NPR News 2013-03-23 加文本

NPR News 2013-03-23

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

President Obama is wrapping up his trip to the Middle East where he worked to repair strained relations with Israel, addressed the peace process with Palestinians, in this hour, shoring up U.S. ties with Jordan. The issue of regional security has dominated Obama's diplomatic mission, especially on matters of Iran's nuclear threat and the regional impact of Syria's civil war. Among the most pressing, is the vast number of Syrian refugees escaping to neighboring countries including Jordan. But King Abdullah  said at a joint conference  in Amman that even though Jordan's economy is hurting, he can not close the border.

How are you going to turn back women, children and the wounded. This is something that we just can't do. It's not the Jordanian way.

Today, President Obama pledged assistance.

My administration will work with Congress to provide Jordan with an additional $200 million in budget support of this year as it cares for Syrian refugees and Jordanian communities affected by this crisis.

President Obama had a hand in restoring normal diplomatic relations between Turkey and Israel today. From Jerusalem, NPR's Larry Abramson reports tensions eased after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized for a 2010 Israeli raid that killed nine activists aboard a Turkish ship that was bound for the Gaza Strip.

Just as President Obama was about to leave Israel, he set up a phone call between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. Netanyahu apologized for the incident in which Israeli commanders boarded the Mavi Marmara which was carrying relief supplies to Gaza. The confrontation left nine activists dead. Netanyahu apologized for operational errors that led to loss of life and agreed to work on paying compensation. Turkey agreed to drop any legal steps against Israeli military personnel. Israel loosened its blockade of Gaza after the incident but continues to control the flow of goods into the territory. Larry Abramson, NPR News, Jerusalem.

After several days of bank closure, Cypriots are anxiously waiting for parliamentary vote today on the new plan that would keep the island's two biggest banks from collapsing. Nine measures are under consideration including a bill that would allow the central bank to take over troubled commercial banks. John Psaropoulos has more from Nicosia.

Parliament rejected plan A this week that would have claimed between 7% and 10% of people's savings. But the country needs to bailout two banks weakened last year, when Greece defaulted on bonds those banks had bought. The government can't do it on its own. Now it's down to plan B. The president has asked parliament to give the central bank power to split the banks in two. Legally guaranteed deposits of up to $130,000 would be spun off into healthy banks, while much of the rest of depositors' money would go towards paying off the toxic investments. For NPR News, I'm John Psaropoulos in Nicosia.

Before the close, Dow was up more than 90.

This is NPR.

Fitch Ratings is warning the United Kingdom it may lose its AAA credit rating, citing worse economic outlook. It says a review of the UK sovereign debt rating should be completed by the end of April. Last month, Moody's Investors Service  downgraded UK's credit rating.

Britain is considering imposing a cash deposit on visitors if they come from what the UK believes as a high risk nation.British deputy leader Nick Clegg says under the proposal on bill today, immigrants would only be able to get their money back when they leave the UK. And foreigners would forfeit the deposit if they overstay their visas. It is uncertain how much the deposit would be or which nationalities would be targeted.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is under investigation for allegedly exploiting the impaired state of the world's richest woman. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports Sarkozy is suspected of taking illegal campaign contributions from  L'Oreal heiress, Liliane Bettencourt.

The long running scandal stems from the 2007 presidential race. Sarkozy is suspected of accepting cash stuffed envelope from the frail and aging Liliane Bettencourt. A French judge and two examining magistrates decided to formally charge Sarkozy after interrogating him for 12 hours on the matter last November. Under French law preliminary charges mean the investigating judge has reason to believe wrongdoing was committed but allows more time to investigate. The charges may later be dropped or could lead to a trial. But the charges are politically devastating to the 58-year-old former president, who's believed to be planning a combat for the 2017 French presidential race. Sarkozy has denied any wrongdoing. His lawyer says he will appeal the ruling. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris.

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