NPR 2010-01-15

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

Helicopters are flying in aid to Haiti where millions of people lost their homes in Tuesday's earthquake. The White House says the airport in the capital Port-au-Prince has been secured. But because the site's overcrowded, only eight flights are being allowed in for now. The death toll 1 from this week's 7.0 quake is expected to be in the tens of thousands. In the US, families are anxiously waiting for word on the fate of their loved ones in Haiti. NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates reports one California family is breathing a little easier today.

Starry 2 Dawn Sprenkle, a 28-year-old doctoral candidate at the University of California Davis, was working in Haiti and living with her physician husband, Erlantz Hippolyte, and their toddler daughter. Her parents hadn't heard from her since the quake and feared that the small family had perished. On Thursday morning, Sprenkle's father Stephen called the university to report that his daughter had managed to contact him. She told him she and her family were fine although like many quake survivors 3 they were sleeping outdoors because of the aftershocks. Through a university spokeswoman, Sprenkle expressed gratitude 4 for his daughter's safety and noted 5 the difficulty of what comes next. "They've survived the earthquake and now if they can survive the aftermath, then we are all good," he said. What's going on in Port-au-Prince is just unimaginable. Karen Grigsby Bates, NPR News.

President Obama wants to impose a ten-year fee on the nation's largest financial firms to recoup billions of dollars in bailout funds.

"Our goal is not to punish Wall Street firms but rather to prevent the abuse and excess that nearly caused the collapse 6 of many of these firms in the financial system itself. "

At the White House today, the president said the proposal reaffirms the government's promise to hold banks and other companies accountable to taxpayers 7. The initiative requires congressional approval.

Well-known Muslim clerics in Yemen declared today that if foreign power sent troops to Yemen, it'll trigger a holy war. The announcement came as Yemen said it was in a state of war with al-Qaeda. NPR's Peter Kenyon has this from Sana.

State media today quoted security officials as saying that Yemen is involved in an open war with al-Qaeda elements, and warning Yemenis not to shelter wanted militants 8. Prominent Muslim clerics, meanwhile, announced their total rejection 9 of US military bases in Yemen and their opposition 10 to any foreign troops in the country. When Sheikh al-Zindani announced at a Sana'a mosque 11 that any foreign invasion must be met by force from all believing Muslims, he was interrupted by loud shouts of support. The cleric's warning comes as Washington moves to rapidly increase its military aid to Yemen. The US has also assisted in Yemeni air strikes against al-Qaeda operatives who claimed responsibility for the Christmas Day attempted plane attack in the US. Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Sana'a.

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A suicide bomber 12 has killed as many as 20 people including children and wounded more than a dozen others in a busy market district of central Afghanistan. According to the Associated Press, the Uruzgan province's police chief says the assailant may have been targeting a meeting of NATO and Afghanistan officials as well as tribal 13 elders.

In the US, the latest figures on consumer spending are disappointing. Steve Beckner of Market News International has more.

While December retail 14 sales were expected to grow considerably 15 less than in November, few thought they would drop. But the Commerce Department says that's what happened. It says retail and food service sales fell 0. 3%. Excluding motor vehicles in parts, sales were down 0. 2%. Upward revisions to prior months' sales took away some of the sting. Still, the results were much worse than anticipated. There were strengthened service station sales due to higher gasoline prices and furniture sales were up modestly, but there was broad weakness in other areas. Sales of electronic goods fell 2. 6%. Food and beverage 16 sales were down 0. 8%, clothing sales 0. 6%. For all of last year, overall sales fell 6. 2%, biggest drop since 1992. For NPR News, I'm Steve Beckner.

New unemployment claims have risen again. The Labor 17 Department reports 11, 000 more Americans filed for jobless insurance for the first time last week. Economists 18 had predicted an increase of 3, 000. One reason for the higher-than-expected surge, people hired only for seasonal 19 work in retail and other industries are out of job again.

At last check on Wall Street, Dow was up 40 at 10, 721.

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