NPR 2010-06-12

Sixteen people are believed to be missing after heavy rains caused a flash flooding along two rivers in southwestern Arkansas. Sabrina McCormick from member station KTXK reports.

Many of the dead were camping at the popular tourist camp, Albert Pike Campground, when the flooding occurred. The region also has numerous summer homes, hunting camps and a number of other US Forest Service campgrounds. Bill Sadler is the spokesperson for the Arkansas State Police.

"Search is still underway in Pike and Montgomery counties for missing individuals. It would appear that there's a family center that's going to be set up in Glenwood, Arkansas for families to report to."

News reports said that waters rose as rapidly as eight feet in an hour. The victims' identities have not yet been released. For NPR News, I'm Sabrina McCormick in Texarkana, Arkansas.

All 16 missing people are believed to be dead.

BP is hoping to nearly double its oil collecting capacity by mid-July, according to the person in charge of the government's response to the Gulf 1 spill.

"By the time we get to the new system put in and then, I talked yesterday about the floating riser pipe and new production tankers 2, we should be in the range of somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 barrels a day with that system once it's in place. The issue is for BP to move quickly to establish capacity and redundancy, so, as we're able to increase the flow, they've got the capacity to produce it."

Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen says the way it works is drill ships will collect oil siphoned from the spill while tankers transport that oil to a port. That should nearly double the amount BP is collecting right now.

The US military confirms two American soldiers have been killed and six more were injured after a suicide car bombing in Iraq. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro in Baghdad reports the attack occurred in the northern Iraqi province of Diyala.

The attack took place in Jalawla, a town that has been a frequent scene of bombings in the past. It is an area that's contested with Kurds and Arabs claiming supremacy 3 there. At about 10:00 AM, an American patrol, accompanied by a large contingent 4 of Iraqis, were going to the scene of an altercation 5 the previous evening. A car pulled up beside the convoy 6 and blew up. The US military says one Iraqi policeman and two Iraqi civilians 7 were also killed. Approximately 22 civilians were injured during the attack. The Iraqi Interior Ministry 8 says five Iraqis were killed and ten more members of the Iraqi security services were wounded. The disparate members could not be immediately reconciled. Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, NPR News, Baghdad.

Crude oil futures 9 prices ended lower today in New York Mercantile Exchange. The near-month contract for the benchmark grade fell $1.70, closing at $73.78 a barrel. Retail 10 sales came in well below analysts 11' expectations, while the Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index said consumer confidence grew to its highest level since January of 2008, and it was well above forecast. The mixed economic news caused a mixed bag on Wall Street. The Dow Industrials are up 38 points to 10,211; the NASDAQ is down 23.

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Pope Benedict's asking for forgiveness from victims of clerical sex abuse and from God. The pontiff says he'll do everything possible to stop minors 12 from ever being molested 13 again by priests or others associated with the Catholic Church. Benedict made the remarks during the closing Mass for the Vatican's Year of the Priest. The main American survivors 14 group, SNAP, wrote in a statement: "Forgiveness comes after, not during, a crisis."

It was a 1-1 tie today between host South Africa and Mexico in the soccer opener of the World Cup. Vicky O'Hara in Johannesburg reports South Africans have been dancing in the streets to celebrate the historic occasion.

The streets of Johannesburg turned into a virtual parking lot this afternoon as cars crammed 15 with passengers tried to reach either the opening game or parks that had been equipped with huge outdoor screens where people can watch the matches. The blast of the vuvuzela, the plastic horn that accompanies South African sports events, resounded 16 throughout the city, starting in the early morning. Later in the day, fans dressed in extravagant 17 head gear and the green and gold of South Africa moved into intersections 18 leading into central Johannesburg. They danced, cheered and fueled the World Cup fever that has taken hold of this city. For NPR News, I'm Vicky O'Hara in Johannesburg.

Bad weather is delaying the rescue of Abby Sunderland. She's the 16-year-old sailor from California trying to make a solo trip around the world. She ran into rough seas in the southern Indian Ocean and sent a distress 19 signal. A spokesman for the rescue effort says a French fishing boat expected to arrive tomorrow morning is likely to be delayed due to rough seas. Australian search team spotted 20 the boat earlier today.

I'm Carol Van Dam, NPR News.