Obama to outline financial reform demands
NEW YORK, April 22 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama will urge Wall Street to work with him -- not against him -- in efforts to reform the U.S. financial system Thursday in New York.
He also will urge Wall Street executives to pressure Washington to pass tough reforms, now in the Senate, that would protect consumers, end the "too big to fail" mentality and bring transparency to the derivatives market, the White House said.
Obama will outline his requirements that any financial industry reform legislation must meet to earn his signature.
He is expected to say the bill before the Senate draws from bipartisan ideas and urge financial leaders to abandon their efforts to weaken or kill the bill and instead join him "because I believe that these reforms are, in the end, not only in the best interest of our country, but in the best interest of our financial sector," remarks as prepared for release and reprinted in The New York Times indicate.
One Republican joined Democrats in a Senate committee Wednesday that voted to send to the floor a bill that would impose strong regulation on derivatives.
White House officials have rejected claims the clipped pace of the bill moving through the Senate resulted from lessons learned from the bruising and lengthy healthcare debate, The Washington Post reported. Administration officials say the dynamics of financial reform always were different.
Eleven crew missing from oil rig blast
NEW ORLEANS, April 22 (UPI) -- The search continued Thursday for the 11 crew members still missing after a violent explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast.
The fire on the Deepwater Horizon was touched off by an explosion late Tuesday. The mobile drilling platform in mile-deep water about 50 miles from Louisiana is owned by Swiss corporation Transocean Ltd. and leased by British Petroleum.
"We have no idea where the 11 unaccounted-for personnel are at this time," Adm. Mary Landry, U.S. Coast Guard District 8 commander, said. "The 11 people are unaccounted for and we will continue the search-and-rescue case until it's reasonable that we might not find anybody out there."
Federal officials said the rig was inspected three times in 2010, including once earlier in April, and received no violation citations, WWL-TV, New Orleans, reported.
A Transocean official described the explosion as a well blowout.
"There's undoubtedly some abnormal pressure built up in the marine riser which comes from the sea bed, from the blowout preventer stack, to the rig," said Adrian Rose of Transocean. "Obviously hydro-carbons under pressure -- gas or oil -- got into the riser, and as it came up the riser, it expanded rapidly and ignited."
The rig had 126 crew members on board at the time of the explosion, Transocean officials said.
BP officials said they didn't believe the $350 million rig was leaking oil into the gulf, but as many as seven oil spill response vessels were on standby, if needed.
European airspace sees return of flights
REYKJAVIK, Iceland, April 22 (UPI) -- More flights resumed across Europe Thursday a week after ash from a volcanic eruption in Iceland drifted across the continent.
The flight ban was lifted Wednesday after European airports and airspace were closed for nearly a week because of ash drifting from the volcanic eruption near the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier, the Iceland Review.
In Britain, some airlines said they were operating at full schedule Thursday, but advised passengers not to go to airports unless their flights were confirmed as unaffected by the ash drift, The Daily Telegraph reported.
All airlines warned it could take several weeks to send home as many as a half-million Britons stranded overseas after the airspace closed and flights were canceled.
Irish budget airline Ryanair backed off its threat to refuse to pay compensation beyond the cost of original flights, the Telegraph said. Airline officials said Thursday they would comply with European Union regulations requiring airlines to reimburse "reasonable receipted expenses" of passengers whose flight plans were disrupted.
Conservative leader David Cameron said he wants a "rapid inquiry" into the handling of the volcanic ash situation, accusing ministers of "muddle and confusion" that extended stranded travelers' "misery," the newspaper said
Airlines said government action meant British airports were closed a day longer than other facilities in Europe, causing extra $200 million in losses and demanded compensation.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown defended the decision to delay reopening the skies, saying passenger safety was paramount and airspace and airport closures could be lifted only after plane manufacturers offered concrete data on a "safe" ash density.
Terror attack alert issued for New Delhi
NEW DELHI, April 22 (UPI) -- Militants may be planning attacks on the Indian capital of New Delhi, the U.S. Embassy warned.
The embassy asked Americans to be cautious and named popular market areas, including the landmark Connaught Place, that could be targeted for attacks, an alert posted Wednesday on the U.S. State Department Web site stated.
"There are increased indications that terrorists are planning attacks in New Delhi," the notice from the embassy said.
"Terrorists have targeted places in the past where U.S. or Westerners are known to congregate or visit."
The embassy statement follows a travel advisory issued last week warning Americans of possible attacks on Indian hotels and markets.
The warnings come after bomb blasts this week at a cricket stadium in the southern city of Bangalore just prior to the start of an Indian Premier League match. Several people were injured in the explosions.
There have been militant attacks in the Indian capital in the past. In 2008, 20 people died and scores more injured in explosions in crowded shopping areas.
Web site warns 'South Park' creators
NEW YORK, April 22 (UPI) -- A radical Muslim Web site warned "South Park" producers of retaliation if the show airs a segment with a skewed depiction of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.
Revolution Muslim protested the 200th episode of Comedy Central's "South Park" over the show's depiction of the Prophet Mohammed wearing a bear costume. On its Web site, Revolution Muslim said violent retaliation "will likely happen" to the show's creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, and provided addresses of Comedy Central's New York office and Stone and Parker's production office in Los Angeles, a commentary published in Entertainment Weekly Thursday said.
The site reportedly posted an item about a "South Park" episode referencing Theo van Gogh, the Dutch filmmaker killed by a Muslim extremist for his 2004 short documentary, "Submission," about women, violence and Islam. Attempts to view the Web site Thursday were unsuccessful.
"We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo van Gogh for airing this show," the commentary reported the post as saying. "This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them."
The site also had a video of a radical Muslim preacher calling for the assassination of anyone who "defamed" Mohammed and included photos of Parker, Stone and van Gogh, the EW commentary said.
Comedy Central hasn't commented about the post.
