NPR 2010-08-21（在线收听）

Israeli and Palestinian leaders plan to meet face to face for the first time since talks collapsed nearly two years ago. They've been invited to Washington early next month. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says each side will need to do its part to make sure negotiations are not derailed.

"These negotiations should take place without preconditions and be characterized by good faith and a commitment to their success, which will bring a better future to all of the people of the region."

The plan is for President Obama to hold separate meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. And on September 2nd, the visiting delegations will meet each other.

New details about the Gulf Coast compensation fund for victims of the BP spill are out. As NPR's Wendy Kaufman reports from Houma, Louisiana, payments will be a two-step process.

Attorney Kenneth Feinberg will take over management of BP's $20 billion compensation fund on Monday. Shrimpers, boat captains, wholesalers and others economically hurt by the spill will be eligible for a one-time emergency payment to cover up to six months of lost income. Those claims must be filed by November 23rd, but as Feinberg told NPR, in order to get those funds, claimants will have to sign a release, saying they won't sue. Here's how it would work for a hypothetical claimant.

"Your full loss is $400,000. Whether it's BP's fault or Haliburton's fault or Transocean's fault, here is $400,000. I've completely satisfied the claim."

So far, BP has paid out more than $375 million. Wendy Kaufman, NPR News, Houma, Louisiana.

The Target Corporation is still under attack for its political contributions in the Minnesota governor's race. NPR's Peter Overby tells us that three investment firms want an independent review of Target's policies on political giving, and five liberal watchdog groups are calling on MSNBC to run an ad critical of Target.

The ad from MoveOn.org spoofs Target's TV spot.

"Target and other big corporations are trying to buy our elections. No way."

MSNBC rejected the ad, saying it directly attacked in individual business. Now, Public Citizen and four other groups say the network's policies shouldn't apply because Target made itself a political player. The company has built a progressive pro-gay image, but it gave $150,000 to a group supporting Republican Tom Emmer for governor, and he's against gay marriage. The three investment firms, Walden, Trillium and Calvert, say Target's political actions don't align with its corporate values. Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street, Dow's down nearly 60 at 10,213.

This is NPR.

The last of three inmates who escaped from a prison in northern Arizona is in federal custody. Details from Arizona Public Radio's Gillian Ferris Kohl.

John McCluskey and his alleged accomplice Casslyn Welch were apprehended in a campground in northeastern Arizona, less than 200 miles from where McCluskey escaped from a medium-security prison. A nationwide manhunt had authorities searching for the pair near the US-Canada border. The couple was captured after a ranger with the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest found what appeared to be an abandoned campfire. That's when he came in contact with McCluskey whom he recognized from a wanted poster released this week by the US Marshal's office. A SWAT team waited until dark to storm the campground where they arrested McCluskey and Welch. Two other inmates escaped along with McCluskey but were recaptured earlier this month. A report found serious problems at the prison where the inmates were being housed, including faulty security for the perimeter fence which the convicted murderers scaled during their escape. For NPR News, I'm Gillian Ferris Kohl in Flagstaff.

A desperate effort is under way in southwestern China to find survivors of the latest mudslide that hit the region. Dozens of people are missing in a remote mountain community in Yunnan province. Witnesses say that rains and floods sent heaps of mud and rocks crashing down onto the township Wednesday, engulfing everything but the tallest buildings. Landslides and floods in China this month have killed more than 1,400 people.

Inuit hunters in Canada and Greenland are exempted from a new trade ban on seal products. The European Union's high court ruled in favor of the indigenous people who argue their livelihoods depended on the ability to hunt seals, which are sold as meat or oil used in the production of omega 3 fatty acid supplements.