NPR 2010-10-26

President Obama is back on the campaign trail today, stumping 1 for political allies in the run-up to next week's midterm elections. He has just arrived in Rhode Island. There is one Democrat 2 expected to give the president the cold shoulder today. Gubernatorial candidate Frank Caprio told WPRO-AM today what he thought about the president's decision not to endorse 3 him.

"I never asked for President Obama's endorsement 4. You know, he could take his endorsement and really shove it as far as I'm concerned."

Caprio's independent rival is Lincoln Chafee, the former Republican senator, who happened to endorse Barack Obama ahead of the Democratic primary in 2008.

The Obama administration says it is skeptical 5 about Iranian intentions in Afghanistan following word that Iran is giving the Afghan government bags of cash. We have more on this from NPR's Michele Kelemen.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says his government is receiving cash from Iran, but he called it transparent 6 aid that's helping 7 him cover his expenses, and he says the US does the same.

"It did, does give bags of money, yes. Yes, it does."

But State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley says while US aid may have been in the form of cash early on in the conflict, it is now sent to Afghanistan electronically.

"Our assistance flows to the government through institutions that have been carefully vetted 8."

He says the US is trying to help Afghanistan build up institutions and is skeptical about Iranian motives 9, given what he called Iran's history of playing a destabilizing role with its neighbors. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

Dock workers in Marseille, France take to singing to protest their government's long-term economic plans namely reforming the pension system. But as Frank Browning reports from Paris, unions have made their first serious concession 11 in nearly two months of strikes against President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Dock workers in Marseille today lifted a blockade that has caused more than 60 oil tankers 12 to drop anchor in the port, cutting off France's primary supply of crude oil, which in turn threatened fuel supplies for most of France and some Northern European countries. The dock workers' primary complaint concerned privatization of the port of Marseille and loss of jobs, but they also joined sympathy strikes by other unions over the retirement 13 reform. For the moment, all of  France's refineries 14 remain shut, but blockades around them are gradually being lifted with hope that new gas and diesel 15 production could begin by week's end. A quarter of France's gas stations are without fuel. For NPR News, I'm Frank Browning in Paris.

A Canadian prisoner at Guantanamo is pleading guilty to all five terrorism charges against him. That includes murdering an American soldier. Omar Khadr made the plea under an agreement with military authorities.

Dow's up 32 at last check.

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The cholera 16 outbreak in Haiti may be stabilizing 10. The Associated Press citing the Pan American Health Organization reports the number of people died from the illness as well as the number of new infections are dropping. The Haitian government says of the more than 3,000 cases of cholera reported, 253 people have died.

After a two-and-a-half year suspension, South Korea has started to deliver rice again to North Korea. From Seoul, Doualy Xaykaothao reports on the latest shipment of aid.

About 5,000 tons of rice, three million packs of instant noodles and other emergency supplies will be delivered to a Chinese port, where trucks will then transport the aid to flood victims along the China-North Korean border. Severe floods last month affected 17 more than 80,000 people. The government-funded assistance to the North is the first since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office. Lee had pledged to stop unconditional 18 assistance to North Korea to pressure the military regime to end its nuclear programs. A Red Cross official overseeing the shipment to the North said Seoul is sending this flood aid with brotherly love. For NPR News, I'm Doualy Xaykaothao in Seoul.

In the US, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says regulators are taking a closer look at foreclosure practices at some of the country's largest mortgage firms after reports said some banks were cutting corners basically to speed up foreclosures. Bernanke's comments come as attorneys general across the country are also investigating whether people were forced out of their homes prematurely 19. Separately, the country is seeing a 10%  jump in sales of existing homes, although that's still far below the sale level same time a year ago.