President Obama’s first meetings in the wake of his reelection addressed the looming “fiscal cliff.” Those sweeping spending cuts and tax increases slated to take effect at the end of the year. Today he met with the heads of several labor unions, and tomorrow he’ll welcome business leaders to the White House, all in an effort to garner support ahead of difficult negotiations with Republican leaders in Congress. But the White House’s attempts at addressing spending and taxes are overshadowed these days by headlines of a growing scandal involving former spy chief David Petraeus, who tendered his resignation when word got out that he had an extramarital affair. Now the top US commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, has become a figure in the scandal. He is under investigation for what the FBI calls “inappropriate communications” with a Florida socialite, who is also a friend of the Petraeus family. Allen denies he did anything wrong. The White House has suspended General Allen’s nomination to command US and NATO forces in Europe. Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi says so far there’s been nothing to indicate a breach of confidential matters.
总统奥巴马在连任后的首批会议中商讨了目前面临的“财政悬崖”。大范围削减政府开支和增税政策将在年末生效。今日奥巴马总统会见了个别工会主席。明日他将在白宫接见商界领袖，希望能在国会上与共和党领袖进行艰难的谈判之前争取商界的支持。但白宫试图解决政府开支和税收问题的决心被近日的新闻头条盖过了风头。最近，前情报主管大卫·彼得雷斯婚外情丑闻愈演愈烈，他因此递交了辞呈。丑闻还牵扯到了美国驻阿富汗最高指挥官约翰·艾伦。联邦调查局正在调查艾伦与佛罗里达州一位社交名媛的“不正当交往”。她是彼得雷斯夫妇的朋友。艾伦坚称自己没有任何不正当的行为。白宫已暂时取消提名艾伦将军任职美国和北约驻欧洲军队指挥官。民主党领袖南希·佩洛西表示，目前没有证据表明整个事件涉及到泄密问题。
"I don’t have any reason to think that there are any national security issues at stake in what has transpired. I think some dishonorable things were done, and the honorable thing has to be to resign and not to go forward."
“我认为目前发生的事情完全没有对国家安全机密构成任何危险。最近发生了一些不光彩的事情，但是正确的做法应该是（他）辞职，然后所有人到此为止。”
Separately, Pelosi says she will announce tomorrow whether she will continue in her current post, step down or retire after her party failed to gain the 25 seats it needed to reclaim a House majority.
另外，共和党因为没有赢得额外的25个众议院席位，失去了对众议院的控制权，佩洛西也因此将在明日宣布她的去向，继续留任，辞职或退休。
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is set to begin a closed-door briefing this hour about the September terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya that killed US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. NPR’s Craig Windham reports it’s the first of four such closed sessions scheduled this week by Senate and House committees.
参议院外交关系委员会即将召开一次非公开会议，讨论今年9月在利比亚班加西发生的恐怖袭击事件。此次袭击导致包括美国大使克里斯·斯蒂文斯在内的四名美国人丧生。NPR记者克雷格·温厄姆发回报道表示，在这次会议之后参众两院的委员会还会在本周内召开三次非公开会议。
Lawmakers want to find out more about the security situation in Benghazi at the time of the attack and to look into the administration’s handling of the situation. At first, the president and other top administration officials portrayed the attack as a reaction to a Youtube video that had triggered protests across the Middle East. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney says as more information became available, it became clear the incident was not spontaneous, but was the work of terrorists. Critics have claimed the administration’s initial mischaracterization of the attack was for political reasons. The White House denies that. Craig Windham, NPR News, Washington.
国会希望获得更多有关当时班加西安全形势的信息并且要求调查奥巴马政府如何处理此次事件。最初，总统及多名政府高官认为此次袭击是为了抗议一段在Youtube流传的视频。此前，该视频引发了整个中东地区大规模抗议行动。白宫新闻发言人杰·卡内表示，越来越多的证据表明这是恐怖袭击，而不是偶然事件。批评人士认为奥巴马政府起初对此次袭击的误判是出于某些政治目的，白宫方面对此予以否认。NPR记者克雷格·温厄姆自华盛顿发回报道。
Gasoline rationing is over in New Jersey. Governor Chris Christy, who ordered the restrictions about ten days ago in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, says supplies are back up and there are no more long lines at those gas stations. However, rationing is still set to be in effect in parts of New York City.
新泽西州已取消实行汽油配额制。十天前由于超级风暴桑迪的灾难性破坏，州长克里斯·克里斯蒂宣布该州实行限制供油。如今州长表示加油站已经得到补给，今后不会再出现排队加油的现象。然而纽约市部分地区的汽油配额供给还会持续一段时间。
At last check on Wall Street, Dow’s up 19 points at 12,831. This is NPR News.
华尔街股市最新报道，道琼斯指数上升19点至12,831点。这里是NPR新闻。
Eurozone leaders will give Greece more time to meet deficit targets, but will not yet release the country’s latest installment of bailout loans. Joanna Kakissis reports from Athens that the stalemate has forced the Greek government to issue short-term treasury bills for cash.
欧元区领导人决定给希腊更多的时间来实现赤字目标，但会延迟发放新一轮的援助贷款。乔安娜·卡凯西自雅典发回报道表示，目前的僵局迫使希腊政府发行短期债券来换取现金。
Greece must pay off the 6.4-billion-dollar bond that matures later this week. The Europeans are withholding 40 billion dollars in aid, even though the Greek government passed tough new austerity measures last week. Public sector workers are on strike today to protest cuts to wages and jobs. Bailout loans come from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which Greeks call the "Troika." The Greek government predicts public debt will rise to 190% of GDP next year. But a draft report by the "Troika" is more optimistic, saying it will hit 144%. Eurozone leaders will discuss Greece again on November 20th. For NPR News, I’m Joanna Kakissis in Athens.
本周稍晚有一批价值64亿美元的债券到期需要希腊偿还。尽管上周希腊政府通过了一系列强硬的通货紧缩政策，欧洲方面还是撤回了40亿美元的援助资金。公共事业部门的员工今天举行了罢工，以抗议政府削减待遇和裁员的行为。援助贷款主要来自欧盟，欧洲中央银行以及国际货币基金组织，三者在希腊被称为“三驾马车”。希腊政府预计明年的国债将会上升至国内生产总值的190%，但是一份来自“三驾马车”初步报告更为乐观一些，认为该数字只有144%。欧元区领导人将在11月20号再次召开会议，讨论希腊问题。NPR记者乔安娜·卡凯西自雅典发回报道。
The Red Cross says it’s raising its death toll from yesterday’s earthquake in Myanmar to 26. The group says more than 200 people were injured in the 6.8-magnitude earthquake.
国际红十字会表示，昨天缅甸6.8级地震的死亡人数上升至26人，超过200人受伤。
Small business owners in the US remain cautious in October about the future of the economy as they were waiting for the results of the presidential election. The National Federation of Independent Business has released the results of a monthly survey of its members. It reveals a slight 0.3% increase in optimism that has wavered since 2009.
十月份，总统大选结果还没揭晓，美国小型企业主们对本土经济的前景还持有严峻态度。全美独立企业联盟每个月对其成员进行调查的最新结果表明，小型企业乐观指数上升了0.3%。自2009年以来大家都一直处于摇摆不定的状态。
At last check, Dow was up 14, NASDAQ off four.
最后看一下股市，道琼斯指数上升14点，纳斯达克指数下跌4点。
This is NPR.
这里是NPR新闻。 |