美国有线电视 CNN 2008-12-18（在线收听）

Hello, there, thanks for joining us. I’m Virginia Cha at the CNN Center in Atlanta with a look at what’s happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

Some new developments in the Wall Street investment fraud case, the bail hearing for Bernard Madoff has been canceled for today, meaning he will remain free for the time being. Meantime, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission is criticizing his own agency for failing to spot the investment scheme by former NASDAQ Chairman Bernard Madoff. SEC Chairman Christopher Cox says there were many instances over a decade that should have been flagged.

For the first time in America and only the fourth time in the world, surgeons have performed a near-total face transplant. The operation was done this month by a team of eight surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. A spokeswoman said that 80% of the patient's face was transplanted. A French woman who had been mauled by her dog was the first to receive such a transplant a few years ago. It carries the risk of rejection and patients have to take immune-suppressing drugs for the rest of their lives.

 OPEC is going ahead with another oil production cut. OPEC has agreed to cut production by 2.2 million barrels a day. U.S crude for January delivery dropped to just over 42 dollars a barrel after the announcement. Crude oil prices have dropped nearly 70% since July. OPEC cut production in September and October, but those cuts didn’t have much impact on prices.

Detroit’s auto makers are not the only ones feeling the recession squeeze. For the third time this year, Honda is cutting its profits forecast this time by a whopping 69%. Honda’s CEO says things are getting worse by the day, and he sees no prospects of recovery any time soon. Sales in the U.S., Honda’s biggest market, were off 32% in December.

There were more protests today across Iraq in support of the journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush last weekend. He’s attained hero status to thousands who have taken to the streets. His brother says the journalist met with an investigative judge in his jail cell today. Source tells us he’ll likely be charged with assaulting a foreign head of state.

Those are the headlines for you at this hour. Stay with CNN for more on those stories and all your other news of the day.