NPR 2008-08-11

Russian military forces have stepped up their offensive in the former Soviet 1 Republic of Georgia today, targeting areas outside the contested region of South Ossetia. The US ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad warned Russia that its ties with the US and other nations are being strained. "Russia's relations with the United States and others in the international community will be affected 2 by its continued assault on Georgia and its refusal to contribute to a peaceful solution of this crisis. " Russia's UN ambassador said his country is ready to put an end to the war but he added that a ceasefire alone would not be a solution. NPR's Gregory Feifer has more.

The Georgians say they are observing a ceasefire and that they've pulled out all of their forces from the breakaway region of South Ossetia. The Russians say that their conditions to stop their military activities are that the Georgians pull out their forces from South Ossetia and sign a statement that they will never use force in South Ossetia again. Now the Russians are saying that the Georgians haven't stopped their military activities in South Ossetia and so they are not going to stop theirs. NPR's Gregory Feifer in Moscow.

Treasury 3 Secretary Henry Paulson says it's too early to enact 4 another stimulus 5 plan to boost the sagging 6 US economy until the effect of the first stimulus package is fully 7 felt. "I believe what we did with the tax rebates 8 and the business incentives 9. We got them out very quickly and they are still, you know, they are still having an impact. " Paulson was on NBC's "Meet the Press". But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she plans to have the House vote on additional stimulus provisions when lawmakers return in September.

The US men's basketball team played its first game at the Summer Olympics today, trouncing host China by 31 points. In swimming competition, 12 world and Olympic records were broken. From Beijing, NPR's Howard Berkes has details.

Call it an auspicious 10 start. American Michael Phelps swam in the very first event of the day, the 400-meter individual medley 11 and shattered the world record while winning his first 2008 gold medal. Records continued to fall even in preliminary heats. One of the world marks was set by the American 4 X 100 freestyle relay team. Another went to Stephanie Rice of Australia in the 400 individual medley. Records often fall in the Olympics because athletes spend four years preparing and usually peak at the Games. There is also the design of the Olympic pool. Its depth and width diminish turbulence 12; its gutters 13 and lane lines dissipate waves. Twelve world and Olympic marks fell and it's only day two of swimming. Howard Berkes, NPR News, Beijing.

Gasoline prices have fallen further, down nearly 15 cents a gallon over the past two weeks. The average price nationally for self-service regular is now $3. 85 a gallon.

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Bolivia's President Evo Morales has apparently 14 survived a recall vote according to unofficial results and exit polls. Also on the recall ballot 15 were eight of the country's nine governors. Preliminary tallies 16 indicate that three of those governors have been ousted 17, two of them staunch political opponents of Morales. Morales was hoping for a strong showing in the referendum to bolster 18 his effort to correct economic inequities in South America's poorest nation.

Oscar and Grammy winning entertainer Isaac Hayes has died at the age of 65. He was found unconscious at his home in Memphis today. The cause of death is not yet clear. NPR's Allison Keyes has more.

The iconic singer was known for his lush arrangements, his smooth buttery voice and his flamboyant 19 image with a shaven head glittering gold and sunglasses. Hayes's versions of songs often ran much longer than the once standard three-minute singles. As he told NPR in 2005. "I always, always have it. I knew what I had to say could not have been said in two minutes and 30 seconds. " Besides his Oscar, Grammys in radio shows in New York and Memphis, Hayes won a new generation of fans as "chef" on the TV show "South Park". "Hello there, children." "Hey, chef." Hayes once said he stayed at the top of his game by constantly redefining himself. He was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Allison Keyes, NPR News, Washington.

Authorities are working to identify the badly burnt remains 20 that have been recovered from the site of a helicopter crash in Northern California. Nine people were killed when the aircraft went down last week as it was transporting firefighters to a base camp.