NPR 2011-09-27

 The Democratic-led Senate is set to vote within hours on legislation that would avoid a possible government shutdown later this week and restore dwindling funds for disaster relief. NPR’s David Welna reports that the disaster money is only a small part of the bill, but differences over it persist with the Republican-led House as the clock ticks closer to Friday’s end of the fiscal year.

 
The Senate has already rejected a stopgap funding measure passed by the House. That’s because the House bill cuts money for electric car development to partially offset the $3.65 billion it adds for domestic disaster relief. Typically such money is provided without making cuts elsewhere. The bill Senate Democrats are proposing is identical to the House bill except it has no spending cuts. Fears have eased a bit that the Federal Emergency Management Agency might run out of funds for disasters early this week. FEMA now says those funds could last until the weekend, which is when the new fiscal year begins. That would give lawmakers until Friday to agree on legislation keeping the government from shutting down and replenishing the disaster fund. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.
 
US stocks are up with investors hopeful about Europe’s ability to tackle its debt crisis. At last check, the Dow was up 272 points, about 2.5% at 11,044, and the NASDAQ was up more than 1% at 2,517.
 
Still no relief in sight for the country’s beleaguered housing market. The Commerce Department says new home sales fell in August for the fourth straight month. Analyst Diane Swonk of Mesirow Financial says that even though the population is rising and the demand for housing is up, too many people are still out of work, cannot afford to buy and are faced with paying higher rent.
 
“You do have a demographic push out there, and you do also need along with it some jobs and some income to support that push to translate into more sales rather than just rent.”
 
Swonk warns the housing market is estimated to remain rocky for at least three more years.
 
The top American trainer in Afghanistan says the Afghan army is growing steadily. But NPR’s Tom Bowman says Lieutenant General William Caldwell acknowledges that no Afghan units can operate on their own without US or coalition help.
 
The Afghan army now has about 170,000 soldiers. That’s up some 30,000 from last year. But Cardwell told Pentagon reporters those soldiers still can’t supply themselves or care for their wounded in the field.
 
“We have not yet fully developed their logistics system, their maintenance system or their medical system. You know we had a very deliberate plan as to how to get to that. This is the year where we really start taking that on.”
 
The Afghan army and police are supposed to take the lead for their country’s security by the end of 2014 under a timeline crafted by the US and other NATO countries.
 
That’s NPR’s Tom Bowman.
 
Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow was up 272 points at 11,044.
 
This is NPR News.
 
The UN Security Council is discussing the Palestinians' bid for full membership in a closed-door meeting today. The application was submitted last week by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas who wants UN recognition of statehood. Israel and the US object, saying peace can only be achieved in direct talks between the Israelis and Palestinians.
 
Hundreds of Amazon Indians in Bolivia are out of jail a day after they were detained during a march against a proposed highway that would cut through territory that’s home to 15,000 indigenous people. Today the country’s defense minister resigned in protest of the government-backed arrests.
 
A marine salvage company based in Florida says it has found a British World War II-era shipwreck containing more than 240 tons of silver. NPR’s Greg Allen reports the company Odyssey Marine plans to begin recovering the silver early next year.
 
In 1941, a British merchant ship, the SS Gairsoppa, was traveling from India to the British Isles when it was attacked and sunk by a German U-boat. Included in its cargo was hundreds of tons of silver worth an estimated $210 million in today’s market. In an agreement with the British government, Odyssey Marine underwater exploration company based in Tampa began looking for the shipwreck and now says it’s found it 300 miles off the coast of Ireland nearly three miles down. In its contract with the British government, Odyssey Marine says it will keep 80% of the treasure it recovers using remote-controlled underwater robots. The announcement comes as the company is embroiled in a legal dispute over another valuable shipwreck. On Friday, a US appeals court told the company that half a billion dollars in treasure it recovered from a 19th-century shipwreck should be returned to Spain. Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.
 
I’m Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.