Watch Video | Listen to the Audio
JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day’s other news: Syria’s military and its Russian allies scaled back airstrikes on Aleppo, but President Bashar al-Assad vowed to recapture all of the city. Meanwhile, Russia warned the U.S. about launching airstrikes against Assad’s forces.
The Defense Ministry suggested Russian anti-aircraft sites might have to fire on the planes In self-defense.
MAJ. GEN. IGOR KONASHENKOV, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman: (through translator): Some respected mass media have published leaks concerning discussions in the White House on carrying out strikes on Syrian army positions. One should realize that Russian crews manning air defense systems will not have time to detect the exact flight path of missiles and where they are from.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Amid the fighting, United Nations special envoy Staffan de Mistura warned there may be nothing left of Aleppo by year’s end unless the bombing stops.
GWEN IFILL: In Pakistan, lawmakers voted today to enact harsher penalties for so-called honor killings. More than 1,000 Pakistani women were murdered last year by male relatives, mostly for marrying or dating without the family’s approval. Current law allowed most of the killers to go free. The new law imposes a 25-year minimum prison term.
JUDY WOODRUFF: In Poland, the Parliament has overwhelmingly rejected a complete ban on abortions. The proposal had sparked mass protests by women this week. Today, the ruling Conservative Party unexpectedly withdrew its support for the legislation. But supporters insisted they will keep trying.
MARIUSZ DZIERZAWSKI, Stop Abortion Committee (through translator): Naturally, we will not stop our actions. We have more and more supporters, so we will intensify our actions in the nearest weeks and months. We will intensify our action. It’s not the first vote that we lost in the Parliament.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Poland is a heavily Catholic nation and already has one of the strictest abortion laws in Europe.
GWEN IFILL: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had an emergency heart procedure today after suffering chest pains. He was sent home a few hours later, after a doctor said tests came back normal. He told state-run TV: “Everything is OK.” Abbas is 81, and has a history of heart trouble.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The train that crashed into a Hoboken, New Jersey, station last week, and killed one person, was going twice the speed limit. The National Transportation Safety Board says data recorders show the train hit 21 miles an hour in the last 30 seconds. The engineer has said he has no memory of the crash.
GWEN IFILL: On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 12 points to close at 18268. The Nasdaq fell nine points. The S&P 500 added one. And the price of oil topped $50 a barrel for the first time since June.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And the music world is remembering British songwriter Rod Temperton, who turned out some of the most popular hits of the last 40 years. His music publisher says he died of cancer last week in London.
Starting in the late ’70s, Temperton wrote a long list of top 10 songs, including “Boogie Nights” and Michael Jackson’s mega-hit “Thriller.”
Rod Temperton was 66 years old.
And we will always remember that song.
The post News Wrap: Syrian, Russian forces scales back airstrikes in Aleppo appeared first on PBS NewsHour.