NPR News 2012-08-21 加文本

NPR News 2012-08-21

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

The US military's commander in Afghanistan says the campaign remains on track. General John Allen's comments after the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey paid a visit to the war-torn country to address the rising number of attacks on American troops by Afghan soldiers and police in the last two weeks. The latest attack occurred yesterday in Kandahar, when two police officers turned their weapons on US forces, killing one of them. The number of such attacks is more than double what it was in 2011. In Washington, President Obama was asked about the rising number of attacks on coalition troops. He says in order to train Afghan forces effectively, both sides have to remain in close proximity cautiously.

“Part of what we've got to do is to make sure that this model works, but it doesn't make our guys more vulnerable. In the long term, we will see fewer US causalities and coalition casualties by sticking to our transition plan and making sure that we've got the most effective Afghan security force possible. But we've got to do it in a way that doesn't leave our guys vulnerable.”

The president made an unannounced appearance at the daily White House briefing today after facing growing criticism that he wasn't making himself more available to reporters for questioning.

Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan reunited on the campaign trail today in New Hampshire. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports it was the running mate’s first appearance together since Ryan joined the ticket more than a week ago.

The Romney campaign originally wanted to announce Paul Ryan's addition to the ticket here in New Hampshire. The scheduling didn't work out. But the sweeping uptakes of this town hall meeting suggested what a VP rollout might have looked like here. The setting was made for campaign ads with thousands of people on a grassy college campus and a massive banner saying America's combat team hanging on an ivy-covered red brick building.

“I know you're not here just because I'm your best buddy or Paul is, or you're just die-hard Republicans, you're concerned about the country.”

This is Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney's first unscripted moment answering questions from voters together. Romney insisted that Ryan take a crack at every answer. Now they split off again, Ryan to campaign in Pennsylvania and Romney to fundraise in New Orleans. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, traveling with the Romney campaign.

The Augusta National Golf Club is allowing entry to female members for the first time in its 80-year history. It's welcoming former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore.

The 62-year-old attempting a record 103-mile swim from Florida to Cuba is set to be back on track after having a pretty tough night. Diana Nyad endured jellyfish stings as well as a storm. Her support team tweeted that all hell broke loose last night as the storm temporarily blew Nyad off course.

At last check on Wall Street, Dow was down ten points at 13,265; NASDAQ off four points.

This is NPR News.

The Taylor Bridge fire in Washington state still not contained. We have the latest from Sara Lerner of member station KOUW.

The fire has spread over 35 square miles. Mick Mueller is a spokesperson at the fire command center. He says he’s optimistic about current efforts, but he’s very nervous about how dry the forest is.

“We have six more weeks of fire season, and we have the Labor Day weekend coming up where everybody is gonna wide go out in the woods one last time. The woods are so timber dry, and they’re gonna want to have their campfire to set fire rings. And if you want to go out on motorcycle, people have to be so careful in the woods.”

More than 1,000 firefighters are on the Taylor Bridge fire. And Mueller says no one can be pulled off to fight new ones. For NPR News, I'm Sara Lerner in Seattle.

While speaking of, firefighters across the Western US are continuing to battle a series of raging blazes. And of course the latest round of fires were sparked mostly by lightning strikes. Crews in Northern California are trying to gain control of that rapidly growing fire that has destroyed at least seven homes and forced thousands of people to flee.

An autopsy report says the death of a man who was shot in the head while his hands were cuffed behind him in an Arkansas patrol car was a suicide. Police have said officers had frisked Chavis Carter twice after traffic stop without finding a gun before he was fatally shot last month.

Tributes are pouring in for Hollywood director Tony Scott who reportedly killed himself over the weekend in California. Scott's movies included “Top Gun,” “Crimson Tide” and “Unstoppable.” They kept audiences at the edge of their seats with pulse-pounding action that had come to characterize his films.

This is NPR.