NPR 2009-08-10

Divers 1 have now recovered seven bodies from yesterday's midair collision of a helicopter and a small plane over the Hudson River in New York City. All nine people aboard the two aircraft are presumed dead. Wreckage 2 of the helicopter was hoisted 3 out of the river today. From member station WNYC Marc Garber has more.

New York City police say they have located the plane's fuselage just north of the helicopter crash site in the water of Hoboken, New Jersey 4. More wreckage was found farther out in the river under about 50 feet of murky 5 water where the visibility is about two feet. Appearing today on NBC's "Meet the Press", Mayor Michael Bloomberg responded to the issue of restricting New York's airspace in the wake of the crash. "This is may just have been er..er an accident, a total tragedy; or maybe in fact if we had different procedures, you could have prevented it." Nine people died in Saturday's collision, including three members of a Pennsylvania family in the private plane. Five Italian tourists and a pilot from New Jersey were in the helicopter. For NPR News, I am Marc Garber in New York.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Angola and she is urging the oil-producing nation to do more to fight corruption 6 and bolster 7 democratic institutions. About 2/3 of the people there live on less than two dollars a day. "Opportunity and prosperity for the Angolan people depend on good governance and strong democratic institutions that requires a strong civil society, transparency, accountability and vigilance in the fight against corruption."

Clinton is also calling on Angola's leaders to build on last year successful legislative 8 elections and move ahead with plans for a presidential election. The country's President Eduardo dos Santos has ruled for 30 years and has been criticized for postponing 9 a presidential vote that was set for this year.

Iran's government has confirmed for the first time that it has three American hikers in custody 10. The three were detained after crossing the border from Northern Iraq. NPR's Howard Berkes has details.

National Security advisor 11 James Jones revealed the confirmation 12 from Iran in his exchange with host David Gregory on NBC's "Meet the Press". "The government has officially acknowledged that they have them in their custody." "And that's news that had not been disclosed before?" "That is as of this morning." The three Americans disappeared a week ago while hiking along the Iran-Iraq border in the Kurdish mountain region. Iranian officials consider them possible spies. Jones summarized the administration's response. "These are innocent people we want their families reunited and we would like to have it done as quickly as possible." American and Kurdish officials have said the three strayed into Iraq in an area without clear border markings. Howard Berkes, NPR News.

President Obama arrives in Guadalajara, Mexico within the hour for a brief summit with Mexico's President and Canada's prime minister. The White House says the issues to be discussed ranged from global recession and climate change to swine flu preparedness.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Typhoon Morakot has been pummeling the east coast of China today, flooding villages, and destroying hundreds of homes. Nearly a million people were evacuated 13 in advance of the storm. The typhoon whipped up waves as high as 26 feet in the East China Sea after causing wide-spread flooding in Taiwan. At least three people were killed there and dozens are missing and feared dead.

In Indonesia, police say they are waiting DNA 14 test to determine whether a man killed yesterday in a gun battle with police is the same militant 15 believed responsible for last month's deadly hotel bombings in Jakarta. NPR's Michael Sullivan has the story.

Noordin Top has been Southeast Asia's most wanted fugitive 16 for several years now. And Indonesian media reports yesterday suggested the authorities had finally gotten their man, cornered then killed in a remote house in Central Java. But Indonesia’s national police chief says he can't be sure the body recovered is Noordin Top's. The chief said it is clear the Malaysian-born militant had been planning a suicide car bomb attack on the home of Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Two militants 17 were killed in a separate raid Saturday at a house just a few miles from the president's home. The raid uncovered large quantities of explosives and a vehicle rigged to carry them. Police say the decision to kill the president was made in an April 30th meeting chaired by Noordin Top, who wanted the president dead for allowing the execution of three men convicted of taking part in the 2002 Bali bombings. Michael Sullivan, NPR News.

A California State prison near Los Angeles remains 18 on lockdown after a riot last night in which more than 250 inmates 19 were injured. Several dozen of them were taken to hospitals. Platoons of guards used pepper spray and billy clubs to clear out inmates who had barricaded 20 themselves in prison barracks.