NPR News 2012-08-13 加文本

NPR News 2012-08-13

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

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi announced today he’s replacing his defense minister and head of the armed forces Hussein Tantawi as well as his deputy. From Cairo, the BBC’s Yolande Knell reports.

The dramatic changes concerning Egypt’s two top generals were announced by the president’s spokesman in a news conference carried live on state television. Field Marshal Tantawi, who took control of the reigns of power after the former President Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year, is being forced to retire, along with his chief of staff. The new defense minister is now another senior general, Abdel-Fatah El-Sissi. A constitutional declaration which the military issued as the presidential election was underway in June was also canceled. It had sought to limit presidential powers.

The BBC’s Yolande Knell reporting from Cairo.

The interior minister in Iran says at least 227 people died in yesterday’s earthquakes. Another 1,300 people were injured. Two powerful quakes struck within 11 minutes of each other in the northwestern part of the country. Several villages were destroyed.

The new team of Romney and Ryan is on the road this weekend. Mitt Romney and running mate Paul Ryan on a bus tour in North Carolina today. Here’s how they were greeted in Mooresville, about 50 miles outside Charlotte. Romney told the crowd that voters have a clear choice to make between competing visions of the nation. He reiterated the president’s idea that businesses owe some of their success to the government.

“If a young person works hard to make the honor roll, they study and study and prepare for the exams and take those exams and tests and do well, they make the honor roll. Now I know that to get to school, they have to go on a bus, and they have to have a bus driver. But if they get the honor roll, I don’t give the credit to the bus driver, I give it to the kid.”

After stops in North Carolina, Romney and Ryan will fly to a rally in Wisconsin, Ryan’s home state.

Democrats in Hawaii held a primary yesterday to determine who will run for Senate in the fall. Wayne Yoshioka of member station KHPR has more.

Democrat Mazie Hirono won the primary race, getting 60% of the vote over Ed Case, a moderate two-term congressman. Hirono, among the most liberal members of Congress, will now face Republican Linda Lingle in November. Lingle, a popular two-term governor and mayor of Maui, is running as a moderate Rupublican and will need at least 35% of the Democrats to vote for her to win. Lingle beat Hirono in the 2002 gubernatorial election. Hawaii’s open Senate seat was occupied for 22 years by Daniel Akaka, who is retiring. For NPR News, I’m Wayne Yoshioka in Honolulu.

This is NPR News in Washington.

Several major wildfires are burning in Spain. Thousands of people out of their homes after officials ordered more than a dozen towns and villages evacuated. Many of the fires are burning on islands off Spain’s southwestern tip, making them difficult to fight. It can take a day for firefighting planes to reach the sites. One blaze is raging in a national park, where woodlands have survived for 11 million years.

Today is the final day for the 2012 Olympics in London. In men’s basketball, the United States beat Spain 107:100 for the gold medal. Kevin Durant led the scoring with 30 points. The closing ceremony is to get underway in about an hour. Vickie Walton-James reports it’s to feature a celebration of British music.

More than 4,000 people will perform in the closing ceremony, most of volunteers. An hour-long section of the show devoted to British music will feature the London Symphony Orchestra. And Elton John, Adele and George Michael are reported to be among the stars who will appear. Artistic Director Kim Gavin has said he wants the ceremony to be the best aftershow party that has ever been. The closing ceremony is about the celebrations of athletes’ achievements and a handoff to the next host city. In a nod to the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, eight minutes of the show will be devoted to performers from Brazil. The ceremony also features the extinguishing of the Olympic torch, signaling the end of the games. Vickie Walton-James, NPR News, London.

As if the first responders in London didn’t have enough to worry about, they had to put out a fire which broke out at a recycling center about seven miles east of Olympic Park. London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson said it was the biggest in the city in years. Later the fire service tweeted the fire was contained, thanks to an Olympic effort by its crews.

I’m Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.