NPR 2010-07-25

What's left of tropical depression Bonnie is weakening as it makes its way through the Gulf 1 of Mexico. Authorities in the Gulf are now sending ships back to the site of BP's damaged rig. NPR's Carrie Kahn says the operation is starting with one of the largest drilling vessels 3 being used to permanently 4 seal the well.

The DD3, the larger of two drilling vessels, is making its way back to the site of the blown-out well. Deepwater Horizon Response spokesman Robert Donaldson says the rig is large enough to withstand the winds of what's left of the tropical storm, which has been downgraded to a depression. The DD3 and another smaller vessel 2 had been drilling two relief wells at the site, but were disengaged yesterday as Bonnie approached. Spokesman Donaldson says the storm was not as bad as originally anticipated, so the drilling rig is being returned. He says it will take a week or so to reset 5 the rig and resume drilling. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has declared a state of emergency in anticipation 6 of damage from the storm. Carrie Kahn, NPR News, New Orleans.

At least 15 people are dead after a stampede at a music festival in Germany. Police say the stampede happened inside a crowded tunnel. Thousands of other people kept partying, unaware 7 of what was happening. The chaos 8 started when police tried to block people from entering an already packed parade ground. The famed techno music festival called Love Parade was taking place in Duisburg in western Germany.

In Afghanistan, a search is under way for two US soldiers who have gone missing from their base in Kabul. The BBC's David Loyn reports the Taliban claims it has captured the men.

Precise details of how two Americans fell into the hands of the Taliban have not yet emerged, but a spokesman for the governor of Logar province said that the two men ignored warnings and set out on their own from a US base on Friday evening into a known Taliban-held area. After an exchange of gunfire, the two were captured. Taliban sources say the two are soldiers. The US military have appealed for the return of the two men, offering a reward on local radio.

The BBC's David Loyn in Kabul.

Meanwhile, another deadly day in Afghanistan, at least four Americans were killed in the southern part of the country today. More than 70 international service members have been killed in Afghanistan this month including at least 55 Americans.

The president's weekly address takes aim at a House Republican economic recovery plan. President Obama says the proposal from Minority Leader John Boehner would take tax credits from small business owners. Mr. Obama characterizes it as taking the country backward at a time when it needs to keep moving forward.

"This is our economic plan—smart investments in America's small businesses, America's clean energy industry and America's middle class."

Boehner says the president's attacking the GOP plan because he can't sell his own.

You're listening to NPR News from Washington.

Joint 9 US and South Korean military exercises are again provoking warnings of a nuclear response from North Korea. The North routinely makes war threats when the US holds joint drills with the South. This latest one comes amid growing tensions over the sinking of a South Korean warship 10 blamed on North Korea.

The UN High Commissioner 11 for Human Rights accuses security forces in Kyrgyzstan of arbitrarily detaining and torturing many people, mainly young Uzbek men. In Geneva, Lisa Schlein reports he warns these illegal acts are threatening the fragile peace in southern Kyrgyzstan.

Navi Pillay, the high commissioner, says the increasing climate of fear in Kyrgyzstan doesn't bode 12 well for reconciliation 13 between the two ethnic 14 groups. Her spokesman Rupert Colville says local authorities routinely turn a blind eye to illegal arrest, torture and ill-treatment of detainees.

"Victims, lawyers, families and human rights defenders 15 are also being threatened and intimidated 16 to an alarming degree. We also have information that suggests more than 1,000 people in all have been detained in Osh and Jalalabad since the June violence."

Colville says detainees are forced to make false confessions 17. High Commissioner Pillay is calling for an international investigation 18 into the ethnic violence that erupted in June. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Schlein in Geneva.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague says there's no evidence the Lockerbie bomber 19 was returned to Libya in order to facilitate oil deals for BP. Hague wrote a letter to US officials and calls the Scottish decision to release the man 'wrong and misguided'.

I'm Renita Jablonski, NPR News from Washington