CNN 2008-02-19

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From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Nicole Lapin. Here is your NOW IN THE NEWS update.

We saw in Texas where a powerful oil refinery¹ explosion has shut down Interstate 20, right near the town of Big Spring. Our first pictures of this explosion, as you see right there, just came from several I-reporters and this video from Larry Bates. The mayor there says that at least 4 people were hurt in the blast including one sent to a burn unit. Now witnesses say that the blast shook buildings miles away and compared it even to an earthquake. A school official says the explosion blew open the doors at the school district's administration building which is about 4 miles away from the refinery.

And a school district in Michigan says that it is tossing out ten tons of hamburger meat covered by what officials call the biggest beef recall in U.S history. Several school districts are following their leaders. Well, now the recall includes nearly 40 million pounds of beef provided across the nation to the school lunch program. It was declared unfit for human consumption after a probe uncovered animal abuse at a California slaughterhouse. The Agricultural Department says that the possibility of human illness is quote 'remote', however.

And the United States is officially recognizing Kosovo as a nation. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice congratulated the people of Kosovo in a statement released today. Meanwhile we could see the showdown at the United Nations today over, as you hear there, Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia. This is a video from that celebration that happened yesterday. The UN Security Council will discuss that decision coming up later today. Now the west supports Kosovo's independence, but Security Council members Russia and China specifically oppose it, saying that they are concerned about the safety of minority Serbs.

And a mortar² attack in Baghdad has killed at least 2 people. An official for the Baghdad International Airport says that 6 rounds slammed into a housing complex, four airport workers, 10 people were wounded ,including 3 children playing soccer on a field. And the airport official also says that most of the casualties were airport employees or members of their families.

More than 44 years after the JFK assassination³, it is still making news. In Dallas ,a cache of long-forgotten items tied to the shooting was made public today. It includes clothing thought to be belonged to Lee Harvey Oswald. There're holsters also belonging to the man who killed Oswald ,Jack⁴ Ruby⁵. Now drawing most of the attention, though, a transcript⁶ of the purported⁷ conversation between the two men, where they apparently⁸ talked about killing⁹ Kennedy.

That's a quick look at the headlines making news this hour. For more on those stories and other news of the day,CNN is always your source online, on TV or on your cell phone.