NPR News 2010-07-05 加文本

NPR News 2010-07-05

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Raum.

President Obama is hosting a barbecue at the White House today for members of the military and their families. They will be able to watch the national fireworks from the South Lawn. Some local displays around the country are being canceled this year for lack of money, including in Clayton, North Carolina, population 16,000. Mayor Jody McLeod says spending $30,000 for fireworks didn't seem right at a time of layoffs.

"Well, I did have a few emails a couple of weeks ago about how in the world can you take away the fireworks for the Fourth of July. That really just made me think, you know, there's really more to the Fourth of July than fireworks. It's really about being the American that we were all created to be."

He said most residents understand you could only spend what you have just like a family.

Vice President Joe Biden is in Baghdad, where he met with top Iraqi leaders to get various factions to agree on a new government. Earlier today, about 70 miles west of Baghdad, a woman blew herself up in a government office, killing at least three people. NPR's Kelly McEvers reports.

Iraqi police say the bomb went off in a reception area of the governor's compound in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province. Of the wounded, more than a dozen were police. Anbar was the seed of a brutal Sunni resistance after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. This attack comes amid a political stalemate. It's been nearly four months since the country's general elections, yet Iraq's political leaders have yet to form a government. Last month, al-Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq claimed responsibility for suicide attacks on two main banks. And on Friday, unidentified gunmen assassinated a senior cleric in Anbar. At a Fourth of July ceremony here, Vice President Biden said the country is slowly moving toward a lasting security and prosperity. He met separately with Iraqi officials to encourage them to end the political impasse. Kelly McEvers, NPR News, Baghdad.

Preliminary results are expected tonight in Mexico, where 15 of 31 states held local and statewide elections today. The campaign has been marred by drug cartel violence. Michael O'Boyle has this report.

Mexico has not seen such a bloody and chaotic political campaign since 1994, when a guerrilla uprising and the assassination of a presidential hopeful shook the nation. One gubernatorial candidate was arrested for money laundering. Another, the front-runner in Tamaulipas state, was gunned down on a highway by men dressed as marines. The popularity of President Felipe Calderon and his conservative party has fallen. Mexicans are more concerned with the economy than stamping out drug running, and Calderon's confrontation with the cartels is scaring off tourists and investment. The disenchantment is giving an edge to the PRI, the party that ruled Mexico for 70 years straight until 2000. The PRI is seen sweeping most of the 12 governorships up for grabs today, giving them momentum to recapture the presidency in 2012. For NPR News, I'm Michael O'Boyle in Mexico City.

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Exit polls in Poland showed the parliament speaker, Bronislaw Komorowski, has a slight edge in today's presidential election. He was in a two-man race with Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of the late president, Lech Kaczynski, who died in a plane crash in Russia in April.

A Russian spacecraft docked with the International Space Station today, two days after its first attempt had failed. The unmanned Progress cargo ships carry food, oxygen and other supplies to the orbiter. They'll become even more important to the space station operations when NASA retires the space shuttle fleet. Peter Van Dyk reports from Moscow.

There were no problems with the Progress spacecraft's automated docking system second time around. The ship's computers aborted the first attempt after receiving conflicting signals from the automated and manual docking systems. Progress ships have been in use since 1978, and they're known for their reliability. However, Russia's Interfax news agency said the previous Progress also had a problem with the automated system on the first of May, when the space station crew had to use the manual controls to complete docking maneuvers. There are suggestions this second glitch will give ammunition to opponents of plants to retire the space shuttle fleet, which they argue, will leave NASA overly reliant on Russia in transporting astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station. For NPR News, I'm Peter Van Dyk in Moscow.

In tennis, Rafael Nadal won the men's singles title at Wimbledon today for the second time. It's also his eighth Grand Slam championship. He beat Tomas Berdych in straight sets 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to reinforce his position as the No.1 men's tennis player in the world.

I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.