NPR 2010-11-16

Congressman 1 Charles Rangel of New York had requested to delay his ethics 2 trial and it was denied. Today a bipartisan congressional panel decided 3 not to delay the trial after Rangel argued that he needed time to obtain a new lawyer. Rangel faces 13 charges of fundraising and financial conduct violations 4.

A new report has found that US counter-terrorism agencies still are not coordinating 5 their efforts. As NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports there is particular concern about responsiveness to attacks that use weapons of mass destruction.

In the past year, US authorities have foiled a handful of terrorist attacks that used WMD, or weapons of mass destruction. But according to the Justice Department's Inspector 6 General, the department is woefully unprepared for WMD attacks. In a new report looking at top management performance challenges facing the department, the Inspector General found that only one agency had a plan for a WMD attack. That agency is the FBI. The Justice Department has put the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in charge of WMD responses, but the report said that the ATF hadn't prepared for that role. The department has now assigned the Associate Deputy Attorney General for national security to fix the problem. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News.

In southern Sudan, people are streaming to more than 2,500 voter registration 7 sites. Monitoring developments from Juba, NPR's Frank Langfitt reports a 17-day registration drive comes ahead of a January independence referendum that would allow southern Sudan to secede 8 from the North.

So far things seem to be quiet. I've been moving around Juba, which is the capital of South Sudan. And the biggest problem seems to be it's just really long wait, but you're getting huge crowds. They've registered about 250 people just so far today, but right now I'm looking at another 150 people. And besides, you know, they get irritated because they've taken off from work and they really do want to register to vote. Many of them say they're very interested in starting a new country.

NPR's Frank Langfitt reporting.

October's retail 9 sales were stronger than expected. More from NPR's Tamara Keith.

October marked the fourth straight month of sales growth with Commerce Department data showing retail sales rose by 1.2%. Autos led the way. Sales at dealerships increased 5%. But hardware stores, specialty 10 clothing retailers 11 and general merchandise stores like Wal-Mart all showed gains too. John Long is a retail strategist at Kurt Salmon 12 Associates.

"We were hit by colder weather, which prompted consumers to remember that they had to prepare for the winter season, and that's always a good thing for retailers."He says the fact that sales were strong in October is a sign consumers are not holding back as much as feared.

NPR's Tamara Keith reporting.

Dow's up more than 70 points.

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A test to measure a heart function is actually exposing many patients to dangerous levels of radiation. NPR's Richard Knox reports that scientists are concerned about the possible cancer risk.

The test is called myocardial perfusion imaging. Doctors like it because it gives them pictures of areas of the heart that are starved for oxygen. That helps guide diagnosis 13 and treatment. Use of the test has skyrocketed in recent years. This one test now accounts for nearly a quarter of all radiation people get from medical sources. Researchers at Columbia University found that 23% of patients who get this test have three, four, five or even more of them. That exposes them to a lot of radiation. Almost a third get enough to put them at increased risk of cancer according to current guidelines. The study was presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association. Richard Knox, NPR News.

Mexican authorities believe the explosion that killed several people at a resort hotel yesterday was caused by a mix of gases from a nearby swamp.