NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2014-08-01(在线收听) |
The House has approved a resolution letting speaker John Boehner sue President Obama over his implementation of the Affordable Care Act. There was a long party lines. NPR's S.V. Dáte reports Democrats are calling it apolitical stand, time to help Republicans for the November elections. New York Democrat Louise Slaugher voiced the common theme in her party, that the lawsuit sets the table for those who want to go even further."The lawsuit is a drumbeat, pushing members of the Republican Party to impeachment." But Texas Republican Pete Sessions argued the lawsuit was about preserving congress's role. "The President has selectively enforced the law in some instances, ignored the law in other instances, and in a few cases unilaterally attempted to change the law all together." The lawsuit gives Boehner the power to file suits in Federal Court but sets no timeline as to when it must happen. S.V. Dáte, NPR news, the Capital.
The White House is condemning an attack today on a United Nation school in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians had sought refuge from the more than 3-week-old conflict between Israel and Hamas. At least 17 people,including children, were killed. NPR's Michele Kelemen says while the White House is critical of the shelling, it stop *short of blaming Israel. UN officials say they were shocked and dismayed by the news that one of their schools was hit, they say, by Israeli artillery. Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson was at a lost for words, saying Israel knew that more than three thousand civilians had been sheltering there.
"They were there under UN protection, under our protection."
State Department spokesperson Marie Harf says the US wants a full investigation into the incident. She's also raising concerns that Hamas has used UN facilities to hide weapons. She says both sides should respect the UN's neutrality. Michele Kelemen, NPR news, Washington.
The Peace Corps now says it's pulling some 340 of its volunteers out of areas that have been haunted by the outbreak of the Ebola virus. So far the disease has been blamed for the death of 672 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea since February.
Better than expected, economic growth numbers, from the government today, the Congress Department says the Gross Domestic Product grew a 4% annual rate in the second quarter. As far was revised 2.1% drop for the first three months of the year, blamed on bad weather. Sean Snaith is at the Institute for Economic Competitiveness and says, by and large, it's a positive number.
"I think it's generally a good report, uh, I wouldn't say it's necessarily a great report, but I think it landed itself to the recovery, gaining come momentum."
GDP measures the total value of goods and services generated within US border.
On Wall Street today, a mixed close. The Dow Jones industrial leverage fell 31 points, end the session at 16,880. The NASDAQ gained 20 points, closed at 4462, S&P 500 with up a fraction today.
You are listening to NPR news, in Washington.
According to an investigated report by a non-partisan government accountability office, it was management failures on the part of the Obama Administration that set the stage for computer problems that paralyzed the healthcare.gov website last fall. The GAO, the investigate agency of Congress,plans to report tomorrow on its month-long investigation, with officials have detailed some of the reported finding to the Associated Press. The GAO and its support also accuse the administration of continually changing orders for contractors who rebuilt the website computerized sign-up system.
A federal judge's ordering Bank of America to pay nearly 1.3 billion dollars in penalty for fraud over bad mortgages sold by its country-wide unit. Bank of America says the award bears no relation to eliminated program that lasted several months, NPR's Chris Arnold has more.
There has been some high-profile settlements between the federal government and major banks in the week of the financial crisis. This case is different because it's actually gone to trial. A federal judge in New York issued the 1.3 billion dollars civil penalty against the Bank of America's country-wide unit. That was over its sales of defective mortgage to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Those government-sponsored companies lost money when homeowners defaulted on the country-wide loans. A former country-wide executive was also ordered to pay one million dollars. The Justice Department has reportedly been engaged in a broader settlement talks with Bank of America regarding other alleged wrong doing during the days of the housing bubble. Chris Arnold, NPR news.
The first water main has caused big problem in Los Angeles. Officials say the nearly-century-old pipe that erupts under Sunset Boulevard*brings an estimated eight million gallons of water onto the UCLA campus.
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