NPR 2008-12-15

President Bush made his fourth and final trip to Iraq today before leaving office. He defended his decision to order the US-led invasion and he met with the American troops. But his news conference in Baghdad was interrupted when an Iraqi man threw his shoes at the president. The BBC's Humphrey Hawksley has more from Baghdad.

President Bush's visit began with the inspection 1 of four Guard-of-Honour and the signing a watershed 2 security pact 3 on how and when US forces would leave the country. But at a news conference, as the president was giving his upbeat assessment 4 on Iraq's future, he came in for a surprise. An Iraqi journalist hurled 5 two shoes at him in quick succession, shouting on the first: This is a farewell gift from Iraqi people, dog. And on the second: This is for all the widows and orphans 6 and all those killed in Iraq. The BBC's Humphrey Hawksley.

Blowing drifting snow has forced the closure of some major highways in the northern plain states. More than a foot of snow has fallen in parts of North Dakota. Utility crews are working to restore power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the northeast that are still without electricity following a severe ice storm there. From member station WBUR, Mettle 7 Largie reports.

Debris 8 from ice coated trees is hampering 9 efforts to restore power in northern New England. Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency spokesman Peter Judge says crews are making slow but steady progress restoring electricity to affected 10 areas. "In the past, it's just a matter of crews going out bureau, repairing wires and poles that sort of thing. But right now there are a hundred billion to get to a lot of them. So we have a lot of crews out there with chain saws and with trucks trying to assist them to, so they can in fact do their jobs and then bring the lights back on." Power outages in some places could last for several more days. For NPR News, I'm Mettle Largie, in Boston.

China's government says it plans to increase the amount of money in circulation there by 17% next year as part of the country's response to the global financial crisis. NPR's Louisa Lim has the story from Shanghai.

China has released a broad blueprint 11 for addressing its economic downturn, including loosening its tight monetary 12 policy. Next year it will increase the money supply by 17%, a marked increase from 15% in November. Beijing wants to get more money circulating to try to stimulate 13 domestic spending and shield the country from the global slowdown. The directive also laid out a number of changes making it easier for companies to borrow money, including increasing funding to its development banks by 15 billion dollars. Trade figures released last week show China's economy is slowing down far more dramatically than predicted. And senior officials warn worse is yet to come. To the next year, economic growth might fall below the 8% for necessary to provide jobs for those entering the workforce 14 each year. Louisa Lim, NPR News, Shanghai.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Embattled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is so far resisting pressure to resign. And a spokesman says Blagojevich will definitely not step down tomorrow. The man who would replace if he does resign--lieutenant governor Pat Quinn says he would like to name someone to fill at least temporarily, the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Obama until a special election could be held next spring. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan says she's hoping to get a response within the next several days to her request to the state Supreme 15 Court to strip Blagojevich of his powers. "We need to have a governor who can actually use the powers of that office and govern our state or else our state becomes paralyzed.” Madigan was on NBC's Meet the Press today.

In South Africa, a group that broke away from the ruling African National Congress of what they claim as its undemocratic direction is meeting over the next few days to launch a new party. NPR's Charlene Hunter-Gault reports.

More than 4, 000 delegates from around the country attending the three-day inaugural 16 launch of the Congress of the People are in the celebratory mood. But much of the message from Cope interim 17 chairman Mosiuoa Lekota was grim. He compared the country's mood to the apartheid era, saying intimidation 18 and paralyzing fear is now gripping sections of South African society. And he accused ANC leaders of thriving in political hate speech. But Lekota says South Africans with lost faiths in the dream of a vibrant 19 rainbow nation have had their hopes revived by Cope. Charlene Hunter-Gault, NPR News, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

President-elect Obama and his two daughters today picked out the family Christmas tree at a lot in Chicago. As they were leaving, Mr. Obama wished the small crowd that gathered a Merry Christmas.