NPR 2011-10-26

 Turkish television is reporting a prison riot as a result of today's strong aftershock in the eastern city of Van. Authorities say inmates 1 of the facility that can incarcerate 2 as many as 1,000 people apparently 3 panic. They set bedding on fire in an attempt to escape. Some prisoners had already fled after Sunday's 7.2-magnitude quake, which is now blamed in at least 400 deaths.

 
Today's aftershock in Turkey was as strong as the earthquake that struck northeastern Japan early Wednesday local time. The temblor's epicenter was on the coast near the town of Iwaki, more than 100 miles north of Tokyo. It struck the prefecture where a more powerful quake and tsunami 4 triggered a nuclear crisis earlier this year.
 
Partial results are out in Tunisia's first election since the uprising. The moderate once-banned Islamist party appears on track to winning the majority of seats.
 
The availability of stray munitions 5 in Libya from the Gaddafi regime has human rights groups worried. As Larry Miller 6 reports from London, there is a fear that stolen surface-to-air missiles could bring down commercial airlines.
 
Human Rights Watch says it's seen two sites near Sirte with surface-to-air missiles, tanks, mortar 7 rounds and thousands of guided and unguided aerial weapons, and there's also serious concern over what's missing. The group says it's been warning Libya's Transitional National Council and NATO for months about stockpiles of unsecured weapons, and that these stockpiles have been raided. Human Rights Watch says it's found vast quantities of stray munitions scattered 8 in the surrounding desert. It reports US experts are helping 9 to locate missing missiles but warns time is running out. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.
 
BP's third-quarter earnings 10 topped five billion dollars, beating analysts 11' forecasts. NPR's Jeff Brady says the oil giant can thank higher prices.
 
Oil is selling on the world market for about 112 dollars a barrel now. Last year it was 77 dollars. While BP beat forecasts, the company has seen a decline in production. Chief executive Bob Dudley says his company is returning to work in the Gulf 12 of Mexico and meeting its obligations related to last year's spill.
 
"We have already paid half of the 20 billion dollars we committed to the Trust Fund to meet the costs of the Deepwater Horizon incident."
 
Related to the spill, Dudley announced this morning the company will sell 45 billion dollars in assets to pay costs associated with it. That's up from the previously 13 announced 30 billion dollars. Jeff Brady, NPR News.
 
Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry is proposing a tax-cutting plan that he argues is bolder than those of his GOP rivals and more aggressive than what President Obama offers. The Texas governor's plan sets a flat tax rate of 20%, but he says that under his proposal taxpayers 14 would have the option to stay with their current rate.
 
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Oakland, California police are reported to be maintaining a heavier-than-usual presence around City Hall hours after they arrested 75 activists 15 during an anti-Wall Street protest. Before dawn police in riot gear broke up an encampment where activists had gathered some two weeks ago as part of the broader Occupy Wall Street movement that has touched off demonstrations 16 in several US cities.
 
A United Mine Workers Union investigation 17 into last year's mine disaster in West Virginia calls the tragedy tantamount to industrial homicide. Twenty-nine workers were killed in the explosion. NPR's Howard Berkes has more on the report just out this hour. 
 
The mine workers union calls mine owner Massey Energy a rogue 18 corporation that operated the Upper Big Branch mine with subterfuge 19, fear and intimidation 20. The union report also blames state and federal
 
regulators for failing to shut down the mine. There are two surprises. The union says its investigator 21 found evidence of a possible effort to direct air towards a methane 22 sensor 23 that might otherwise have shut down the mining machine that triggered the explosion. The report also says a methane sensor was found free of soot 24 and damaged, implying it may have been planted by two Massey executives immediately after the blast. The company has insisted the executives were searching for victims. Howard Berkes, NPR News.
 
And clarifying their report was disclosed earlier today.
 
Eurozone governments are trying to draft a comprehensive plan to address the region's debt problems by the time heads of state gather for a summit tomorrow. The Obama administration says there's a very strong likelihood there will be success.
 
The Dow was down more than 100 points.