From NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Raum.

 

　　$ 85 billion in federal spending cuts are now in effect. President Obama signed the sequestration order last night. As NPR's Giles Snyder reports, the presdent is pressing the Congress to work out a compromise to put an end to them.

 

　　President Obama says the cuts will cause a ripple effect across the economy that will only worsen the longer they stay in place.

 

　　'These cuts are not smart. They'll hurt our economy and cost us jobs, and Congress turn them off at any time as soon as both sides are willing to compromise.'

 

　　President Obama speaking in his weekly address. Republican Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state, blamed the president for the government's failure to avert the cuts, but in the GOP address, she agreed that the Americans will feel the pain.

 

　　'The president failed to act and his Senate never pass the bill to replace the sequester.'

 

　　House republicans say they did their job pointing to the bills they passed in the last Congress that were never taken up by the Senate. Giles Snyder, NPR News, Washington.

 

　　Engineers and rescue workers arrived at the site of a sinkhole in Seffner, Florida. The earth opened under a home Thursday night and an entire bedroom disappeared including a man. His brother heard him screaming and jumped into the hole but couldn't find him was later rescued himself. Four other members of the household escaped. Authority have lowered listening devices and cameras into the hole but found no sign of life. The sinkhole continues to get larger, some nearby homes have been evacuated.

 

　　Despite some economic indicators showing the Eurozone is slowly climbing out of a recession. More and more citizens are losing their jobs. Teri Schultz reports from Brussels the European Union's unemployment rate keeps hitting new highs month after month.

 

　　Predictions will fulfilled to the January's jobless numbers would be worse, rising to 11.9% in the 17-member Eurozone, and 10.8% overall for the EU. But it is still jarring to see just how profoundly, some countries are affected. More than a quarter of the Greek population is out of work. Among those aged 25 and under is almost 60%. EU spokesman Jonathan Todd says governments must do more to create jobs.

 

　　"Such unacceptably high levels of unemployment are a tragedy for Europe."

 

　　But not all of Europe, Austria has less than 5% unemployment, Germany and Luxembourg just over 5%. These huge disparities despite EU attempts to ease worker mobility across national borders. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.

 

　　Secretary of state John Kerry is in Cairo today. He urged the government and the opposition to work together on economic reforms, required for a loan from the international monetary fund.

 

　　Many thousands of people showed up for demonstrations in several cities in Portugal today.  They are upset about austerity measures imposed by the government, which are needed to obtain international loans. The government is looking to cut more from its budget at the time unemployment is 17%.

 

　　This is NPR news.

 

　　Thousands of demonstrators rallied in Moscow today in favor of the ban on US adoptions of Russian children. Meanwhile Russian officials are demanding more investigation into the death, and later in January of a three-year-old adopted Russian boy in Texas. An autopsy determined the child's death was not intentional.

 

　　Dennis Rodman is headed back home after a trip to North Korea. The retired basketball all star will meet with reporters in New York tomorrow to talk about his visit. Jason Strother in Seoul reports, Rodman is taking some criticism for praising the North Korean leader.

 

　　Rodman is said to have stood up after watching a basketball game in Pyongyang and declared to the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, that he has a friend for life. The two later embraced. The former NBA star was visiting the North in what's being described as sports diplomacy. Rodman also had kind words for former North Korean rulers, calling them great leaders. Washington is not surprisingly distancing itself from this encounter. A state department official said Rodman does not represent the United States. Rodman's trip and press on Sunday will be filmed as  part of an HBO documentary series.  For NPR news I'm Jason Strother in Seoul.

 

　　Al Qaede in the Arabian peninsula is running an English language magazine on militant websites, with advice to would-be terrorists. The group is the most active branch of the Islamist movement. It calls for militants to attack 11 public figures in the west and in a section called Open Source Jihad. The magazine gives tips on how to set fire to parked cars including one, don't get petrol on yourself.

 

　　I'm Nora Raum, NPR News in Washington.