NPR News 2011-12-31 加文本

NPR News 2011-12-31

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Barbara Klein.

Thousands of anti-government protesters poured into streets cross Syria today in some of the largest demonstrations in weeks. As NPR’s Deborah Amos reports, activists called for the rallies as a show of strength while Arab League monitors are in the country.

They chanted, they sang, they locked arms and shouted for the downfall of the Assad regime. Earlier this week, this neighborhood in the city of Holms was under siege by the Syrian army. Despite the losses, the anti-government movement has been energized by the presence of an Arab League monitoring team in Syria to assess the government's pledge to end the crackdown. In one Damascus suburb, a mass rally that began at the mosque moved to the municipal building where Arab League observers were meeting with government officials, but dispersers say activists when the security police opened fire on the crowd. Deborah Amos, NPR News, Beirut.

The Obama administration says Egyptian authorities are assuring them that raids on pro-democracy groups will end. NPR's Michelle Kelemen reports several US organizations were among the targets of an Egyptian crackdown yesterday.

According to a senior State Department official, the US ambassador to Egypt spoke with members of Egypt's rulling military council, depressed them to allow non-governmental groups to operate normally again. Officials say ambassador Anne Patterson received assurances that the raids will cease, and property will be returned. The International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute and Freedom House all reported that they had documents and computers taken by Egyptian police. The US sharply criticized Egyptian authorities for the raids and suggested that US aid to Egypt could be at stack if the crackdown on human rights and democracy groups continued. Michelle Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department.

A Tea Party activist is suing Virginia's board of elections to get Newt Gingrich on the state’s primary ballot. Jonathon Moseley says Gingrich met the 10,000 signatures requirement, and many of the names were improperly excluded. Only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are on Virginia republican's primary, and both are in a statistical tie in the latest Iowa poll ahead of Tuesday's caucuses there. They and other GOP hopefuls are covering the state with ads and as many handshakes as they can. Romney today in West Des Moines.

“I'm convinced that if we stay on the course we’re on, you’re gonna see America hit a war like they’ve hit in Europe, you're gonna see us have the experiences that you see in Greece and Italy. That’s not acceptable to me.”

And speaking of Europe’s economy, Spain announced today it’s instituting tough austerity measures. The new treasury minister says tax hikes will be applied progressively on the wealthier Spaniards for two years.

On Wall Street at this hour, the Dow is down 48 points at 12,239; the NASDAQ is off three; the S&P down three.

This is NPR.

A federal judge in California is blocking the state’s low carbon fuel regulation. US District Judge Lawrence O'Neill says the requirement violates the Interstate Commerce Clause in California’s constitution by favoring instate biofuel producers are over those out of state. The regulation was designed to force producers and refiners to reduce their fuel’s carbon footprint.

North Korea is warning what it calls South Korean “puppets” and “foolish” politicians around the world don’t expect any changes in Pyongyang’s policies. It’s the regime’s first statement under the country’s new leader Kim Jong-un. And in the clearest message of continuity since the death of Kim Jong-il, the statement bestows the title of Great Leader on his son. The country’s powerful National Defense Commission also says North Korea will never deal with the South Korean government.

If your birthday is December the 30th, and you’re in Samoa, you’re out of luck. It doesn’t exist. As NPR’s Joel Rose reports, Samoa leapt across the International Date Line today.

For Samoans, Friday, December 30th just didn’t happen. The country skipped directly into Saturday, the 31st, although anyone who is scheduled to work on the non-existing Friday will still get paid. Samoa is moving to the west of the International Date Line in order to be closer in time to its main trading partner—Australia and New Zealand. Until now, those countries have been almost a full day ahead of Samoa. The change does not affect the nearby US territory of American Samoa ,which is still east of the date line. Joel Rose, NPR News.

And I'm Barbara Klein, NPR News in Washington.