NPR 2009-03-19

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

The head of insurance giant AIG told Congress today, he has heard the public outrage 2 of the company's bonus payments to executives while taxpayers 3 are bailing 4 out the firm. NPR's Paul Brown has more.

Edward Liddy took the job as AIG's chief executive as part of the government's bailout plan. He told a House subcommittee he finds the bonuses distasteful, but he said AIG is legally obligated to pay them and doing so was considered necessary to keep the talent needed to successfully unwind the company's vast web of affairs. "This is the only way to improve AIG's ability to pay taxpayers back quickly and completely and the only way to avoid a systemic shock to the economy that the U. S. government help was meant to relieve." Liddy said he's asked employees receiving more than 100, 000 dollars in bonuses to give half of them back and that some have already given them back entirely 5. Paul Brown, NPR News, Washington.

The Obama administration has already put forth 6 a plan of its own to recover the AIG bonus payments. The administration said today it wants to deduct 7 the money from the 30-billion-dollar cash infusion 8 AIG is slated 9 to receive from the government. The president also called for legislation that will give the federal government more power over failed financial institutions. The White House meanwhile announced today Mr. Obama will hold a nationally televised news conference next Tuesday evening.

Yemeni security officials say a suicide bomber 10 that killed four South Korean tourists in Yemen last Sunday was trained in Somalia amid concern Somalia is becoming a new haven 11 for terrorist training. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston Reports.

The suicide bombing happened in Shibam, a tourism site known as the Manhattan of the desert, because of its 16th century tower houses. The four Korean tourists were visiting there when a suicide bomber approached them and blew them up. Today Yemeni officials have identified the bomber as a Yemeni who left the country two months ago and trained in Somalia. Counterterrorism officials worry that Somalia's fast becoming a new training ground for terrorists. Closed at home, the FBI's been investigating the disappearances 12 of some two dozen young Somalia-Americans from Minneapolis. They say the young men have gone to train in terrorist camps in Somalia. The concern is that the young men might come back to the US and attack here. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News.

The interest rate setting arm--the Federal Reserve wrapped up a two-day meeting in Washington without taking any action on short term interest rates. That's because since December rates have essentially 13 been at zero. However, federal policymakers in the end of meeting statement announced plans to buy up 300-billion in long-term treasuries 14, something, Standard & Poor's economist 15 David Wyss says should make borrowing less expensive ”Lower long-term interest rates means things like mortgage rates will probably become somewhat cheaper. You want a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, eh, now is your shot.”

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 90 points. The NASDAQ was up 29 points today.

This is NPR.

The army announced today it will substantially reduce an unpopular procedure known as Stop-Loss which essentially has allowed the US military to hold troops beyond their enlistment 16 dates on the grounds of extraordinary circumstances. In addition, under terms of the new procedures being outlined, the military will have to pay out 500 dollars to those who were forced to remain in the service. Some critics have termed the Stop-Loss rule “a backdoor draft” because it allows for troops to remain in the military beyond their retirement 17 or reenlistment dates.

There is conflicting evidence from two studies of a widely used blood test for prostate cancer called PSA. The finding has been published online by the New England Journal of Medicine. NPR's Richard Knox reports.

The studies involve nearly 240, 000 men in the United States and Europe. Men who got the test were much more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than those who didn't. But in the US study, positive test results didn't lead to a reduction in prostate cancer deaths over a 7 to 10-year period. The larger European study found a 20% lower death rate among men had PSA tests. That's a more modest benefit than many have expected. The results are sure to touch off new debate about the benefits of getting a PSA test versus 18 the risk of a biopsy and treatment that might not be needed. Other studies have shown that many prostate tumors do not require treatment. Richard Knox, NPR News.

It appears US is in the midst of another baby boom or at least a baby boomlet. Researchers within the agency within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say more babies were born in the US in 2007 than any year in the country's history. The growth even tops the peak during the so-called “baby boom” of more than 50 years ago. Among states, Utah has the highest birthrate, Vermont has the lowest.