West Virginians rallied out the State House in Charleston today in the wake of a chemical spill that left 300,000 people without clean water. Resident Janet Thompson told WOWKTV that he wants to see a major cleanup. 

“I don’t care who he did what in the past; how the incident happened; I don’t care about legislation in the future. I want we have super fund do some right now pull the plant down; clean the water up, so we can go home.”

The company blamed for the chemical spill is now filing for bankruptcy. The filling temporarily holds numerous lawsuits against freedom in industry and allows the company to continue operation. 

 

Afghan president Hamid Karzai is condemning a Taliban suicide attack in Kabul that killed 21 Afghans and foreign civilians, including 3 Americans. NPR’s Sean Carberry reports.

The assault on the popular Lebanese restaurant is the most deadly attack on foreign civilians in Kabul since the start of the war in 2001. After a militant blew off himself outside the restaurant, 2 attackers stormed inside and gunned down 13 foreigners, mostly civilians working with UN and other international agencies. The Taliban claimed the attack was a retribution for a recent US airstrike that allegedly killed Afghan civilians. In his condemnation issued 20 hours after the restaurant attack, Karzai also said US’ policies in Afghanistan have not been successful and have caused Afghan people great sacrifice. Sean Carberry, NPR News, Kabul. 

 

The South Sudanese military says it has recaptured a strategic city, north of the capital and is moving to outer rebels from another stronghold. But NPR’s Gregory Warner reports no capture can be certain and a month old conflict where the battle line keeps shifting. 

The strategic city of Bor, close to the country’s capital and to many of its oil fields has changed hands 4 times over the past month. Captured by rebels then retaken, recaptured and now apparently retaken by the South Sudanese military with critical air and ground support from Uganda. The leader of rebel forces is the country’s former vice president. He accuses the president of attempted genocide and his marshal to rebel fighting force did some see including thousands of children. Peace talks continue in the Ethiopian capital, but the observers said the both sides seem to be trying to gain a military upper hand before any ceasefire is agreed upon. Gregory Warner, NPR News, Nairobi.

 

At least 30 people have been killed in violence across Iraq today, including a series of car bombings around Baghdad. Fighting is also continuing between government troops and militants over controls of country’s contested Anbar Province. The White House says Vice President Joe Biden called the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki today to discuss the fighting. 

 

This is NPR News. 

 

A group of plane crash survivals are suing Boeing, claiming it fail to install etiquette safety system in some of its planes. Novel Saffle reports from Chicago. 

The lawsuit stems from Asiana Airline crash last July in which Boeing 777 came in for a landing just short the runway at San Francisco International Airport and hit seawall. 3 people died and more than 180 others were injured. Now a group of passengers is suing Chicago-based Boeing in Illinois State Court. The passengers claim the aircraft that crashed had inadequate low speed warning and automatic correction system and they say Boeing should have done more to train the pilots. The crash investigation has shown that low speed and not enough training were facts in the Asiana Airline crash. Boeing says it has no comment on the lawsuit. For NPR News, I’m Novel Saffle in Chicago. 

 

Officials in California say the soaring value of the state’s nut crops is attracting and new breed of thieves who have been making off with pricy commodities by the truckload. Almond farmer Kevin Fondse says the theft of nuts is a growing problem, but officials have been working on ways to trace the theft down. 

“I have a neighbor that his farm has been thieved away 3 truckloads store out of the yard. He is a @@ lander of walnuts that has been through fake trail that wasn’t found.”

Domestic demand for specialty foods and an expanding Asian market for them have prompted a nut orchard boom in the state's agricultural heartland, which is a worldwide leader.