NPR News 2012-12-10 加文本

NPR News 2012-12-10

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

Some Senate Republicans are saying they might accept higher tax rates for the wealthiest Americans if there is also agreement on overhauling the entitlement programs. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma is one of them. He told ABC's This Week they must come up with a plan.

We are spending money that we don't have on things we don't absolutely need and there is no grownups in Washington that will say "timeout, stop the politics, let's have a compromise rather than continue to play the game through the press and hurt the country".

When asked what it would take to sign on to a tax rate increase, he said significant entitlement reform.

There will be large federal spending cuts and the Bush-era tax cuts will expire for everyone unless Congress and the White House agree on the legislation by the end of the year.

In Egypt, President Mohamed Morsi has rescinded a series of decrees that gave him sweeping powers, after more than two weeks of demonstrations. Merrit Kennedy reports this concession is unlikely to satisfy the opposition.

The announcement came in the wee hours of the morning after a marathon national dialogue session that most major opposition leaders refused to attend. Rescinding those powers was a major demand of Morsi's opponents. At the same time, the president is not backing down on holding a nationwide vote on a controversial draft constitution in less than a week. Last night statement said that by law he is required to hold the vote on 15th. Critics say the draft constitution was pushed through by an assembly of mostly his political allies and doesn't represent the interests of all Egyptians. For NPR News, I'm Merrit Kennedy in Cairo.

U.S. and Russian officials met in Geneva today to discuss the civil war in Syria. The mediator of the talks, Lakhdar Brahimi, issued a statement that both nations agree the situation is bad and getting worse in Syria, and they are committed to finding a political solution.

Nearly 200 countries attending a two-week climate conference in Qatar have agreed to extend the Kyoto Protocol until the year 2020. Lisa Schlein from Geneva reports.

The Kyoto Protocol obliges 35 industrialized countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, it was due to expire at the end of the year. The U.S. never ratified the pact because it doesn't impose binding commitments on China and other emerging economies. Environmentalists argue the new climate deal will fail to slow rising temperatures and revert extreme weather events such as floods and drought. They note big financial promises to help poor countries cope with climate change are inadequate. The UN's goal is to keep temperatures from rising more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. But the World Bank predicts temperature increases will be twice as high by 2,100. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Schlein, in Geneva.

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Authorities in the Philippines now say at least 800 people are missing after last week's typhoon. That number has gone up after hearing from families and companies that hundreds of fishermen are missing at sea. At least 540 people are confirmed dead.

In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez said the cancer he'd beaten earlier this year is back. NPR's Wong Ferrera reports Chavez says he will undergo a fourth operation in the coming days.

In making his announcement in a national broadcast, Chavez for the first time said that if his health worsens, he would be succeeded by vice President Nicolas Maduro. Chavez said he flew(fly) back today to Cuba where he's been undergoing treatment since his first operations in June of last year. The populist leader said doctors found new malignant cells in the same pelvic region where the first tumour was discovered. After last year's operations, Chavez underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments but then he underwent another operation in February when a recurrence was detected. Chavez later declared himself cured and won re-election in October, receiving another six-year term. If Chavez stepped aside though, a new election would have to be called. Wong Ferrera, NPR News.

Some court houses are open in Washington state today to accommodate gay and lesbian couples who want to get married. The state voted last month to legalize same-sex marriage. The new law went into effect Thursday and a three-day waiting period expired at midnight. Washington joins six other states and the district of Columbia in allowing same-sex marriage. Couples legally married in other states found their marriages are now valid in Washington and they won't have to get remarried there.

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