NPR 2009-01-18

President-elect Barack Obama is calling on Americans to rely on the same perseverance 1 and idealism that the country's founders 2 showed, as the nation faces the daunting 3 challenges that lie ahead. "We are here today not simply to pay tribute to those patriots 4 who founded our nation in Philadelphia, or defended it in Baltimore, but to take up the cause for which they gave so much."  Mr. Obama speaking to a crowd of tens of thousands of people in Baltimore, a last stop on a daylong whistle stop trip as he retraces 5 Abraham Lincoln's pre-inaugural train route to the nation's capital. Vice 6 President-elect Joe Biden joined the trip at a stop in Wilmington, Delaware. "President-elect Obama and I will meet more than your prayers and your good wishes. We'll need your hard work to help us. If ours is to be a successful journey, it must be, it must be a shared journey." The train trip kicks off four days of inauguration 7 events in the nation's capital.

Israel has announced a unilateral ceasefire in the Gaza Strip beginning in two hours. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says Israeli troops will remain in Gaza, however, and will respond to any attacks by Hamas militants 8. Linda Gradstein reports from Jerusalem.

In a late night news conference, Olmert said that after three weeks of fighting in Gaza, Israel will halt all military operations. He said that if Hamas ends its rocket fire on Israel, Israeli troops will leave Gaza. The prime minister said Israel had struck a decisive blow against Hamas, which he said does not know how hard it has been hit. Olmert also directly addressed Palestinians in Gaza, saying Israel does not hate them and was not trying to harm them. In a statement, Hamas said that resistance will continue and fired several rockets during Olmert's news conference. Palestinian medical officials say more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in the three weeks of fighting, many of them civilians 9. For NPR News, I'm Linda Gradstein in Jerusalem.

The Food and Drug Administration has extended a warning on peanut butter to include products such as crackers 10 containing peanut butter. The warning does not cover jars of peanut butter sold in supermarkets. NPR's Joanne Silberner has more.

After salmonella bacteria were found in a five-pound container of peanut butter at a long-term care facility in Minnesota, manufacturer Peanut Corporation of America recalled 21 lots of its products all sold to institutions, such as schools, hospitals and other food manufacturers. And two manufacturers of peanut butter crackers Keebler and Austin, recalled some of their products that were made with PCA's peanut butter. Now the FDA is suggesting that consumers should postpone 11 eating any products containing peanut butters, such as cookies, ice-cream and crackers until further investigation 12 is done. Joanne Silberner reporting.

This is NPR News from Washington.

A court in Madrid has reopened an investigation into one of cycling's biggest doping scandals. Reports say a number of prominent sports physicians in Spain could face trial. Jerome Socolovsky has more from Madrid.

In 2006, Spanish police raided suspected doping labs and confiscated 13 hundreds of bags of frozen blood and transfusion 14 equipment. Several suspects were arrested including Madrid's sports doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, who had treated some top cyclists. A police list named more than 50 competitors in connection with the investigation. They included former winners of the Tour de France and the biggest cycling races in Spain and Italy. The investigation had been stopped several times, mainly because Spain's anti-doping law wasn't in effect at the time of the raids. But now, the court says there is evidence that an offence against public health was committed. And it says the investigation is proceeding 15 under public health laws. Reports say some physicians that know cyclists are expected to face trial. For NPR News, I'm Jerome Socolovsky in Madrid.

President Bush is praising the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama as a moment of hope for the nation. And Mr. Bush is also defending the decisions he made during his two terms in office. "I have followed my conscience and done what I thought was right. You may not agree with some tough decisions I have made. But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions." Mr. Bush speaking in his weekly radio address today, the last radio address of his presidency 16. Mr. Bush said the nation still faces a serious threat from terrorists, and he urged the Americans not to become complacent 17.