NPR 2009-05-07

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack 1 Speer.

President Obama today pledged to work with the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan to combat extremists. Speaking after a meeting at the White House with the leaders of the two countries, Mr. Obama also said he has received their assurances of cooperation to fight Al-Qaeda. "We meet today as three sovereign nations joined by a common goal, to disrupt, dismantle 2 and defeat Al-Qaeda and its extremist allies in Pakistan and Afghanistan and to prevent their ability to operate in either country in the future." President met separately with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Mr. Obama acknowledged while there will be more violence and setbacks, he said US has determined 4 additional resources are needed for Afghanistan, setting plans to send 21,000 more troops to the region.

Pakistani forces have bombarded Taliban positions in the besieged 5 Swat Valley in the northwest of the country. As fighting there intensifies 6 the population caught up in the conflict is rushing to leave. From Islamabad, NPR's Julie McCarthy has more.

The army said forces deployed 7 helicopter gunships in an attack on an emerald mine on the northern edge of the main city of Mingora, killing 8 35 militants 9. A local journalist told NPR that he saw 16 bodies of civilians 10, 12 of whom were children near the mine following the attack. The clashes effectively marked the end of a fragile truce 11 in Swat Valley, the one-time resort devastated 12 by a two-year Taliban insurgency 13. The truce had been widely criticized as a gambit to allow the Taliban to regroup. Defying the curfew clamped on Swat, armed militants descended 14 from their hideouts into the city Monday night where the army says they have looted banks and occupied government buildings. Bedraggled families meanwhile pile onto trucks to flee the strife-torn valley. Julie McCarthy, NPR News, Islamabad.

Mexicans are flooding back to work today as the government lifts restrictions 15 imposed as a result of swine flu. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports from Mexico City.

The traffic in Mexico City is back to its usual crawl as life in this metropolis 16 of twenty million people starts to return to normal. President Felipe Calderon had ordered all non-essential government workers to take a five-day weekend and asked businesses to do the same, in an effort to slow the spread of swine flu. Calderon had even asked people to stay in their homes. Private businesses are slowly reopening. Restaurants in the capital are now allowed to offer food on their premises 17 for the first time in more than a week. But the tables must be spaced at least two and a half meters apart. Cinemas nationwide but not yet in the capital are open again, but they are being ordered to leave two seats between each patron. Meanwhile, government health workers are using heat cameras on the subway to search for passengers with fevers. Jason Beaubien, NPR News, Mexico City.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 101 points to close at 8,512；the NASDAQ was up four points today.

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Another New England state has signed off on legalizing same-sex marriage. With the governor's signature on the bill, Maine becomes the fourth state in the region and the fifth in the nation to allow same-sex marriage. Maine's new law is set to take effect in September though that could be side tracked by legal challenges. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont currently allow same-sex unions while New Hampshire may be on the verge 18 of doing so. State legislature has approved the gay marriage bill that awaits the governor's signature.

Iconic figure in Chicago politics has died. Leon Despres was a former independent Chicago alderman, who often clashed with the first Mayor Daley and his political machine. He was 101 years old. From Chicago, NPR's David Schaper reports.

Leon Despres was elected alderman from Chicago's liberal Hyde Park neighborhood on the same day in 1955, that Chicagoan’s first elected Richard J. Daley its mayor. The two clashed early and often throughout the next 20 years over fair housing, school segregation 19 and other civil rights issues. And Despres rose frequently in city council meetings to object to the oily policies, patronage 20, political maneuvers 21 of Daley and his Democratic machine, often having his microphone cut off midspeech. Many called Despres the absolute conscience of the city. The independent progressive political movement Despres fostered in Hyde Park gave Chicago its first black mayor Harold Washington. In the mid 3 90s, the remaining pieces of that coalition 22 helped elect a young committee organizer named Barack Obama to the Illinois state senate. David Schaper, NPR News, Chicago.

Shares of online travel company Orbitz moved higher today after the company reported better than expected earnings 23. The company says excluding its 332 million dollar non-cash charge, Orbitz earned a penny a share for its latest quarter.