NPR News 2010-01-02 加文本

NPR News 2010-01-02

From NPR News in Washington, I’m Barbara Klein.

The Iraqi government says it regrets the decision of a US judge to dismiss charges against five Blackwater security guards. They were accused of killing unarmed civilians in Baghdad in 2007. Iraqi authorities are vowing to pursue the charges. NPR's Howard Berkes has more.

The statement issued Friday by an Iraqi government spokesman says Iraqi investigators confirmed unequivocally that the Blackwater guards committed murder and used unjustified deadly force when they opened fire in a crowded Baghdad intersection in 2007. The American prosecution of the guards was thrown out of court Thursday. US District Judge Ricardo Urbina ruled that federal prosecutors violated the constitutional rights of the accused by using sworn statements that had been given with guarantees of immunity. The Justice Department says it is reviewing the decision and considering options and appeal is possible. Attorneys for the guards say their clients are celebrating the dismissal. The status of the sixth defendant is unclear. He had pleaded guilty and provided evidence against the others. Howard Berkes, NPR News.

Yemeni forces have killed 11 Shiite rebels according to government officials there. News of the clashes came shortly after the militants appeared to seek peace talks with neighboring Saudi Arabia. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

Government officials said the Yemeni security and military forces destroyed a number of vehicles belonging to the rebels. Yemen has been battling the rebels for five years. Last month, Saudi Arabia was joining into the fighting when a group of rebels crossed into the kingdom and seized a strategic hillside area. A rebel website called for dialog and peace between the rebels and the Saudis. The site featured a recording said to be a rebel leader Abdul Malek al-Huthi. Yemeni officials claimed to have killed al-Huthi last year. But the voice on the recording which was similar to previous recordings made by al-Huthi referred to recent events.  Yemen has drawn an international attention lately for its growing al-Qaeda branch which claimed responsibility for the Christmas Day airliner bombing attempt in the US. Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Cairo.

President Obama's nominee to head the Transportation Security Administration admits he misled Congress. In October, Erroll Southers told lawmakers he once improperly asked police to run a background check on the boyfriend of his estranged wife. Now he says he himself conducted two inappropriate background checks. That's in a follow-up letter to Congress revealed by the Washington Post. Congress is under pressure to act on the nomination in the wake of an attempted terror attack on a US-bound Northwest airliner on Christmas Day.

The CEO of Delta Airline which owns Northwest says he is extremely disappointed the suspected terrorist was able to get on the plane from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day. In a recorded message to employees, Richard Anderson says airlines have followed government security guidelines since 9/11, and he plans to pressure Washington to do a job better.

This is NPR News.

2009 was a brutal year for Detroit's car business. General Motors and Chrysler went bankrupt and even now sales remain low. NPR's Frank Langfitt has more.

GM shed divisions and CEOs. Saab, Saturn, Pontiac and Hummer are either going or gone. CEOs Rick Wagoner and Fritz Henderson were forced out eight months apart. Analysts say 2010 looks brighter for GM. The company is thought to have strong products in the pipeline and would cap the year by launching the Volt, its electric sedan. The outlook for Chrysler is less certain and more worrisome. The company seems to have few vehicles on the way and many analysts aren’t sure where Chrysler is headed. Jessica Caldwell works for edmunds.com, the car consumer website.

"I am not utterly sure what's happening there, you don't really know what's going on with its products, you don't know what's going on with its management, with business plans."

Of the Detroit three, Ford has spared the best. Not taking federal bailout money has helped its image and the company has been building market share. Frank Langfitt, NPR News, Washington.

Gay and Lesbian couples can now get married in New Hampshire.  At the stroke of midnight, New Hampshire became the nation's fifth state to allow same-sex marriage. About a dozen couples immediately took advantage of the new law in the state capital of Concord. New Hampshire joins Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and Iowa in allowing gay marriage.

Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh says doctors found nothing wrong with his heart after he was hospitalized for chest pains. The 58-year-old commentator was rushed to the hospital Wednesday while vacationing in Hawaii. In a news conference today, he said doctors don't know what caused the pains, but they are releasing him.

I’m Barbara Klein, NPR News in Washington.