NPR 2008-07-20

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama met with US military commanders in eastern Afghanistan today, an area of escalating 1 hostilities 2 that he has said is not getting enough attention from the Bush administration. Obama made a stop en route to meet with US troops in Kuwait. “To see everybody in great spirits, doing such important work with so much discipline and so much pride, I think uh, just makes all of us feel really good. So, I wanna congratulate all of you.” Next stop on Obama's foreign trip is expected to be Iraq as NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

It will be his first time there since January, 2006; his first time there since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee 3; and his first time there since the surge in US troops. So, he'll get a chance to talk to commanders to assess how things are going. He'll also talk to soldiers. We assume he will have a lunch with them or sit down somewhere and to meet with Iraqi leaders. NPR's Don Gonyea covering Obama's foreign trip.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is reportedly saying he basically agrees with Obama's 16-month time frame for withdrawal 4 of US combat troops. The German magazine Der Spiegel quotes Maliki as saying he wants US troops to leave Iraq as soon as possible.

The latest talks concerning Iran's nuclear ambitions have ended with no real progress despite the participation 5 for the first time of a senior US diplomat 6. Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva.

After five hours of talk, European Union Foreign Minister Javier Solana couldn't hide his disappointment. He said Iran did not respond clearly to a Western proposal that Teheran suspend its uranium enrichment program in return for a package of economic and diplomatic incentives 7. “I hope very much that after a debate, they change their views, Dr. Jalili will go back to Teheran and will inform the authorities to see (if) we can get a positive answer.” Solana said Iran's foreign minister promised to respond to the West proposal in two weeks. A lot of hope preceded this round of talks because the US had sent the State Department third-ranking official to participate. Those hope appeared to have been dashed. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Schlein in Geneva.

Tropical Storm Cristobal has strengthened as it approaches the southeastern US coastline. Meteorologist Eric Blake with the National Hurricane Center says the storm now has sustained winds of 45 m/h. “There’s some rain along the South Carolina and North Carolina coast. And a tropical storm warning remains 8 in effect from South Santee River, South Carolina all the way to the North Carolina-Virginia border.” Blake says the storm is not likely to make landfall. Out in the Atlantic, Hurricane Bertha is churning its way in the direction of Iceland. Bertha formed more than two weeks ago off the coast of Africa.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Favorable weather conditions are helping 9 fire crews in California battling the few dozen wildfires remaining from the hundreds that were sparked by a lightning storm last month. A mandatory 10 evacuation order remains in effect for the Junction 11 City area because of a blaze in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The wildfires in California have charred 12 more than 1,400 square miles of land.

Federal safety investigators 13 are at the site of the collapse 14 of a massive crane at an oil refinery 15 in Houston yesterday. Four workers were killed and seven others were injured. NPR's Claudio Sanchez has this story.

A spokesman for the owner of the crane, Deep South Crane &  Rigging, says the crane was not lifting anything when it fell on top of a tent where workers took their breaks. Three workers who were injured were treated and released at the scene, four died and two remain hospitalized. The crane, one of the biggest in the world, was scheduled to do overhaul 16 work on the Houston Ship Channel. It was a symbol on site and had reportedly been inspected last week. Texas does not require the inspection 17 of construction cranes, even though the state has had 26 crane-related deaths since 2005. Existing federal regulations for companies that operate cranes have not been updated since 1971. And that's likely to become an issue as federal investigators now add Houston to the growing list of crane accidents in recent months, including Miami, Las Vegas and two separate crane collapses 18 in New York City that killed nine people there last March. Claudio Sanchez, NPR News.

More than a million people danced their way through the streets of Dortmund, Germany today at the annual Love Parade techno music festival. The music blared from 37 floats, orchestrated by scores of DJs. Police say the event was generally peaceful.