From NPR News in Washington, I'm Barbara Klein

 

　　The Pentagon confirms reports that Syrian government has been firing Scud missiles at insurgent areas in recent days. It has an escalation in the conflict as rebels try to overthrow the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. White House spokesman Jay Carney says its fresh evidence Assad's forces had no regard for innocent civilians.

 

　　The idea that the Syrian regime would launch missiles within its borders at its own people is stunning desperate any completely disproportion in military escalation.

 

　　Meanwhile, Syria's opposition coalition says US recognition of it as the sole representative of the Syrian people must translate into help on the ground.

 

　　Egypt's main opposition coalition is encouraging Egyptians to go to the poll and vote no on President Mohamed Morsi's disputed constitution. However, opposition leaders are saying they may still call a boycott if Egypt's judiciary doesn't oversee the referendum.

 

　　North Korea is hailing what it claims as its first successful launch of satellite. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Seoul that the US, South Korea have condemned the launch as violation of UN resolutions. But they can see that it was technically at least a success.

 

　　The official Korean central news agency said that the country's scientists had carried out the instruction of the late leader Kim Jong-il to launch a satellite this year to mark the 100 birthday of North Korea's founding Father Kim Il Sung. State television reported the news in a special brand case that the shot not seen since Kim Jong-il died on December 17th last year. North Korea and its ally China affirmed the North's right to launch satellite for scientific purposes. The US, Japan and South Korea have denounced the launch as simply disguise test of ballistic missile. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul.

 

　　Federal Reserve policymakers say they'll continue to pump large amount of money into the economy next year. As Steve Beckner of Market News International reports the move will keep interests down as long as unemployment is high.

 

　　Whatever happens with the fiscal cliff, there will be no monetary cliff. The Federal keeps to pump 85-billion dollars response per month to hold down long term interest rates. Forty-five-billion dollars of Treasury bond purchases financed by sales of short term treasuries were due to expire a year end. Now though it will continue along with 40-billion dollars per month mortgage bond buying financed by the creation of new money. At that pace, the Fed galaxy would expand by 1-trillion dollars next year. For the first time, the Fed says it will keep short term rate near zero so long as unemployment stays about 6.5% and inflation doesn't go over 2.5%. For NPR News, I'm Steve Beckner in Washington.

 

　　On Wall Street, an hour before the close, the Dow was up 24 points at 13,271. And NASDAQ is down one at 3,021.

 

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　　A judge in Guatemala is ordering the release of software company founder John McAfee to the US. He's been held in a Guatemala detention center after he sneaked into Guatemala from Belize where police want a question of him about the murder of a neighbor. McAfee has home on Belizean island.

 

　　The FBI is crediting Facebook security team for helping un-relevant international cyber criming. The FBI announced yesterday ten people are under arrest for a skin that compromised more than 11-million computer systems and led to more than 850-million dollars in losses. Facebook help government agents and covered the route calls of the mail ware that steals credit card and bank account information of computer users.

 

　　Sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar has died at the age of 92. Sankar met the Beatles in the sixtieth brought Indian music to the West. And / reports he's considered a pioneer of world music.

 

　　To western audiences, Ravi Shankar was best known for bringing traditional Indian music to the world stage. Playing the sitar, Shankar rose to international fame collaborating with everyone from Beatles to John Coltrane. The Beatles' George Harrison once called Shankar the guide father of world music. Today the Indian prime minister called the three-time Grammy winner a national treasure and a global ambassador of India's cultural heritage. Throughout the afternoon, Indian TV stations paid tribute to the musician while politicians and Bollywood stars posed remembrances on Twitter. India's vice president said Sankar's death created a void which may never be filled. For NPR News, / in New Delhi.

 

　　And I'm Barbara Klein.