NPR 2012-12-24

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　　From NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Raum.

 

　　The National Rifle Association is defending the idea that the best response to the Newtown's school massacre¹ is to place armed guards in all schools. Executive Vice² President Wayne LaPierre made that suggestion last week. This morning, he told NBC's Meet the Press the American people support this, in his words, they think it would be crazy not to do it. LaPierre also said the answer to school violence is not to reinstate a ban on assault weapons as proposed by Senator Feinstein.

 

　　You could ban all, Dianne Feinstein, as she could do whatever she wants to with magazines. It's not going to make any kids safer. We've got to get to the real problem, the real causes and that's what the NRA is trying to do.

 

　　He says the NRA will develop a plan to recruit volunteers to be armed guards in schools.

 

　　The last of the 26 people who died at the Sandy Hook School shooting were laid to rest yesterday. NPR's Margot Adler reports the Connecticut governor has issued an order for flags to be returned to full staff. Flags were lowered to half-staff on December 14th in honor of the 20 children and six adults killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. All around Newtown and Sandy Hook, there are memorials to those who died. Stuffed animals, angels, flowers these can be seen in many different locations. According to the Newtown Bee, the local newspaper, Town Selectman Pat Llodra  held a town-wide call on Saturday. She said the town Highway Department would begin the process of removing the temporary memorials next week after the Christmas holidays. She said the materials from these monuments will be processed into soil that will be used to form the foundation of a permanent memorial. Margot Adler, NPR News, Danbury, Connecticut.

 

　　Planning for your taxes next year will be more difficult whether or not Congress is able to avoid the fiscal³ cliff. NPR's Barbara Klein reports.

 

　　As negotiations⁴ drag on, the Internal Revenue Service is holding off on releasing income tax withholding⁶ tables for 2013. The American Payroll⁷ Association's Michael O'Toole Says employers are likely to withhold⁵ income taxes at this year's rate.

 

　　They may have to make a decision if IRS does not issue some guides by the time they process that first payroll for next year. They have to make a decision that they are going to use the tables that are currently in effect for 2012.

 

　　So workers could be in for a surprise like higher than expected bills and possibly penalties when they filed 2013 returns. Barbara Klein, NPR News, Washington.

 

　　In about an hour, memorial service is to begin in Honolulu for the late Senator Daniel Inouye who died last week at the age of 88. Inouye represented Hawaii in Congress for more than 50 years since Hawaii became a state. He was a senior at high school when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and later volunteered to fight in World War II. He lost his right arm fighting the Germans in Italy.

 

　　This is NPR News.

 

　　International Envoy⁸ Lakhdar Brahimi is heading to Damascus for talks on ending the Syrian civil war. The United Nations and the Arab League appointed him in September to try to negotiate a settlement. Since then, the rebels have expanded their control in the North and near the capital. In fact, Brahimi isn't flying into Damascus because of fighting near the airport. He flew into Beirut and he is going into Syria by car. Meanwhile, activists⁹ say there was an air strike in a town in central Syria today that killed dozens of people.

 

　　The Taliban has silenced another of its critics in Pakistan. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports from Islamabad.

 

　　This's been a month of brazen¹⁰ attacks by the Pakistani Taliban. The latest was a suicide bombing in the northern city of Peshawar that took the life of a senior minister named Bashir Ahmed Bilour. He was a leader in the Awami National Party or ANP and was a vocal¹¹ critic of the Taliban. Eight others were killed in the attack, and 17 were injured. There have been at least two previous attempts on his life. The assassination¹² comes just a week after an attack on the military section of the Peshawar airport and just days after several health care workers administering polio vaccines¹³ in Peshawar were also gunned down. Dina Temple-Raston, NPR News, Islamabad.

 

　　Violence erupted for a second day in New Delhi during demonstrations¹⁴ demanding the Indian government do more to protect women from violence. Police used tear gas and batons¹⁵ to keep protesters from marching on the President's Palace. The unrest began in response to the brutal¹⁶ rape¹⁷ and beating of a 23-year-old woman on a bus last weekend. Six men have been arrested.

 

　　I'm Nora Raum, NPR News, in Washington.

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