NPR 2009-05-10

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Craig Windham.

Cooler, moist weather conditions have been helping 1 hundreds of firefighters working to contain a stubborn wildfire in the hills above Santa Barbara, California. The blaze is now about 30% contained. And Santa Barbara Fire Department spokesman John Ahlman says evacuation orders have been lifted for most of the more than 30,000 people who had left their homes.

"Temperatures at the fire line were reduced and so that was a trigger point for the incident command team to say yes, it's time to, and safe to let folks back into their homes in the warning areas."

But Frank Stoltze of member station KPCC says not everyone has been allowed back in.

"Some folks who live way up in the hills above Santa Barbara still can not go home. Fire officials concerned that hot embers may get stirred up by whatever afternoon winds there might be and flames may start again. But so far that's not predicted by forecasters those heavy winds that we saw over the last few days."
Frank Stoltze reporting from University of California, Santa Barbara.

The cleanup is underway in the Midwest following powerful storms that left a wide swath of damage and killed at least five people. Three governors have declared states of emergency, among them, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon.

"...peak of the currency, some houses are all the way leveled to the ground, others they've begun to put tarps over the top of the holes in the roof. But clearly it was a very broad storm that stayed for a while, so that together thing as it was a storm that stayed right on top of these areas for as much as 30 minutes."

In Missouri and Illinois more than 100,000 homes and businesses are still without electricity.

Jacob Zuma was sworn in as South Africa's new President, its 4th leader since apartheid. Zuma praised his predecessors 2 and promised not to rest in his efforts to help the nation. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton has the story.

Jacob Zuma thanked former president Nelson Mandela for healing the wounds of the past in South Africa and for building a rainbow nation. He pledged to continue on that path. In a gesture of reconciliation 3 towards his long time political rival, former president Thabo Mbeki, Zuma called him "my friend who laid the foundation for economic growth." He said now was a moment of renewal 4 for South Africa and made this pledge to his compatriots.

"For as long as there are people who are unable to find work, we shall not rest, and we dare not falter 5."

But delivering on homes, water, food, education and employment to millions of needy 6 South Africans remains 7 a monumental challenge. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Johannesburg.

Pakistan's Prime Minister is calling the country's latest offense 8 against militants 9 in the Taliban's stronghold Swat Valley a war of the country's survival. Pakistani warplanes and troops killed dozens of militants today in an effort to purge 10 the valley of the Taliban.

This is NPR News from Washington.

The group Human Rights Watch says Sri Lanka's military has been indiscriminately shelling hospitals in the island's war zone where government forces are on the verge 11 of defeating Tamil Tiger separatists. Some 50,000 civilians 12 are trapped in the conflict area. NPR's Philip Reeves has more.

Human Rights Watch cites 30 attacks on permanent and makeshift hospitals, including one last weekend in which 68 people were killed. It says these hospitals were clearly marked and yet came under artillery 13 or air attack. The Rights group says in some cases, the Sri Lanka military may have been targeting Tamil Tiger fighters near the hospitals. In others, witnesses said there were no rebels in the vicinity. Human Rights Watch accuses both sides of breaking the laws of war and says the Tamil Tigers have used tens of thousands of civilians as human shields. But it says the Sri Lanka government cannot use the rebels’ atrocities 14 to justify 15 its own unlawful acts. And one Sri Lanka commander who's responsible for shelling hospitals may be prosecuted 16 for war crimes. The Sri Lanka military denies any such attacks. Philip Reeves, NPR News.

The number of confirmed cases of swine flu in the US has risen to just over 2250, with about one hundred of those people having to be hospitalized. The vast majority of the cases have been mild but Doctor Anne Schuchat at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says "For now, people should remain vigilant 17."

"It's too soon for us to say whether we are, whether in some communities, things are getting better. Our indicators 18 suggest that things are, they were still accelerating, we were still seeing an increase in cases."

This swine flu outbreak has now caused 48 deaths in Mexico. Costa Rica reported its first swine flu death today.

I'm Craig Windham, NPR News in Washington.