NPR News 2011-12-18 加文本

NPR News 2011-12-18

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

President Obama is praising a Senate agreement passed this morning to extend the Social Security payroll tax cut into the New Year. As NPR's Scott Horsley reports, the short-term agreement merely sets the stage for another tax showdown in early 2012.

The tax cut approved by the Senate is not as big as the one the president asked for, and it lasts for just two months. Still, Mr. Obama says that's better than the alternative, a tax increase for 160 million working Americans if the Senate had refused to act.

“And I want to thank them for ensuring that as we head into the holidays, folks at home don't have to worry about their taxes going up.”

Mr. Obama says he expects lawmakers will eventually okay a tax cut for the full year. The Senate bill also requires the administration to give expedited review to a controversial oil pipeline, something the White House hoped to put off until after next year's election. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House.

A typhoon struck the southern Philippines last night, triggering flash floods and landslides. Officials say at least 400 people were killed. They warned that figure is likely to rise because more people are missing. Entire villages were swept into the sea while people were sleeping. Thousands of people have been forced from their homes. Rescue efforts are being hampered by flooded roads and a lack of electricity.

The US withdrawal continues in Iraq as only a few thousand troops remain in the country. NPR's Sean Carberry reports.

At a small ceremony in Baghdad on Saturday, NATO and Iraqi officials thanked and praised each other. Iraqi General Babacar Zebari also expressed a sense of regret. He said everyone wanted to continue the mission that has trained thousands of Iraqis. Lieutenant General Robert Caslen is outgoing commander of the NATO Training Mission—Iraq.

“We fully understand the reasons why the mission is unable to remain in the form that it is now.”

General Calsen said that the Iraqi leadership invited NATO to stay another two years. But as with US forces, Iraq’s parliament was not going to grant immunity to NATO trainers to stay past 2011. As a result, all 120,000 NATO personnel in Iraq will leave before the end of the year. Sean Carberry, NPR News, Baghdad.

A hearing is underway at Fort Meade, Maryland to determine if there’s enough evidence to try Bradley Manning for revealing government secrets. The Army intelligence specialist is accused of giving hundreds of thousands of government documents to Wikileaks.

Russians are demonstrating again this weekend. They’re claiming fraud in the parliamentary elections held earlier this month. The turnout at Moscow is much smaller this week with protesters numbering in their hundreds rather than tens of thousands. They’re calling for a new election, citing reports from local and international observers of irregularities and outright fraud.

This is NPR News.

It was on this date one year ago that a vegetable seller set himself on fire in a town in southern Tunisia. His anti-government protest ignited what's been called the Arab Spring. X reports the occasion is being marked with a visit from Tunisia's new president.

Over 10,000 Tunisians down the streets of the provincial town of Sidi Bouzid Saturday morning to mark the one-year anniversary of Mohamed Bouazizi’s act of self-immolation. After police took his wares and publicly humiliated him, it sparked nationwide protests that led to the overthrow of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and inspired others across the region to rise up against their own dictatorships. Top party leaders from Tunisia's new constituent assembly addressed the crowds in front of the minicipal building, where Bouazizi doused himself with paint thinner and let himself on fire one year ago. Newly elected President Moncef Marzouki drew wild cheers from the crowd as his speech marks the first time a Tunisian president has officially visited Sidi Bouzid, a town in the impoverished and often neglected interior region of the country. For NPR News, I'm X in Sidi Bouzid.

It was three months ago today that the Occupy Wall Street movement began in Zuccotti Park in Manhattan. Activists are observing the day with speeches and performances. But at a much smaller park, they had been kicked out of Zuccotti last month.

Hundreds of Japanese-American veterans of World War II are being honored today at a parade in Honolulu. They had volunteered to fight for their country, although the government called them enemy aliens because their ancestors came from the country that bombed Pearl Harbor. Some enlisted from the interment camps, where the US government had imprisoned 110 Japanese-Americans.

I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.