NPR 2012-07-16

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President Obama says he won't criticize presumptive Republican presidential nominee¹ Mitt² Romney for saying the White House hasn't pulled the economy far enough out of the hole that was in 4 years ago, because if he were the challenger, he'd be making the same argument. He tells CBS at Sunday Morning that the thing that's frustrated³ him most is 

 

I haven't been able to change the atmosphere here in Washington to reflect the decency⁴ and common sense of ordinary people--democrats, republicans and independents--who I think just want to see their leadership solve problems. 

 

Several recent polls including Gallup and McClatchy/Marist showed the president had a virtual tie with Romney. Allison Keyes, NPR News, Washington.

 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today urged Egyptians to commit to a strong durable⁵ democracy that protects the rights of all citizens. She met yesterday with the newly elected Islamic president and today with the generals who have been running Egypt since the fall of Hosni Mubarak last year. Clinton said the Egyptian military deserves praise for the way its handle the transition.

 

As compared to what we are seeing in Syria, which is the military murdering its own people. The SCAF here protected the Egyptian nation.

 

She said democracy is more than just elections，that it has to mean the majority will protect the rights of the minority. 

 

The International Committee of the Red Cross said today it now considers the conflict in Syria to be a civil war. This means that international humanitarian⁶ law will apply. The assessment⁷ could form the basis for the prosecution⁸ of war crimes. 

 

UN observers in Syria say the government attack on the village of Tremseh seems to have targeted mostly army deserters and opposition⁹ supporters. They say heavy weapons were used. The BBC's Jim Muir reports.

 

The UN mission said the scale of casualties were still not clear. But it said the attack appeared to target specific houses or buildings used by army deserters or opposition activists¹⁰. That runs countered at some of villagers' accounts of heavy random¹¹ bombardment killing¹² many civilians¹³ and others being killed at close range. The UN reports that there were pools and traces of blood in several of the targets houses and a school and five /brunnings/? had been set on fire. Although it avoids drawing conclusion, its findings certainly do not confirm that it was a wholesale¹⁴ indiscriminate massacre¹⁵ of civilians as activists initially¹⁶ reported.

 

The BBC's Jim Muir.

 

The UN team is to return to the village later today to continue its work. 

 

An overcrowded bus skidded¹⁷ off a rain slipped highway in Kathmandu today. Officials say 35 people were killed. The bus was carrying pilgrims to Hindu shrines¹⁸.

 

This is NPR News.

 

A /sweas/?? spaceship was launched into orbit today from a Russian base in Kazakhstan. It's heading for the international space station with 3 astronauts, one each from Russia, Japan and the United States.

 

China has refloated a warship¹⁹ which had run aground on disputed territory near the Philippines. NPR's Louisa Lim reports from Beijing.

 

The warship was removed from half-moon shore about 17 miles from the western Philippines. It's now heading back home along with 6 other Chinese ships seen in the disputed area. Ties between the two countries are tense, following a months long standoff earlier this year at another location Scarborough Shore. Six countries have /vival/?? claims in the south China sea which became a central issue at an ASEAN regional summit last week where members failed to agree a concluding statement. Chinese sovereignty claims out also complicating²⁰ ties with Japan. It's recorded its ambassador to Beijing for talks over another disputed island chain. This is time in the East China Sea. Louisa Lim, NPR News, Beijing.

 

Actress Celeste Holm died early this morning at her New York apartment. She was 95. Her great niece said Holm has been in hospital for 2 weeks but asked to go home on Friday. Holm performed on stage, in movies and on the small screen. On Broadway she played the girl who couldn't say no in Oklahoma. She was Betty Davis' best friend in the film All about Eve and over the years, Holm also appeared as a guest star on a variety of television shows, such as Fantasy Island. 

 

I'm Nora Raum. NPR News in Washington. 

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