NPR 2009-02-09

One of President Obama's top economic advisors 1 Lawrence Summers warns that any delay by Congress in passing economic stimulus 2 legislation could have serious consequences for the economy. He called on lawmakers to transcend 3 politics and act quickly despite ongoing 4 differences over the components 5 of the plan. The compromise bill expected to be passed by the Senate cuts about 40 billion dollars in aid to states that's included in the version passed by the House. Summers says that is an issue that will have to be resolved when lawmakers meet to reconcile the two bills. "There are huge problems facing state and local governments and that could lead to a vicious cycle of layoffs 6, falling home values, lower property taxes, more layoffs." Summers was on ABC's This Week.

Senate Democratic leaders are hoping to bring the Senate bill to a vote on Tuesday, but GOP Senator John Ensign of Nevada says Republicans will try to delay any vote for a few days. "You don't get do-overs with a trillion dollars. If you could get this thing wrong, a trillion dollars isn't like, well, we did it wrong, we'll try it again." Ensign was on NBC's  Meet the Press.

Given the focus on the stimulus bill, the Treasury 7 Department is delaying until Tuesday the unveiling of the administration's plan for using the remaining 350 billion dollars in financial rescue plan money already approved by Congress.

Russian leaders are welcoming an offer in remarks by Vice 8 President Joe Biden to put relations between the US and Russia on a new footing. Biden spoke 9 at a security conference in Munich. NPR's Gregory Feifer reports.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Biden had sent a strong signal, but Ivanov dismissed questions about whether Russia would take concrete steps to better relations. Ivanov's statements are the latest in a series of similar messages. At the same time, Russia has greeted President Barack Obama's election with a number of aggressive measures. Last week, Moscow appeared to be behind Kyrgyzstan's announcement it would close a US airbase vital for supplying forces in Afghanistan. The decision is a blow to Mr. Obama's plans to increase troop levels there, his top foreign policy priority. Gregory Feifer, NPR News, Moscow.

The death toll 10 from the wildfires sweeping 11 across parts of Australia has risen to at least 108. Cathy Harper has the latest from Darwin, Australia.

The state had been suffering through a record heat wave, which a couple of days ago saw temperatures reached 117 degrees. The area is also affected 12 by particularly severe droughts. During daylight hours, the devastation 13 of the wildfires began to become apparent. Entire towns have been destroyed and massive tracts 14 of tall eucalyptus 15 forests have burned to the ground. More than 750, 000 acres of land have been reduced to ash. Helpers are coming from the Army and from other states which are sending more firefighters, paramedics and victim identification specialists. For NPR News, I'm Cathy Harper in Darwin.

This is NPR News from Washington. 

US envoy 16 Richard Holbrooke says the war in Afghanistan will be much tougher than the one in Iraq. Speaking to a security conference in Munich, Holbrooke said, "There is no magic formula in Afghanistan" he added, "It will be a long difficult struggle". Holbrooke is the administration's special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai presented a more optimistic picture, claiming that great progress has been made in his country. 

Iraqi police say a roadside bomb attack killed at least two religious pilgrims today and wounded as many as a dozen others in Baghdad. The attack came despite greatly improved security in the city. NPR's Corey Flintoff has more from Baghdad.

Hundreds of thousands of devout 17 Shiite Muslims are marking a key anniversary in their religious history by treking some 50 miles on foot to the shrines 19 in the southern city of Karbala. The event commemorates 20 the beginning of the sectarian divide between Shiites and Sunnis. And terrorists have staged attacks on pilgrims in the past in an effort to stoke sectarian violence. Protecting such huge crowds has been a major challenge for Iraqi soldiers and police. And many people see it as a test of government's ability to maintain its own security. Just last month, the suicide bomber 21 killed at least 35 pilgrims near an important shrine 18 in northern Baghdad. Throughout the country, violence has dropped sharply over the past year and last month's provincial 22 elections went off without a single major attack. Corey Flintoff, NPR News, Baghdad.

The Iraqi man who threw his shoes at former President Bush in December will face trial on charges of assaulting a foreign leader. The man's attorney's tried unsuccessfully to get an appeals court to reduce the charge to simply insulting Mr. Bush.