NPR 2009-07-28

The Obama administration is pushing for improved relations with China. Hosting a meeting this week between US and Chinese officials in Washington, President Obama says the talks are aimed at fostering cooperation on the economy, energy and national security. NPR's Scott Horsley has more.

President Obama says the relationship between the US and China will shape the 21st century. And the two countries will have to work together to make progress on a range of global challenges. He argued that China could encourage more sustainable economic growth by buying more American goods. Mr. Obama also noted 1 that China is second only to the US, as a consumer of energy and a producer of greenhouse gases. "Let's be frank, neither of us profits from a growing dependence 2 on foreign oil, nor can we spare our people from the ravages 3 of climate change unless we cooperate. Common sense calls upon us to act." This week's talks are not expected to produce any breakthrough with China on preventing climate change. They are intended to set a positive tone for more talks in the future. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House.

Defense 4 Secretary Robert Gates says the US offer to hold talks with Iran about its nuclear program is not open-ended. Meeting with his Israeli counterpart in Jerusalem today, Gates said it's possible Teheran might try to postpone 5 any discussions until it has nuclear weapons capability 6, which both the US and Israel say it might have in the next one to three years. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel is taking no options off the table in dealing 7 with Iran's nuclear ambitions.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband says it is time to start engaging with the Taliban insurgency 8 in Afghanistan. In a speech at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Miliband said there are moderate Taliban guerrillas who could be given seats in the Afghan government. Larry Miller 9 has details from London.

David Miliband said those leading the insurgency have different motivations and that some militants 10, tribal 11 groups and hired fighters could be brought into the Afghan political process. Miliband said it's easy but wrong to brand the insurgency under the single heading of Taliban. "There is no single authoritative 12 leadership of the insurgency in either Afghanistan or Pakistan. Instead there are a range of diverse insurgent 13 groups. Cooperation between them is opportunistic rather than strategic." Foreign Secretary Miliband told NATO the problems in Afghanistan will not be resolved through military might that there must be a political solution. For NPR News, I am Larry Miller in London.

Another sign today that the housing market could be stabilizing 14: the sale of new homes climbed more than 11% from May to June. Home prices, however, continue their decline.

On Wall Street today, the Dow climbed 15 points to close at 9,108; the NASDAQ picked up a point, closing at 1,967.

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Two more Republican Senators have lined up against confirming Sonia Sotomayor's nomination 15 to the US Supreme 16 Court. Alabama's Jeff Sessions and Iowa's Senator Chuck Grassley, both are senior Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is due to vote on the nomination tomorrow.

The National Football League has conditionally 17 reinstated former Atlanta Falcons 18 quarterback Michael Vick, suspended and then in prison for involvement in dog fighting operations. Commissioner 19 Roger Goodell said today Vick could play in the regular season if he finds a team that will sign him.

Modern dance legend Merce Cunningham died last night at his home in New York City. He was 90 years old. As NPR's Neda Ulaby reports, Cunningham expanded the art of dance in some surprising ways.

Merce Cunningham thought anything could be a dance, including riding a bike, kicking a ball, even standing 20 perfectly 21 still. In a 1985 interview with WHYY's Fresh Air, Cunningham said that although his work was seen as radical 22 and divisive early on, his aim was to experiment not to provoke. "These ideas were new ideas that were in the air and these were possibilities that had never been tried before and one could see they were possibilities even though (wasn't) one wasn't sure how they might come out." Cunningham collaborated 23 with a virtual pantheon of 20th century visual artists: Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and his partner of many decades--composer John Cage. Cunningham performed with his company until well into his 70s and announced shortly before his death that it would be shut down after a final two-year tour. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

I am Barbara Klein, NPR News in Washington.