NPR 2010-04-27

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Democrats¹ and Republicans in the Senate are approaching a showdown this afternoon over a bill to overhaul² the nation's financial regulations. NPR's David Welna reports that although talks are underway to hammer out a bipartisan compromise, the upcoming vote to block a GOP filibuster³ is expected to highlight the differences between the two sides.

It began last Thursday when GOP Leader Mitch McConnell objected to Majority Leader Harry⁴ Reid's request to bring up the financial regulatory bill in the Senate this afternoon. Republicans are trying to hold up the measure in hopes of changing it through talks with Democrats before it reaches the Senate floor. Once it does, Republicans will be faced with having to find at least 19 Democrats or Independents to help them amend⁵ it. Democrats have shown little inclination⁶ to yield to GOP pressures to change the bill. They feel public opinion is on their side. A spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid issued a statement today, saying a vote against taking up the financial regulatory overhaul would be a vote to protect Wall Street. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

The oil spill, emanating⁷ from the site where a drilling platform sank in the Gulf⁸ of Mexico last week, now covers more than 1,800 square miles of the Gulf. And so far, workers have been unable to get a remote-control device to trigger a valve to cut off the flow at the wellhead nearly a mile below the water surface. An estimated 42,000 gallons of oil a day are leaking from the wellhead. Coast Guard Petty Officer Erik Swanson says crews are working to contain the oil that's already on the surface in part by surrounding it with a floating barrier called the boom.

"As of now, 11,360 feet of boom has been deployed¹⁰ and we also utilize¹¹ the skimming vessels¹²."

The oil slick is expected to remain at least 30 miles offshore¹³ until at least tomorrow.

The United Nations is scaling back its operations in Afghanistan's violence-plagued city of Kandahar, ordering more than 200 UN employees there to stay in their homes. NPR's Jackie Northam reports the announcement came as three more bomb attacks shook the city today.

Government officials in Kandahar say a police convoy¹⁴ was targeted in two of the explosions. The UN says it's not permanently¹⁵ pulling out and is still committed to providing humanitarian¹⁶ assistance to the people in the city. There has been a steady increase in violence recently in Kandahar which is the birthplace and spiritual center point of the Taliban. The insurgent¹⁷ group has been targeting mid-to-high level government and security officials as well as aid workers and contractors¹⁸. The Taliban say the recent attacks are a warning to American and NATO troops ahead of a US-led military offensive into Kandahar planned for this summer. Jackie Northam, NPR News, Kabul.

The uncertainty¹⁹ over financial regulatory legislation in Congress is weighing on bank stocks today and they're putting some downward pressure on the overall market just before the close. The Dow industrials are currently down 13 points at 11,217. The NASDAQ is off five. The S&P 500 is down four.

This is NPR News from Washington.

A clean-up is underway in the Deep South where tornadoes²⁰ damaged hundreds of homes and killed at least a dozen people over the weekend. Greg Flynn of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency says neighbors have been helping²¹ neighbors in the hardest-hit communities.

"We did not see too many folks that needed shelters, so that tells us that a lot of friends and families stepped up to really take care of the people that were affected²²."

The severe weather caused damage in four southern states.

A new study is finding a link between chocolate and depression, but NPR's Joanne Silberner reports it's not yet clear whether eating chocolate leads to symptoms of depression or vice⁹ versa.

Researchers from the University of California looked at the food habits of 931 people and counted up their depressive symptoms. People who had the fewest symptoms ate the least chocolate, an average of five small chocolate bars a month. Those who had a few symptoms had eight servings a month. And the average chocolate intake²³ for people with probable major depression was 12 servings a month, they report in the Archives of Internal Medicine. But the researchers don't know what's behind the association. It could be that depressed²⁴ people are trying to self-medicate. It could be that chocolate causes depression though they know this is unlikely. Or there could be some sort of complex, as yet unidentified chemical association between something in chocolate and symptoms of depression. Joanne Silberner, NPR News.

A federal appeals court has ruled that Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer²⁵, must face a class action lawsuit²⁶, claiming the firm discriminates²⁷ against female employees, allegedly paying them less than men for the same work and promoting them less frequently. The suit was filed on behalf of more than a million current and former Wal-Mart employees.