NPR 2011-07-12

President Obama is ratcheting up pressure on Democrats¹ and Republicans to reach a deal on deficit² reduction no matter how painful.

"I'm prepared to take on significant heat from my party to get something done. And I expect the other side should be willing to do the same thing if they mean what they say, that this is important."

The president at the White House earlier today saying a compromise may involve what he calls meaningful changes to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. That idea's running into Democratic resistance. NPR's David Welna reports the GOP remains³ dead set against raising taxes to cut deficits⁴.

Before going to the White House to meet the president, House Speaker John Boehner responded to a news conference Mr. Obama held earlier today.

"I agree with the president that the national debt limit must be raised, and I'm glad that he made the case for it today. But the American people will not accept — and the House cannot pass — a bill that raises taxes on job creators."

The line Boehner drew on no new taxes was repeated by the No.2 House Republican Eric Cantor.

"They're for raising taxes. We're not."

President Obama says any deal cutting deficits must raise taxes on high-income earners including himself. Should Congress fail to raise the debt ceiling by August 2nd, there could be the first default ever on the national debt. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

We've been seeing US stocks sliding today, but Moody's Analytics' Gus Faucher says he doesn't think it has to do with debt talks.

"Obviously, there's concern about what's going on with the debt limit in the United States. But at the same point, we've actually seen, uh, yields on treasuries⁵ go down. So it doesn't appear at this point that, that investors⁶ are too concerned about the US inability to repay its debt."

Investors are more worried about debt troubles spreading in Europe, where it appears Italy is being affected⁷. This on top of ongoing⁸ concerns that a slowing economic recovery has weighed down world markets. At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was down 152 points, more than 1%, at 12,505, and the NASDAQ was down 2% at 2,803.

The State Department is condemning⁹ the Syrian government for failing to protect diplomatic staff in Damascus today when mobs of government supporters attacked the US and French embassies. Syria accuses the West of fueling an uprising. NPR's Deborah Amos reports there were no known casualties in the US embassy attack, but there was physical damage.

You can see graffiti on the walls. The glass windows are shattered in the front of the building. There's a Syrian flag on the American embassy. There are police, well-patterned police, riot police out there, but there were still demonstrators in the street as late as late afternoon, still shouting, still marching, wrapped in Syrian flags.

That's NPR's Deborah Amos reporting from Damascus.

This is NPR News.

Russia is observing a day of mourning for those killed when a tourist boat sank in the Volga River over the weekend. Dozens of people were rescued; however, many more have been missing and are feared dead. Authorities say the death toll¹⁰ may be as high as 128. We have more on this from Jessica Golloher in Moscow.

Russia's Emergency Ministry¹¹ says there's little hope of finding anyone alive after the Bulgaria, a double-decker river cruise boat, sank about two miles from shore in Tatarstan. As many as 60 children were believed to be on board. Witnesses say the boat tipped over to one side when it hit a wave and then sank. A spokesperson for the Prosecutor¹² General's Office says that the boat was not licensed¹³ to carry passengers and had a problem with its left engine. Officials also say the boat had not been retrofitted or inspected in years. For NPR News, I'm Jessica Golloher in Moscow.

Many Cypriots are also in mourning for those killed in an explosion at a military base that was holding Iranian munitions¹⁴. At least 12 people died and more than 60 were wounded today. Officials say the explosion also knocked out the country's largest power station. Cyprus' defense¹⁵ minister has resigned over the incident.

News International is investigating allegations that its journalists illegally obtained former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's personal information. The medical records of his son Fraser may have also been breached¹⁶. The Sun reported in 2006 that Brown's son had cystic fibrosis. News International owns the Sun and the Sunday Times. It also owned the News of the World which tycoon¹⁷ Rupert Murdoch shut down last week amid allegations of phone hacking¹⁸ and illegal payments to police.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.

1 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

5 treasuries   

n.（政府的）财政部( treasury的名词复数 )；国库，金库

参考例句：

• Yields on Treasuries, Bunds and gilts can remain at historically low levels. 美国国债、德国国债和英国国债的收益率仍然可以维持在历史低位。 来自互联网
• Treasuries and gold rose in response but the dollar fell sharply. 接着，国债和黄金的价格上涨，而美元价格则猛跌。 来自互联网

6 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

9 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

11 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

12 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

13 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

14 munitions   

n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品

参考例句：

• The army used precision-guided munitions to blow up enemy targets.军队用精确瞄准的枪炮炸掉敌方目标。
• He rose [made a career for himself] by dealing in munitions.他是靠贩卖军火发迹的。

15 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

16 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

17 tycoon   

n.有钱有势的企业家，大亨

参考例句：

• The tycoon is on the verge of bankruptcy.那名大亨濒临破产的边缘。
• The tycoon has many servants to minister to his needs.那位大亨有很多人服侍他。

18 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。