorious. First actress Debbie Reynolds, then to his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor. Eddie Fisher had three more marriages and fathered actresses Carrie Fisher and Joely Fisher. He also struggled for much of his life with drug addiction 18. He died of complications from hip surgery. Zoe Chace, NPR News.

An American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts are spending additional 24 hours on the International Space Station. They’re waiting to make a second attempt to return to Earth. The first attempt was aborted 19 after a problem occurred during undocking at the international outpost.

Here's the latest. Dow is up 197 points as we approach a close on Wall Street; it's at 10,860.