NPR News 2013-07-01 加文本

NPR News 2013-07-01

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Schiavone.

At the University of Cape Town in South Africa, a warm welcom for President Obama and his family. The president spoke about his morning visit to Robben Island, where anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela was in prison for 18 years.

“Nelson Mandela showed us that one man's courage can move the world. And he calls on us to make choices that reflect not our fear, but our hopes.”

The president is on the final leg of his weeklong African tour, next stop Tanzania. Tomorrow Michelle Obama will attend the First Ladies Summit there hosted by former first lady Laura Bush. NPR's Gregory Warner reports a meeting of the presidents has not been ruled out.

The the First Ladies Summit hosted by Laura Bush will highlight the role that first ladies in Africa play in empowering women and girls. It will emphasize that investing women and gender equality leads to greater political stability in contrywide prosperity. That's the theme that President Obama has echoed in speeches throughout his Africa tour.

“And I tell you, you can measure how well a country does by how it treats its women.”

Administration officials did not rull out the possibility of a Tanzania meeting between Presidents Obama and Bush. But nothing of this sort is scheduled. The First Family flies home on Tuesday. Gregory Warner, NPR News, Johannesburg.

Secretary of State John Kerry says Palestnian and Israeli leaders have narrowed the gap between them and may progress toward starting peace negotiations. As NPR's Emily Harris reports from Jerusalem, Kerry is already planning a return trip.

Secretary Kerry initially planned to be in the region for just a couple of days. But he decided to stay an extra day and said as he left that with a little more effort the start of peace negotiations could be within reach. Kerry worked until the early hour Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and met a third time Sunday morning with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. At least one senior US State Department advisor is staying on for more discussions, and Kerry expects to be back some time soon.

“I’m going to come back because both leaders have asked me to, and I think I wouldn’t be asked to and I wouldn’t do it if there wasn’t some hope and possibility in that.”

He would give no details about demands or concessions from either side, only saying he knows progress when he sees it. I'm Emily Harris, NPR News, Jerusalem.

Across Egypt and on the streets of Cairo, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians turned out to protest the regime of President Mohamed Morsi. Supporters, meanwhile, staged a sit-in. Police confiscated explosives and firearms. Banks and government offices closed early in Egypt.

This is NPR News in Washington.

Key senators say the US should make clear to Russia and Ecuador that there would be consequences for any efforts to harbor former contractor Edward Snowden, who's been leaking NSA secrets. Speaking on FOX News Sunday, Arizona Republican John McCain sharply criticized both countries.

“They are not democratic. They are not friends of ours. And they will do whatever is necessary to damage America's national interest.”

Meanwhile in an exclusive appearance on ABC's This Week, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange called Snowden a hero. Assange spoke from the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he's taking asylum from British authorities.

In San Francisco, more than a million people are celebrating the city's annual gay pride parade. The parade comes on the heels of a big week at the US Supreme Court. Emily Green has more.

The parade is chock-full of people in colorful outfits. Some people are in stoles, others are decked out in rainbow colors, and there are lots of families too. This parade has always drawn a crowd in San Francisco, but this year is especially big with an estimated turnout of 1.5 million people. Organizers attribute the large turnout to court rulings that have allowed same-sex marriages to resume after five-year hiatus. The parade ends in front of San Francisco City Hall, where multiple stages have been set up for music and entertainment performances. For NPR News, I'm Emily Green in San Francisco.

Supreme Court Justices Anthony Kennedy has rejected the petition that same-sex marriages in California come to a halt.

I'm Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.