NPR 2011-08-25

 Hurricane Irene is gaining strength over the Bahamas as it makes its way straight for the Eastern US. Though still a Category 3, the storm's top winds are now at around 120 miles per hour. Evacuations are already underway on one of the tiny islands off the North Carolina coast. Forecasters warned the storm could get to Category 4, and wreak 1 havoc 2 across the Eastern Seaboard later this week. FEMA Administrator 3 Craig Fugate says people better get ready for more else.

 
"Those that wait till the last minute will find the shelves empty and bare. Those that wait to evacuate 4 the last minute are gonna find traffic jams grave. And those that had a place to go may find themselves on the road without a clear destination, wondering how far that storm is behind them."
 
The storm could reach the US by the weekend.
 
Four Italian journalists are missing in Libya. The Italian government says the group was kidnapped earlier today while they were headed to Tripoli. Their driver was killed. The attack is suspected to have been carried out by Moammar Gadhafi loyalists struggling to keep the regime from being toppled. It came hours or within hours of news that Western journalists held by armed gunmen were released from hotel in the capital. Meanwhile the battle for Tripoli continues. 
 
Gadhafi is in hiding but he says he will not surrender. In a message aired by local Libyan TV, the Libyan leader tells supporters to keep fighting for Tripoli.
 
In Paris today, French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with a senior member of Libya’s rebel government. Eleanor Beardsley reports the two leaders spoke 5 to reporters about plans for a post-Gaddafi Libya.
 
Mahmoud Jibril stood at the podium and thanked Sarkozy for his courageous 6 position in leading international efforts to help the Libyan people throw off Gadhafi's dictatorship. The two leaders then announced that representatives from more than 30 nations would gather in Paris on September 1st to talk about rebuilding Libya. Jibril, speaking through a translator, said that day was important.
 
"It was on September 1st that Gadhafi came to power 41 years ago. This will be a new symbol of the reconstruction 7 of Libya on the basis of democracy, justice, equality."
 
Jibril said the new Libyan leaders would not seek revenge and the government would be inclusive. For NPR News, I'm Eleanor Beardsley in Paris.
 
Syria is a target of new Western calls for tougher sanctions as government troops keep up their attacks on anti-government activists 8. Reuters news service is reporting Arab ministers plan to hold an emergency session this Saturday to discuss the bloodshed in Syria. The United Nations estimates 2,200 people have been killed since Syria's uprising began five months ago.
 
Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 144 points or 1.2% at 11,321, and NASDAQ was up nearly 1% at 2,468.
 
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The Obama administration is fighting Alabama's controversial new immigration law in Birmingham Federal Court. NPR'a Debbie Elliot reports the US district judge is considering whether to block the law from going into effect in September.
 
The Justice Department's William Orrick argues that Alabama has overstepped federal authority with a new law that makes it a crime to be in the state illegally, and also criminalizes transporting, housing or entering into a contract with unauthorized residents. Orrick says Congress intended that the country speak with one voice on immigration policy. He says Alabama's strict new law would hinder foreign policy, erode 9 the reputation of the US, and invite retaliation 10 from other governments. US District Judge Sharon Blackburn says she is leaning toward the argument that federal law preempts 11 part of Alabama's immigration crackdown. Debbie Elliot, NPR News, Birmingham.
 
A US monitoring group says satellite imagery reveals two more mass graves in a disputed area of Sudan, bringing their total to eight so far. The group known as the Satellite Sentinel Project also says members of Sudan's Red Crescent Society were present during some of the burials. Sudan's UN envoy 12 is dismissing the group's claims.
 
Higher demand for planes and automobiles 13 are the main factors behind the overall 4% increase in orders for durable 14 goods in July. But the Commerce Department says that orders in most other major categories including computers, machinery 15 and electronic goods dropped last month.
 
At last check on Wall Street, Dow was up 144 points before the close at 11,321, This is NPR News.