NPR 2009-04-19

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton says the US will vigorously raise to the Iranian government, the administration's concerns about the eight-year-prison sentence given to Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi. She was convicted this week by a court in Iran of spying for the United States. Saberi is a freelance journalist who has worked for NPR and the BBC. Saberi's father Reza Saberi told NPR today, his daughter was coerced 1 into making statements she was told would lead to her release. "I don't think they have any evidence. And I haven't heard any evidence that can be made public. " Saberi says his daughter is weak and frail 2. He says her sentence will be appealed. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says President Obama was deeply disappointed by the sentence.  "We will continue to express the concerns that we have through the Swiss to the Iranian government. And make sure they underscore and understand our deep concern for these actions. " NPR's chief executive officer Vivian Schiller is calling Saberi's sentence harsh and unwarranted. She appealed to Iranian authorities to show compassion 3 and allow Saberi to return home to the US with her parents. A press advisor 4 to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad criticized the US for, in his words, saying "it's extending hand of friendship while at the same it sends spies to Iran".

Dutch NATO commandoes have freed 20 fishermen who were being held hostage by Somali-based pirates in the Gulf 5 of Aden. A short time later, a Belgian ship was captured off the Somali coast. The BBC's Peter Greste reports from Nairobi.

The pirates attacked a Greek-owned tanker 6 with the assault rifles and grenades. The Dutch frigate 7 De Zeven Provincien chased them back to their mothership, a Yemeni fishing dhow. Commandoes from the ship raided the dhow, caught the pirates and freed the Yemeni crew who have been forced to sail the dhow on behalf of their captives. But the Dutch ship then allowed the pirates to go, saying they had no authority under international law to detain the Somalis further. But then, other pirates struck back, they seized a Belgian-registered ship and its 10 crew, including seven Europeans, further south in the India Ocean. The BBC's Peter Greste.

South Korea will meet with North Korean officials to discuss a South Korean worker detained in a border town. Doualy Xaykaothao reports.

Ties between the North and the South have been strained recently, not only because of the North's latest rocket launch and the South’s expected participation 8 in the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative, but also because the North has detained a South Korean worker for the last 20 days. North Korea claims the man denounced his political regime and encouraged a North Korean female to defect to the South. South Korea's government hasn't had access to the Hyundai Asan employee. But a ministry's spokesman says officials are negotiating his release.

This is NPR News from Washington.

The Federal Reserve's No. 2 official says the central bank will not allow its policies to trigger a surge in inflation, but vice 9 chairman Donald Kohn says the Fed may need to do more to ease credit if the US economy remains 10 weak. He was speaking at a conference at Vanderbilt University today. Steve Beckner, a Market News International has the story.

The Fed has not only slashed 11 short-term interest rates near zero. It is more than double the base money supply through aggressive lending and securities purchases. But Kohn vowed 12 the Federal reverse its credit programs, reduce bank reserves and raise rates in a timely fashion to contain inflation. New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley, appearing with Kohn, said the Fed has the ability to manage down the size of its balance sheet and thus prevent inflation. Kohn said it is hard for the Fed to assess how much the credit it needs to provide in the current uncertain climate. So, he said it must be ready to adapt policy flexibly. He said the Fed may need to reverse its credit easing to force dollar inflation or it may need to do more if monetary 13 and fiscal 14 stimulus 15 don't succeed. For NPR News, I'm Steve Beckner.

President Obama says he will ask all federal department and agency heads, at his full cabinet meeting on Monday to make specific proposals for cutting their budgets. "In the coming weeks, I'll be announcing the elimination 16 of dozens of government programs shown to be wasteful 17 or ineffective. In this effort, there will be no sacred cows and no pet projects." Mr. Obama was speaking in his weekly radio address today. He said his goal is to restore public confidence that the federal government is using tax payers' money wisely.