NPR News 2011-09-29 加文本

NPR News 2011-09-29

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

Wall Street's three-day winning streak ends with stocks down before the close. Investors just can't shake their worries about Europe's stability to contain its debt crisis, and the future of the US economy is also a concern. But for a while there the market was bolstered by news that the drop in durable goods last month turned out to be less than analysts, such as Roy Blumberg of the Philadelphia Group had expected.

"That this has been economic data is gonna get a lot worse, the slowdown in Europe, the slowdown in Asia. Corporate earnings will not hold up, and I think we're gonna be a little bit pleasantly surprised to discover just not as bad as we think just like today's durable."

Orders for manufactured goods have fallen just 0.1%. At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was down 185 points at 11,006; it's down 1.5%; NASDAQ down 2% at 2,492.

A federal judge is blocking part of what's considered to be the toughest crackdown on illegal immigration in the country. But as NPR's Debbie Elliott reports, some of the toughest provisions of Alabama's new immigration law will go into effect.

US District Judge Sharon Blackburn of Birmingham is issuing a preliminary injunction against four provisions of Alabama's law. They would have made it legal to conceal, transport, harbor or shield illegal immigrants or to deduct as a business expense, wages paid to undocumented workers. The US Justice Department sought the injunction, arguing Alabama lawmakers overstepped the federal government's authority to set immigration policy. But Blackburn refused to block at least six other provisions challenged by the Justice Department, including a requirement that public schools check the immigration status of students and their parents and one that makes it unlawful to enter into a contract with an illegal immigrant. Debbie Elliott, NPR News.

Faced with pressure to do more to help immigrant advocates, President Obama held a White House roundtable today with Latino voters in which he pledged to keep the issue a top priority.

The UN Security Council has taken one small step on its path of considering the Palestinian bid to join the United Nations as a members state. As NPR's Michele Kelemen reports, the council handed the application to a committee to review it.

Palestinian diplomat Riyad Mansour says he's grateful to the UN Security Council for moving as he put it decisively and clearly on the Palestinian application. A Security Council committee is to meet on Friday. Here in Washington, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland says it's her understanding that there're still a lot of work to do. The US, which has vowed to block the membership bid, has been trying to shift attention away from that and backed to international efforts to get Israelis and Palestinians negotiating again on a deal that would create a Palestinian state. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

Before the close, the Dow was down nearly 180 points at 11,011.

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The Guantanamo detainee accused of plotting the deadly attack on the USS Cole 11 years ago will face capital charges at his war crimes trial at the US base in Cuba. The Pentagon says if convicted, Abd al-Nashiri could be executed.

The United Nations is reporting a 39% surge in Afghanistan, violence for the quarter compared to the same period last year. It says as of the end of August, the monthly number of deadly incidents had surpassed 2,100. Adding to that number, the deaths of three NATO-led coalition troops killed in a roadside bombing today in eastern Afghanistan.

Estimates are out on the amount of fire damage done to Texas this year. The cost is staggering. The state's AgriLife Extension Service's agriculture has lost more than 152 million dollars as of last week.

The Library of Congress has announced winners of its annual Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. They're Burt Bacharach and Hal David. More from NPR's Neda Ulaby.

Hal David is 90 years old, and Burt Bacharach is 83. Their names tend to bring this song to mind. (Raindrops are falling on my hair...) But David and Bacharach also wrote "Walk On By," "I Say A Little Prayer," and a song that's been estimated to have played on the radio more than two million times. (What the world needs now is love sweet love…) For the past 50 years, Bacharach and David accumulated virtually every music industrial award you can think of. They joined Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney as Gershwin Prize recipients. They have also all been called of the highest honor being covered by the cast of Glee. (I say a little prayer for you…) Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

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