NPR 2011-10-13

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"This plot, very fortunately disrupted by the excellent work of our law enforcement and intelligence professionals, was a flagrant violation² of international and US law, and a dangerous escalation³ of the Iranian government's long-standing use of political violence and sponsorship of terrorism."

 

Clinton spoke⁴ today at a Washington conference. The administration is using the alleged plot to possibly call for new sanctions against Tehran.

 

A young Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner⁵ on Christmas Day 2009 has changed his plea to guilty just as the second day of his trial is set to start. Sarah Hewlett of Michigan Radio reports.

 

The guilty plea put a stop to what was expected to be a month-long trial with dozens of government witnesses, pictures of the scorched⁶ underwear in which the defendant⁷ hid the explosives and a video in which he spelled out his mission to bomb the plane. After pleading guilty to all eight charges against him, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab told the court he wanted to bomb Northwest Airlines Flight 253 in retaliation⁸ for the killing⁹ of innocent Muslims around the world. Anthony Chambers¹⁰ is the court-appointed stand-by attorney for Abdulmutallab, who was representing himself. Chambers says he is disappointed with the guilty plea.

 

"We wanted to continue the trial but we respect his decision. Certainly no lawyer I think worth his weight in salt would recommend a plea to life without parole."

 

Chambers says Abdulmutallab will not cooperate with the government. For NPR News, I'm Sarah Hewlett in Detroit.

 

President Obama is reaching out to the Hispanic community in the run-up to the presidential elections. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports Mr. Obama hosted an American Latino heritage forum¹¹ in Washington today.

 

The president's support among Latino voters has slipped in the last few years. People are disappointed that this administration is deporting¹² people at a higher rate than the Bush administration, and they're frustrated¹³ that the White House failed to get comprehensive immigration reform or the more modest DREAM Act through Congress. President Obama told the crowd that the land of opportunity was not always welcoming to Latinos.

 

"You've helped us build our cities, grow our economy, defend our country. And today for the first time in history there's a Latina in my cabinet and a Latina on the bench of the highest court in the land."

 

He noted¹⁴ that the unemployment rate for Latinos is among the highest in the country and he gave another push for the job creation package that the Senate defeated. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, the White House.

 

Fertility rates are down in most states and the Pew Research Center attributes the drop to the souring of the economy that began in 2008.

 

On Wall Street heading into the last hour of trading the Dow is up 165.

 

This is NPR News.

 

An international conference on how to make better use of information related to climate change concludes in New York today. NPR's Paul Brown reports organizers hope to put structures in place will help countries plan for climate change and react more effectively to it.

 

The conference is sponsored by the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Lead organizer Stephen Zebiak says there's lots of information about weather and climate change but countries, communities, scientists and relief groups often work without enough communication. He says as hurricanes, tornadoes¹⁵ and droughts affect more people, there's a need for better planning and more ways to share information.

 

"Setting those structures in place and figuring out how to make them work effectively is something that will have big pay-offs in things that are quite immediate¹⁶ I think to most people as well as for the longer-term future."

 

Zebiak says conference participants plan to keep sharing what they learn and he says they wanna help developing countries build new capacities to deal with climate change. Paul Brown, NPR News.

 

Forecasters say Hurricane Jova is losing steam as it moves inland in Mexico. The National Hurricane Center says the storm came ashore¹⁷ early today south of the port of Vallarta as a Category 2 storm with winds near 100 miles an hour. While the winds are dying down, the storm remains¹⁸ a threat as it dumps torrents¹⁹ of rain on the region. Forecasters say up to 20 inches of rain could fall in some spots.

 

Federal investigators²⁰ say the helicopter that crashed in New York's East River early this month had been in the shop just two days before the crash. But the NTSB's preliminary report released today did not cite a specific cause of the crash.

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