The State Department made the recommendation last week to the president and now with a little fanfare the White House has issued a paper statement saying that Cuba has not sponsored international terrorism for the last six months and has provided assurances that it will not support terrorism in the future. Iran, Sudan and Syria are the other countries that remain on the terrorism list. Cuba has been on the list since 1982. Its removal would clear one of the last hurdles to improving relations between Cuba and Washington and it could pave the way for the opening of a U.S. embassy in Havana, although Republicans in Congress have said they will block any funds for a new U.S. embassy there. Mara Liasson, NPR News, the White House. 

 

A group of Atlanta educators caught up in a widespread cheating scandal have sentenced to prison time—three were sentenced to seven years in prison and fined $25,000. Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter at their sentencing says the teachers are convicted of inflating student scores on standardized tests. To what they were doing, he says students were the real victims.

“From 2001 there was whole-scale cheating going on in the Atlanta Public Schools and these kids were passed on and passed on and had no chance to begin with because of where they lived, who their parents were, who their, you know, just their situation. And the only chance that they had was the school to get an education.” 

A grand jury in 2013 indicted 35 Atlanta educators including former school superintendent Beverly Hall on conspiracy and other charges. 

 

The Labor Department has proposed a rule that would force brokers and financial advisers to put their clients’ needs above their own. NPR’s Jim Zarroli reports the rule is opposed by the financial services industry. 

Right now brokers and advisers are required to recommend financial products that are suitable for their clients. The draft rule would go further requiring them to put their clients’ interests first. Brokerage firms would have to have policies in place to deal with conflicts of interest when they arise. A similar rule is being considered by the Securities and Exchange Commission. President Obama said in February that brokers too often put their clients’ money into high-fee accounts that erode their retirement savings over time. Industry officials warn that the rule will lead brokers to stop offering financial advice and mean fewer products for consumers. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York. 

 

Mixed earning reports of a number of large companies today along with some economic reports that were similarly mixed led to a mixed close on Wall Streets—the Dow up 59 points at 18,036; the Nasdaq lost 10 points; the S&P500 rose 3 points today.

 

You are listening to NPR News in Washington. 

 

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton on the heels of her announcement she’s officially in the race kept with her announced strategy of holding small-scale advance. The former secretary of state taking part in a roundtable with students and teachers at Community College in Iowa. This morning she chatted with customers at a coffee house in the town of LeClaire.

 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi mounted a scathing attacks on developed countries, who he said were responsible for destroying the climate. The Press Trust of India reports Modi told a gathering in Germany India will set the agenda at the upcoming conference on global warming in Paris. From New Delhi, NPR’s Julie McCarthy has more.

“Those who destroyed the climate are asking us to pay”, Modi reportedly told a gathering at the Indian community in Berlin. He asserted that India has traditionally followed the principle of reuse and recycle and that affordable clean energy would be the most effective way to tackle climate change. Modi spoke of India’s ambitious initiative to tap solar energy and advocates that a change in lifestyle can substantially address the phenomenon of global warming. But India is the world’s third biggest polluter after China and the U.S. and it is under pressure to review clear plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in advance of the climate change conference in Paris in December. Julie McCarthy, NPR News, New Delhi. 

 

In what officials in the mid-west are calling one of the largest and longest lasting cases of canine flu, over 1,100 dogs were reported to have died with other second. Veterinaries in the Chicago region began reporting cases of what is known as canine infectious respiratory disease in January. Humans cannot get dog flu, though veterinary officials say they can spread it.