NPR News 2010-05-09 加文本

NPR News 2010-05-09

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

BP's attempt at securing a chamber around the source of an expanding oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may be in trouble. In a news briefing moments ago, CEO Doug Suttles said ice crystals had formed inside the containment dome when it was placed over the leak source. The chamber's been moved to the side.

"The dome is currently sitting on the seabed while we evaluate options to deal with the hydrate issue. We believe that it'll probably take the next two days to look for opportunities to try to overcome this challenge."

The operation's never been tried before this deep underwater. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry reminds the public it's also a short-term fix.

"This dome is no silver bullet to stop the leak and we continue to work on all fronts with more than 10,000 personnel now and the support of the governmental, international, scientific and industry experts. This is an all-hands-on-deck evolution."

Separately, crews conducted several controlled burns yesterday. But winds have picked up, since then, preventing any burns of the thickest concentrations of oil from the spill today.

Recovery is likely to come slowly to severely flooded parts of Tennessee. But as Anne Marshall reports, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is pledging long-term help.

"Thank you guys for doing what you're doing."

Secretary Napolitano greeted volunteers and reassured flood victims of the government support during her stop in Nashville. She says federal wheels are in motion. FEMA is completing home inspections and four million dollars has already been allocated to individuals. Napolitano says FEMA and other federal agencies will be in Tennessee for several months and her trip is just a beginning.

"We want to make sure we're going into every area. We've got eyes on the ground, mass on target in terms of knowing where the damages are and who needs help."

Napolitano says President Obama is being briefed daily on the floods. Thirty have died across the state and damages are estimated at $1.5 billion. For NPR News, I'm Anne Marshall in Nashville.

There's been an explosion at a coal mine in Siberia. Russian authorities say about 200 miners were underground at the time. The Reuters news service is reporting possible fatalities.

People flying between Europe and North America are running into flight delays because of a spreading ash cloud from a volcanic eruption in Iceland. A massive plume stretches across much of the northern Atlantic. Planes are being rerouted north and south off the 1,200-mile-long cloud, adding about an hour to normal flight schedules. The cloud has reached northern Spain, forcing several airports to shut down today.

The Palestine Liberation Organization is supporting indirect talks with Israel, clearing the path now for the first negotiations in a year and a half. US envoy George Mitchell is expected to shuttle between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The West Bank's Fatah rulers support the plan. However, Hamas which runs Gaza is opposed.

This is NPR.

An Iranian civilian that France refused to extradite to the United States is back home in Iran after a year's detention in Paris. Eleanor Beardsley reports that a French court rejected US allegations that the engineer was buying sensitive technology and illegally exporting it to Iran.

Majid Kakavand spoke to reporters earlier this week just after the French court's decision.

"It is a great moment for me because the image that the Americans had made for me, now everybody can understand, was not true."

The 37-year-old engineer was taken into custody in March, 2009 as he arrived in Paris for a vacation. He was arrested after US authorities accused him of buying electronics components from companies in New Jersey, Alabama and California through a Malaysian firm and exporting them illegally to Iran. The US said the technology could be used for military purposes, but a French appeals court rejected those allegations after the country's intelligence services concluded that the electronics components could not be considered potentially dangerous. For NPR News, I'm Eleanor Beardsley in Paris.

This weekend, eurozone leaders have been putting final touches on a plan to keep Greece's debt crisis from spreading to Spain and Portugal. The turmoil was a factor in the Dow's record plunge two days ago.

President Obama says the new healthcare law is already delivering results. In his weekly address, he notes that insurance companies are being held more accountable to patients, and that small businesses and senior citizens can collect on tax credits and rebates. But GOP critics warn the quality of healthcare will suffer and economic recovery will be compromised.

This morning, a Staten Island ferry crashed into a pier. Authorities say dozens of people were injured, at least one of them seriously.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News, Washington.