NPR 2011-03-03

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From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

Terrorism is not being rolled out in today's shooting attack in Frankfurt, Germany that left two US airmen dead and two others wounded. President Obama says he is saddened and outraged¹.

"I want everybody to understand that we will spare no effort in learning how this outrageous² act took place and in working with German authorities to ensure that all of the perpetrators are brought to justice."

The alleged³ gunman, a 21-year-old man from Kosovo, is in German custody⁴. Authorities say the attacker fired on a bus that was carrying military personnel outside the airport in Frankfurt. They say the suspect briefly⁵ entered the bus and was caught when he tried to escape.

The Arab League is calling on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to halt attacks on anti-government groups, adding it'll consider imposing⁶ a no-fly zone over Libya. During a meeting in Cairo, the league's ministers opposed outside military intervention⁷ in Libya, where Gaddafi is under pressure to resign after some 40 years in power. The government's crackdown on protesters in recent weeks reportedly has cost hundreds of lives. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson tells us that two Navy ships have passed through Egypt's Suez Canal as part of a wider effort to move American ships and planes closer to Libya.

The USS Kearsarge and USS Ponce traveled through the canel to the Mediterranean⁸; then headed west toword Libya. Defense⁹ Secretary Robert Gates deployed¹⁰ the two amphibian¹¹ warships¹² carrying helicopters and Marines in case they are needed to evacuate¹⁴ civilians¹⁵ or provide humanitarian¹⁶ relief. He has not ruled out providing air cover for Libyan rebels, but made it clear he would prefer the United States not intervene directly in the ongoing¹⁷ crisis in the North African state. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, Cairo.

The US Supreme¹⁸ Court is upholding the right of a fundamentalist church to protest at military funerals. As NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty tells us, the court has ruled that even offensive speech is protected.

The case pitted the free speech rights of the angry church members against privacy rights of a grieving family. Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka Kansas protested at the funeral of Matthew Snyder, a Marine¹³ killed in Iraq in 2006. Members of the church, which is largely comprised of the family of Fred Phelps, carried pickets¹⁹ that said "God hates you "and "thank God for dead soldiers." The Snyder family sued, saying the picketers invaded their privacy. But in an 8-1 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that even though the picketers' message was "painful", it was still protected. The Constitution he wrote protects even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle²⁰ public debate. Barbara Bradley Hagerty, NPR News.

US stocks gaining ground, at last check the Dow was up 37 points at 12,095; NASDAQ up 18 at 2,755.

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The White House says President Obama will sign a stop-gap bill that ensures the government keeps running for two more weeks. In a statement, Mr. Obama says he's pleased Congress passed the legislation, but warns lawmakers against allowing the threat of a shutdown to emerge every few weeks. All of budget debate continues. The Senate approved the measure earlier today.

The Central Bank of Bangladesh is ordering Mohammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize winning economist²¹, remove from his job. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Bangkok that Bangladesh authorities are alleging²² financial irregularities at Yunus's microlending bank.

The central bank says that the 70-year-old Yunus has violated the country's retirement²³ laws by remaining on the Grameen Bank's Board of Directors far beyond the mandated²⁴ retirement age of 60. But there appears to be a standoff for the bank, saying that Yunus remains²⁵ in his post. Yunus founded the Grameen Bank 30 years ago, which now loaned small amounts of money to some nine million people, 97% of whom are women. Yunus has plenty of political opponents. He's been hit with a defamation²⁶ lawsuit²⁷ following his public criticisms of the government. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has accused Grameen and other microlenders of charging excessive interest rates and exploiting the poor. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Bangkok.

Today, oil prices topped $100 a barrel again as fighting escalated²⁸ in Libya, a major oil exporter to Europe. The Benchmark West Texas Intermediate for April delivery picked up $0.92 to over $100 a barrel in morning trading. Meanwhile, the American Petroleum²⁹ Institute says it believes oil and gas supplies fell more than a million barrels last week, when analysts³⁰ had forecast an increase of more than 1.5 million barrels.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.