NPR News 2013-07-08 加文本

NPR News 2013-07-08

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston.

Chinese state media are reporting that the two passengers killed in yesterday's plane crash in San Francisco were both Chinese high school students. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Beijing.

The Chinese consulate in San Francisco is confirmed that both victims were Chinese nationals. Airline offcials identified the two victims as Wang Linjia and Ye Mengyuan. Both were female high school students from JiangShan city in eastern China's Zhejiang province. They’re believed to have been between 16 and 17 years old. Almost half of the 291 passengers aboard the flight were Chinese. Many of them were students and teachers headed to summer camps in the US. State media report that local officials are now preparing to accompany the victims' families to the United States. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Beijing.

Canadian officials say five people are dead and several others are missing after a runaway train derailed and exploded in the middle of a small town in Quebec. Police official Guy Lapointe says it will take some time to determine what caused the accident.

“We are taking eyewitness accounts. Some people submitted videos that were taken with cellular phones. But at this point there’s different stories that are going around. We're really gonna try and take all of pieces of the puzzle to get a whole together. At this point is really too early to speculate what might have happned.”

The explosion destroyed dozens of buildings in the center of the town. In Egypt the rival protests are being called today for and against ousted President Mohamed Morsi. NPR's Leila Fadel reports.

Morsi’s supporters likewise his Muslim Brotherhood calls for the rallies to protect legitimacy. They say the overthrow of Morsi by the military is an affront in democracy. Over a dozen members of the Muslim Brotherhood leadership including the ousted president have been arrested. This as the president's opponents are also calling on supporters to take to the streets to show their support for the decision. Tensions remain high in Egypt with fierce violence between the two sides. Meanwhile, the interim president has yet to choose a new prime minister or appoint a government. The frontrunner for the position is Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei. But he is a devisive liberal figure, widely disliked by Islamists. Leila Fadel, NPR News, Cairo.

Arizona Senator John McCain says he’s praying House Republicans will take up immigration reform after the Senate's passage of a measure last month. Speaking on CBS's “Face the Nation” this morning he said immigration reform legislation creates a difficilt path to citizenship for those living in the US illegally but it does make it possible.

“It's not easy and it shouldn't be easy. But we have shown them a path forward and we hope and pray that our Republican colleagues will take up the issue and we can join together, Republicans and Democrats.”

He says he is not trying to dictate what House members should do, but says if they come up with a bill, negotiations can go forward. This is NPR.

Congress returns this week after its 4th of July recess. Among the unfinished business is what to do about student loans. The interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans doubled last week from 3.4% to 6.8%. Lawmakers from both parties have said they try to lower them again before students have to sign loan documents this fall.

A Muslim preacher once considered one of Britain's worst terrorist threats was deported today to Jordan. Dale Gavlak reports.

Jordan's Information Minister Mohammed Momani has vowed that the trial of Abu Qatada, believed to be a key al-Qaeda operative in Europe, will be handled with credibility and transparency. Jordan and Britain recently ratified the treaty on torture that removed the last obstacle from human rights concerns that have blocked previous attempts to deport him. Activists fear that torture-tainted evidence would be used against him. Abu Qatada will be retried for his involvement in a plan targeting an American school and a hotel in Amman and a field plot to attack Western and Israeli targets in the kingdom in the year 2000. For NPR News, I'm Dale Gavlek in Amman.

Representatives from North and South Korea met yesterday in a meeting that continued into today at a border village. The topic was how to reopen a jointly run industrial park that was shut down in April because of heightened tensions on the peninsula. The two sides agreed to inspect the facilities Wednesday and allow South Korean factory managers to retrieve products and supplies left behind when the operation was closed.

Andy Murray has won the Wimbledon title, beating Novak Djokovic in straight sets.

I'm Windsor Johnston, NPR News.