NPR 2012-01-25

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[In] New Jersey³, authorities are charging a 19-year-old man with attempted murder and hate crimes for recent attacks on two synagogues in Rutherford and Paramus. Anthony Graziano is being held on five million dollars bond. Prosecutors⁴ are expected to release more details in a news conference shortly.

 

President Obama’s expected to make the economy, jobs and housing central in his State of the Union address tonight. NPR's Scott Horsley reports this speech comes at a crucial time for the president who's trying to reassure⁵ voters worried about the high unemployment rate.

 

The president's campaign is certainly doing its best to capitalize on this high-profile opportunity. They've been organizing house parties where the president's supporters can get together to watch the speech. The president also sent an email alert to his extensive email list with a video preview highlighting some of the points he'll make in the speech.

 

NPR's Scott Horsley.

 

Republican presidential candidates continue to attack the administration's economic policies in the run-up to the State of the Union address tonight, calling them failed attempts at speeding up recovery in the US.

 

Egypt's top military ruler says he's ending a much hated state of emergency law that has been in effect for three decades. But as NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson tells us from Cairo, there is one huge caveat⁶.

 

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi said on state television that he was lifting the decades-old state of emergency law on the first anniversary of the revolution. That's months after the ruling generals pledged to do so. Tantawi added the law will still be in effect for Egyptians deemed to be thugs. That's the term the ruling military council used to describe many of the thousands of protesters it arrested this past year. His decision to partially⁷ lift the law that gives Egyptian security forces far-reaching powers is unlikely to satisfy protesters and rights groups. They accuse the military of using the same oppressive tactics former President Hosni Mubarak's government did. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, Cairo.

 

The Syrian foreign minister is signaling the country will continue its crackdown on political dissent⁸. Today Walid al-Moualem said in a news conference that it was the government's duty to take any steps deemed necessary to maintain order. The comments came a day after President Bashar al-Assad rejected an Arab-brokered plan to end the crackdown which the UN estimates has cost thousands of lives in the last ten months.

 

You’re listening to NPR News.

 

Security is tightened⁹ in the Tibetan region. A monk¹⁰ says dozens of Tibetans injured by Chinese police during yesterday's crackdown sought shelter in a monastery¹¹ that was surrounded by security forces. Chinese officials say the unrest in Sichuan province's Luhuo County was caused by a mob.

 

The weather from space is about to get worse. NPR's Christopher Joyce reports on the biggest solar radiation storm in more than six years, and it's headed our way.

 

Weathercasters who keep an eye on the sun say a solar flare¹² last Sunday is sending a radiation storm that should arrive on Earth Tuesday. Radiation storms are a concern for astronauts and satellites, and they can trigger communications problems for some aircraft and affect the electric power grid¹³. The storm is expected to be moderate-to-strong. It started when the sun emitted a burst of charged particles and a magnetic field. The entire storm comes in three waves: first, electromagnetic radiation; then a stream of protons; finally atomic particles called a coronal mass ejection. NASA has determined¹⁴ that the six astronauts on the International Space Station are not in danger. Christopher Joyce, NPR News.

 

European stocks fell today with persistent¹⁵ worries over Greece's prospects¹⁶ for securing enough help to avoid default. Eurozone finance ministers have rejected an offer from private bondholders to help restructure Greece's debt. This coupled with the IMF's downgraded outlook on global growth appeared to weigh on world markets. At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was down 43 points at 12,666; NASDAQ down slightly at 2,785.

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