NPR 2010-03-19（在线收听）

From NPR News in Washington, I’m Lakshmi Singh.

President Obama is hailing a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office that says his healthcare bill will reduce the deficit. NPR’s Mara Liasson reports.

In the Rose Garden just before signing a jobs bill into law, President Obama trumpeted the latest assessment of the Congressional Budget Office—the official number cruncher and referee of the healthcare debate. The CBO says the healthcare bill will reduce the deficit by $1.3 trillion over 20 years.

“This is but one virtue of a reform that will bring new accountability to the insurance industry and greater economic security to all Americans.”

The president is doing everything he can to get the votes he needs in the House to pass the healthcare bill. He’s meant to talk to two dozen wavering Democrats and he’s postponed his trip to Asia which was scheduled to begin on Sunday. The White House says he’ll now make the trip to Indonesia and Australia in June. Mara Liasson, NPR News, the White House.

US casualties in Iraq are going up. An American soldier was killed in combat today in Baghdad. Nearly 4,400 members of the military have died in Iraq since the war began seven years ago this month.

The United States is urging Russia to delay putting a nuclear power plant online in Iran this summer. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered that message on a visit to Moscow. And NPR’s David Greene has details.

Shortly after Secretary Clinton landed, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made the announcement: The Russian-built nuclear power plant in Iran should be up and running this summer. Clinton criticized the move, saying Iran has to show it’s only interested in civilian nuclear power, not nuclear weapons.

“In the absence of those reassurances, we think it would be premature to go forward with any project at this time, because we want to send an unequivocal message to the Iranians.”

Clinton was addressing reporters alongside Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. He said delivering on the promise to build the Bushehr power plant is a way to encourage Iran to cooperate. Secretary Clinton wraps up her visit Friday after meetings with Putin and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. David Greene, NPR News, Moscow.

The woman who calls herself Jihad Jane is pleading not guilty. Colleen Larose appeared before a federal court judge in Philadelphia today and denied the terror-related charges against her. She’s accused of conspiring with Jihadists and plotting to kill a cartoonist who depicted Islam’s prophet Mohammed in a way that outraged many Muslims.

In the US, there’s a new law on the books; it offers employers tax breaks, if they put people back to work. Today, President Obama signed that bill, the first in a series of jobs legislation intended to bring down the 9.7% unemployment rate. Earlier, the Labor Department reported that new unemployment claims dropped last week for the third time in a row.

US stocks continue to gain ground today. At last check, the Dow was up 45 points at 10,779.

This is NPR.

Actor Fess Parker, best known for playing American folk hero Davy Crockett, has died. The Los Angeles Times reports he died of complications from old age at his home in California. Mr. Parker was 85 years old.

Residents in areas of the Upper Midwest have stacked millions of sandbags in preparation for flooding. Minnesota Public Radio’s Rupa Shenoy reports.

The sandbags and levees are in place. National Guard troops and home owners are patrolling dikes along the Red River in Fargo, Moorhead. The focus is on making sure those temporary structures are high enough. Rivers are rising because of fast-melting snow and ice as well as recent rains. Ice jams are already causing flooding in unexpected places. Minnesota and North Dakota have closed stretches of several highways. The Red River in Fargo is expected to crest some time late on Sunday, just shy of last year’s all-time record of 40 feet. Weather forecasts show a chance of rain into the weekend. For NPR News, I’m Rupa Shenoy.

Anti-government protesters in Thailand are threatening to keep rallying in Bangkok and prolonged disruptions are already affecting business in the capital. Tens of thousands of people are still camped out in the heart of Bangkok, demanding new elections. They’ve used a number of radical tactics to express their outrage, including splattering jugs of their own blood at the prime minister’s home yesterday.

Back in the US, we’ve seen hardly changing consumer prices, Labor Department reporting that last month’s prices edged up 0.1%. Food prices went up, but that was offset by a drop in energy costs.

I’m Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.