National Public Radio (NPR)
October 26, 2007 Friday
SHOW: The Bryant Park Project 7:00 AM EST
Armenian Genocide Bill Loses Steam
ANCHORS: ALISON STEWART, RACHEL MARTIN
Let’s get today’s headlines from Rachel Martin.
BILL WOLFF (Announcer): This is NPR.
RACHEL MARTIN, host:
Hey, good morning, everyone.
A bill to name the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as
genocide has been shelved for a little while. The bill supporters in
Congress conveyed their decision in a letter to House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi this week. The bill had support from at least half of the
House of Representatives a few months ago, but when Turkey started
expressing outrage, Congress members started stepping away from the
bill. Turkey insists that the deaths were part of a civil war and do
not constitute genocide. The Bush administration also opposed the
bill, saying, it would destabilize America’s relationship with
Turkey, which is a key ally in the war on Iraq. Supporters say
they’ll wait to revive the bill some time next year.
Rebels in Darfur have launched a bold attack on Sudan’s oilfields
just days before peace talks are scheduled to begin. The rebels
kidnapped two foreign workers and demanded that foreign oil companies
leave the country. The rebel group said it attacked the Chinese-run
Defra oilfield Tuesday. A Chinese foreign ministry official confirmed
the attack. Sudanese media say the kidnapped workers were a Canadian
and an Iraqi. Darfur rebels along with many international rights
activists accuse China of indirectly funding the Sudanese
government’s war effort in Darfur by investing heavily in Sudan’s oil
industry. Peace talks between Darfur rebels and the government of
Sudan are scheduled to begin Saturday in Libya.
Pro-Burmese, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with military
Junta leaders yesterday. Aung San Suu Kyi has been on house arrest
for the past 12 years. Her meeting with the government liaison comes
a few weeks after massive pro-democracy rallies swept the country.
Burma’s top leader has said he will only engage in talks with Aung
San Suu Kyi if she drops her support for international sanctions
against Burma.
And James Watson, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who made racially
charged comments about the intelligence of black people earlier this
month, well, he’s decided to retire. The 79-year-old Watson was
quoted in The Sunday Times of London as saying he is pessimistic
about Africa because, quote, "all our social policies are based on
the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours whereas all the
testing says not really," unquote. He later issued a retraction and
an apology. He announced his retirement yesterday as the director of
the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island.
And it wasn’t such a runaway wind like the game one, but the Red Sox
again beat out the Colorado Rockies in game two of the World Series.
This time, with a score of 2-1. That puts pressure on the Rockies who
will try to turn things around in game three tomorrow night when
they’re back home in Colorado. Here’s Rockies’ manager Clint Hurdle.
Mr. CLINT HURDLE (Manager, Colorado Rockies): That’s not the way we
drew it up, but you know what, we’ve got to go out and play. We’ve
got some pitchers who’ve got to make some pitches. We’ve got to
knock, you know – see some pitches. And I feel real confident, you
know, that we’ll get back out there and get after tomorrow.
MARTIN: He doesn’t sound so confident.
The Sox are two games away from winning their second World Series
championship in four years.
That’s the news. It’s always online at npr.org.
WOLFF: This is NPR.
MARTIN: Robert and Alison, your turn.
SMITH: Thank you very much.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress