NPR 2010-10-31

Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Salih today reportedly announced that at least one woman is under arrest for allegedly sending mailbombs found on cargo 1 planes in Dubai and England. Oliver Holms is in the Yemeni capital Sanaa where he says security is tighter than usual.

"The vigil is very tense in the capital Sanaa of Yemen. I was speaking to some people around and they were completely shock that terrorist could operate out of Sanaa. In Yemen, Sanaa is the capital of the government's stronghold and believed to be three of al-Qaeda members. People think that they are based in the south in two provinces, one could Abyan, one could Shabwah that it's tribally 2 controlled."

Oliver Holms in Yemen.

The packages found on the two planes were addressed to synagogues in Chicago. UK officials are reporting the bomb found on the US-bound plane onsite Brandon was in fact designed to explode. As Larry Miller 3 reports from London, UK officials say an attack was clearly planned.

After convening 4 a meeting of Cobra, Britain's Emergency prepared a committee. Home Secretary Teresa May says the explosive discovered on route from Yemen to the US were viable 5.

"The target may have been in an aircraft and had it detonated. The aircraft could have been brought down."

She says there may not have been specific target.

"We do not believe that the perpetrator's specific attack would have know the location of the device when he was planned to explode."

May says at this stage there's nothing to suggest another attack is imminent 6. She says she'll be in contact with US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

As horrors gather in Washington, another city is for rallies which organizers say are about turning down partisan 7 divisions. Several new polls are showing voters to be divided and dissatisfied. NPR's Allison Keyes has more on what they're showing.

An Associated Press knowledge network's poll find voters are split right down the middle over whether President Obama deserves a second term. The poll which just tracked a group of 1,200 people since the beginning of the 2008 presidential campaign also finds the statistical 8 tie among democratic voters on whether Mr Obama should face a challenge for the 2012 presidential nomination 9. Two other polls including one released yesterday by Fox News finds president's approval rating hovering 10 between 41% and 45%. In both polls, about a half of those survey disapprove 11 President Obama's performance. But polling enormous this early often don't predict election results. Both President Clinton and Ronald Reagan had approval ratings two years into their terms similar to Mr Obama's and both were re-elected. Allison Keyes, NPR News, Washington.

Comedians 12 John Stewart and Steven Korbel seem to beginning approval today of numbers on the National Mall in Washington our any indication. That's a sound of John Lennon, part of a musical performances of today's rally to restore Senate. This is NPR.

The US says today it has a national interest in resolving disputes in Asian waters. This comes as China and Japan have been in a standoff that began more than a month ago when a Chinese fishing vessel 13 and two Japanese patrol boats collided near disputed island. The two countries did make attempts to cool down their differences today, briefly 14 meeting before the start of an Asian regional summit. But the Japanese prime minister said a full bilateral 15 meeting did not materialize.

The Merapi volcano in Indonesia continues to erupt. Now, the nearby city of Yogyakarta is covered with dust. Julia Simon has more from Djakarta.

Residents of Yogyakarta describe this morning's rain as a rain of ash. The way cloud of volcanic 16 dust from the eruptions 17 of the nearby Merapi volcano has now covered the city. Local NGOs and students groups are distributing breathing mask for the dust pollution. Close to Merapi, tens of thousands of evacuees 18 are waiting in camps to return to their villages. Many are still lacking water and food and sleeping in tents in schools. On the neighboring island of Sumatra, rescue teams are struggling to distribute aid to the remote Mentawai Islands after a tsunami 19 hit there earlier this week. Thousands of the victims of the tsunami are now homeless. For NPR News, I'm Julia Simon in Djakarta.

Space shuttle discoveries its final launch won't happen now until Wednesday. NASA's delaying the flight to the International Space Station yet another day because more work needs to be done to repair leaking pip that are near shuttle's tail.