NPR News 2012-12-03 加文本

NPR News 2012-12-03

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

Republicans say the White House is not serious about finding a compromise to a looming deadline of tax increases and spending cuts. Speaker of the House John Boehner says the GOP remains opposed to increasing tax rates on all Americans, including on those who are more affluent. Boehner says other ideas to find revenue could include cutting tax write-offs that Americans use now.

“There are a lot of different ways to get there, but you can cap deductions at a percent of income. One way to get there. You can eliminate certain deductions for those, the wealthiest in our country. You could do all of that.”

Speaker Boehner spoke on Fox News Sunday. In a separate Fox News Sunday interview, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner insisted tax rates on wealthier Americans must increase. He says if Republicans will not concede this point, the White House can't promise the US won't go over the so-called “fiscal cliff”.

Egypt’s highest court has suspended its work after a protest by Islamist supporters of President Mohamed Morsi. They prevented judges from attending a key meeting today. The court had been set to rule on whether the Islamist-dominated assembly, which drew up a new draft constitution, was legitimate. The BBC's Bethany Bell is in Cairo.

The political stand-off in Egypt continues. Earlier this morning, President Morsi's supporters started to gather outside the Constitutional Court in Cairo. They wanted to block any moves by the court that questioned the legitimacy of the assembly that wrote Egypt's draft constitution, and the pressure seems for now to have paid off. The court issued a statement saying it is postponing its work indefinitely. Many Islamists are deeply suspicious of the court, which they see is being a vestige of the old regime of Hosni Mubarak.

The BBC's Bethany Bell.

Nine Taliban and five Afghan troops and civilians are dead after a coordinated suicide attack on an eastern Afghan base. Despite the heavy fighting, NPR's Sean Carberry reports the Taliban failed to penetrate the base.

Two suicide bombers detonated vehicles outside the main gate of the compound in the eastern city of Julalabad, the other insurgents dressed in Afghan army uniforms then tried to fight their way in. The ensuing battle lasted two hours and required air support from NATO helicopters. Three assailants blew themselves up and coalition forces eventually killed the remaining attackers. Several Afghan and NATO service members were wounded in the attack. In February of this year, a car bomb killed nine Afghans at the same base. And in southern Afghanistan today, a NATO service member was killed in a separate insurgent attack. Sean Carberry, NPR News, Kabul.

In Russia, thousands of trucks and cars are caught in a huge traffic jam on the highway between Moscow and St. Petersburg. A storm dumped a record amount of snow on the region on Thursday. But three days later, some motorists still can't get out of the traffic jam.

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The pre-trial hearing for the Army private accused of leaking thousands of classified documents to the website WikiLeaks continues this weekend. Matt Laslo of member station WAMU reports Bradley Manning's lawyers are trying to get the case thrown out, based on how he was treated in prison.

Prosecutors will continue painting Manning as a potential suicide risk. The court is hearing testimony from members of the health board that decided to isolate Manning for 23 hours a day for nine months. On Saturday, one member told the judge he didn't consider Manning a suicide threat, though he still supported isolating him. Manning's supporter Emma Cape says testimony heard this weekend supports defense claims that the private was wrongly subjected to harsh treatment.

“They considered Private Manning's behavior to be consistently normal, while he was at the brig with the exception of one day which Bradley himself explained he wasn't feeling well.”

Military experts say even if the defense can prove Manning was illegally punished, they doubt the entire case will be dropped. For NPR News, I’m Matt Laslo in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Two car bombs exploded in the central Syrian city of Homs today. At least 32 people were killed, according to Syrian activists. The attack came in a quieter area of Homs, where some Syrians had come to get away from fighting between rebels and the government.

Authorities in Japan say at least seven people are missing and feared dead in a highway tunnel. Dozens of heavy cement panels fell off the tunnel’s ceiling onto the roadway below today, trapping motorists. Rescuers are trying to reach them, but one of the cars caught fire. There is heavy smoke, and there is fear more cement panels will crush down.

I’m Korva Coleman, NPR News.