NPR 2011-11-11

 GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain is meeting voters today for the first time since he came under fire for alleged 1 sexual harassment 2. In the Ypsilanti, Michigan, supporters gave the businessman a warm welcome. Last night, Republican candidates held their ninth debate in suburban 3 Detroit. The focus was on the economy at the events sponsored by CNBC. But as NPR's Don Gonyea reports, a stumble by Texas Governor Rick Perry is getting much of the attention.

 
The backdrop is this: Governor Perry entered the race this summer, the immediate 4 frontrunner, then after a series of disappointing debate appearances slumped 5 in the polls. He's worked to revive his candidacy but last night came another difficult moment. In the middle of an answer about regulations, he said he would eliminate three government departments but then couldn't list them.
 
"The third agency of government I would do away with the Education, uh, the, uh, Commerce, and let's see. I can't. The third one, I can't. Sorry. Oops."
 
Perry later told reporters it was an embarrassing moment, but that he hasn't forgotten his conservative values. He said he'll be at the next debate this Saturday in South Carolina. Don Gonyea, NPR News, Rochester, Michigan.
 
Penn State's newly named football coach Tom Bradley describes feeling mixed emotions about his new temporary role. He spoke 6 out a day after the board of trustees fired longtime coach Joe Paterno for his handling of child sex abuse claims launched against his former assistant Jerry Sandusky. Last night, some Paterno's supporters rioted in the streets and included tipping over a news van.  
 
The Associated Press reports a French court has convicted American cyclist Floyd Landis in absentia for masterminding a plot to hack 7 into the computers of a French doping lab. Landis was given a 12-month suspended prison sentence.
 
Economist 8 Lucas Papademos will lead Greece in a coalition 9 government tasked with implementing 11 the latest eurozone bailout deal. His appointment as interim 12 prime minister was announced today. And as Joanna Kakissis reports from Athens, he faces a difficult road ahead.
 
Papademos is the former vice 13 president of the European Central Bank. He's taking on what may be the toughest job in Greece right now. His main task is to implement 10 a bailout deal that eurozone leaders hammered out late last month. That plan includes a major write-down of Greek debt as well as more bailout loans in exchange for implementing painful austerity measures. Papademos is viewed as a technocrat 14 who will focus on the nuts and bolts of saving Greece from default. But many Greeks are wary 15 of having an unelected official making decisions that will affect them for decades. An interim cabinet is expected to be sworn in tomorrow. For NPR News, I'm Joanna Kakissis in Athens.
 
The Dow was up 151 points.
 
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The firebrand youth leader of South Africa's governing African National Congress has been fired from his job and suspended from the party for allegedly being divisive, disruptive and ill-disciplined. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports this follows a series of controversial statements he made, which were deemed to have some division in the ANC and brought it into disrepute.
 
Julius Malema has two weeks to appeal the verdict of the disciplinary hearing in South Africa. The hugely divisive ousted 16 head of the ANC Youth League is no longer a member of the party for the next five years. Suspending Malema means his rivalry 17 with President Jacob Zuma may be at an end for now. The ANC leadership had to do something about him because he's criticized for lavish 18 life style and outspoken 19 utterances 20. Malema had challenged the authority of the party just three years after vowing 21 to kill for Zuma his erstwhile ally. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Dakar.
 
Venezuelan police are on the hunt for a gang accused of kidnapping Washington Nationals' catcher Wilson Ramos last night. They say armed men abducted 22 the Major League Baseball player from his family home in Valencia. There's still no word on the ransom 23 demand, not officially. The 24-year-old athlete was in Venezuela to play for the Aragua Tigers during the US off-season.
 
US stocks gaining ground. At last check, the Dow was up 135 points, more than 1%, at 11,914 in trading of about two billion shares; NASDAQ up seven points at 2,628; S&P 500 up slightly.