NPR 2012-04-07

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President Obama is moving to solidify² what appears to be a widening gender³ gap in this fall's election. NPR's Julie Rovner reports the president used the White House Forum⁴ on women's issues to talk the health care law and more.

 

Mr. Obama used part of his speech to note how much the health law helps women. Provisions already in effect are providing both younger and older women with access to preventive care services at no upfront cost. And assuming the Supreme⁵ Court let the law go forward, provisions that will take effect in 2014 will no longer let insurers charge women more simply because of their gender. But the president did acknowledge that his administration hasn't solved all of women's problems.

 

“We haven't gotten on the dry cleaning thing yet, though. I mean, I know that that's still, that's still frustrating⁶. I'm sure.”

 

That's a reference to the fact that dry cleaners charge more for women's shirts than for men's. Julie Rovner, NPR News, Washington.

 

Turkey is seeing an influx⁷ of Syrians who are escaping relentless⁸ shelling in their country. NPR's Grant Clark is monitoring developments from Beirut.

 

Turkish officials say more 2,300 Syrians have streamed into Turkey in the past two days. They joined some 23,000 others already taking refuge there. Activists⁹ say the surge follows a blistering¹⁰ three-day air and ground assault on the small town of Taftanaz. The claim cannot be independently verified, but amateur videos show helicopters firing rockets and a mass grave reportedly discovered after the offensive. Grant Clark, NPR News, Beirut.

 

Cairo's Tahrir Square is again the site of demonstrations¹¹ where people are backing a conservative Islamist who may be disqualified from next month's presidential contests in Egypt, as NPR's Peter Kenyon explains.

 

By Egypt's Arab Spring standards, this was not an especially large rally, but those who came were passionate¹³ in their support for Sheikh Hazem Abu Ismail, who may have run afoul of Egyptian's election law. The law says neither a candidate nor his parents can have any non-Egyptian citizenship¹⁴, and the election commission says Abu Ismail's mother had US citizenship. Those at the rally accused Washington and Egypt's military council of conspiring¹⁵ to keep Islamist candidates off the ballot¹⁶. The biggest beneficiary, if Abu Ismail is disqualified, however, would appear to be the Muslim Brotherhood¹⁷ candidate Khairat al-Shater. Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Cairo.

 

Three people are injured, but there are no reports of deaths from today's Navy jet crash in a Virginia Beach residential¹² neighborhood. The aircraft's two aviators¹⁸ ejected.

 

This is NPR News.

 

Fourteen New York City teachers accused of inappropriate behavior with students are still teaching, even though the city attempted to fire them. NPR's Margot Adler reports that an arbitrator overruled the city.

 

Sixteen teachers were identified as behaving badly; two were fired. New York law says teachers have the right to a hearing before an independent arbitrator. The arbitrator gave lesser¹⁹ punishments, fines, formal reprimands and suspensions. The New York Times and The New York Daily News requested documents under the freedom of information law. A few teachers were accused of physical contact that made students uncomfortable, a science teacher rubbing against a student in a lab, a few for emailing or texting inappropriate comments. Some of the teachers said the charges were trumped²⁰ up and they were innocent. The current Schools Chancellor²¹ Dennis Walcott said if he had the power, they would not be teaching, but his hands were tied. Margot Adler, NPR News, New York.

 

A ferry captain is being hailed a hero yet again. Mohamed Gouda was on his way back to New Jersey²² from a New York waterway ferry trip when he spotted²³ an overturned tugboat this morning near Liberty Island. He rescued the three crew members, using cradles dipped into the Hudson River, the same strategy used in the “Miracle on the Hudson” back in 2009. That's when a US Airways²⁴ flight managed to land safely in the Hudson, and Gouda was among those who made sure that everyone made it out safely.

 

Christians²⁵ around the world are observing Good Friday described as a commemoration of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI is expected to deliver a speech at the end of a torch-lit nighttime procession. 

 

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.

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