NPR News 2009-04-17 加文本
NPR News 2009-04-17
From NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder.
The Obama administration has told CIA officials, said that they will not be prosecuted for waterboarding terrorism suspects during the Bush administration. A message came as the White House released Bush era memos, authorizing harsh interrogation techniques. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports.
There are four memos from 2002 and 2005. They list in detail which harsh interrogation tactics the CIA can use on detainees. The approved techniques include slapping, stress positions, sleep deprivation and waterboarding. One memo tells interrogators they can exploit a detainee's fear of bugs by putting him in a cramped box with an insect. The ACLU sued to get these documents. Several former CIA directors fought to keep them secret. The Obama administration paired the memos’ release with the reassurance for CIA officials. For the first time, Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department will not prosecute interrogators who abused detainees under Bush administration legal guidance. He said it would be unfair to prosecute people for conduct that was sanctioned in advance by the Justice Department. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.
President Obama is in Mexico City right now where he is pledging to help Mexico in its battle against violent drug cartels and to cooperate on economic issues. "It is more important than ever that we work together, not only to restore economic growth in Mexico and the United States, but also to make sure that growth is sustainable." The president was speaking during a formal welcoming ceremony at a news conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon. Mr. Obama said he would push the US Senate to ratify a treaty designed to reduce the flow of arms and ammunition to the drug cartels. The two have also announced an agreement on climate change and clean energy cooperation. The president is due in Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow for the summit of Americas.
Home foreclosures in the US have reached their highest monthly level since 2005. The latest data from the firm RealtyTrac show many lenders are following through on foreclosures already in the pipeline. Jason Lopez has more from San Francisco.
More than 340, 000 foreclosures filings across the US were reported in March, up 46% from a year ago and the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began monitoring foreclosure data in 2005. Nevada, Arizona and California had the highest foreclosure rates. The spike in March has something to do with earlier efforts to keep people in their homes. Lenders that had put freeze on foreclosures lifted those moratoriums in the first quarter and are now pushing them out of the pipeline. Some real estate observers pointed out that there are still new defaults and repossessions enough to predict that things could get worse before they get better. From NPR News, I'm Jason Lopez in San Francisco.
Stocks posted a strong surge again today on reassuring earnings reports from technology companies such as Nokia and big banks like JP Morgan Chase. The Dow picked up 95 points. The S&P and NASDAQ both posted solid gains.
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The prime minister of Somalia says pirates operating off the coast to the lawless country cannot be defeated at sea regardless of how many international warships are sent to the region. Meanwhile the United Nations special envoy to Somalia says the presence of navy ships would reduce the number of pirate attacks but would not stop the problem and the Security Council must intervene. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports.
The Somali Prime Minister Omar Sharmarke said pirates would always find ways to avoid the international navies patrolling off Somalia and that the best way to deal with them was on land before they took to the sea. The UN special representative to Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah says the Security Council must do more to help turbulent Somalia, a country without an effective central authority since 1991. "We have a new government - legitimate, legal, but weak and something has to be done to address this pandemic of piracy because it's threatening not only the poor Somalis but it is threatening international peace." Abdallah said young Somalis are being exploited and encouraged to become pirates by ruthless finances, sending victims onto the high seas and possible death.
Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Johannesburg.
The container ship captain who was held hostage in a lifeboat by Somali pirates for five days is said to be due back in the US tomorrow. The Associated Press says Captain Richard Phillips has left the USS Bainbridge in the Kenyan port of Mombasa and has boarded a chartered airplane. Meanwhile his crew was already back. They were greeted earlier today by relatives when they arrived at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington D. C.
I'm Giles Snyder. You are listening to NPR News from Washington.
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