NPR 2009-03-18

From NPR News in Washington. I'm Jack 1 Speer.

On Capitol Hill lawmakers are making plans to recoup the government bailout money that insurance giant AIG used to pay executive bonuses. NPR's Audie Cornish reports.

After offering billions in rescue money almost half a dozen times that is in many months, the federal government essentially 2 owns up to 80% of AIG. But company executives say AIG was still contractually bound to pay out 165 million dollars in bonuses. New York Senator Charles Schumer says that answer isn't good enough. "We'll take this money back by taxing virtually all of it. So let the recipients 3 of these large and unseemly bonuses be warned: If you don't return it on your own, we'll do it for you." Schumer was among several lawmakers who've penned a letter to the AIG chair demanding he renegotiate the bonuses. The same group is backing the idea of tax code legislation to retrieve 4 the bonus money. Audie Cornish, NPR News, the Capitol.

The wife and sons of jailed financier Bernard Madoff will be asked to forfeit 5 millions of dollars along with jewelry 6 and watches. That's according to the information filed in a federal court document by prosecutors 7. The filing follows an earlier government notice of intent to seek forfeiture 8 of certain assets linked to Madoff. Madoff pleaded guilty last week to charges he ran one of the biggest frauds in Wall Street history. Authorities have contended the 70-year-old Madoff will face a sentencing in June bilked investors 9 out of as much as 60 billion dollars in a massive Ponzi scheme.

President Barack Obama has made his first judicial 10 nomination 11. He picked Judge David Hamilton to serve on a federal appeals court in the Midwest. NPR's Ari Shapiro has more.

Judge Hamilton is currently serving as a federal district court judge in Illinois. President Clinton appointed him to that job in the 90's. Now President Obama has nominated Hamilton to be a judge for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. That circuit hears cases from Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. Hamilton is widely considered a moderate. He has the support of both Indiana senators, Republican Richard Lugar and Democrat 12 Evan Bayh. Hamilton used to work for Bayh. By picking a centrist for his first judicial nomination, President Obama may be sending a message that he hopes to avoid some of the ideological 13 battles that delay judicial confirmations 14 during the Bush and Clinton years. Republican senators had earlier threatened to filibuster 15 judges unless President Obama re-nominates one of President Bush's nominees 16 who was not confirmed during the last Congress. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.

Better-than-expected news from the home building sector 17 gave the financial market a lift today on top of big gains last week. Government says housing starts rose more than 22% to an annual rate of 583, 000 units last month, the biggest increase in almost 20 years and the first gain since April.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 178 points closing at 7, 395. The NASDAQ was up 58 points. The S&P 500 rose 24 points today.

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The parents of a German teen who went on a shooting spree last week killing 18 15 people said they're shocked and saddened by their son's actions. The parents of 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer also said they never imagined their son will be capable of such a crime. Kretschmer opened fire at his former high school on March 11th, gunning down nine students, three teachers and three bystanders before taking his own life.

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Cameroon today for the first leg of his first papal journey to Africa, a continent where the Catholic churches are growing but also facing competition from other religions. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports.

Before his departure, the Pope said he wants to wrap his arms around the entire continent with what he called its painful wounds, its enormous potential and hopes. Benedict said he wants to reach out to victims of hunger, disease, injustice 19 and fratricidal conflicts. He's expected to talk about the AIDS epidemic 20 which is affecting about 22 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa. But the Pope is not likely to change his position that sexual abstinence is the key to fight the spread of the disease. During the flight, Benedict told reporters you can't resolve AIDS with a distribution of condoms, on the contrary, he added, it increases the problem. Benedict also dismissed suggestions that he's facing increasing opposition 21 and isolation 22 within the Catholic Church. The myth of my solitude 23, he said, makes me laugh. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Rome.

Thousands of revelers in New York turned out in less than ideal spring weather for the city's 248th annual wearing of the green today - the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. According to one tourist visiting from Ireland the annual event is even better than the ones at home. Meanwhile, there were also parades today in Chicago and in Savannah, Georgia.