NPR 2010-07-11

Engineers using undersea robots have removed the containment 1 cap on BP's gushing 2 oil well in the Gulf 3 of Mexico. The next step is to replace the cap with one that fits better. That will allow all of the oil to be funneled 4 to tankers 5 on the surface. But before that new cap goes on, crude oil is spewing into the Gulf unchecked. A BP spokesman says installation of the tighter-fitting cap will take 4-7 days.

The government says it is safe to eat seafood 6 coming out of the Gulf on the outskirts 7 of the spill. NPR's Allison Keyes tells us it's been testing samples from the area every day.

The National Oceanic & Atmospheric 8 Administration has closed about 1/3 of federal Gulf waters to fishing as a precaution to ensure that seafood from there is safe to eat. NOAA spokesman Scott Smullen says the agency has been testing species ranging from shrimp 9 to swordfish.

"We've done a number of samples in and around the close fishing area, and the samples there coming out have been safe."

Smullen says inspectors 10 are checking the seafood for 14 different chemicals.

"We looked for a number of compounds, but they're all what to be called PAHs, which are organic compounds that are associated with oil."

The government has six research ships out in the Gulf and a number of fishing vessels 11, which are helping 12 it monitor the levels of oil-based contamination and has started checking samples of seafood within days of the April 20th oil rig explosion that generated the spill. Allison Keyes, NPR News, Washington.

China's Customs Administration is reporting another large trade surplus today amid ongoing 13 controversy 14 over its exchange rate policies. Steve Beckner of Market News International has more.

China's trade surplus rose to $20 billion in June, much bigger than expected and the largest in nine months. Though China's imports were up 34% from a year earlier, exports were up nearly 44%. While the robust 15 trade results may ease fears of a slowing global recovery, they could also fuel criticism that China is still keeping its currency, the yuan, undervalued to gain an unfair trade advantage. Three weeks ago, Beijing ended two years of fixing the yuan rate against the dollar and let the yuan float higher but only within a limited range. That move enabled the US Treasury 16 in its semi-annual foreign exchange report to avoid labeling it a currency manipulator Thursday, but Senate Banking 17 Committee Chairman Chris Dodd and others charged China is still undervaluing the yuan. For NPR News, I'm Steve Beckner.

President Obama says the government will make it easier for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder 18 to receive federal benefits. Under the new rules to be announced Monday, veterans will no longer have to prove what caused their illness.

Five American troops died today in separate insurgent 19 attacks in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, hundreds of Afghans are protesting against mounting civilian 20 deaths.

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The man charged with ten murders in the so-called "Grim Sleeper 21" case was arrested more than a dozen times over four decades and was in police custody 22 many times after the killings 23 began. The LA Times says during that time Lonnie Franklin Jr. was never sent to state prison, and his DNA 24 was never put into a California database. One of the murdered victims was killed in July, 2003, when records showed Franklin should have been in county jail for receiving stolen property, but was released early because of overcrowding.

A California's Fire Department is using a first-of-its-kind iPhone application. Sherry Lawson of member station WNKU reports students from Northern Kentucky University helped design the program.

The Fire Protection District in San Ramon, California this week began using an iPhone application that provides a virtual window into the district's 9-1-1 dispatch center. Fire Chief Richard Price says the software allows the district to communicate with its mobile population during disasters via their devices and holds great promise for emergency service providers. The chief says students at Northern Kentucky University did the core engineering for the app.

"People write reviews of application's users, and it's getting almost exclusively top five-star ratings, which is very rare. Almost every review is outstanding."

Users of the free iPhone app called Fire Department can view active incidents and set preferences to be notified on incidents by category, listen to dispatch radio and view photo galleries of significant events. For NPR News, I'm Sherry Lawson in Highland 25 Heights, Kentucky.

Uruguay and Germany are battling it out at the World Cup for third place. Right now, the match is tied at 2-2. The big final game is tomorrow as Spain faces off against the Netherlands.

I'm Renita Jablonski, NPR News in Washington