NPR News 2013-09-18 加文本

NPR News 2013-09-17

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

In Washington DC police officials say they still can't rule out a possible second suspect in today's shooting at a Navy complex. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports 13 people were killed including the gunman, a former reservist, who was apparently working as a subcontractor.

The shooter was 34-year-old Aaron Alexis, a former Navy reservist, most recently stationed in Texas. Pentagon officials say he was discharged for misconduct. DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier says no motive is known. She says 911 calls about the shooting came in at 8:20 this morning.

“Within seven minutes with active shooter teams inside the building moving through the building, there was multiple engagements with the suspect that was eventually deceased.

Three more wounded remained in a hospital. Residents around the Navy Yard site are being asked to stay out of the area. Nearby highways and public schools were temporarily closed, and Washington Nationals baseball game has been postponed. Jennifer Ludden, NPR News, Washington.

All told a dozen people were wounded in that attack. Witnesses to today's shooting at the DC Navy Yard complex described a confusing scene. One says he and others were in a long hallway when the gunman opened fire. Another civilian working for the Navy describes how the man began shooting from a fourth floor overlook into the building's cafeteria below. Other witnesses said they just started running when they heard the shooting. President Obama today mourned what he called “yet another mass shooting” in the US, which he describes is taking the lives of American patriots.

A report by a UN weapons inspection team says there is clear and convincing evidence of a large-scale chemical weapon attack in Syria on August 21st. It can confirm that the nerve gas sarin was used which the US says killed more than 1,400 people. NPR's Jackie Northam reports.

This is the first independent report confirming that chemical weapons were used in an August attack on a Damascus suburb. The UN inspectors said the majority of medical and chemical samples gathered tested positive for sarin, and that surface-to-surface missiles were used to deliver the nerve agent. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the report does not say who was responsible for the attack.

“It was the team's job to determine whether and to what extent chemical weapons were used, not who used them.”

But the new US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said the report makes clear the attack was carried out by the Syrian government. Jackie Northam, NPR News, Washington.

US factories boosted their output in August, the government announcing today that was in part due to strong output by the nation's automakers. Manufacturing was up 0.7% from the previous month. Chad Moutray is chief economist at the National Association of Manufacturers.

“You’re certainly seeing the auto sector really being one of the stronger components in the overall production figures this time. I think a lot of that is, you know, gearing up for the new model year, and that kind of [inaudible] more or less shows the rebound that we had from the slower figures in July.

All told industrial production was up 0.4%.

On Wall Street today, mixed close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average up 118 points; the NASDAQ fell four points. This is NPR.

Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of the 12-year-old Florida girl who authorities believe took her own life after negative comments were posted about her on online message boards. A number of those who turned out for a 45-minute memorial service for Rebecca Sedwick were wearing neon green T-shirts with anti-bullying slogans. Sheriff’s detectives say Sedwick was picked on by as many as 15 girls for a year who were throwing herself from a tower at an abandoned concrete plant. Authorities say they’re still trying to determine whether there’s sufficient evidence to bring charges in the case.

Fifteen hours after it started, the operation to raise the Costa Concordia luxury liner off the Italian coast entered its final phase. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports the rotation of the giant ship is going to coordinate engineers' calculations, but more slowly than being anticipated.

Engineer Franco Porcellacchia said the Costa Concordia has been rotated 15 degrees from its original slump position on a reef of the island of Giglio. This is a milestone, he said, because of the rest of the rotation--another 40 degrees to bring the vessel fully upright--will no longer be achieved through pulleys and cables, but by pouring water into ballast tanks. That's when gravity should take over to bring the vessel to rest on large undersea platforms custom-built for the salvage operation. The engineers said they were very satisfied the ship's rotation is going exactly as they calculated. The operation was originally expected to last ten to 12 hours, but now it may take as many as 19. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Giglio.

Forbes Magazine's again out with its annual list of wealthiest Americans, the top spot on the list for the 20th straight year going to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, whose net worth is estimated 72 billion dollars. Investor Warren Buffett came in second with about 58.5 billion.

I'm Jack Speer, NPR News in Washington.