NPR 2011-08-22

 Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is pledging to remain in Tripoli, although it is unknown if he's even in the capital city. Gaddafi is staunchly defending his regime in the face of a fast-moving advance by rebels, some of whom are already in Tripoli. It remains 1 unclear if Gaddafi's forces are still in control of the capital. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports civilians 2 are running for safety wherever they can.

 
This fighting in the last 24 hours in many of the neighborhoods in Tripoli, what we've seen is civilians—basically a whole family's getting into their cars and with all their belongings 3 and fleeing to the west of the country to the relative safety of cities that have now been freed of Gaddafi control like Zawiya and other locations in the Western Mountain. They reported to me when I spoke 4 to them today that the situation was extremely tense in the capital. There were running street battles in certain neighborhoods, and that beyond that, the food, electricity, the general livability in the city was very, very difficult, and that is why many of them have been fleeing.
 
That's NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro.
 
The president of Syria is appealing to the public to stop its uprising and allow political reform to unfold in the country. Bashar al-Assad, as heard through an interpreter, appeared on Al Jazeera to speak to the unrest in his country.
 
"As a matter of fact, we are really able to deal with the situation, and we achieved security achievements. We cannot reveal them, but we have some procedures, and I am not concerned at all. I am not concerned at all. We can deal with the situation."
 
Syria has been in the grip of an uprising for about five months now. It also faces mounting calls from the West for Bashar al-Assad to resign and is in the wake of its crackdown on anti-government activists 5.
 
The Arab League has held an emergency meeting in Cairo to discuss recent Israeli air strikes on Gaza. Mary Kennedy in Cairo reports that the Arab League condemned 6 the attacks and urged the United Nations to take action.
 
In a statement, the Arab League said that Israel should be held legally and financially responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity for the recent air strikes. The air strikes began Thursday after a wave of attacks by militants 7 near the Israeli border. The Arab League wants the assault on Gaza to stop. They've urged the UN Security Council to take action. The league also said it holds Israel responsible for the deaths of several Egyptian policemen on Thursday near the Israeli border. Israel has since apologized for those deaths. Balacuttoo Fatah is the Palestinian representative to the Arab League. He says: "We talk[ed] about peace. We want peace. Israel does not want peace, and it insists on hindering the peace process." For NPR News, I'm Mary Kennedy in Cairo.
 
The lawyer for two American men being held in Iran for espionage 8 says he will appeal his clients' prison sentence. 
 
This is NPR.
 
A debate is raging inside the European Union over whether to introduce euro bonds, bonds jointly 9 held by all 17 euro-area economies, as a way to help ease the crippling debt crisis. Teri Schultz reports from the newest member of the eurozone Estonia, where leaders have a simpler rule: Don't spend more than you make.
 
Estonia has fewer than 1.5 million people, but they live as a model of economic austerity for other EU nations. Estonia's debt to GDP ratio is just 6.6%. Greece's almost 143%. Even EU powerhouse Germany has debt equaling 83.2% of its GDP. Speaking as its rigidly 10 disciplined country celebrates 20 years of independence from the Soviet 11 Union, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet says history gives him a certain perspective.
 
"The worries we see today in Europe, comparing with problems and fears and situations we have seen here in Estonia around some decades ago, it's nothing."
 
Estonia's second-quarter GDP growth of 1.8% also beat the EU average of 0.2%. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Tallinn.
 
A month of national mourning in Norway ended this day with a nationally televised memorial service in Oslo for the 77 people killed in last month's bombing and mass shooting.
 
President Obama tells CBS his low approval rating is reflecting general public discontent with Congress. In an interview broadcast today, the president says that even though his policies have helped keep the economy from getting worse, that argument may not resonate with unemployed 12 Americans. Recent public opinion polls have shown Mr. Obama's approval rating hovering 13 around 40%.