Week In The News: Mideast Unrest, Ambassador Killed, Romney's Charge

46:12

September 14, 2012

Fire and fury in the Arab World. A U.S. ambassador slain. Mitt Romney, in quick and taking heat. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

An Egyptian protester runs from a burning police car during clashes with riot police, unseen, near the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012. Protesters clash with police near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo for the third day in a row. Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi vowed to protect foreign embassies in Cairo, where police were using tear gas to disperse protesters at the U.S. mission. (AP)

Shocking anger at the U.S. out of the Arab world this week. An unsettling autumn to the high spirits of the Arab spring. Embassies attacked. A consulate in Libya, overrun. A U.S. ambassador, dead.

Angry politics and big questions at home. And the outburst isn’t over. On the economy, the Fed promises to pump $40 billion a month into housing finance. Mortgage rates headed for new lows. In Chicago, teachers still out on strike. Big stakes and a whole lot of kids and families left wondering how long.

This hour, On Point: our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.
-Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Ben Smith, editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed.

Abderrahim Foukara, Washington bureau chief for the Al Jazeera Arabic channel

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst.

From Tom's Reading List

al Jazeera "The protesters on Thursday removed the embassy's sign on the outer wall and brought down the US flag and burned it, according to witnesses."

Washington Post "The Fed announced a new round of bond purchases targeting the mortgage market, saying it would purchase $85 billion in bonds a month through the rest of the year, and then $40 billion a month indefinitely until the economy doesn’t need the support anymore."

Politico "Earlier this year, U.S. and Israeli officials had informally agreed to stop airing their well-documented disagreements over how to halt Iran’s nuclear program, according to two people familiar with the situation."

This program aired on September 14, 2012.