NPR 2010-07-16

The oil has stopped leaking. For the first time in 12 weeks, crude is not spewing from the blown-out well in the Gulf 1 of Mexico. This the result of a critical pressure test BP's conducting. NPR's Richard Harris joins us now in the studio with the latest.

And I was watching the underseas cameras about 35 minutes ago, and the huge cloud of oil that's been billowing out of them just simply stopped flowing. Now, this is part of a test, and there are no guarantees here. The test is looking at the condition of the well under the sea. And if it turns out that the well is in good shape, this could well be the beginning of the end of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe 2, though let's remember there's a huge amount of oil still to clean up on the surface. And if the test finds that the well is in bad shape, they will open these valves again, and once again oil will spill. Ships at the surface are standing 3 by, and in the next few days, they should be able to collect most of the oil. There was a huge of real sound of relief in the voice of the BP official Kent Wells who announced this event just a few minutes ago.

Alright, thanks Richard. NPR's Richard Harris' tracking the story on the oil spill in Gulf of Mexico.

Another news: Senate lawmakers have adopted the biggest rewrite of the financial regulatory system since the Great Depression. The bill was approved on a vote of 60 to 39. From Capitol Hill, here's NPR's Audie Cornish.

The legislation includes many provisions targeted at consumers. Mainly it would add a new bureau to Federal Reserve that would write and enforce rules for banks and large credit unions. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says Republicans fundamentally disagree with this approach.

"That creates a vast new unaccountable bureaucracy that, if past experience is any guide, will lead to countless 4 burdensome, unintended consequences for individuals and small businesses."

The new bureau would also have the power to police mortgages, credit cards, student loans and other kinds of lending, but lawmakers essentially 5 exempted 6 car loans, check cashers and payday lenders. Audie Cornish, NPR News, the Capitol.

Clean energy and jobs, two big themes in President Obama's trip to Holland, Michigan today. He visited a new factory that will make batteries for electric cars. Here's NPR's Ari Shapiro.

President Obama said this is the ninth electric car battery factory to open with the boost from government spending.

"We're leveraging 7 nearly three private dollars for every public dollar that's spent. That's an incredible bang for our buck 8. By making critical seed money available, we've attracted more than $280 billion in investment from private companies and others."

Republicans see it differently. In the Detroit News, House Minority Leader John Boehner published an op-ed column with the headline: Spending Spree Won't Fix Our Ailing 9 Economy. Boehner said the economy has lost three million jobs since President Obama took office. The president pointed 10 out that the economy has gained jobs every month through the last six months. Ari Shapiro, NPR News.

Last check on Wall Street, Dow was down seven at 10,359.

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Today, Argentina became the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage, giving gay couples the same rights as heterosexual couples. We have more on this from NPR's Juan Forero.

At 4:10 am, after 14 hours of debate, the Senate approved the law giving gays the right to marry. Argentina became the second country after Canada to approve same-sex marriages in the Americas. Gay rights advocates worldwide closely followed the vote because Argentina is a Catholic country in a region where the church is fighting hard to stop same-sex unions. But polls show that 70% of Argentines supported the measure including the president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. The new law gives gays all the same rights, responsibilities and privileges as straight couples including the right to adopt. In some ways, it made perfect sense for the law to be approved in Argentina. Buenos Aires, its biggest city, is filled with bars, restaurants and luxury hotels catering 11 to gays. Juan Forero, NPR News.

Iranian state media are reporting bomb blasts outside a mosque 12 in southeastern Iran. As many as 20 people may have been killed.

There's a lot of buzz surrounding a 21-year-old golfer from Northern Ireland after a jaw-dropping performance in the first round of the British Open. Rory McIlroy shot a nine-under-par 63, tying the major championship record.

"That was a fantastic score. You know, I didn't get off to a flying start. I was one under through eight holes, and then the eagle on nine really sort of turned things around for me, and I just got going from there."

The last person to shoot so low in one of the four major tournaments was Tiger Woods in 2007.

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