NPR News 2013-06-19 加文本

NPR News 2013-06-19

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

President Obama has informed leaders at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland about a potentially important milestone in the Afghan War. NPR’s Scott Horsley reports the Taliban have agreed to open a negotiating office in Doha, Qatar, and talks with the US could begin in a couple of days.

Administration officials say the Taliban’s agreement to open talks comes after months of diplomatic spadework that coincides with another milestone, Afghan forces taking the lead in military operations throughout their country, with US and allied forces now playing a supporting role. US officials say the talks with the Taliban are likely to be complex, long and messy. But they say this could be an important first step towards a negotiated end to the 12-year-old war. The Taliban has agreed to renounce international attacks launched from Afghan soil. The US says any final deal with the Taliban should also sever ties with al-Qaeda and include protections for Afghanistan’s women and minorities. Scott Horsley, NPR News, traveling with the president.

The leaders of the G8 summit are united in working to end the Syria crisis but they are still divided on how to do it. As the gathering release(d) its communiqué on Syria, British Prime Minister David Cameron said President Bashar al-Assad could not be part of a post-civil war Syria.

"As for the transition, look, I think it is unthinkable that President Assad can play any part in the future government of his country. He has blood on his hands. He’s used chemical weapons."

But Russia opposes any measures that would force Assad out.

The head of the NSA testified today about foiled terror plots. General Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, told the House Intelligence Committee the NSA’s controversial surveillance programs may have prevented terrorists events more than 50 times since the 9/11 attacks. And he said people’s privacy had not been violated.

"The disciplined operation of these programs protects the privacy and civil liberties of the American people."

Officials said one of those foiled terror plots was against the New York Stock Exchange.

The Federal Reserve’s policymaking Federal Open Market Committee began two days of meetings in Washington today. And Steve Beckner of Market News International says their meeting amid mixed economic signs.

In deciding how much monetary stimulus to provide, Fed policymakers are reevaluating the economy and revising their projections for growth, unemployment and inflation. Ahead of the meeting, the Labor Department reported a modest rise in consumer prices, while the Commerce Department reported a weaker-than-expected increase in housing starts and a drop in building permits. Most Fed watchers think the mix of low inflation, high unemployment and slow growth will lead the FOMC to delay scaling back its 85-billion-dollar monthly bond-buying or quantitative easing. The Fed will announce its decision Wednesday afternoon. For NPR News, I’m Steve Beckner.

This is NPR News.

Under the glare of cameras, the FBI resumed its search for Jimmy Hoffa. For a second day agents scoured an overgrown farm field just outside Detroit for the remains of the former Teamsters’ boss whose fate has remained a mystery for nearly 40 years.

Bob Meistrell, who with his brother Bill developed the first modern wet suit, has died on his boat off the Los Angeles coast. He was 84 years old. NPR’s Karen Grigsby Bates has this appreciation.

Bob Meistrell grew up in Missouri with his identical twin Bill. The boys taught themselves to swim at a local pond, but when they moved to Southern California as teens, they took up surfing and became avid fans. Wet suits have been gradually catching on, but many surfers rejected them as ugly and cumbersome. Using a declassified Navy pattern, the Meistrells created a new kind of wet suit that was lighter, more limber and less irritating than the foamed rubber-backed neoprene then in use. And those wet suits caught on. Today the Meistrells’ company, Body Glove International, earns more than 200 million dollars in sales of wet suits and water sports items. Bill Meistrell remained active in water sports after his brother Bob died in 2006. He died from a heart attack aboard his boat in Catalina Harbor on Sunday. Karen Grigsby Bates, NPR News.

Chrysler is giving in to federal regulators’ demands to recall nearly three million older Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty SUVs dating back more than ten years. It reversed course amid growing pressure from customers. And National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the vehicles were at risk of a fuel tank fire.

Before the closing bell, Dow was up 138 points at 15,318.

I’m Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.