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听力文稿 ( Transcript )
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From NPR News in Washington, I'm Carl Kasell.
Landslides killed more than 50 people on Indonesia's Java Island after torrential rainfalls. Chad Bouchard reports from Jakarta.
Police and rescue crews are struggling to reach areas of western Java that were buried under thick mud after more than two days of continual heavy rain. About 300 rescue workers have been deployed. Officials say key roadways into affected areas about 300 miles east of the capital are blocked. Scores of houses were also buried in the deluge. Downpours often trigger flash floods and mudslides during Indonesia's rainy season each year. Environmentalists blamed the perennial mudslides on widespread deforestation along mountain slopes which leaves soil vulnerable to erosion. Indonesia's Java Island is the most populous in the world with nearly 124 million people living in an area about the size of Mississippi. For NPR News, I'm Chad Bouchard in Jakarta.
Turkish warplanes struck suspected Kurdish rebel hideouts in northern Iraq today. The military said warplanes struck at hideouts used by the rebels in what it called an effective pinpoint operation after spotting what were described as a large terrorist group preparing to spend the winter in those hideouts. The Turkish military said it would continue its offensive against outlawed separatists Kurdistan Workers Party guerillas inside Turkey and across the border in northern Iraq.
Presidential candidates are heading back to the frozen campaign trail today after taking a break for Christmas. With less than two weeks to go before the Iowa caucuses, both the Democrats and Republicans are in tight races. NPR's Ina Jaffe reports from Iowa on the Republican campaign.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has spent millions of dollars and thousands of hours in Iowa and it's paid off until recently. Polls now show him tight with or trailing former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister who has won over Christian conservatives here. Huckabee will be back in Iowa on Wednesday morning. His first event is a pheasant hunt. Romney however will be in New Hampshire, that's another state where he's led in the polls. Now he finds a suddenly resurgent John McCain breathing down his neck. McCain will begin his post-Christmas campaigning in Iowa even though the state never loomed large in his strategy. And former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani had written off Iowa. But he will be campaigning here over the weekend anyway. Ina Jaffe NPR News, Des Moines.
Oil Prices are higher in Asian trading today on new supply concerns amid expectations that data from the U.S. will show a decline in its oil inventories. The drop was expected because of a decline in imports that Market Watch's blamed in part on fog that kept tankers outside the Houston Ship Channel last week. Today U.S. light crude for February delivery rose $0.53 to $94.66 a barrel in electronic trading.
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Holiday shoppers spent more money for gifts this year than last according to early reports, but the increase is slight and is not enough to ease fears of the slowing economy. NPR's Howard Berkes has details.
One holiday spending report from MasterCard advisors shows a 2.4% increase which is at the low-end of what had been expected. At least one sector had fewer sales this Christmas season. Women's clothing was down more than 2%. Analysts watch holiday sales for indications of consumer confidence in the economy, especially with the recent housing and credit crisis. They are not finding much optimism. An executive for warehouse retailer Costco told the Wall Street Journal that his company had what he called a pretty good holiday season, although he didn't provide details. But Target predicted Monday that its holiday sales figures will be relatively flat, when they are ready for release next month. The company had forecast an increase as much as 5%. Howard Berkes, NPR News.
People in the Midwest had a White Christmas, up to seven inches of snow fell in Denver, causing a few flight delays. United Airlines cancelled about 50 flights. Snow fell also in parts of Wyoming, Minnesota and Nebraska, sometimes making travel very difficult. An official in Wyoming says that a semitrailer slid off Interstate 80 and overturned. He says that numerous other vehicles went into ditches on the interstate and other highways. No injuries have been reported. In Nebraska the most snow reported was eight inches. But the National Weather Service says wind gust of 30-40 miles an hour have caused snow drifts of three feet or higher.
I'm Carl Kasell, NPR News in Washington. =============================
Glossary:
perennial: continuing or existing for a long time, or happening again and again hideout: a place where someone goes because they do not want anyone to find them pinpoint: located, fixed, or directed with extreme precision pay off: be profitable or advantageous; succeed, show results ordain: to officially make someone a priest or religious leader Baptist: a member of a Christian group that believes baptism should only be for people old enough to understand its meaning pheasant: a large bird with a long tail, often shot for food, or the meat of this bird low-end: relating to products or services that are less expensive and of lower quality than other products of the same type
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