NPR News 2011-08-10 加文本

NPR News 2011-08-10

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

Wall Street's reacting to news from the Federal Reserve today that interest rates would stay low to help economic growth pick up. At last check, we see the Dow up more than 400 points or 3.8% at 11,229; NASDAQ is up more than 5% or 125 points at 2,483; and the S&P 500 is up 4.75%; it's at 1,173. This after we saw this seesaw effect this afternoon. Stocks again, as we said, back up near the high point they hit this morning, as NPR's Margot Adler explains.

All indexes rose in the first half of the day, the Dow climbing past 11,000. Investors were looking for bargains, but many were waiting for the announcement by the Federal Reserve this afternoon. The Fed said it would keep interest rates at record lows for the next two years. Previously, the Fed had only said it would keep interest rates low for an extended period. Today's statement said that economic growth has been considerably slower than the committee expected, and it anticipated a slower pace of recovery over the coming quarters. Reacting to the statement by the Fed, stock indexes lost much of their earlier gains. Margot Adler, NPR News, New York.

President Obama is at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to mark the return of 30 American troops killed in Afghanistan. NPR's Ari Shapiro traveled with the president on the unannounced trip.

President Obama joined other top military and civilian leaders to witness the "dignified transfer ceremony." All 30 of the Americans who died over the weekend were aboard a Chinook helicopter that crashed in Afghanistan. Military officials believe the Chinook was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade. The incident was the worst casualty for Americans since the Afghan war began a decade ago. This is the second time President Obama has come to Dover for the return of Americans killed in battle. The first time was two years ago as he debated whether to send more troops into the war. Now that surge is over, and the withdrawal has begun. Mr. Obama said at the White House on Monday our responsibility is to ensure that the troops' legacy is an America that reflects their courage, their commitment and their sense of common purpose. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Dover Air Force Base.

The sound of cheers and clapping, volunteers doing away with their brooms as they clean up the Clapham area of London that was among many neighborhoods hit hard by several days of rioting. A huge shift from the night before. There were crowds torching buildings and looting, anger sparked by the recent deadly police shooting of a man in Tottenham. Prime Minister David Cameron says hundreds of people have been arrested.

"People should expect to see more, many more arrests in the days to come."

Cameron called parliament back from recess to address the unrest.

At last check on Wall Street before the close, the Dow was up 430 points, nearly 4%, at 11,240.

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Tens of thousands children have died in a drought in the last few months in the Horn of Africa, and US officials fear that death toll will continue to rise without a major humanitarian response. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports on what the US is doing.

Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican, joined Obama administration officials on a trip to the region to call for a bipartisan response to the worst drought in decades.

"Everybody can make a difference, not just the government per se. And we saw first-hand, first-hand over the last 36 hours, just how effective these donations can be to improving health and literally, literally saving lives."

The US is giving another 105 million dollars in emergency aid. A White House official warns the international response is not as large as it needs to be to keep up with the spread of famine in Somalia and manage refugee flows to Kenya and Ethiopia. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is sentenced to life in prison for the sexual assault of two underage girls he married in what his church calls "spiritual marriages." The Texas jury decided after spending less than half an hour deliberating today. The head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints maintains his religious rights are being violated.

Before the close on Wall Street, we saw the Dow up 430 points or nearly 4% at 11,240; NASDAQ up more than 5% at 2,483; S&P 500 up 4.75% at 1,173. This despite a Labor Department report that showed worker productivity had dropped for the second quarter in a row.

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