NPR News 2012-01-21 加文本

NPR News 2012-01-21

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

The Supreme Court has tossed out new legislative maps in the state of Texas only weeks before primary elections. In a unanimous order, the justices say a lower court in Texas that overhauled the maps did not use appropriate standards. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports four new seats in the US House are at stake.

The Republican-controlled legislature in Texas has been conducting a furious legal battle against the Obama administration over its electoral maps. Texas will get more new congressional seats than any time since Reconstruction because of the state's soaring Latino population. But the Justice Department says maps drawn by the GOP legislature disadvantaged minorities and violated the federal Voting Rights Act. A court in San Antonio redrew the districts to give Latino voters a leg up. But now the Supreme Court says that process was faulty too. So the high court wiped out the plan, ordering the San Antonio court to try again, only weeks before the state's primary. Elections are scheduled in early April. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

Mitt Romney says he's running neck-in-neck with Newt Gingrich in South Carolina. The former Massachusetts governor was answering questions about the polls which show Romney losing ground while Gingrich closes in just the day before the primary in that state.

A fast-moving fire is testing the collective strength of more than 700 firefighters and law enforcement officers near Reno, Nevada. It has burned more than six square miles since it started yesterday. But about half of it is contained. Local authorities say the fire has destroyed more than two dozen homes. And Sierra Fire Protection spokesman Mark Regan says thousands of people remain evacuated.

"Ten thousand people were evacuated, but we are able to allow 8,000 residents back in, so we're looking close to. Now we still have about 2,000 residents still out."

Rain and snow forecast today could help control the flames, but authorities are also worried that wet conditions on burnt out terrain could give way to flooding.

American music legend Etta James has died at the age of 73 due to complications of leukaemia. NPR's Felix Contreras has this tribute.

Etta James got her first exposure to singing in the church, but soon after moved on to the Blues. By the mid 1950s, she had a hit song singing with Blues musician Johnny Otis. Then in 1960, she joined legendary Blues label Chess Records and had a string of popular hour.

"I want a Sunday kind of love."

Etta James was also addicted to drugs during this time and didn't clean up until the mid 1970s. While her career suffered, despite we had named that's an influence by Rock singers of the day. After reviving her career, she released a tribute album to Billie Holiday and was twice named Blues Singer of the Year by the W.C. Handy Awards. Etta James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Felix Contreras, NPR News.

A spy scandal in Canada is deepening. As we hear from Dan Karpenchuk in the wake of espionage charges against a Canadian military officer, media reports say four staff members of the Russian embassy in Ottawa have left the country.

Forty-year-old navy intelligence officer Jeffrey Delisle faces charges for passing information to a foreign entity for the past four and a half years. The Canadian government has refused to confirm or deny reports that the foreign entity could be Russia. And the Russian embassy is dismissing any suggestion that its diplomats or staff were expelled in reprisal for the Delisle case. But at least two media outlets say the names of two Russian diplomats, including a defense attache and two technical staff members, have been dropped from Canada's official list of foreign government representatives. The embassy says it's part of the normal rotation on foreign postings. But sources in Ottawa say Canada is publicly downplaying Russia's role to avoid an escalation that would see Canadian diplomats expelled from Russia. For NPR News, I'm Dan Karpenchuk in Toronto.

Fresh worries today about the shipwreck perched on rocks off the Italian coast. It is slipping. Local officials are concerned that if the Costa Concordia completely submerges into the waters, it could leak fuel and cause catastrophic environmental damage to marine life. The slipping forced divers to suspend their search once again for 21 people missing since the ship ran aground Friday. Eleven others are confirmed dead. The ship's captain is accused of causing the accident.

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 66 points at 12,690 in trading of more than two billion shares, NASDAQ down four points at 2,784, with the S&P 500 off slightly at 1,312.

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