NPR 2011-01-31

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Political unrest continues in Egypt with thousands of anti-government protesters taking to the streets for a sixth day. Opposition¹ leader Mohamed ElBaradei says President Hosni Mubarak can end the crisis right now.

"People have been saying or demonstrating for him to leave. Today, the demonstrations² say that he should be put to trial. If he wants to save his skin, if he has an iota³ of patriotism⁴, I would advise him to leave today and save the country."

ElBaradei was interviewed on CNN. He said Mubarak's departure would clear the way for a national unity⁵ government which could arrange for a free and fair election. As violence continues to escalate⁶ in Egypt, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows, urging an orderly transition to democracy. NPR's Allison Keyes reports.

As to whether the US is beginning to back away from supporting Egyptian President Mubarak, Clinton told NBC's "Meet the Press":

"I want the Egyptian people to have the chance to chart a new future. It needs to be an orderly, peaceful transition to real democracy, not faux democracy like the elections we saw in Iran two years ago."

As the White House appears to be walking a fine line between praising Mubarak, a strategic ally in the Middle East, and protesters who have what Clinton called legitimate⁷ grievances⁸. Clinton said the Obama administration doesn't want to see instability chaos⁹ in Egypt. Allison Keyes, NPR News, Washington.

Later, Clinton flew to Haiti to discuss the political crisis there. She's to meet with President Rene Preval as well as three candidates who want to succeed him. A presidential election November was marred¹⁰ by allegations of fraud. A run-off election is scheduled to be held in March.

In Southern Sudan, preliminary results of a recent referendum show overwhelming support for secession from the North. NPR's Frank Langfitt has details from Juba, Sudan's southern capital.

All the preliminary results from its referendum for independence, and the results are almost 99% of Southern Sudanese voting to split from Northern Sudan. But it isn't gonna happen immediately. It's actually gonna happen probably around July 9th. And so there'll be time to make arrangement. But if they choose that and this will be, Southern Sudan will be the newest nation in the world.

NPR's Frank Langfitt in Juba, Sudan.

Five Somali pirates arrived in South Korea today. They've been captured after hijacking¹¹ a cargo¹² ship earlier this month. They face charges including attempted murder. They could be given life in prison if convicted. They were arrested as South Korean commandos raided the hijacked¹³ ship, killing¹⁴ eight pirates. None of the crew members were injured except for the captain who was shot in the stomach by a pirate. Piracy¹⁵ has flourished in recent years off the coast of Somalia, which has dad no functioning governments since 1991.

This is NPR News from Washington.

A cargo train and a passenger train collided in eastern Germany last night. Officials say at least eight people were killed and they fear the death toll¹⁶ will rise because many passengers suffered severe injuries. The trains collided in heavy fog on a single-line track about 125 miles southwest of Berlin.

Six months after Pakistan was devastated¹⁷ by record-setting monsoon¹⁸ floods, the United Nations is reporting the crisis there is far from over. Lisa Schlein in Geneva reports UNICEF says the condition of Pakistan's children has significantly worsened.

A recent survey shows children in Sindh province are facing a nutrition crisis. UNICEF official Pascal Villeneuve says over 23% of children aged¹⁹ between six and 59 months are acutely malnourished.

"This rate is well above the World Health Organization's emergency threshold level, triggering a humanitarian²⁰ response."

Villeneuve says around 120,000 malnourished children and women are receiving therapeutic²¹ feeding and health care in special emergency feeding centers. UNICEF and other agencies are aiming to immunize more than nine million children against measles²² and polio. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Schlein in Geneva.

Northeast Australia is still trying to recover from major flooding caused by heavy rains that began in November. Tens of thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed. Damage is estimated in the billions of dollars. Now people there are bracing²³ for a cyclone²⁴. Cyclone Anthony is a Category 2 storm with winds of 80 miles per hour. It is expected to hit Queensland early tomorrow morning.

I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.