NPR 2011-06-07

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

The White House is reaffirming what it calls a "real drawdown" of US forces in Afghanistan. This hours after the president met with his advisors 1 to review US policy in that region. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports President Obama will soon decide how many troops to bring home in July.

The defense 2 secretary and commanders in the field will advise the president about how many troops should leave Afghanistan in its first round. White House spokesman Jay Carney says Mr. Obama's decision will depend on how stable Afghanistan is and whether troops have defeated al-Qaeda in the country.

"It will be a real drawdown, but it will depend on the conditions on the ground, which he relies on his commanders to inform him about."

Both political parties are divided on this issue. Many critics point to the war's two-billion-dollar-a-week price tag, but Carney says cost will not be a major factor in the president's decision. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, the White House.

Five American soldiers in Iraq are dead in one of the worst single attacks of its kind in two years. Today, the US military announced the service members who were acting 3 as advisors to Iraqi authorities were killed when their living quarters in eastern Baghdad came under rocket attack.

Celebrations in Yemen's capital today, with many elated the embattled president is temporarily out of the country. Ali Abdullah Saleh is being treated in Saudi Arabia for wounds sustained during an attack on his palace amid two weeks of fighting in Sana'a.

Syrian state television is broadcasting images of armed groups torching government buildings in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour. It says at least 120 security personnel have been killed since the crackdown on anti-government protesters began there over the weekend. The latest from the BBC's Jim Muir.

The official TV said the gunmen were armed with medium caliber 4 weapons and grenades, and that they'd stolen five tons of explosives from a nearby dam. Jisr al-Shughour has been the scene of a continuing military crackdown since Saturday following protest demonstrations 5 denouncing the regime after Friday prayers. If the government's account is to be believed, it's by far the biggest number of security forces killed in any single incident since the uprising began in March. It implies that at least in Jisr al-Shughour, they're facing an armed insurrection rather than mass peaceful protests.

The BBC's Jim Muir reporting.

A levee near the Missouri-Iowa border has begun to give way to rising waters. The Army Corps 6 of Engineers reported a second partial breach 7 today that was said to be about 10 feet wide. Wherever they're expecting the levee to fully 8 breach under the pressure of record river flows from heavy rains and snowmelt, evacuations are under way.

At last check on Wall Street before the close, the Dow was down 61 points or about 0.5% at 12,090 in trading of just over three billion shares, and the NASDAQ had lost 30 points, down more than 1%, at 2,703.

From Washington, this is NPR News.

"Shame on you. Shame on you."

Former International Monetary 9 Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Khan encountering angry protests as he arrived at a Manhattan courthouse today, where he pleaded not guilty this morning to sexual assault charges. We have the latest from NPR's Margot Adler.