NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2014-07-16（在线收听） |
Seven days into the latest round of violence between Israel and Hamas,a ceasefire does not appear close.As XX explains Hamas has made a series of demands Hamas is unlikely to accept.A Hamas lawmaker in Gaza XX told reporters that there had been no serious effort towards a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.He also said Hamas has a series of demands including the lifting of Israel eight-year-blockade of Gaza and reopenning the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.Hamas also wants the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners that Israel re-arrested in recent weeks.The death toll in Gaza from Israeli air strikes continues to climb.The United Nations said at least 177 Palestinians have been killed in the past week,one quarter of them children.In Israel,an elderly woman had a heart attack last week while running to a shelter during a rocket attack.And two Bedouin sisters were injured today from rocket fire.For NPR news,I'm XX in Jerusalem. The US department of agriculture is noting more deficiencies in the way the Center for Disease Control and Prevention handled an anthrax contamination incident last month.NPR's XX says the CDC apparently used expired disinfectant when de-contaminating in the lab.Last month,dozes of scientists said the CDC were exposed to anthrax and said it was supposed to have been rendered safe but which might still have posed a risk.The CDC said last week that it appeared unlikely that any of the anthrax material was actually dangerous.But scientists didn't know that at the time.And the USDA says CDC made mistakes as it reacted to the problem.According to a summary of the report released by a congressional committee,technicians said that the CDC used bleach that had expired to decontaminate the lab.And many people potentially exposed to the dangerous bateria waited days to be informed and to get a medical exam.The USDA will testify about its report Wednesday.XX,NPR news.
Crews in the west are battling a string of wildfires today,some touched off by lightning strikes over the past several days.In Oregan,a fire near Sprague River has already destroyed 6 homes and more than a dozen other buildings.Walter Butch Browning owns a local general store and he says so far the flames are moving away from him...pretty harsh,stronger in the right direction...my house,I'm sure...Crews are also dealing with fires in Idaho's Boise county where officials say 60 residents have now been advised to evacuate.
Citigroup has agreed to pay out 7 billion dollars to resolve claims that it misled investors about shoddy mortgages during the height of the financial crisis.The New York based financial firm's settlement with the Justice Department involves the largest ever civil penalty levelled by the agency.Justice contends Citigroup knew many of the mortgage-back securities in the market were unsafe and actually ticking time-bombs which will collapse.
On Wall Street,the Dows was up 111 points.
This is NPR.
According to Ukraine's Defence Minister,one of the country's transport planes was shut down today along the eastern border with Russia.Officials say all eight of those on board were able to bail out safely.Separatist rebels have claimed responsibility for the attack.But Ukrainian officials are rejecting that and blaming Russia for shooting down the plane.In the past two weeks,Ukrainian government has taken back around half of the territory in eastern Ukraine that had been held by pro-Russian separatists.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is issuing new guidelines on pregnancy discrimination.NPR's XX reports it's the first update in more than 30 years.Even though the pregnancy discrimination act passed in 1978,XX of the EEOC says the message didn't get through.So we continue to receive a lot of charges from pregnant women who are not hired because they are obviously pregnant,who are terminated when they become pregnant or when they return from maternity leave.The new EEOC guidelines make clear none of these is legal.And they spell out how the Americans with Disabilities Act can cover some conditions related to pregnancy.The EEOC also suggest possible accomodations,letting a pregnant worker sit on a stool,carry a water bottle,or change her schedule.XX,NPR news,Washington.
The government's consumer financial protection bureau says it's going out for a major debt collection firm which it's accusing of being essentially a mill for producing what it calls shoddy credit-card collection lawsuits.Its claim filed in federal court in Atlantic,the government claims Federick J Hanna Associate failed to do even basic due diligence.In one instance in Georgia,an attorney signing off 180,000 lawsuits over a two-year period. |
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