NPR 2009-10-18

Pakistan has launched a major ground offensive against militants 1 in the border area near Afghanistan. The BBC’s Shoaid Pasan reports the army is meeting fierce resistance from the militants.
The screw’s upturning in what appears to be the toughest test yet faced by the Pakistan military in this war against the Taliban. Dozens have been killed in the first day of fighting so far. Local officials say the Taliban have entrenched 2 themselves and are defending every inch of their territory. But the army is also pushing hard and air power is likely to play a decisive role. The fighting has made it almost impossible for locals to flee South Waziristan. Those who managed to escape say they walked for over 24 hours to get out. The BBC’s Shoaid Pasan reporting from Waziristan, Pakistan.

A suicide bomber 3 in Iraq detonated a blast that destroyed a heavily traveled bridge outside Ramadi that is used by U.S. military forces to transport equipment out of the country. No one was injured, but other attacks across Iraq today have left at least nine people dead, most of them, Iraqi soldiers and police officers.

President Obama is stepping up his criticism of the health insurance industry, accusing it of running deceptive 4 ads concerning legislation to overhaul 5 the nation's healthcare system. NPR’s Carol Van Dam has more.

The industry recently released a study, claiming a Senate Health Bill would raise premiums 6 for millions of Americans who already have health coverage 7. President Obama said in his weekly address that’s typical of an industry that’s played this game before.

"Every time we get close to passing reform, the insurance companies produce these phony studies as a prescription 8 and say, 'Take one of these, and call us in decade.' Well, not this time. "

Texas congressman 9 Calvin Braidy in the GOP response says the overhaul plans making their way through congress will mean less choice for consumers.

"The massive healthcare plans being crafted behind closed doors in Washington will ultimately allow the government to decide what doctors we can see, what treatments the government thinks you deserve and what medicines you can receive."

Democrats 10 in both chambers 11 hoped to pass health overhaul bills in the coming weeks which will later have to be merged 12 into one. Carol Van Dam, NPR News Washington.

The Coast Guard has expanded its search for the pilot of an air force fighter jet whose plane collided with another aircraft during night training exercises this week off the coast of South Carolina. Helicopters and vessels 13 are searching a 4,000 square-mile area of the Atlantic. Coast Guard spokesman Bobby Nash says the pilot was prepared for such emergencies.

"There are certainly a couple of things that are working in his favor and if he was able to deploy 14, successfully from his aircraft. He has physical training, he’s been trained to deploy from his aircraft in case of emergency, and they also have emergency equipment on board. Nash says the pilot of the other plane involved into the collision was able to land safely.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Madrid for an anti-abortion 15 rally today. They were protesting a law that would allow unrestricted abortion for the first time in that country. Jerome Socolovsky reports from Madrid.

Protesters chanted "Yes to life, no to abortion." as they marched through the center of the capital. One carried a sign that said "Abortion is the new holocaust 16." Malian Hiliscubase came from Valencia to show her anger at the government's proposed law.

"They want to make us think that getting an abortion is like getting your nails done." She said. The legislation would make abortion on demand legal during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy 18. It would also allow terminations without parental 19 consent from age 16. Many protesters said they believed abortion should be completely illegal as it was during the church backed Franco Dictatorship which ended in 1975. For NPR News, I’m Jerome Socolovsky in Madrid.

The President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, and his cabinet donned scuba 17 gear and held a meeting while submerged about 20-feet down in the pristine 20 blue lagoon 21 today.

The event was designed to dramatize the country’s vulnerability to rising sea levels. Nasheed says his government wants to let the world know what will happen to his nation, if climate change isn't checked.

If Maldives can't be saved today, we do not feel that there is much of a chance for the rest of the world.

Maldives is made up of hundreds of low lying coral islands in the Indian Ocean. The islands on average are just 7-feet above sea level.

I’m Craig Windham, NPR News in Washington.