美国国家电台 NPR 2012-10-12

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Joe Biden is very comfortable with foreign policies. He had a major foreign policy role in this administration. He was previously⁴ the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He considers himself to be a world-class expert on foreign policy. Paul Ryan's focus, on the other hand, has been as House Budget Committee chairman, the fiscal⁵ policy of the federal government, and he is going to probably want to concentrate there, but I expect both men to be highly aggressive about attacking the positions of the other man's party on both domestic issues and foreign. NPR's Ron Elving.

 

One of the more contentious⁶ issues in Washington surrounds last month deadly attack on the U.S. consulate⁷ in Benghazi. That claimed the lives of four Americans including Ambassador Chris Stevens in Libya. Republicans are examining whether requests for additional security were ignored. In the meantime, the State Department has appointed Laurence Pope charge d'affaries to temporarily take charge of U.S. diplomatic operations in Libya. 

 

A security official who worked for the U.S. embassy in Yemen has been killed. NPR's Michele Kelemen has reaction in Washington. 

 

Yemeni officials say the U.S. embassy employee was killed in a drive-by shooting and suggested al-Qaeda may have been involved. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland says it's too early to tell.

 

We are deeply saddened by the killing⁸ of  Qassim M. Aklan, a longtime employee of the U.S. embassy in Sana'a. We condemn⁹ this vicious act in the strongest terms and extend our deepest condolences to his family and his friends at this difficult time.

 

She says Aklan was an investigator¹⁰ in the embassy's regional security office and was responsible  for routine personnel checks and relations with local authorities. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

 

In Islamabad, a choir¹¹ sings hymns¹² at a Christian¹³ service in honor of the 15-year-old school girl who was critically wounded by Taliban gunmen two days ago. Today, Malala Yousafzai, an outspoken¹⁴ advocate for rights of Pakistani girls was transferred to a military hospital. Meanwhile, supporters such as Rubina Khalid said the girl was an inspiration to all. 

 

Malala can be anybody's child. It is not this thing that will stop at one person. This thing will carry on unless until we all decide to stand up to it and say no to them we are enough. 

 

The attack not only prompted protests and vigils across Pakistan, it also did so across the world.

 

At last check on Wall Street, Dow was down 18 points at 13,326; NASDAQ off there at 3,049; S&P500 up slightly at 1,433. 

 

You are listening to NPR News.

 

New York City subways are being besieged¹⁵ by pro³ and anti Muslim ads. The city's transit¹⁶ authority tried unsuccessfully to ban the first wave of ads, then other groups entered the fray¹⁷. NPR's Margot Adler reports now the city plans to put up its own subway billboards¹⁸.

 

The original ads were purchased by Pamela Geller, an activist¹⁹ who has been a major force against the proposed Islamic Cultural Center near Ground Zero. The ad said in any war between the civilized²⁰ man and the savage²¹, support the civilized man, support Israel defeat Jihad. A group of Methodist Women bought counter ads, hate speech is not civilized. A different Christian group soldiers bought ads saying, love your Muslim neighbors. Mayor Bloomberg criticized the anti-Muslim ads, but took a free speech position. Now according to an article in the New York Post, the city's Commission on Human Rights plans its own series of billboards, featuring a big apple with the map of the world saying from many countries one city. They could go up next week. Margot Adler, NPR News, New York.

 

The prime minister of Turkey says the plane that was grounded in Ankara was carrying Russian made ammunitions bound for Syria. Recep Tayyip Erdogan's comments today follow several days of cross-border clashes between his country and neighboring Syria, where a civil war has been raging for a year and a half. They Syrian government, meanwhile, denies Erdogan's claims. 

 

Sprint²² Nextel reportedly is in talks with a Japanese cellphone company Softbank, saying only that's discussing a possible substantial investment. Sprint is this nation's third largest wireless²³ carrier. 

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