NPR News 2015-03-21 加文本

NPR News 2015-03-21

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

President Obama has called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on his election victory. White House officials say the president made the same points in private the administration has been making in public. NPR’s Mara Liasson reports the White House is expressing its strong disagreements with the Israeli leader.

For the second day in a row, the White House warned that it may no longer be willing to protect Israel at the United Nations from resolutions supporting the creation of a Palestinian state. The reason – Netanyahu has disavowed his previous support for a two-state solution, the position of American administrations for the past 13 years. Netanyahu tried to walk back his remarks on Thursday, insisting that contrary to what he said during his campaign he does want a two-state solution. But the White House made it clear it believes that when Netanyahu said there would never be a Palestinian state on his watch, that was the more accurate expression of his intentions. Mara Liasson, NPR News, the White House.

Jurors in the trial of admitted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will see samples today of the violent Islamist literature found on his computer, which displayed for them. NPR’s Tovia Smith reports prosecutors are outlining what they say was a motive for the attack.

Tsarnaev’s computer had the complete set of the online al-Qaeda magazine called Inspire aimed at recruiting terrorists. One article called “Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom” included the instructions prosecutors say the Tsarnaev brothers followed to make the pressure cooker bomb used in the marathon and the firefight with police days later. Also found on the computer extremist writings and recordings what prosecutors call a window into the life Tsarnaev kept hidden. But defense attorneys hoping to spare Tsarnaev’s life say it was the older brother who “identified with violent jihad” and downloaded the material. They say Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sucked in to following along. Tovia Smith, NPR News at the federal courthouse in Boston.

In 2008, a much-heralded law was passed to restricting the opening of new standalone fast-food restaurants in South Los Angeles. The reason – given at the time, such restaurants in one of the city’s poorest sections were contributing to obesity. A recent analysis of the ban covering a 32-square-mile area questions its effectiveness. Roland Sturm is a senior economist at Rand Corporation, which conducted the research.

“That was a state policy with international coverage, a lot of expectations. Six years down the road, what can we conclude: It did nothing.”

In fact, Rand found obesity rates in that part of the city continued to rise after passage of the law. At the time the law was passed and was viewed to be the first effort of its kind by the city to improve public health.

The number of people filing applications for first-time jobless claims remained little changed last week, the government announcing today that initial claims for unemployment benefits were up by just 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 291,000. Less volatile four-week moving average was also up, but rose slightly as well.

On Wall Street today, stocks gave back some of their gains from yesterday. The Dow was down 117 points. This is NPR.

Five of the foreign tourists who died in yesterday’s attack on a crowded museum in Tunis were from an Italian cruise liner. In a statement, the company says four Italians and a Russian were killed while eight other passengers were injured. Also 20 tourists died when armed men opened fire at the museum in the Tunisian capital. Two of the gunmen were shot and killed by security forces. The group calling itself the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack but that has not been verified.

Lawmakers in New Jersey heard testimony today about the biggest environmental settlement in that state’s history. As NPR’s Joel Rose explains, environmentalists are unhappy about the proposed 225-million-dollar deal with ExxonMobil.

The proposed settlement covers two of Exxon’s former refineries near New York Harbor. In court, lawyers from New Jersey calculated the damages are almost nine billion dollars. But the state agreed to settle after more than a decade of litigation for just a fraction of that. Critics questioned the timing of the deal as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie struggles to balance his state’s budget. Under state law, most of the proceeds from the Exxon settlement would go to the state’s general fund. The state Assembly Committee approved a bill that would require that a majority of the settlement money be used for environmental purposes. The settlement still requires approval from a New Jersey judge. Joel Rose, NPR News.

Electric vehicle maker Tesla, which has seen its stock battered a bit recently, is set to offer some upgrades to its flagship model S sedan, including hands-free steering. The company says it plans to offer the automatic steering feature in three months, roughly a year ahead of most other automakers. Tesla says the upgrade will be delivered wirelessly to Model S owners through a wireless updated system in the vehicles.

I’m Jack Speer, NPR News in Washington.