NPR 2008-08-01（在线收听）

President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today the number of US troops in Iraq might be able to be reduced, because conditions in Iraq have dramatically improved. At the White House today, President Bush said he'll make a final decision on troop cuts, once General David Petraeus makes recommendations next month. At a Pentagon briefing, Gates says the desire to increase US troops in Afghanistan will not affect whether troops leave Iraq. "General Petraeus's timeline is tied strictly to Iraq, and has nothing to do with, as far as I know, nothing to do with Afghanistan. " Meanwhile, in eastern Afghanistan today, government and US-led forces are in the third day of fierce battles against Taliban militants. 

NASA scientists say there is water on Mars. They made the conclusion after analyzing a sample of ice soil that NASA's Phoenix Lander scooped up from just below the Martian surface. NPR's Joe Palca has more.

Phoenix landed near the north pole of Mars a little more than two months ago. Scientists chose the landing site because other spacecraft had detected water in the form of ice at the site. Phoenix's cameras showed pictures of a white material just below the surface. But when the lander's robotic arm scooped up the material, it would stick to the scoop and wouldn't drop into the onboard instruments for analysis. So mission managers decided to put what appeared to be dry soil into the instrument and to their delight, it turned out that the sample contained water after all. Scientists will be analyzing the sample over the coming weeks to see whether it could possibly be compatible with life. Joe Palca, NPR News, Washington.

Oil giant Exxon Mobil set another earnings record in the second quarter of this year with profits of nearly 12 billion dollars. It's the largest quarterly earnings of any company in history. Bill Zeeble with member station KERA in Dallas has details.

The Irving, Texas energy company reported its second-quarter net income of 11, 970 million dollars, or $2. 27 a share. A year ago, the company earned close to 11.5 billion dollars. Current numbers exclude the tax charge tied to maximum punitive damages set by the Supreme Court on the Exxon Valdez case. The record profits followed the record-setting price of oil. A barrel has hovered between 125 and 140 dollars a barrel for weeks. Still Exxon Mobil's earnings fell below analysts' expectations. CEO Rex Tillerson partly blamed rising operating costs. Retail profits saved for gasoline were limited. He also cited problems in Venezuela and a labor strike in Nigeria. For NPR News, I'm Bill Zeeble in Dallas. 

On Wall Street today, the Dow fell 205 points to close at 11, 378. The NASDAQ ended the day down 4 points at 2, 325. The S&P was off 16.

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A federal judge has rejected the Bush administration's claim of executive privilege for presidential advisors. US District Court Judge John Bates ruled that former Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former Counsel Harriet Miers are not immune from congressional subpoenas. A House committee had subpoenaed them while investigating whether US attorneys were fired for political reasons. 

The governor of Massachusetts has signed a law that effectively allows same sex couples from other states to get married in Massachusetts. From member station WBUR in Boston, Abigail Beshkin reports.

The repeal makes Massachusetts the second state after California to allow out-of-state gay couples to marry. The law was from 1913 and was originally intended to prevent inter-racial marriages. It said any couple not allowed to get married in their home state also couldn't get married in Massachusetts. Governor Deval Patrick called the repeal "ground-breaking". "Today by repealing a nearly century-old law, we affirm the right of same-sex couples from out of state to marry in Massachusetts to enjoy all of the protections of our good laws." Lawmakers also attached a preamble, so the repeal would take effect right away, saying they want the couples to take advantage of the summer wedding season. " For NPR News, I'm Abigail Beshkin in Boston. 

At the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic said he'll wait 30 days before entering a plea on genocide charges. Karadzic was arrested last week after evading authorities for more than a decade. He also said he's going to represent himself.