From NPR news in Washington, I am Winter Johnston. “To our newest members of congress, it is a special privilege and honor to welcome you and your families, and a stand congratulations to the newest members of the congress. Welcome.”

 

　　Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi addressing the 113th congress, Republican John Boehner has been reelected as speaker of the house by a vote of 220 versus Pelosi’s 192. Boehner, who’s been recently criticized over his negotiations with the white house on the fiscal cliff, says lawmakers have a lot a work to do to lower the debt ceiling. “Our government has built too much debt; our economy is not producing enough jobs; and these are not separate problems. A 16 trillion dollars and rising international debt is draining for enterprise and weakening the ship of stage. The American dream is in parallel, so long as its namesake is waved down by this anchor of debt.” Shortly before the session, Senator Mark Kirk ? Illinois, who was returning to work after recovering from a stroke last year, slowly walked up the 45 steps to the Senate while his colleagues cheer him on. Tansocean has agreed to pay 1.4 billion dollars to resolve the Justice Department charges over the 2010 Gull oil spill. NPR’s Kerry Jonathan reports the money will cover civil and criminal penalties in the incident that killed 11 workers on board the oil rig. Transocean owned that oil rig called the “deep water horizon”. The company had already set aside nearly 2 billion $ to cover legal claims over the disaster. And the deal in the works would resolve Transocean’s liability with a Justice Department. The law enforcement source says including about 1 billion $ in civil penalties and 400 million $ in criminal penalties. The source also says Transocean is expected to pled guilty to a criminal charge violating the clean water act. The deal requires the approval of a federal judge. Kerry Jonathan, NPR news Washington.

 

　　More Americans sought the unemployment benefit last weeks. The labor department says weekly applications rose by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 372,000 in the week of December 24th. Scott Brown, Chief economist said Raymond James and associates says the outlook is positive but there are still some hurdles that need to be cleared. “We still on relatively good shape, definitely still on recovering mode, we’ve got some uncertainties due to the many cliff coming up, raising of the debt ceiling, the spending cuts is goanna kick in in two months. And we still really need a long-term plan the deficit.” Many state unemployment offices were closed last week for the New Year’s holiday. As a result, the department relied on estimates for 9 states. On Wall Street, the Dow is down 8 points. This is NPR news.

 

　　Secretary of the State, Hillary Clinton has been released from a New York hospital after undergoing treatment for a blood clot near her brain. The clot stemed from the concussion Clinton suffered in December after she fainted at home while recovering from the flu. She is being treated with blood thinners.

 

　　Russian president Vladimir Putin has ordered a change in the way members of the country’s parliament are elected. NPR’s xxx reports that the plan is drawing criticism from people who say it is designed to benefit Putin’s political party. The Russian leader ordered the country to be returned to a system of mixed elections. Right now, voters of in Russian vote for political parties which then decide who will fill their allied seats in parliament. The new system will require that half of the 450 seats in the lower house parliament be filled by direct elections of individual candidates, the way members of congress are elected in the United States. The supporters of the plan say it opens up the political system to win independent politicians. But critics say the plan can be manipulated to win bigger majorities for Putin’s Ruling United Russian Party, which has been losing support. Xxx, NPR news, Moscow.

 

　　Five men accused in the gang-rape of a woman on a New Delhi bus, are facing rape and murder charges. Another suspected is believed to be a juvenile and he is expected to be trialed in a juvenile court. The men were charged with raping a 23 years old woman for hours and beating her companion as the bus drove through the capital. The woman later died at a Singapore hospital from massive internal injuries. Police say they are planning to push for the death penalty in the case. I am Winter Johnston, NPR news, in Washington.