NPR News 2013-03-25 加文本

NPR News 2013-03-25

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

Secretary of State John Kerry is urging Iraq to stop its neighbor Iran from using Iraqi airspace to ship weapons and fighters to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports Kerry made the appeal during an unannounced visit to Baghdad today.

Syria was one of the dominant themes during Secretary Kerry's brief stay in Iraq. The secretary says he had a spirited discussion with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki about the Iranian overflights.

The overflights from Iran are in fact helping to sustain President Assad.

And Kerry warns that members of Congress are watching closely to see what Iraq does. He also brought up his concerns with Maliki about upcoming provincial elections and a decision to delay the vote in two Sunni provinces. Kerry says if Iraq's Democratic experiment is to succeed, then Shia, Sunni and Kurds must all work together. Michele Kelemen, Baghdad.

At the U.S. Supreme Court, people began lining up more than five days ahead of time, in hopes of securing a seat for the court's historic arguments this week on same-sex marriage. As NPR's Nina Totenberg reports that's two days earlier than last year when the line began forming for arguments over the Obama health care overhaul.

The stakes are high for people on both sides of the same-sex marriage issue, pitting notions of equality and tradition against each other. On Tuesday, the court will hear a challenge to California's ban on same-sex marriage. And on Wednesday, the issue will be the Federal Defense Marriage Act, which bars federal benefits for same-sex couples who are legally married in states where such unions are authorized. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the California ban against same-sex marriage is Sandy Stier. She and her partner Kris Perry say they are honored the case has been taken by the Supreme Court.  

We don't know yet what we'll be when the verdict comes down, but what we do know is when the verdict comes down, if it is favorable, which a court's figure much hoped it is. We'll be planning a wedding and having one as soon as possible we can.

Stier and Perry plan to be in the Supreme Court on Tuesday to watch their case being argued.

Heavy weather's descended on the Midwest. The National Weather Service says parts of Kansas got between 10 and 15 inches of snow. The storm blew out of the Rocky Mountains, snarling travel in Colorado and cancelling dozens of flights out of Denver. Now the storm is headed east. A winter storm warning has been posted for areas from Missouri to Pennsylvania.

Bodybuilder and promoter Joe Weider has died at his home in Los Angeles. He was 93. Weider helped popularize the sport. He also introduced young bodybuilders to the world, including Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Somebody is a lot richer today. The Powerball Lottery says a single winning ticket hit the jackpot last night. It's worth more than $338 million.

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Rebel fighters have entered the capital of the central African Republic. There are reports of gun battles as they seized the presidential palace. As NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports the president is said to have fled.

Beleaguered President Francois Bozize is reported to have left CAR's riverside capital Bangui and crossed the border into neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. France, the former colonial power, which refused  Bozize military assistance during an earlier crisis, is calling for an urgent UN Security Council session on the central African Republic. Rebels took up arms against the president in December, seizing key towns and cities and threatening to topple and take the capital. Peace talks were held and a deal agreed. But the rebels claimed Bozize again remained on his promises, issued an ultimatum and warned they would march on Bangui just as they've done. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, Lagos.

The president of Cyprus is holding emergency talks with European finance leaders, hoping to arrange a bailout package for his country. Cyprus could start losing rescue money and might face bankruptcy as early as this week. An earlier plan to help finance, Cyprus's European bailout  was scrapped. It called for a tax on Cypriots' saving accounts. It was very unpopular.

British police say they have scoured the property of the late Russian Financier Boris Berezovsky. They did not find any hazardous substances. Berezovsky died yesterday at his home in England. Police say his death is unexplained. He had survived other assassination attempts. He was an exile from Russia, that's because he was wanted there on fraud charges and was a critic of President Vladimir Putin.

I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News.