NPR News 2013-09-10 加文本

NPR News 2013-09-10

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

Congress returns to work tomorrow after its summer break, and lawmakers will be faced with the pivotal decision of whether to launch military strikes against Syria after its alleged use of chemical weapons. Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez told NBC’s Meet the Press that she doesn’t see the use of chemical weapons as a threat to US national security that justifies military strikes.

“It isn’t about national security, and I haven’t heard any of our interests. I haven’t heard that Assad wants to use the weapons against us. I haven’t heard that he wants to use the weapons against our allies, that he is moving them to terrorist organizations.”

President Obama is expected to meet with Senate Democrats at the capital on Tuesday to solicit their support for military action in Syria, will then address the nation later that evening. The president and Vice President Joe Biden tonight courted GOP senators at Biden’s mansion.

Syrian President Bashar Assad says there is no conclusive evidence about who’s to blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria. Television journalist Charlie Rose recently interviewed Assad. Rose says the Syrian president thinks it would be a mistake for the US to go through with the threatened military strikes against the country.

“He had a message to the American people that it had not been a good experience for them to get involved in the Middle East in wars and conflicts in the Middle East, that the result had not been good, and that they should not get involved, and that they should communicate to their Congress and to their leadership in Washington not to authorize a strike.”

Excerpts of Rose’s interview with the Syrian president will be aired tomorrow on CBS This Morning. The full interview will air tomorrow night on Rose’s PBS show.

Wall Street is bracing for what could be a rocky September. Danielle Karson reports that investors will be keeping a close eye on Congress.

Investors have a lot to worry about this month--Congress in particular. Lawmakers need to pass a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. Then there is the US hitting its borrowing limit next month. If Congress doesn’t raise the limit, the US could default on its debt. Lawrence Creatura, portfolio manager for Federated Investors, says the Syrian conflict is a wild card.

“Investors in general just hate uncertainty, and nobody knows exactly what is going to happen, making it more difficult for investors to price assets.”

The turmoil in Syria is already making investors jittery. It’s pushed up energy stock prices and driven up the cost of crude oil. For NPR News, I’m Danielle Karson.

NAACP President Ben Jealous will resign at the end of the year. He told NPR he wants to pursuit teaching and spend more time with his family. Jealous is credited with improving the organization’s finances and donor base over the past five years and for improving its outreach. This is NPR.

A 15-member panel charged with helping to amend the 2012 Egyptian Constitution met in Cairo for the first time on Sunday. The constitution adopted last year under Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was suspended when he was toppled by the military.

Mexico City has been rocked by massive protests responding to the Mexican president’s recent reform to overhaul its failing education system. Earlier today protesters took to the streets again this time against another controversial proposed reform: the president’s initiative to open the state-owned oil industry to foreign capital.

President Enrique Peña Nieto’s push to open the state-owned oil industry to foreign capital is one of several divisive initiatives he’s embarked on recently, which has sparkled massive protests, bringing Mexico City to a standstill.

At a rally held today by leftist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Mexico City, several thousand protesters expressed anger at the proposed energy reforms.

Ollalila Naliti Dosa is a 22-year-old engineering student. She says Mexico has the manpower: the students, the engineers and the resources. Why is no one taking advantage of that human capital instead of relying on foreign companies. Jasmine Garsd, NPR News in Mexico City.

Officials in Guatemala say a group of men in a stolen car shot 29 people on the main street of a town outside of Guatemala City. Eleven people were killed. Authorities blamed the attack on gang violence. This is NPR News.