NPR 2008-04-07

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Craig Windham.

 Rocket attacks on Baghdad's Green Zone and a US military base in the city have killed 3 American soldiers and wounded more than 30 others. It was one of the deadliest attacks on US forces in Iraq in weeks. From Baghdad, NPR's Eric Westervelt reports.

 A barrage 1 of Katyusha rockets struck the Green Zone this afternoon. In addition to the dead, a US military official says 6 of the 17 wounded soldiers are in serious condition. The sprawling 2 Green Zone is home to the US and British embassies and the Iraqi government. Later in the day, a second rocket attack on a forward operating base in southeast Baghdad killed 1 US soldier and wounded 13 others. The rocket attacks coincide with the US and Iraqi military offensive in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood. The Shiite slum is a power base for Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Intense fighting in Sadr City today left at least 20 Iraqis dead and 3 dozen wounded. Eric Westervelt, NPR News, Baghdad.

 Gasoline prices have jumped another 5 cents a gallon over the past two weeks. The average national price for self-serve regular is now $3.32 a gallon. Industry analyst 3 Trilby Lundberg blames the combination of strong crude oil cost, dramatically higher ethanol prices and rising demand for gas as summer approaches. The ethanol is used in spring reformulations of gasoline that are mandated 4 by federal regulations.

 President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin wrapped up their summit today with words about leaving a positive legacy 5 for US-Russian relations. But NPR's Michele Kelemen reports the two leaders failed to resolve some of the most serious issues that were facing them.

 At Putin's Black Sea retreat in Sochi, the Russian leader said his position hasn't changed on US plans for missile defense 6 and he has other disagreements with the US over security issues. But both he and President Bush highlighted the positive. They issued what they're calling a strategic framework which says, quote, we reject the zero-sum thinking of the Cold War when "what was good for Russia was bad for America" and vice 7 versa. Mr. Bush also had a chance to meet Putin's successor Dmitry Medvedev who takes office in May. He said he found Medvedev to be an impressive fellow and he was nostalgic about the meeting with Putin. They took a walk through Putin's compound on the Black Sea before Mr. Bush flew home. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Sochi.

 Hollywood star turned conservative activist 8 Charlton Heston has died at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 84. No cause of death was announced but Heston revealed 6 years ago that he had symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty reports.

 With his chiseled 9 jaw 10, muscular build and sonorous 11 voice, Charlton Heston was destined 12 for panoramic 13 movies. His role as the chariot-racing Ben-Hur won him an Oscar and the film 11 academy awards. He played "John the Baptist" and Michelangelo and famously, Moses in The Ten Commandments. "Remember this day when the strong hand of the Lord leads you out of bondage 14." Heston was president of the Screen Actors Guild 15 and he marched in the civil rights movement in the 1960s. But with age he grew more conservative, serving as the president of the National Rifle Association for 5 years until 2003. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Barbara Bradley Hagerty, NPR News.

 Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean says he's been conferring with party leaders in Florida and Michigan to try to find a way to seat delegations 16 from those states at the Democratic National Convention. Dean says he hopes a solution can be found sooner rather than later. "The ongoing 17 dispute, while it's healthy in the short run, needs to have an end at sometime. If it has an end at the convention, that only gives us 8 to 9 weeks to recover from that." Dean was on CBS's "Face the Nation". The party stripped both states of their delegates for scheduling their primaries on dates earlier than authorized 18. The Barack Obama campaign has proposed splitting both states' delegates 50-50 between Obama and Hillary Clinton. Clinton's advisors 19 have resisted that idea.