NPR 2008-09-15

Nearly 2,000 people have been rescued from flooded or damaged homes in Texas and areas hit by Hurricane Ike. But officials say thousands more who ignored evacuation orders are likely stranded 1 and waiting for help. People who were evacuated 2 are being told it's too soon to try to get back to their homes. At least 13 deaths are being blamed on the storm. From member station KUT in Austin, Erika Aguilar reports.

A weeklong curfew for Houston and Galveston is in place. Much of Galveston Island is still underwater and without power. Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc pleaded with evacuated residents trying to return. "We have about 2000 staying that still want to leave and we're making arrangements now to take them with your help to either Austin or San Antonio. So that I'll send you a strong message not to come back." Nearly 400 people have been rescued by air. The western part of the island took the hardest hit. Governor Rick Perry vowed 3 to rebuild Galveston. He said he hoped the federal government will help with the cost of debris 4 removal, rebuilding and recovering. President Bush will be in Texas Tuesday to tour the damage. For NPR News, I'm Mary Cabilou in Austin.

Efforts to work out a rescue plan for Lehman Brothers have been unsuccessful so far and hopes for a buyout of the troubled investment bank are fading. Both of the possible buyers, Bank of America and Britain's Barclays Bank, have backed out apparently 5 because of the reluctance 6 of federal regulators to provide financial support for such a deal. The most likely scenario 7 is now said to be an orderly liquidation 8 of the assets of Lehman Brothers, until recently Wall Street's fourth largest investment bank. US and foreign banks are now reportedly working on a plan to protect the global financial system from Lehman's possible failure.

GOP presidential nominee 9 John McCain was campaigning in New Hampshire today. He spoke 10 briefly 11 to the crowd at a NASCAR race. NPR's Brian Naylor has more.

McCain and his wife Cindy met with drivers and car owners in advance of the race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway and he addressed the crowd just before drivers started their engines. "Thank you, it's great, great to be back in the great state of New Hampshire. For the first, chase for the Cup race here in the great state of New Hampshire." It was the second day in a row that the state was host to one of the presidential candidates. Democrat 12 Barack Obama addressed a rally Saturday in Manchester, evidence the two campaigns believe the state's four electoral votes are up for grabs. Meanwhile the Obama campaign announced it raised 66 million dollars in August, a record for a presidential candidate. Brian Naylor, NPR News, Manchester, New Hampshire.

Senator Hillary Clinton was campaigning for Obama in Ohio today. She told a crowd in Elyria, many of whom were wearing "Hillary for President" T-shirts that if McCain were to win the election, the nation would have to endure four more years of the policies of the Bush administration.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Police in India have been carrying out raids in New Delhi today in the search for those responsible for a series of bomb explosions there yesterday. The death toll 13 from the attacks has risen to 21. More than 100 others were injured. NPR’s Philip Reeves has the story.

Police say they've detained several people. The bombs detonated within an hour of one another in market areas and a park in the early evening when the streets were particularly crowded. Detectives are investigating an email sent from the city of Bombay to Indian news organizations just before the blasts. It purported 14 to be from a group called the Indian Mujahideen. It claimed responsibility for the attacks and warned of more. The police face deep public skepticism about whether they'll ever find the bombers 15. They appear to have made little progress solving similar multiple bombings this year in the cities of Jaipur and Ahmedabad, which killed more than 100 people. Indians are getting frustrated 16 and angered by these assaults. Relatives of victims of yesterday's attacks reportedly shouted slogans against the police, accusing them of failing to protect the capital. Philip Reeves, NPR News, New Delhi.

A spokesman for Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai says a US bombing strike that killed up to 90 Afghan civilians 17 last month was based on false information provided by a rival tribe and did not kill a single Taliban fighter. The US has claimed up to 35 Taliban militants 18 were killed.

The top US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, is calling the Taliban and other militants in Afghanistan "an industrial strength insurgency 19". Petraeus takes over on Tuesday as the head of US Central Command which oversees 20 US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the rest of the Middle East and Central Asia.