NPR News 2013-09-14 加文本

NPR News 2013-09-14

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Speer.

Secretary of State John Kerry began talks with his Russian counterpart in Geneva today, saying the world is watching to see if two major powers can work together to rid Syria of chemical weapons. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports Kerry is testing how serious both Moscow and Damascus are about this diplomatic way forward.

Secretary Kerry has already raised concerns about the timetable for a plan to destroy Syria's chemical weapons. Syria says it has 30 days to declare its arsenal once it joins the Chemical Weapons Convention. But Kerry says there is nothing standard about this moment, and he says there are a lot of issues for the experts to iron out quickly.

“The technical challenges of trying to do this in the context of a civil war are obviously immense.”

But he says he thinks it can be done as long as there are consequences for Syria if it does not follow through. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Geneva.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says GOP lawmakers are wasting their time in trying to delay or defund the president's health care law. NPR's Craig Windham reports Reid's comments come after he met with House Speaker John Boehner and other congressional leaders as they try to head off a government shutdown in less than three weeks.

Conservative GOP lawmakers are demanding that any measure to keep federal agency's operating include a provision to defund or delay the health care law. Boehner acknowledges that is a key issue.

“For the sake of our economy we’ll continue to do everything we can to repeal, dismantle and defund Obamacare.”

Boehner also wants the president to agree to more spending cuts in exchange for raising the nation's debt limit this fall. But Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray of Washington state says that is not going to happen.

“Democrats are not delaying Obamacare, [that] we certainly are negotiating over the debt limit and it’s insane to play partisan games with our nation's economy.”

Craig Windham, NPR News, Washington.

Emergency crews in the state of Colorado were dealing with extensive flooding from Colorado Springs to north of Fort Collins. It's after more than six inches of rain fell in some areas, leaving at least three people dead and some mountain communities cut off. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper says he's already looking for federal assistance.

“We have declared a disaster for the flooded areas and requesting emergency declaration from FEMA.”

Rain sent walls of water crashing down mountainsides in areas where ground cover had been stripped due to recent wildfires.

A federal judge has officially signed off on a plan by American Airlines parent company AMR to emerge from bankruptcy, today's ruling by the judge in essence allowing for a proposed merger with US Airways to continue to move forward. But the airlines still face a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block the marriage. While the carriers have originally proposed closing the merger deal this month to create the world's largest airline, a trial on Justice Department objections is now scheduled to November.

After two days of strong gains, stocks show modest declines. Today the Dow was down 25 points; the S&P 500 fell five points. This is NPR.

The special US envoy has indicated any move by North Korea to restart a nuclear reactor would be viewed as a very serious violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. According to US research institutes, satellite pictures show what appears to be North Korea restarting a plutonium reactor--one of the country's nuclear facilities--that was shuttered in 2007. According to the US envoy, if true, such a move by the North could be a violation of previous commitments.

It's official Dell Computer is going private. As NPR's Steve Henn reports, Dell shareholders have approved a deal to sell the company to its founder Michael Dell and private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners.

This 25-billion-dollar deal was a long time coming. It faced stiff opposition of some of Dell's largest outside investors like Carl Icahn and big mutual funds. They argue Michael Dell and Silver Lake were not paying enough for what was once the largest personal computer manufacturer on the planet. But as the personal computer industry has contracted over the last few years, Dell has struggled. Earnings last quarter fell 72%. Michael Dell hopes to revamp the company, move away from the PC business and focus on providing services and high-margin equipment to big businesses. Dell is following in the footsteps of both IBM, which successfully sold its PC business years ago, and HP, which is in the midst of a similar transition. Steve Henn, NPR News.

Looks a bit like something out of the Disney-Pixar movie Up, in which Carl Fredricksen uses a multitude of helium balloons in his aerial adventure. Over this morning balloonist Jonathan Trappe lifted off from Caribou, Maine in a similar contraption--a set of conventional hot-air balloons. Trappe's goal is to cross the Atlantic, using hundreds of helium-filled balloons. He’ll become the first person to ever do that.

I'm Jack Speer, NPR News in Washington.