NPR 2011-12-17

 In the House, lawmakers eager to leave Washington gridlock behind them for a holiday break have approved a one-trillion-dollar spending bill. Speaker of the House John Boehner announced the vote.

 
“The ayes are 296, the nays 2 are 121. The conference report is adopted. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.”
 
A Senate vote may not take place until late today or on Saturday. Negotiators forged a compromise later last night. But NPR’s Tamara Keith reports a few other issues remained unresolved.
 
Still missing is a path to extend the payroll 3 tax holiday, unemployment insurance for the long-term unemployed 4 and a number of other year-end fixes. Congressional leaders say they want to take care of all these things before heading home for the long winter break. But they still can’t agree on how to pay for what would be hundreds of billions dollars in expenses. Senate Majority Leader Harry 5 Reid is talking about a “Plan B” that would involve a short-term two-month extension. Tamara Keith, NPR News.
 
The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging six former top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with civil fraud in connection with the nation’s housing meltdown. SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami.
 
“We allege 6 that the company and the three former executives charged today adopted a very broad definition of subprime in its disclosure documents. That definition and the resulting disclosures in turn let investors 7 to believe that Freddie Mac was disclosing all of its subprime exposure. Unfortunately, that was not the case.”
 
Among those facing charges, two former CEOs, Fannie’s Daniel Mudd and Freddie’s Richard Syron.
 
Britain’s Supreme 8 Court today agreed to hear an appeal by Wikileaks founder 9 Julian Assange. As Larry Miller 10 reports from London, it’s agreed to hear appeals against extradition 11 to Sweden on sex crime allegations.
 
In agreeing to hear the Assange case, the British Supreme Court says the issue raised is of great public importance whether a prosecutor 12 is a ‘judicial authority.’ Assange argues his arrest warrant is invalid 13 because it was not issued by a judge. Assange denies allegations made by two Swedish women who claimed he raped 14 and then coreced them. He says the arrest warrant is politically motivated, and it means to get him to the US, where he could be prosecuted 15 for publishing the thousands of classified US documents. Bradley Manning is charged with leaking. For NPR News, I’m Larry Miller in London.
 
The case against the Army private accused of leaking sensitive government information to Wikileaks moved to a military courtroom today. Bradley Manning’s case is being heard in a heavily secured courtroom at Fort Meade, Maryland.
 
On Wall Street today, the Dow was down two points at 11,875; NASDAQ up 18. 
 
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Ahead of a federal trial over the BP Gulf 16 oil spill one year ago, the maker 1 of a failed blowout preventer is said to pay BP a quarter of a billion dollar. BP is directing that money from Cameron International Corporation to a 20-billion-dollar victim compensation fund.
 
The Defense 17 Department is extending a deadline for colleges to sign on to new requirements if they are to receive federal assistance for active service members. NPR’s Larry Abramson explains.
 
Originally, colleges and universities head into January 1st to sign a memorandum 18, which requires that schools consider official recognition for military training courses. The requirement was meant to ensure fair treatment for students receiving military funding, but many schools said the rule would tie their hands. Now the Defense Department says it will extend that deadline to the end of March. So we can negotiate with colleges that have refused to sign. The military gives up more than 500 million dollars each year in tuition assistance to help active service members attend college. Larry Abramson, NPR News, Washington.
 
Major League slugger Barry Bonds faces sentencing today in connection with a grand jury investigation 19 into steroid abuse. He was convicted on charges of obstruction 20 of justice. Prosecutors 21 are asking for a 15-month prison sentence. The Federal Probation 22 Department recommends Bonds get probation, a term of house arrest and community service.
 
Author and essayist Christopher Hitchens has died at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston after a battle with cancer. He was 62. He was well-known for his essays in Vanity Fair as manifesto 23 for ADS.
 
I’m Louise Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.