NPR 2011-05-15

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Jim Howard.

After days of warnings, the Army Corps 1 of Engineers at this hour is opening the spillway in Morganza, Louisiana. It hopes to move or lower the level of the Mississippi River and save Baton 2 Rouge 3 and New Orleans from massive flooding. NPR's Greg Allen, who's in Morganza, says the Army Corps is opening only one of the floodgates.

It's a massive structure. One gate is a small bit of the total. Opening one gate will allow 10,000 cubic feet per second of water to rush into the floodway. The entire spillway could contain 600,000 cubic feet per second. Till that tells you how slow there they're doing this opening, they're kinda gonna roll it out very slowly.

The reason for the slow opening of the floodgate is to give wildlife and a few remaining humans in the area time to evacuate 4. State officials have been warning nearly 25,000 residents to pack up their belongings 5 for days.

In addition to rising floodwaters, Vicksburg, Mississippi is dealing 6 with an influx 7 of tourists coming to see the swollen 8 Mississippi River from scenic 9 overlooks in the area. The river there is expected to crest 10 on Tuesday at more than 57 feet.

With gas prices hovering 11 at or above four dollars a gallon, President Obama is taking steps that he says will encourage more oil production here in the US. NPR's Scott Horsley reports Mr. Obama used his weekly address to outline plans for increased domestic drilling.

President Obama insists he is not trying to discourage oil production in the US, even though he has called for an end to oil companies' tax breaks. In his weekly address, Mr. Obama says his administration is taking steps to increase what he calls "safe and responsible" drilling here at home.

"We plan to lease new areas in the Gulf 12 of Mexico as well and work to create new incentives 13 for industry to develop their unused leases both on and off shore."

Mr. Obama stressed that increased drilling is not a quick fix for high gasoline prices. He says the nation also needs to invest in alternative sources of energy as well as more fuel-efficient cars and trucks. Scott Horsley, NPR News, the White House.

Syria says soldiers and tanks are being pulled out of two cities including Daraa in the south, the center of the anti-government protest there, following operations to restore government control. Analysts 14 say there's clearly been a shift in tactics by the government of President Bashar Assad, but many in the opposition 15 are still skeptical 16. From Beirut, the BBC's Jim Muir reports.

Facebook pages supporting the uprising in Syria make it seem like its business as usual, as far as repression 17 is concerned. They report a wave of arrests in many parts of the country and continued tension on the ground, especially at Talkalakh, a town to the west of Homs and close to the border with Lebanon. Unconfirmed reports from opposition sources said many people were wounded there when security forces shelled the town, sending residents fleeing across the border for safety. Not surprisingly, there's skepticism in opposition circles about the regime's announcement that it will be starting a dialog on reform in the coming days.

That's the BBC's Jim Muir reporting from the Mideast.

You're listening to NPR News in Washington.

Washington is pushing Canada to increase duty-free limits so Canadians can spend more when they travel south to shop, but Dan Karpenchuk reports the idea is not sitting well with retailers 18 and governments north of the border.

When Americans travel to Canada, they're allowed to bring back 200 dollars in goods duty-free, but Canadians must stay in the US for at least 24 hours to bring back duty-free goods. Now, the US wants to increase the limits to 1,000 dollars for American shoppers on a day trip to Canada, and it wants Ottawa to make a similar move. Retailers in cities, such as Windsor, Ontario, admit cross-border shopping can benefit both sides, but if it's too favorable for American stores, that could damage fragile economies in Canadian cities. The strong Canadian dollar is already sending Canadians south in search of bargains. While Ottawa isn't about to increase travelers' exemptions 19 for now, it could become a bargaining chip in current talks on easing border restrictions 20 to improve the flow of trade. For NPR News, I'm Dan Karpenchuk in Toronto.

Lawmakers in Pakistan are threatening to close US and NATO supply routes through the country following the raid that killed Osama bin 21 Laden 22. Critics are upset over the violation 23 of the country's sovereignty. Meanwhile, some members of parliament are not happy with their own government's plans for a military review of the incident, saying that they want an independent investigation 24 of the matter.

The Associated Press is pushing the Defense 25 Department to release photos of the Navy SEAL raid that killed bin Laden earlier this month. Now, the AP is reporting that the Department of Defense says the news organization's request did not demonstrate an urgent or compelling need for the release of the graphic 26 photos. Some members of Congress have seen the photos. The White House says it fears that releasing the photos will serve to increase attacks against Western forces.