NPR News 2010-04-10 加文本

NPR News 2010-04-10

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

The longest-serving justice on the Supreme Court is retiring. Justice John Paul Stevens is ending 35 years of service on the bench, affective this summer when the court finishes its work. President Obama praised Stevens as an impartial guardian of the law. "He has applied the Constitution and the laws of the land with fidelity and restraint. He will soon turn 90 this month, but he leaves his position at the top of this game." President Obama says he hopes to nominate Stevens' successor in the coming weeks.

President Obama, meanwhile, is keeping a close watch on the rescue operation in Montcoal, West Virginia. Four miners are still missing after an explosion on Monday. Earlier today, workers tried to use a camera to check for a second emergency chamber where the miners may have taken refuge. But Kevin Stricklin of the Mine Safety and Health Administration says ultimately they decided to send rescuers back in. "Borehole that was put in at the refuge chamber did not hit a void, it hit a solid pillar. So basically, that the hole that was drilled from the surface does no use to us at all, and we will not be able to put a camera down in it, while we can put a camera down in it, but basically there will be nothing to see." The explosion killed 25 miners.

Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak, a target of conservatives against the new health care law, will not seek re-election. Today Stupak said he has no regrets. "Two years ago, I saw an opportunity to finally enact health care with the election of a new president. I thank President Obama and Speaker Pelosi for their leadership to put us across the line as we finally have health care a reality in this country." Stupak, who is anti-abortion, was one of the final holdouts to passing the health care bill.

The Israeli prime minister is sitting out this month's nuclear security meeting in Washington. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro sheds light on some of the issues in play.

The announcement that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won't attend the summit came as a response to concerns that a group of Muslim countries would try to get Israel to declare the existence of its suspected nuclear arsenal. Israel is believed to be the only nuclear armed power in the Middle East but it has never confirmed or denied it. It has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. That means it avoids mandatory international inspections of its nuclear facilities. International experts believe though that Israel has up to 200 nuclear bombs stockpiled. Its policy of ambiguity is supposed to act as a deterrent while preventing an arms race. Some Islamic regimes though accuse Israel of hypocrisy. Israel is determined to stop countries like Iran from getting the bomb, they say, while keeping its own suspected nuclear arsenal away from international inspections. Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, NPR News, Jerusalem.

Playing off commodity prices, the Dow hit 11,000 for the first time since September 2008. It's now up 70. This is NPR News.

Church files reportedly show that before he became Pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger resisted defrocking a Californian priest who was accused of sexually abusing children. The Associated Press reports a 1985 letter signed by Ratzinger, now known as Pope Benedict XVI. In the letter, Ratzinger cites concerns about the effect defrocking a priest would have on the Roman Catholic Church.

The Internet is apparently beating out television for viewers' choice. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports a new study that finds more people leaning toward the web.

The last time the survey was conducted was in 2001 by Arbitron which is better known for its radio ratings and Edison media research. Back then, 72% of respondents said they could live without the Internet. Now widespread broadband and sites like Hulu have changed how and where we watch TV. "Previously on V, I am pregnant." Now more people say they would rather have Internet access than television. It's only 1%, but the survey suggests American media users reaching a tipping point. The shift has most pronounced with viewers between the ages of 12 to 44, some of whom faced with expensive cable bills have dropped TV all together. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

Astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Discovery are looking ahead to their second of three spacewalks outside the International Space Station. They want to hook up a new ammonia tank at the orbiting outpost before heading back home. Discovery is expected to be in space for two weeks. The shuttle mission is among the last ones for NASA which will be retiring its space shuttle program later this year.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.