NPR News 2013-09-29 加文本

NPR News 2013-09-29

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

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously passed a resolution to demand that Syria follow through on its pledge to get rid of its chemical weapons stockpiles. The vote came at the end of the week of intense diplomacy as NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the unanimous vote is the first hopeful news on Syria for a long time. It requires Syria to get rid of all of its chemical weapons stockpiles by the middle of next year and give international inspectors unfettered access to the sites they need to visit. Ban says he also hopes to bring Syria's warring parties together in November in Geneva to try to find a political solution. The US has hailed these steps as a breakthrough after two and a half years of stalemate on the Security Council. But while the resolution is legally binding and warns of consequences if Syria does not comply, Russia makes sure it doesn't open the door to sanctions or military action without another council vote. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the United Nations.

President Obama says he had a phone conversation with Iran's President Rouhani, the first such high-level contact between the two nations since 1979. The call comes just after Rouhani's first visit as president to the US and United Nations this week. NPR's Don Gonyea has more.

For decades, US relations with Iran have been extremely difficult, starting with the Iranian hostage crisis 34 years ago. In recent years, lower-level diplomacy has gradually resumed. Recent tensions have centered on the US and Western efforts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions. The US believes it's a weapons program. Iran insists it's not. Here’s President Obama.

“While there will surely be important obstacles to moving forward and success is by no means guaranteed, I believe we can reach a comprehensive solution.”

The recently elected President Rouhani has signaled an interest in better relations. Obama portrayed the phone call as a potential major step toward that. Don Gonyea, NPR News, Washington.

The decision on whether to embark on a government shutdown is now in the hands of Republicans in the House. That's after the Democratic-led Senate voted 54-44 to approve a measure to keep the government operating through Monday, while stripping out language approved in the House to defund the president's health care law. That sets up a showdown with House Speaker John Boehner and fellow Republicans over the weekend to either accept the Senate bill or try to modify it. Boehner’s called a meeting with House Republicans for tomorrow.

Consumers were a bit more willing to open their wallets last month, the government reporting today consumer spending rose 0.3% with incomes going at their fastest pace in six months. From the Commerce Department personal incomes were up 0.4% in August. However, according to a separate private survey, consumer sentiment dipped slightly this month.

On Wall Street, the down ended the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 70 points to end the session at 15,258; the NASDAQ was down five points; the S&P 500 fell six points today. This is NPR.

A six-man, six-woman jury has wrapped up its first full day of deliberations in a lawsuit brought by the family of the late singer Michael Jackson against a concert promoter. The jury resumed talks that began late last night after closing arguments wrapped up in the case. The plaintiff's lawyer urged jurors to find that AEG Live negligently hired the doctor whose treatments led to Jackson's death. The defense, however, has argued that Jackson alone was responsible for his death and for his health care. Jackson died of drug overdose in 2009.

The pace of climate change is picking up. That's according to the latest report from a group of scientists assembled by the United Nations. As NPR's Richard Harris reports, they say the effect of human activities is already quite evident.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC pulls together scientists from around the world to advise governments about the science of global warming. In the latest report, they remain confident that the world will continue to warm despite a pause in global air temperature that has lasted for 15 years. They think that's a temporary state of affairs caused by a shift in weather patterns that had stored a lot of heat in the oceans. In the long term, they expect the planet to heat up as much as several degrees in the century, bringing more extreme weather, unless there’s an aggressive action to rein in emissions from burning fossil fuels, and they say sea level could rise by a foot or two, possibly somewhat more. Richard Harris, NPR News.

Federal Aviation Administration now says it will consider a recommendation allowing the easing of restrictions on the use of smartphones, tablets and other personal electronic devices on airplanes. Industry officials familiar with the matter say an advisory committee agreed on its recommendation today, which will be delivered to the FAA on Monday. However, downloading data, surfing the web and talking on the phone would still be prohibited.

I'm Jack Speer, NPR News in Washington.