NPR News 2012-09-24 加文本

NPR News 2012-09-24

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney travels to Denver, Colorado today for a campaign rally. From there he’ll open the three-day bus tour to Ohio to meet supporters. He'll also stop in Virginia this week. But first tonight, he will appear for an interview on CBS's “60 minutes.” For his part, President Obama has some downtime today. But he was campaigning in Wisconsin Saturday as Chuck Quirmbach reports from Wisconsin Public Radio.

The president says Republican candidate Mitt Romney wrote off half the nation when Romney said some people see themselves as victims. President Obama told a large audience in Milwaukee that he wants to see everyone do well. Milwaukeean Terrans Bokep took his son to the speech and likes the president's message.

“You know, support that let our kids know that their future, they are included in it, that because they are rich or where they come from, but they got an opportunity. So, the president stands for that.”

Republicans argue the national debt threatens the standard of living for younger people. For NPR News, I'm Chuck Qurimbach in Milwaukee.

Protests against the anti-Islamic video denigrating the Prophet Mohammed have grown in Bangladesh. Islamist groups there are backing a general strike today, expressing outrage. Schools and businesses are closed and thousands of security troops are on the streets. Today's strike was called after a Bangladeshi protest yesterday drew a heavy policy response in the capital Dacca and scores of people were hurt.

The government in Pakistan is distancing itself from a cash reward offered by an official to kill the maker of dispiriting video. The BBC's Aleem Maqbool reports.

Ghulam Ahmad Bilour is a veteran Pakistani politician and currently federal minister for railways. He called a news conference where he announced his reward for the person who killed the maker of the anti-Islam video. I'll pay 100,000 dollars to whoever does it, he said, and if someone else commits such an act, I'll pay 100,000 dollars to whoever kills that person. He said it was the only way to send a message to blasphemers. At one point, he even called on help of the Taliban and al-Qaeda of killing the video maker.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool.

Police in Nigeria say a suicide bomber used his car to attack a church in northern Nigeria today. At least two people are dead and 45 others are hurt. There’s been no claim of responsibility. But the Islamist sect Boko Haram has killed hundreds of people in the past three years in an effort to damage the Nigerian government.

Chinese officials are showing more anger toward Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea. China canceled events this week that were to commemorate 40 years of diplomatic relations with Japan. China’s simmering over Japan's decision to purchase the islands.

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Syrian rebels working to bring down the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad say they have moved their command center from Turkey into Syria. NPR's Kelly McEvers says for now the move appears symbolic.

Rebel leaders who were based in Turkey have long faced a problem of legitimacy with the fighters inside Syria who battle regime forces every day. Now, those leaders, mostly defectors from the regime's army, say they will join their brothers in the push to take the Syria’s capital Damascus. Rebels also claim they shot down a fighter jet this weekend. But rebel fighters are still far outgunned by regime forces. In Damascus, some members of Syria’s political opposition are holding a rare meeting. Members said they hope the meeting might unify the many different opposition groups both inside and outside Syria. But two members were abducted when they arrived at the airport in Damascus. The government says they were taken by terrorists. Opposition members say they were detained by the regime. Kelly McEvers, NPR News, Beirut.

A panda cub born about a week ago at the National Zoo in Washington DC has died. Suzan Murray is the zoo's chief vet.

“As you all might imagine, the cub was just beautiful. It's a beautiful little body, beautiful face with the marking just beginning to show around the eye. It couldn’t have been more beautiful.”

Zoo keepers do not yet know why the cub died; however, they note pandas are very delicate at birth.

The National Weather Center says Tropical Storm Miriam is churning in the Pacific Ocean about 500 miles southeast off the tip of the Baja California. Top winds are now 65 miles per hour and the storm is gaining strength. It's expected to become a hurricane later tonight.

I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.