NPR News 2011-09-28 加文本

NPR News 2011-09-28

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

Roughly 2.5% gains in major US market indexes today, with the Dow up around 300 points at 11,334 at last glance. Investors are hopeful European leaders are closer to getting a handle on their crisis. In Greece, the finance minister says his country will receive the next round of loans from its international lenders to avoid a default. Greece was at risk of running out of money by mid-October. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country would do whatever was necessary to help debt-troubled Greece and to restore investor confidence in the eurozone. Both Merkel and Greece's prime minister spoke to business leaders today in Berlin, and NPR's Eric Westervelt has details from the German capital.

Chancellor Merkel told a gathering of German industrialists that Europe cannot spend its way out of the debt crisis, and she reiterated that Germany would do what it takes to help guide Greece to stability. We will give Greece all required assistance, she said, but the important thing is that Greece wins back trust; that we get away from this pattern of new horror stories every month, so that the markets get the impression Greece really is on a good path to recovery, she added. At the same meeting, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou vowed that his country will come out of this crisis with a stronger, more competitive, transparent economy. But many are unconvinced that European leaders are taking bold enough steps, fast enough to stop the problem from spreading. Eric Westervelt, NPR News, Berlin.

The doctor charged in the death of music icon Michael Jackson is on trial and now in Los Angeles with Jackson's relatives in the courthouse. Jurors heard an audio recording of the pop star's slurred words while he was on a powerful anesthetic that was cited as a cause of death weeks later. (When people leave this show, when people leave my show…) In this message taking from Dr. Conrad Murray's cell phone, Jackson talks about plans for an upcoming comeback concert. In opening statements, prosecutors argued the doctor should've known better than to keep Jackson on anesthetic Propofol.

The State Department is holding public listening sessions in Nebraska on a controversial proposed oil pipeline. We have more from NPR's Jeff Brady.

Supporters say the pipeline will create new jobs at a time the US needs them, and they argue it would speed oil into the country from a friendly neighbor. But opponents call oil from Alberta's tar sands dirty because producing it creates more pollution than traditional oil production. Some farmers also worry the pipeline could pollute the huge Ogallala Aquifer which they depend on for water. Additional hearings will be held in Texas, Oklahoma and Washington DC. A decision on whether to approve that cross-border pipeline is expected later this year. Jeff Brady, NPR News.

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In the first-ever government count of married gay couples in the United States, the Census Bureau says that as of last year there were nearly 132,000 same-sex couples who said they had tied the knot and accounts for about 20% of estimated 646,000 gay couples in the US included in the Census count. Gay marriage is legal in six states and the District of Columbia.

In the Philippines, at least 16 people are dead after a typhoon battered the country's main island of Luzon, leaving some of the worst flooding the capital has seen in years. From Manila, Simone Orendain reports rain continues to fall as Typhoon Nesat crosses the South China Sea toward Vietnam.

Typhoon Nesat slammed into the Philippines, dumping heavy rain all day on the capital Manila and about two dozen provinces. Gusts reach 115 miles an hour. Forecasters say a storm surge combined with high tide caused waist-high flooding that closed off Manila streets and made cars float. The head of the Civil Defense Office Benito Ramos says multiple agencies are helping flood victims get food and medicine as well as shelter.

"The Armed Forces of the Philippine National Police are now busy in the rescue operations for all people."

In the capital, strong winds knocked down a wall that buried a woman and her three small grandchildren. A power outage left nearly two million people in the dark. Luzon has around 48 million residents. For NPR News, I'm Simone Orendain in Manila.

Libyan television's broadcasting images purported to be from a son of ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Footage of Saif al-Islam is dated September 20 several weeks after he was last seen in public.

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