NPR 2008-03-30

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

A round-the-clock curfew in Baghdad has been extended indefinitely in an effort to defuse clashes between Iraqi security forces and Shiite militants 1 as the Iraqi government's offensive falters 2. In the port city of Basra, Shiite militia 3 now control wide areas. And Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was forced to flee his compound when it came under fire. NPR's Dina Temple-Reston reports from Baghdad.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had vowed 4 to fight the members of the Mehdi Army militiamen to the end and told his commanders in Baghdad to pursue militants in the capital without mercy. Just hours later, the Mehdi Army had surrounded the presidential palace in Basra where Maliki was directing the campaign. American troops had to evacuate 5 him to another location in Basra. Iraqi security forces launched an operation against Mehdi Army fighters loyal to Sadr in the southern oil port city five days ago. The fighting has not gone well for the Iraqi government. To underscore that point, American and British forces have been called in to help them fight in both Basra and Baghdad. Dina Temple-Reston, NPR News, Baghdad.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has been campaigning in Indiana and Kentucky today in advance of primaries there in May. She brushed aside any talk of dropping out of the race. From member station WFPL, Gabe Bullard has more.

With voting on May 6th and May 20th，Indiana and Kentucky usually aren't key states in the presidential primaries, but with the Democratic contest close, the Clinton and Obama campaigns have been focusing more attention on the two states. In a speech in New Albany in Southern Indiana, Senator Clinton said she had no intention of getting out of the race.

"There are some people, you see them on TV, saying, oh, we should stop this now, we've had enough elections.  I mean, I don't know where that comes from, I mean, it's March. Oh, You know, we've got a lot more contests ahead of us and Indiana should count and I want Indiana to be part of this process."

Senator Clinton used her New Albany speech to outline her plan for making the United States a leader in clean coal technology and production. For NPR news, I'm Gabe Bullard in Louisville.

Obama was stumping 6 in Pennsylvania. He told supporters there that new leadership is needed to tackle the economic problems facing the nation.

"We're now looking at four-dollar-a-gallon gas, we haven't acted because the special interests and the lobbyists that have come to dominate Washington aren't looking out for you, they're looking out for their bottom lines."

Obama was speaking at a rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a major steel producing area. In Texas, Democrats 7 participated in county and senate district conventions today, next step in selecting delegates to the National Convention. Hector Nieto is with the Texas Democratic Party.
 
"The one thing we are seeing today is, er, just a great, er, a large number of participant. Every corner of the state is seeing Democrats come out and become part of the process." Nieto says the next step is a state party convention. This is NPR News from Washington.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she will push for an easing of Israeli restrictions 8 on Palestinians in the West Bank. Rice is back in the Middle East as the administration tries to get the two sides to agree on a peace deal before President Bush leaves office. Rice will hold talks tomorrow with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

As many as 75 miners are feared dead in northern Tanzania after heavy rains reportedly flooded mines there. NPR's Gwen Tompkins has the story.

The miners went missing while looking for Tanzanite, a gemstone that is deep blue in color with a hint of violet. Tanzanite is found in no other place on earth but northern Tanzania, and the mines are widely known to be deadly. They'd been described is no more than deep holes in the ground. Over the past decades, scores of workers have died in a range of accidents while mining for Tanzanite. This time of year, the mines are particularly dangerous. It's the rainy season and most communities are experiencing heavy downpours everyday. The mines have flooded. The Tanzanian government has recovered the bodies of some of the workers, but holds out little hope that the others are still alive. Gwen Tompkins, NPR News, Nairobi.

A Bush administration plan to change the way the government regulates the financial industry will be formally unveiled on Monday by Treasury 9 Secretary Henry Paulson. The plan would overhaul 10 the regulation of banks, securities firms, mortgage brokers 11 and insurance companies. It would reportedly give the Federal Reserve broad new authority to oversee 12 financial market stability. That would include the power to examine the books of any institution that's deemed to represent a potential threat to the proper functioning of the financial system.

I'm Craig Windham, NPR News in Washington.