NPR News 2013-03-18 加文本

NPR News 2013-03-18

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

A judge in Steubenville, Ohio today found two high school football players guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl. He sentenced both to at least a year in detention. NPR's David Schaper reports Ohio Attorney General is now calling for grand jury investigation to determine if others should be charged in the case.

A juvenile court judge found the 16 and 17-year-old high school football players to be delinquent in the sexual assault of a girl who prosecutors say was too drunk to give her consent. The trial featured emotional testimony and evidence that included graphic text messages, photos, videos and social media posts of the incident and of the drunken 16-year-old victim. The two teenagers broke down in tears after the judge read the guilty verdict and later the boys apologized to the victim and to the Steubenville community. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, says he will now seek grand jury to investigate whether others who witnessed the assault or shared images of the girl, should be charged. David Schaper, NPR News.

Police in India say they have arrested five men in connection with the gang-rape of a Swiss woman Friday night. The woman was on a cycling vacation with her husband when she was attacked. She was released from a hospital after treatment yesterday. The attack came three months after a woman died from injuries incurred during a gang-rape on a bus in New Delhi.

China's new Premier Li Keqiang named air pollution and corruption as the top priorities for the communist party's new leadership to tackle. NPR's Frank Langfitt has more.

In focusing on corruption and pollution, Li chose two problems that are most obvious and frustrating for ordinary Chinese. In January, smog blanketed much of eastern China and at times made Beijing practically uninhabitable. Pollution experts say the technology exists to reduce air pollution, but it will mean confronting powerful interests including rich state oil companies that distribute  high sulphur heavy polluting gas.  Tackling corruption won't be easier either. For years, many people have pursued government jobs here to take advantage of China's boom and line their pockets, not serve the country. On foreign policy, Li said China is committed to strong relations with the United States and continued to deny that Beijing is behind cyber espionage, targeting American firms. Frank Langfitt, NPR News, Shanghai.

More than 150,000 people crowded into St. Peter's Square today to hear the first blessing from Pope Francis. Speaking in Italian, he urged them to be more forgiving and not so quick to condemn other people's failures. He said a little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just.

The president of Cyprus went on television today to explain the terms of an international bailout. Lenders will provide the euro equivalent of $13 billion but only if there is a one-time tax on bank accounts. The Cyprian president said he had to accept the requirement or the island would face bankruptcy. The parliament is to vote on the deal tomorrow.

This is NPR News from Washington.

The biggest prize in architecture, the Pritzker has been given this year to Toyo Ito. NPR's Neda Ulaby reports the 71-year-old Japanese architect has been a powerful presence in this field for decades. 

Toyo Ito has been a contender for the Pritzker Architecture Prize ever since he designed a beautiful cutting-edge library or a mediatheque in the Japanese city of Sendai, in 2001. Thanks to his innovative tube and platform design, it survived the major recent earthquake there two years ago. Its undulations were documented on YouTube. Toyo Ito has also designed a pair of stunning towers in the architecture-craze city of Barcelona, Spain and a sports stadium in Taiwan that's completely solar-powered. But he's also directed his human friendly architectural philosophy towards public buildings, like a firehouse, a kindergarden and a community center for senior citizens.  Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

House Speaker John Boehner said today he and President Obama are open and honest with each other. He told ABC's This Week, they agree the U.S. does not have an immediate debt crisis, but disagree on how to prevent a crisis in the future. Another subject, Boehner was asked about same-sex marriage.

I believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. It's what I grew up with. It's what I believe. It's what my church teaches me. And I can't imagine that position would ever change.

Republican Senator Rob Portman also from Ohio, announced last week that he had changed his opposition to same-sex marriage after learning his son is gay.

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