NPR 2009-02-16

Arizona Republican Senator John McCain says the 787-billion-dollar stimulus 1 package passed by Congress last week is flawed. "It is incredibly expensive. It has hundreds of billions of dollars in projects which will not yield in jobs." McCain spoke 2 on CNN. Earlier President Obama’s senior advisor 3 David Axelrod told FOX News Sunday the measure is necessary. "Ultimately we're going to put people to work doing the work that America needs done in energy, in health care, in education, rebuilding our roads, bridges, dams and levees. That's going to have a long-term effect and a short-term effect. But a lot of those projects are going to begin soon." The President is due to sign the stimulus bill Tuesday.

Illinois junior Senator Roland Burris this hour took reporters’ questions about an affidavit 4 released Saturday. The affidavit says Burris was approached by the brother of impeached 5 Governor Rod Blagojevich asking for fund-raising help. "A fact that I fully 6 disclosed in my affidavit to the impeachment 7 committee." Burris says he declined the request but he did not advise state lawmakers looking into the issue prior to his appointment. Now Illinois Republicans are calling for Burris' resignation and an investigation 8 into whether he perjured 9 himself.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Muslims gathered for one of the country’s most important Shiite religious events despite series of bomb attacks that have killed dozens of pilgrims. From Baghdad, NPR s Corey Flintoff has the story.

Event called Arba'een marks the death of the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, Imam Hussein who was killed in a battle in the 7th century. Hussein’s death was the beginning of the sectarian divide in Islam between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. Some Sunnis believed that Shiites are heretics and this observance was abandoned in Iraq during the regime of Saddam Hussein. Suicide bombings and car bomb attacks against the pilgrims are believed to be part of an effort to stir up sectarian violence. Corey Flintoff, NPR News, Baghdad.

Voters in Venezuela are casting ballots 10 today on a referendum that scraps 11 term limits and allows President Hugo Chavez to run for office indefinitely. NPR’s Juan Forero has more from Caracas, Venezuela.

President Chavez calls the constitutional reform a small change. And he hints that he might not even run for office after his current term ends in four years. But opposition 12 leaders say Chavez, already in office a decade, wants to be president for life. Today’s vote is the second time Chavez has tried to lengthen 13 his presidency 14. In 2007 voters rejected a broad constitutional reform package that would have permitted him to run indefinitely. Chavez says the amendment 15 is vital if Venezuela is to complete its transformation 16 into a socialist 17 state. Juan Forero, NPR News, Caracas.

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Negotiations 18 for General Motors and the United Autoworkers are scheduled to resume bargaining talks today after they broke off Friday. Its issue is how to fund retiree health care. GM has until Tuesday to submit a restructuring plan to the government under the terms of its federal bailout.

A team of about 60 fire specialists from the U. S. has arrived in southeastern Australia, in Victoria to help deal with the country’s worst ever outbreak of wildfires. The blazes have killed 181 people and the death toll 19 is expected to rise. Lindsey Arkley has more from Melbourne.

Australian authorities requested U. S. help under a bilateral 20 agreement for the two countries to help each other during wildfire emergencies. The arrival of the Americans comes after several days of mild weather in Victoria that has allowed containment 21 lines around a number of fires to be strengthened. But even though no communities are currently under threat, officials say it is too soon to declare the emergency to be over. In any event, most of the American team members have not been selected for their expertise 22 in actually fighting fires, rather most are specialists in burned area rehabilitation 23, and that’s going to be a problem in Victoria for many months. For NPR News, I' m Lindsey Arkley in Melbourne.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has embarked 24 on her first trip abroad as top U. S. diplomat 25. She’s heading to East Asia where she’ll visit Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and China. Before departing, Clinton said the trip highlights the importance of Asian countries in tackling the global financial crisis as well as climate change.