From Washington, this is VOA News. In Egypt, (a questionable) day as voting is going on in that country. And in Syria...I'm Marti Johnson reporting from Washington.
Voting is going on in the second day of the (referendum) for a new constitution. That voting is continuing at this hour. And the street, meanwhile, is very noisy. Edward Yeranian reports from the noisy streets of Cairo.
At a polling station in Giza, across the river from Cairo, an older woman in a headscarf insisted loudly that she was voting “yes” for Egypt's new constitution. Moments later, a man in a passing bus shouted “no, no, no to the constitution’”. But on Arab satellite channels, activists on both sides of the issue argued vociferously. Egypt's main judicial organizations decided to boycott the vote, and the judge overseeing the referendum resigned this past week. Despite the boycott, however, over 7,200 judges agreed to (supervise) the vote, according to al Jazeera TV. Edward Yeranian for VOA News, Cairo.
President Barack Obama has nominated Senator John Kerry to be the next secretary of state. The 69-year-old senator, who is a Democrat from Massachusetts, served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and is very well traveled. He is also a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War. Senator Kerry's nomination is subject to Senate (confirmation).
Congress and the president are coming down to the wildest squabbling over government spending and taxes as they have been for more than a year. President Barack Obama has told the (congressional) leaders to work out a stopgap deal that would prevent the U.S. economy from falling off the fiscal cliff of expiring tax cuts and mandatory spending cuts. VOA's senior White House correspondent Dan Robinson reports.
Mr. Obama's appearance before reporters late Friday came amid sharply increased pessimism that a deal can be achieved, and after most members of Congress have left town for their Christmas break. On Thursday, The Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Behner, decided to bring an alternative tax plan to a vote in the House. But he failed to gain enough Republican support for his proposal to raise tax rates on annual incomes above $1 million and was forced to (withdraw) the bill, a humiliating defeat. Seeing nobody gets 100% of what they want, Mr. Obama said once interim legislation is achieved and passed by the House and Senate, he will sign it (immediately) into law before January 1st. Dan Robinson, VOA News, the White House.
The biggest gun lobby in the United States says it wants to address gun violence by placing armed soldiers uh, police officers in every school in America, while two Democratic senators called the group's response to the Newtown, Connecticut tragedy shamefully inadequate. The executive vice president of the powerful National Rifle Association, or NRA, said tragedies like the deaths in Newtown, Connecticut last week could be prevented by adding armed security. The NRA's Wayne LaPierre spoke Friday in Washington, one week after 26 people were gunned down at the school. He said the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is (a good guy with a gun). His news conference was interrupted several times by protesters shouting that the NRA and groups like it had caused the problems in schools.
South Sudan's army has shot down a United Nations helicopter, killing all four Russian crew members. A South Sudan military spokesman said the troops mistook the helicopter for an aircraft supplying weapons to rebels. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the attack, saying the (helicopter) was clearly marked. And he called on the government to carry out an immediate investigation. The president of the U.N. Security Council says the shooting is a grave violation of the U.N.'s mandate in South Sudan and jeopardizes the U.N. operation there.
In New Delhi, police in the capital are using teargas and water cannons on demonstrators who assembled for a second day to demand justice for a 23-year-old female student who was brutally gang raped. The protesters shouted “we want justice”. The police say they have arrested all six male suspects, and are seeking life sentences for them. The woman was attacked after she and a (male) friend were given a ride on a chartered bus in New Delhi. Police say a group of men raped her and beat both of the victims with an iron rod, later stripping them and dumping them on the road. The woman remains hospitalized.
I'm Marti Johnson, VOA News in Washington. More news on our website voanews.com.
