NPR 2012-05-30

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号：tingroom，领取免费英语资料大礼包。

France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Australia and Canada all said they were kicking out Syria's ambassadors to their countries. The move ratchets up the pressure on the increasingly isolated⁴ Syrian regime. The expulsions come after the killings⁵ Friday in Houla, a collection of farming villages in Syria's Homs Province. The UN says 49 children were among the dead. French President Francois Hollande said after discussion with British Prime Minister David Cameron, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, it was decided⁶ to deploy⁷ a certain number of pressure tactics against Syria. The UN and International community have so far failed to get Assad to respect the peace plan. Germany said it hoped the unambiguous message would not fall on deaf ears in Damascus. For NPR News, I'm Eleanor Beardsley.

 

 

Defense⁸ Secretary  Leon Panetta told the 1099 graduates from US Naval⁹ Academy today that they will be part of building US maritime¹⁰ strength across the Asia-Pacific region. 

China's military is growing and modernizing¹¹. We must be vigilant¹², we must be strong, we must be prepared to confront any challenge. 

Panetta says the future prosperity and security of the US are tied to its ability to advance peace and security along the arc extending from the western Pacific and east Asia, to the Indian Ocean and South Asia. Of this year's graduating class, 810 were commissioned as naval officers, another 267 were commissioned as officers in the Marine¹³ corp. 

 

 

A survey out today shows home prices are up in most major cities in the US, NPR's Dave Mattingly reports it's the latest evidence suggesting a slow recovery in housing. 

The Standard  & Poor's/Case-Shiller Index tracks home prices in 20 major cities. In March, prices went up in most of them, including Seattle, Phoenix¹⁴, Dallas and Tampa. Chief economist¹⁵ Lawrence Yun, with the National Association of Realtors, says he expects more the same this year. 

Given that jobs are being created, the very high affordability¹⁶ convention, I anticipate home values will ** make an increase. And for the nation as a whole, you may be about 2% to 4% price appreciation¹⁷ this year.

Mortgage rates are at historical lows, though other economists¹⁸ point out, job growth remains¹⁹ too  weak to lower than nation's unemployment rate, putting a drag on home sales.  Dave Mattingly, NPR news, Washington.

 

 

That news along with optimism that China will act to reserve a slowdown in its economic growth appears to be helping²⁰ push stocks higher on Wall Street at this hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 93 points  at 12,548; the NASDAQ Composite Index is up 26 points at 2,864 and the S&P is up 10 points  at 1,328. 

 

 

This is NPR News.

 

 

Thirteen new recipients²¹ of the Presidential Medal of Freedom will be honored at this hour at the White House. NPR's ** reports.

This year's honorees of what is considered the country's highest civilian²² award, represent a wide array of accomplishments²³. Political figures include retired²⁴ former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, US Supreme²⁵ Court justice John Paul Stevens, and former senator and astronaut John Glenn. The world of Arts and entertainments celebrates Nobel Prize winning writer Tony Morrison and song writing giant Bob Dylan. Social activism has also acknowledged this year,  as the medal is ** on Girl Girl Scouts²⁶ founder²⁷ Juliette Gordon and civil rights figure Dolores Huerta. Coming from the world sports is recently retired Pat Summitt, the winningest coach in NCAA history. **, NPR News in Washington.

 

 

Texas voters are likely to put Republican presidential candidate Mitt²⁸ Romney over the top today in his campaign to be the GOP nominee²⁹ for president. Romney is just 58 delegates short of the necessary 1,144 need to secure the nomination³⁰ at the Republican convention this summer. The former Massachusetts governor is scheduled to attend the Las Vegas fundraiser today hosted by Donald Trump³¹.

 

 

At least 15 people are dead in an earthquake that shook northern Italy today. The 5.8-magnitude quake follows another slight stronger  quake in the same area earlier this month. That killed seven people. News reports from region say some victims from today's quake are buried under the rubble³². 

 

 

The perjury³³ trial of former pitcher³⁴ Roger Clemens in Washington is slowly running out of alternate jurors, a third juror had been excused after the death of her mother, previously³⁵ two jurors were dismissed for sleeping during the case.

分享到：