NPR 2011-03-09

Libya's military is unleashing 1 more air strikes on rebel positions in a campaign to end the revolt against leader Muammar Gaddafi. Warplanes are pounding areas east and west of the capital Tripoli. They brought down on the oil port of Ras Lanuf and claimed to have seized control of Zawiya, the closest city to Tripoli in rebel hands. And in Ben Jawad, pro-Gaddafi forces appear on state television, declaring control of Ben Jawad.

Israeli Prime Minister Banjamin Netanyahu says Israel must retain control of the Jordan Valley, the part of the West Bank that runs along the border with Jordan even after peace agreement with the Palestinians. More from Linda Gradstein in Jerusalem.

Speaking during a tour of the Jordan Valley, Netanyahu said that the Jordan River is Israel's security border, and that if rockets and missiles were deployed 2 in this area, they could reach all of Israel. At least 47,000 Palestinians live there, and Palestinians say the area must be part of any future Palestinian state. Netanyahu also criticized some Jewish settlers who live in the West Bank, saying that Israel will not allow them to break the law. Some settlers have attacked Palestinian property after Israel demolished 4 a few structures in one of dozens of illegal outposts in the West Bank. Israeli officials say they will demolish 3 any Jewish homes built on private Palestinian land by the end of the year. For NPR News, I'm Linda Gradstein in Jerusalem.

President Obama speaks soon to students in inner-city Boston. As NPR's Tovia Smith reports, he's hoping to promote what he calls “shared responsibility” for education.

TechBoston, in an inner-city neighborhood of Boston, was founded nine years ago with money from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It's a pilot school that continues to get support from private businesses, and the headmaster has unusual flexibility 5 that allows her, for example, to give every student a laptop and extend the school day. The school's graduation rate is 20 points higher than Boston's average, and 95% are accepted to college. In Boston, the president will also highlight plans for a new federal agency funded at $90 million that would develop technology to boost education such as digital tutoring. Tovia Smith, NPR News, Boston.

The Department of Energy is projecting a big bump up in gas prices through the summer to around 3.70 a gallon as the price of oil continues to stay above $100 a barrel. The cost of crude's been climbing the last two weeks as tensions escalated 6 in North Africa and the Middle East and spurred new concerns over the impact on exports. In a report out today, the Energy Department says there is significant uncertainty 7 surrounding the forecast, and that prompt prices could spike 8 above $4 this summer.

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was up 145 points at 12,235.

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It's the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, the day set aside to honor both successes and struggles of women. In the European Union, there's still a lack of equality in many areas including leadership appointments in business. Teri Schultz in Brussels reports that EU companies are being warned to fix this or else.

Despite her own high-ranking post, EU Justice Commissioner 9 Viviane Reding says the last century hasn't brought nearly enough change.

"One hundred years of struggle and we don't see the end of it."

Reding is ready to put her policymaking power into that struggle. She's challenging publicly held companies to significantly improve the ratio of woman to man on their boards. It's more than a mere 10 recommendation, Reding warns.

"If nothing changes, then I am prepared to take action at the EU level to redress 11 the gender 12 balance in corporate 13 board rooms."

Reding says she'll give public companies one year from today to make a difference and will decide whether to take legal action on International Women's Day 2012. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.

New England's cleaning up from a late-winter storm that dumped more than two feet of snow in some parts. In Vermont, authorities say a two-year-old boy was killed in a storm-related incident. Some roads across the region are closed because of flooding. Burlington, Vermont registered its biggest March snowfall on record of more than 25 inches. Forecasters warn another storm is forming over the Rockies and is projecting to hit the Northeast in the coming days.

Dow's up 137 points, more than 1% at 12,227, and NASDAQ is up 22 at 2,768.