NPR 2010-07-17

BP says early test results from its blown-out well in the Gulf 1 of Mexico are not calls for alarm, but aren't calls for celebration either. Scientists have been spending today studying what's happening in the well now that the flow of oil has stopped. NPR's Richard Harris has the latest.

The test was designed to build pressure up inside the well, so BP can evaluate what shape it's in. The pressure results fall into a gray area, not the lowest to the alarming, but not high enough to be completely reassuring 2. So it will take more analysis yet before BP and the government decide whether to leave the well shut or whether to open it up again. If the valves are open, more oil will spill into the Gulf of Mexico until BP can gear up production on oil-collecting ships. That will probably take several days. BP has surveyed the seafloor for any signs of oil leakage 3 around the well and through the sediment 4. They say they have not found anything of concern. Richard Harris, NPR News.

The federal government is touting 5 the largest Medicare fraud bust 6 in US history. Attorney General Eric Holder 7.

"Ninety-four people in five cities have been charged for their participation 8 in schemes to submit more than $251 million in false Medicare claims."

As of this morning, at least 36 people were arrested during raids.

Utah's identifying at least two state workers accused of unlawfully creating a list of purported 9 illegal immigrants. Governor Gary Herbert says that government employees used confidential 10 data to draft a list of 1,300 people, some of whom were confirmed not to be of illegal status. But the names were distributed to law enforcement officials and newsrooms and sparked widespread fear in the Latino communities. The employees have been placed on administrative 11 leave.

Eastern European economies are bouncing back from the financial crisis faster than their Western European counterparts. Teri Schultz reports from Brussels on new World Bank figures showing the first period of growth since 2008.

The European Union's eastern economies grew by an average of 0.8% in the first quarter of this year. That's up from a 2.1% slump 12 in the last quarter of 2009. The Western EU states posted a rise of 0.6%. The World Bank warns the growth is uneven 13. Half of the ten Eastern European members actually continue to decline economically, but a strong surge in the others, most notably 14 Poland and Slovakia, brought up the average. Next year's forecast puts the eastern economies on an even faster track. They're expected to grow by 3.6%, more than double the figure expected for the Western EU. For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.

Mixed economic news out today leads to a downward trend in US stocks. Last check on Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average down 261 points at 10,098, NASDAQ down 70 at 2,179.

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Military officials in Mexico have announced that an explosion in the border city of Juarez late yesterday was indeed a car bomb. NPR's Jason Beaubien has more from Mexico City.

Car bombs have not generally been part of the notoriously brutal 15 Mexican drug cartels' arsenals 16 until now. A spokesman for the Mexican military in Juarez says they found residue 17 of roughly ten kilos of C4 at the site of Thursday's explosion. Officials say a green Ford 18 Focus rammed 19 to federal police vehicles and then exploded. The attack in a busy intersection 20 in Juarez killed two policemen and a paramedic. It also left seven other officers, three paramedics and a TV cameraman injured. The military spokesman says the explosives were wired to a cell phone and set off remotely some time after the collision. The Juarez cartel claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying it was a reprisal 21 for the arrest hours earlier of one of their top leaders. Jason Beaubien, NPR News, Mexico City.

Southern California is bracing 22 for thunderstorms and lightning strikes like those that started dozens of fires yesterday. They include a 970-acre blaze in Riverside County that's 10% contained. National Weather Service has also issued an excessive heat warning through Sunday. That could make firefighting efforts more challenging.

It's been nearly 12 hours, but Washington area residents are still talking about the earthquake this morning that many initially 23 mistook for a passing truck or train or something. It was a magnitude 3.6, just a jolt compared to what California gets but quite rare for the East Coast region, and there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries