NPR News 2013-06-18 加文本

NPR News 2013-06-18

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

The opening of the G8 Summit at the Lough Erne Resort in Northern Ireland. Against of the backdrop of lake views, British Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the other seven leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations. President Obama addressed plans to negotiate a groundbreaking trade pact that he says would bolster fragile economies on both sides of the Atlantic. He says the EU and the US already have the globe’s largest partnership.

“It makes up nearly half of global GDP. We trade about a trillion dollars in goods and services each year. We invest nearly four trillion dollars in each other’s economies. And all that supports around 13 million jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.”

Also on the table at the G8 Syria’s civil war and whether to arm Syria’s rebels. President Obama wants to. Russia opposes that idea.Meanwhile, Mr. Obama’s approval ratings appear to be taking a hit from the wave of controversies his administration is dealing with. NPR’s Mara Liasson reports.

A new cnn poll shows that the president’s approval rating has dipped to 45%. That’s down eight points since May. And for the first time in this poll less than half of those surveys believe Mr. Obama is honest and trustworthy. Fourty-nine percent say the president was honest, nine points down from last month. The biggest declines were among young voters and independents. Throughout the controversies over the IRS, Benghazi and the subpoenas for journalists’ phone records and emails, the president’s approval rating had stayed relatively stable. But the addition of the NSA surveillance story could have been the tipping point. And that’s even though polls including this one show the public split about whether they approve of the NSA program or not. Mara Liasson, NPR News, Washington.

The Supreme Court says Congress, not the state of Arizona, is in charge when it comes to federal voting registration. The court voted seven to two to throw out an Arizona law that requires people to show extra proof of citizenship. NPR’s Carrie Johnson reports the case has been closely watched by voting rights groups.

Justice Antonia Scalia writing for the majority says Congress gives states the power to decide the time, place and manner of elections, but it’s federal officials who control a simple form to register perspective voters in congressional races. Justice Antonia Scalia says the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also known as the “Motor Voter” law, forbids states from demanding more information than what’s on that short federal form. But Scalia says Arizona can still ask the federal government to seek more information on the form, and that can go to court if the feds refuse. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

Anger against the Turkish prime minister’s rule in Antakya and other cities across Turkey, labor groups and political opponents march continuing anti-government demonstrations that started weeks ago. And more reports of clashes today out of Istanbul.

Dow was up 110. This is NPR News.

It was a collapse of the housing market that led the economy into recession, but Steve Beckner of Market News International reports more evidence that housing is now leading the recovery.

When the Fed launched the third round of quantitative easing, it vowed to buy bonds to hold down long-term interest rates till it saw substantial labor market improvement, but it could scale back purchases from 85 billion dollars per month, if it sees enough progress toward that goal. Views vary and recent evidence is mixed. Consumer spending has held up but their optimism has waned. Manufacturing is soft. Jobs have shown steady but moderate improvement. Fear the Fed will reduce monetary stimulus has pushed bond yields and in turn mortgage rates up sharply. Bernanke and his fellow policymakers must decide whether to validate or soothe those concerns. For NPR News, I’m Steve Beckner.

Most US homebuilders seem to be more optimistic about the housing market than they have been in years. The National Association of Home Builders says the reading on homebuilders sentiment surged from 44 to 52 in May. The index’s yet another sign that the housing recovery is sustainable.

An Indiana woman sentenced to death when she was 16 years old is now out of prison. Local officials say Paula Cooper, who’s now 43, was released today. In 1986, Cooper was sentenced to die after she confessed her role in the murder of Ruth Pelke, a seventy-eight-year-old Bible school teacher during a robbery in Gary.

I’m Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.