It appears one of my friends who i had offerd use of this account as a backup has taken' atvantage of my offer.

News will resume when members are gained.

WASHINGTON—BP PLC Chief Executive Tony Hayward went to Capitol Hill to apologize for the disaster caused by his company's gushing Gulf of Mexico oil well, and to absorb the blows as American politics requires when business leaders stumble into tragedy or scandal.


BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said he wasn't involved in key decisions with the Horizon oil well, frustrating lawmakers looking for more details. Neil King and Bob O'Brien discuss. Also, Paul Vigna discusses the limited options the Fed and Treasury have if the economy falls back into recession.
Mr. Hayward stuck to his plan. He sat for hours on Thursday, alone at a witness table, parrying questions from indignant members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a deliberate monotone.

Over and over, he said he wasn't involved in the decisions preceding the accident and declined to speculate on causes until investigations were complete.

Summoning executives of companies caught up in financial or legal trouble to receive televised scoldings is a ritual of U.S. politics. Detroit auto titans, Wall Street bankers, and the head of Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor Corp. have all done time in Congress's dock as lawmakers looked for someone to blame for the calamities of the past two years.

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More photos and interactive graphics Even by the standards of these proceedings, the fury directed at Mr. Hayward was unusual. Democrats accused BP of sacrificing safety for profit. One said the video of the Gulf spill made her physically ill. A Louisiana Republican held up a photograph of an oil-slimed pelican.

And when one senior Republican—Rep. Joe Barton of Texas—stepped up to apologize to Mr. Hayward, the backlash was so severe he was forced to apologize for his apology.

Just minutes into the hearing, Mr. Barton, a ranking member of the committee, denounced the Obama Administration for pushing the British oil company to agree Tuesday to put $20 billion into a fund to cover damages caused by the disaster. Mr. Barton called the plan a "slush fund."

To that point, Mr. Barton's critique echoed statements by other Republicans. Then he went further.

"I apologize," Mr. Barton said. "I do not want to live in a country where any time a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong is subject to some sort of political pressure that is—again, in my words—amounts to a shakedown. So, I apologize."

Rep. Barton left the hearing immediately after making his statement. The aftershocks rumbled throughout the day.

Mr. Hayward's entourage included a phalanx of dark suits including aides, experts and a body guard. He brought a public-relations specialist.

Experience WSJ professional Editors' Deep Dive: Liability Projections Hit BPINTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
BP's Pledge of $20 Billion Unlikely to Be Final WordDow Jones Capital Markets Report
Liability and Settlement Whipsaw BP's DebtPlatts Commodity News
BP Promises to Replace Lost IncomeAccess thousands of business sources not available on the free web. Learn More He soon found that $20 billion and an apology weren't going to make his day better.

"The explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon and the resulting oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico never should have happened—and I am deeply sorry that they did," Mr. Hayward said in an 11-page written statement.

Members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations were having none of it. They grew increasingly frustrated as Mr. Hayward dodged specific questions aimed at pinning blame for the explosion on specific BP decisions and on him as the company's leader.

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Recap: Analysis of Hayward's testimony View Slideshow

Associated Press

Protesters stand behind BP CEO Tony Hayward, as he arrives on Capitol Hill June 17, to testify before the House Oversight and Investigations subcommittee hearing.

Investors were relieved by BP's decision to suspend dividends, hoping it would ease pressure on the company over its handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Grainne McCarthy, David Weidner and Guy Chazan discuss. Also, David Wessel discusses America's system of home ownership, saying that although it has been celebrated for putting so many families into their own homes, it has become, as one economist put it, "a case study in failure."
The Gulf Spill
Democrats Are Divided on Energy Bill Claims Fund Offers Shield From Suits Russian Leader Assesses Spill and BP BP Investors' Enthusiasm Turns to Doubt BP Agrees to $20 Billion Fund Obama Address Gets Low Marks BP Investors Hope Pressure Will Ease Inspector General Slams 'Backwards' MMS Probe Congress to Scrutinize Another BP Rig Fight Erupts Over Oil Trial Venues Opinion: President's Animosities | Crude Politics "With respect, sir, we drill hundreds of wells each year," he said slowly, fingering a pen as he testified.

"That's what's scaring me," shot back Rep. Michael Burgess, a Texas Republican.

Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D., Calif.) accused Mr. Hayward of stonewalling.

After a quarter of a century on death row, convicted killer Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed in a barrage of rifle fire Friday morning. He became the first man to die before a firing squad in Utah in 14 years.

Ronnie Lee Gardner is the first man in 14 years to die by firing squad.At exactly midnight, the 49-year-old inmate who spent more than half his life behind bars was awakened from a nap for his execution. He appeared calm as he was escorted to the execution chamber at a state prison in Draper. Gardner was strapped to a metallic, winged execution chair; his arms and legs, his head and torso secured tightly. He wore a dark prison jumpsuit and no shoes.The chair was raised on a small black platform, like a stage.

A team of five anonymous marksmen armed with .30-caliber Winchester rifles, standing just 25 feet away behind a brick wall cut with a gun port, aimed their weapons at a white circular target pinned over Gardner's heart. One rifle was loaded with a blank so no one knew who fired the fatal shots.

Asked if he wanted to say anything moments before the shooting, Gardner responded, "I do not, no."

Witnesses said Gardner rubbed his left thumb and forefinger moments before the shooting. At 12:15 a.m. Mountain time, the rifles exploded; four bullets perforated his heart and lungs. The straps held his head up. A metal tray beneath the chair collected his blood. After the shots were fired, he could be seen clenching his left fist.

Gardner was pronounced dead at 12:17 a.m.

Related
WATCH: Killer Executed by Utah Firing SquadWATCH: Prisoner Requests Firing Squad DeathWATCH: The Effect of Witnessing a Firing Squad"Ronnie Lee Gardner will never kill again," Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff later told reporters. "He will never assault anybody again."

Sandra Yi, a reporter with KSLTV in Utah, said Gardner fidgeted and moved, even after the barrage of gunfire.

"When he was shot, some of us weren't sure if he had passed away because we could see movement," she said. "He had his fist clenched and we could see his elbow move up and down."

Sheryl Worsley, a reporter with KSL News Radio in Utah, described the moments following the execution as disturbing. "He moved a little bit and, to some degree, that bothers me," she said. "To some degree that mirrors the last few weeks of his life because he was fighting to stay alive the last few weeks and that seemed to continue on."

Gardner was sentenced to death for the 1985 killing of attorney Michael Burdell during an attempted escape from a Salt Lake City courthouse. Gardner was in court at the time, accused of killing Melvyn John Otterstrom during a 1984 robbery at a bar.

In the escape attempt, Gardner also shot and wounded George "Nick" Kirk, a bailiff, whose family said he died 11 years later as a result of his injuries.

Gardner had the choice between the firing squad and lethal injection because he was sentenced to death before Utah eliminated the firing squad as a death penalty option in 2004. Opponents say firing squads are archaic and barbaric, and about two dozen members of Gardner's family, including his brother and his daughter, held a vigil outside the prison. The inmate asked that they not attend his execution. "Some say it was more clinical than they thought, that it was over faster than they thought," "Good Morning America's" Ryan Owens said of the witnesses. "Others say that they actually were disturbed to see his left arm moving. They thought even for a couple of minutes after the shots rang out."

London, England (CNN) -- British commentators and media have been split by the performance of BP boss Tony Hayward before a Congressional committee investigating the Gulf Coast oil disaster.

But while some analysts backed Hayward following Thursday's appearance before his House Energy and Commerce Committee, others criticized his performance and approach.

UK media attack Obama for comments about BP

PR guru Mark Borkowski writing in The Daily Telegraph, said that Hayward "couldn't, or wouldn't, answer most of the questions. In fact, he looked like a tired undertaker who was rather bored with having to look mournful."

Later Borkowski added: "The man has the communication skills of a tax inspector; dry and arrogant. Its incredible that one of the most important corporate jobs in the world has been entrusted to him."

Hawyard's tone was likened to "that of a weary registrar in a South London crematorium" by The Times' Giles Whittell, writing from Washington.

"As to the meager substance of his answers, he appeared to have drunk deeply of the wisdom of his lawyers. The committee members knew it, and it did not make them happy."



Video: Rep. Stupak to BP CEO: 'You blew it'

Video: Protester interrupts BP's CEO

Video: Barton ashamed of $20B 'shakedown'

Video: Tony Hayward on the hot seat
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"Whatever he was thinking, what he said made him look like an oil man on the skids. Americans say he looks like Mr Bean. Make that Mr Has-been."

Hayward withdrew into a "firmly defensive posture" during the early part of the hearing, wrote John Grapper, the Financial Times chief business commentator, Thursday.

"He has performed as he was presumably coached to do," says Grapper, "looking remorseful and grim and refusing to be drawn into specifics about the causes of the accident."

Hayward's only comfort, said Grapper, was when Joe Barton, a Republican member of the committee, said that White House plans for a compensation fund amounted to a "$20bn shakedown."

The Guardian likewise observed that Hayward had been "carefully coached by legal and media teams" but that he still "failed to satisfy." He had "multiple variations on the same theme" and "clung to his argument that it would be premature to comment."

But the Daily Mail took a tougher line against the hearing, saying the BP boss was "treated like Public Enemy No 1 by American politicians" and that the occasion was "billed as a chance for Washington's finest to 'slice and dice' Tony Hayward. It didn't disappoint. BP's chief executive was subjected to a grilling so savage yesterday it was more like ancient Rome than Capitol Hill."

Hayward was "abused and heckled" according to the Daily Express with committee members "determined to get their pound of flesh in what at times appeared to be a rather public execution on Capitol Hill."

It ended: "Throughout the session, the atmosphere became increasingly heated and confrontational with Congressmen repeatedly interrupting the BP boss. The conclusion was clear -- the majority of those engaged in this show trial had already decided he was guilty."

The Independent's Rupert Cornwell, explaining the process of congressional hearings for UK readers, described them as a 21st-century version of the medieval stocks that is "one of the signature rituals of American democracy."

He explained that "once they were not only riveting political theatre but events that could turn U.S. history," citing examples such as the 1954 hearings into senator Joseph McCarthy

"But," continued Cornwell, "for all the venting of outrage, and the emotional satisfaction thus gained, few new facts generally emerge. Those that do are usually lost amid the showboating of committee members."

* Texas Republican apologizes to BP

Stocks | Bonds | Global Markets

* White House quickly denounces

* Politically risky stance

* Some other Republicans also criticize $20 billion fund

(Updates throughout)

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) - A Texas Republican apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward on Thursday for having to set aside $20 billion for Gulf of Mexico damage claims, drawing ridicule from Democrats and embarrassing Republicans.

Representative Joe Barton, a major recipient of campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry, triggered an uproar with his lengthy apology to Hayward for being the victim of a White House "shakedown."

Barton's point, made at the start of a congressional hearing featuring Hayward's testimony, was that BP (BP.L) (BP.N) should pay for damage claims but should be allowed to follow the "due process and fairness" of the American legal system.

"I'm speaking totally for myself, I'm not speaking for the Republican party ... but I'm ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday," Barton said.

He called it "a tragedy of the first proportion, that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown, a $20 billion shakedown."

President Barack Obama on Wednesday pressured BP to set up a $20 billion compensation fund for the Gulf spill during a meeting at the White House.

As Republicans seek to pick up seats from majority Democrats in November's congressional elections, Barton's position is politically risky because Americans by and large blame BP for the devastating spill and want the huge company to pay for it.

His stance was bound to be unpopular in the Gulf region, where the spill is wreaking havoc on the economy -- fishermen are out of work and hotel and restaurants are losing in an area heavily dependent on tourism.

Barton gave hope to Democrats looking for any way possible to fend off expected big losses in November. They quickly pounced on Barton's remarks.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs denounced Barton and called on members of both parties to repudiate his comments.

"What is shameful is that Joe Barton seems to have more concern for big corporations that caused this disaster than the fishermen, small business owners and communities whose lives have been devastated by the destruction," said Gibbs.

Ryan Rudominer, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said: "The American people will hold House Republicans accountable for this shameful defense of BP, and for once again siding with Big Oil and gas interests."

Republicans on Capitol Hill were chagrined by Barton's statement and the leader of Republicans in the House of Representatives, John Boehner, distanced himself from Barton.

"BP agreed to fund the cost of this cleanup from the beginning and I'm glad they are being held accountable," Boehner said. Asked if he disagreed with Barton's remarks, Boehner said: "I do."

Barton stuck to his position. "I just think it is very un-American to have the president of the United States demand $20 billion and have a company agree without being able to exercise all its rights under our system of laws and precedents," he told Reuters.

BARTON NOT ALONE

Barton is not alone among Republicans holding this view.

Georgia Republican Representative Tom Price, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a group of conservative House members, issued a statement arguing the same point.

He said the White House does not have the legal authority to compel a private company to set up and fund an escrow account. The White House has dismissed such criticism.

Price said BP's willingness to go along with the White House's new fund suggests that the Obama administration is "hard at work exerting its brand of Chicago-style shakedown politics."

"These actions are emblematic of a politicization of our economy that has been borne out of this administration's drive for greater power and control," Price said.

And former Texas Republican Representative Dick Armey, who was House majority leader and is a leading voice in the conservative Tea Party movement, told a Christian Science Monitor breakfast this week that Obama lacks the constitutional authority to set up such a fund.

"The Constitution doesn't give that authority to the executive branch.... There are courts for this purpose," Armey said, according to the Dallas Morning News.

In addition, conservative Republican Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota was quoted as telling the Heritage Foundation think tank on Tuesday that the escrow account was a "redistribution-of-wealth fund."

Barton is the biggest recipient of oil and gas industry campaign contributions in the House of Representatives, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Its data showed that Barton has collected $1,447,880 from political action committees and individuals connected with the oil and gas industry since 1989.

Police Sgt. Jeff Quon had sued the chief and the city of Ontario after he learned the chief had read through thousands of text messages he had sent to his wife and a girlfriend. Quon won in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals but lost Thursday in the Supreme Court.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said the police chief was concerned that officers might have been using their text pagers for personal messages rather than for police work. He then obtained the transcripts from Arch Wireless, the contractor for its text system, and read through them. This search was reasonable, Kennedy said, because it had "a legitimate work-related purpose" and because "it was not excessive in scope."

At issue was the 4th Amendment ban on "unreasonable searches" by the government. This protection extends not only to the public but also to more than 20 million employees of state and local agencies, as well as federal workers.

Usually, the 4th Amendment comes into play in criminal cases, but the justices have said it also protects public employees from unreasonable searches at work. But the case of City of Ontario vs. Quon was the first to involve privacy claims arising from messages sent on a pager or computer provided by the employer.

In this case, Sgt. Quon and the other officers were told the text pager was the property of the police department and that the city reserved the right to check his messages. However, his direct supervisor had also told Quon that he could use the text pager for personal messages, so long as he paid the extra cost out of his own funds.

In ruling for Quon, the 9th Circuit judges said the officer had good reason to believe his personal messages were private. Moreover, the police did not need to read through them in detail to learn the messages were personal and did not involve responses to police calls.

The Supreme Court disagreed and said the balance tilted in favor of the employer, not the employee. "Quon likely had only a limited privacy expectation," Kennedy said. "That the search did reveal intimate details of Quon's life does not make it unreasonable." He said employers, including public agencies, may conduct searches of their employees for a "work-related purpose" or to investigate "work-related misconduct."

Since the police chief was checking on a possible violation of its rules for using text pagers, the search was reasonable.

Kennedy cautioned that the decision was "narrow" and did not resolve all the disputes that can arise in an era when most employees spent much of their day using computers and cell phones.

"The court must proceed with care," he said, "when considering the whole concept of privacy expectations in communications made on electronic equipment."

Although Thursday's opinion rested on the 4th Amendment and its effect on public employees, the court's rulings on the right to privacy had been applied in many private settings as well.

Lawyers for Ronnie Lee Gardner hand-delivered a letter to Gov. Gary Herbert on Thursday morning asking him to stall the execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner.

In the letter, the attorneys requested Herbert to use his executive power to temporarily halt the execution, set for 12:05 a.m. Friday, until Gardner is awarded another commutation hearing.

The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole denied Gardner's petition for commutation in a three-page decision earlier this week.

"The board's brief and unexplained decision to ignore Mr. Gardner's final plea for mercy was made despite compelling evidence presented, which calls into question the appropriateness of Mr. Gardner's sentence of death," the letter says.

The letter alleges that Gardner did not get a fair hearing last week because a lawyer from the Utah Attorney General's Office was acting as legal adviser to the board -- which has the power to reduce the death sentence to life in prison without parole -- while other lawyers from the office were arguing for his execution.

That argument failed to sway U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell, who rejected a request this week to stay the execution. The five-member board on Monday announced its unanimous decision to reject Gardner's petition for clemency.

Angie Welling, spokeswoman for Gov. Herbert, said late Thursday morning that the governor was reviewing the letter but had not yet drafted a response.

The late Gov. Scott M. Matheson faced the same request in January 1977, as Utah was preparing to execute Gary Gilmore. Death-penalty opponents were urging him to grant a respite so the Board of Pardons and Parole could consider commutation for Gilmore, who was urging the execution to proceed. After much consideration, Matheson declined to grant the delay and Gilmore became the first person executed in the United States after a long moratorium.

IRENE, South Africa -- U.S. coach Bob Bradley isn't sure whether goalkeeper Tim Howard broke ribs during a collision with Emile Heskey in the Americans' World Cup opener against England.

"He'll be evaluated later today and then a decision will be made as to whether he'll need further tests," Bradley said Sunday. "Obviously he was sore -- did a great job of taking a tough hit, and staying in it and playing really well. But we'll assess him later today and figure out then what we need to do from there."

Howard was injured when Heskey's foot slid into him in the 29th minute Saturday night. Howard was down for a while, saying he felt "in agony." When the game resumed, he grimaced several times.

Howard played the second half after having an injection of a painkiller and made six saves as the United States rallied for a 1-1 tie.

"Any time you're in a big game like that and you get injured, there's no chance anybody is taking you off that field. And Tim is no different than the rest of us," defender Steve Cherundolo said. "Having a good goalkeeper in a tournament like this is essential, so we're very happy Tim is on our team, and I'm certain he'll continue with his good performances."

Bradley couldn't say if Howard's participation in Friday's game against Slovenia was in doubt. Slovenia played Algeria on Sunday in Group C.


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"At this time I think there's no answer," Bradley said. "But when you see the way Timmy handled himself after the collision last night, you'd certainly expect he'll be on the field again."

Howard, the starter for Everton in the Premier League, is backed by Wolverhampton's Marcus Hahnemann on the U.S. team. Brad Guzan, the backup to Brad Friedel on Aston Villa, is the No. 3 American goalkeeper.

Howard said after the game in Rustenburg that he felt sore, but that team doctors at first impression didn't think there was a break. The U.S. team then made the two-hour trip back to its base camp in Irene.

"In a couple hours I'll be struggling," he said before leaving Royal Bafokeng Stadium in northern South Africa. "It's going to take me a few days."

Howard was disappointed at allowing Steven Gerrard's early goal, but pleased with the way the Americans rallied on Clint Dempsey's 40th-minute goal. Dempsey's 25-yard shot bounced twice and went in off the hands of goalkeeper Robert Green, a major blunder.

Howard saved the Americans time and again in the second half, frustrating the famous high-priced stars he faces each week in the Premier League.

Howard made a point-blank stop on Heskey's 18-yard right-footed shot in the 52nd minute and parried Frank Lampard's 20-foot left-footed shot over the crossbar in the 63rd.

"I don't know what it is about us," Howard said. "We're resilient -- always after we get the punch in the face."

With each save late in the game, louder chants of "U-S-A!" erupted from Sam's Army and American Outlaws, groups who made the long and expensive trip from home to sit among the vuvuzela-blowing fans on a cool night in the Southern Hemisphere.

"I think when you play at the highest level and against the best competition, it will bring the best out of you," Howard said.

Gerrard put England ahead in the fourth minute, blowing past Ricardo Clark to beat Howard from short range.

But Dempsey tied the score when his 25-yard shot skipped past Green, yet another in a long line of shocking gaffes by England goalkeepers. It made Dempsey only the second American to score in two World Cups, joining Brian McBride.

The result was a thrill for the U.S. and a disappointment for England, which is looking for its first World Cup title since 1966.

Jozy Altidore nearly put the Americans ahead in the 65th minute with a shot that went off Green's hand and the upper corner of the goal. Howard then withstood a late barrage by the English, and was named man of the match for saving the U.S. from its defensive lapses.

While not a shocking win to match the 1-0 American upset over England at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, the U.S. earned a huge point its quest to reach the second round for the first time since 2002.

Gerrard scored his 17th goal in 82 appearances, bursting past Clark. Heskey took Glen Johnson's throw-in and sent a through ball to Gerrard, who flicked it past Howard.

Dempsey scored on a play very similar to the goal by Croatia's Niko Kranjcar that went in off Scott Carson's arm and helped eliminate England from qualifying from the 2008 European Championship.

Dempsey took several touches, spun around Gerrard and hit a dipping left-footed shot. The ball hit the field twice, glanced off Green's right hand and went into the net for Dempsey's 19th goal in 63 national team games. Dempsey also scored against Ghana as the U.S. was eliminated in 2006.

The Arab world's most senior diplomat has arrived in the Gaza Strip.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa was greeted at the Egyptian border town of Rafah Sunday by officials from Hamas and various Palestinian factions.

The chief of the 22-member Arab League said Israel's siege on the Gaza Strip "must be broken."

Moussa is expected to hold talks with top Hamas leader Ismail Haniya at his home during the one-day visit. He is also scheduled to meet with Palestinian families who lost relatives during the Israel-Gaza war.

Some 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis died during the 3-week war, which began in December 2008.

Moussa is the highest-ranking Arab official to visit Gaza since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized control of the Palestinian territory in 2007.

Moussa's visit comes two weeks after Israel's soldiers killed nine pro-Palestinian activists who were part of a humanitarian flotilla that was trying to break Israel's three-year-old blockade and deliver aid directly to Gaza.

(CNN) -- Armed groups are fighting each other for control of the main hospital in Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan, Russia Today reported, as ethnic clashes continue in the strategically important central Asian country.

At least 80 people have been killed and more than 1,000 injured since Thursday, Kyrgyz and Russian news agencies reported, citing health ministry officials.

According to one report, the numbers were much higher. Local officials in Osh, the city worst affected by the violence, said at least 500 ethnic Uzbeks had been killed, according to Ferghana.ru, an independent news agency. CNN has not independently confirmed the number of dead.

The violence pits ethnic Kyrgyz against Uzbeks, and comes in the wake of the overthrow of the country's government in April. An interim government is in place in the capital Bishkek.

Thousands of ethnic Uzbeks, mostly women, children and elderly people, have fled towards Uzbekistan, Amnesty International said Saturday.

The interim government on Saturday worked to quell the upsurge of violence, imposing states of emergency in Osh, where fighting between ethnic Uzbek and Kyrgyz youths led to mass rioting, and in Jalal-Abad in order to keep the unrest from spreading there, it said.

Are you there? Send photos, videos

But the measures seemed to be doing little to calm the situation Sunday. Kyrgyz news agency 24.kg reported that as many as 5,000 youths were gathering in the center of Jalal-Abad early Sunday, demanding transportation to Osh. The news agency reported that the situation in the city "is very strained" with police patrolling the streets and special forces standing guard.



Kyrgyzstan map Kyrgyzstan hosts a U.S. military transport base that is vital for supplying its troops in Afghanistan. It also has a Russian military base and strategically important natural gas pipelines.

The official Russian TV network Russia Today reported that the interim government has given police permission to shoot to kill rioters on the streets.

Members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) -- comprised of Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan -- are set to meet Monday to discuss the crisis, official Russian news agency RIA-Novosti reported.

Kyrgyz and Russian news agencies said 72 people were killed in Osh and 8 in Jalal-Abad.

Amateur video obtained by CNN appears to show dozens of bloodied bodies lined up along a street in Osh as bystanders rush to cover them. The corpses all appear to be men, and one appears to be charred.

Witnesses said the toll is more likely to be in the thousands.

The violence led Uzbekistan to close its border with Kyrgyzstan, according to the deputy chairman of the Kyrgyz border service, 24.kg reported.

But Russia Today reported that the border remained open for fleeing refugees and RIA-Novosti reported that more than 700 people crossed into Uzbekistan on Saturday.

Extra army and police units were dispatched and a 6 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew has been imposed in several districts of southern Kyrgyzstan until June 20, the government said.

The Kyrgyz interim leader, Roza Otunbayeva, has asked for Russian peacekeepers to help end the unrest, the result of interethnic tensions that have been brewing for weeks.

Otunbayeva, in quotes passed along by the interim government spokesman, said Saturday that the situation has gotten "out of control" and "we need outside military forces to solve the situation."

But Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's spokeswoman said humanitarian aid, not troops, is being rushed to the area at present, the Kremlin said.

"This is an internal conflict and Russia does not yet see the conditions for its participating in resolving it," spokeswoman Natalya Timakhova said.

Timakhova said the president intends to evacuate the injured.

A Russian cargo plane carrying six injured Kyrgyz citizens landed in Moscow on Sunday, according to RIA-Novosti. The plane arrived in Bishkek on Saturday to deliver humanitarian aid, the news agency reported, adding that food and medical supply shortages are becoming an issue.

Otunbayeva on Saturday discussed the unrest in a phone call with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and Moscow police have reinforced the security near the Kyrgyz and Uzbek embassies.

Rioters have set fire to a number of businesses and government buildings in Osh, and there was looting and widespread vandalism, Kyrgyz officials said.

The nation's top health official, Dinara Sagynbayeva, said on Friday about "half of those killed and injured have bullet wounds and the other half have injuries apparently made by some hard objects such as clubs, metal rods and rocks" in Osh, the country's second-largest city.

The United States is monitoring developments and is calling for a "rapid restoration of peace and public order in the city of Osh and elsewhere where it appears ethnic violence is occurring," according to a statement released Saturday by the State Department.

"The United States encourages American citizens in the Kyrgyz Republic to be in contact with the U.S. Embassy and be aware of the Embassy's warden messages to ensure their safety in these turbulent times," the statement said.

"I used to think I was too old for anybody to mess with," said McGinty, 55. "I can't say that anymore."

Beginning with the rape of a 65-year-old woman in Yoakum last January, authorities have linked eight sexual assaults or attempted sexual assaults to the suspect, who has been dubbed the "Twilight Rapist" because most of the attacks occurred around dawn. They also believe he robbed or attempted to rob four other women.

One victim attacked twice
The victims have all been women, ranging in age from 65 to 91. One rape victim played piano at her church on Sundays. An 81-year-old woman scared off an intruder with a gun, firing several rounds for good measure. A 66-year-old woman was attacked twice, despite having moved across town following the first assault.

The attacks occurred in seven rural towns, the largest of which has 6,000 residents.

Two women were attacked — one of them twice — in Yoakum, a quiet town surrounded by wide-open ranches about 100 miles east of San Antonio.

"It does make me sick," Yoakum Police Chief Arthur Rogers said. "We all take it personal. We all visualize this could have been my mother or my grandmother."

Mela Walker, who has a ranch in nearby Cuero, organized a community meeting last spring after the Yoakum attacks and handed out pepper spray as a door prize for the nearly 300 people who showed up.

"They're freaked out," Walker said. "These elderly women are buying Mace and not knowing how to use it. They talk about buying guns, and they don't know how to use guns."

Porch lights unscrewed
Authorities say the attacks appear to have been planned — phone lines were cut and porch lights were unscrewed outside some of the victims' homes. All the victims lived alone, and one had more than $10,000 stolen.

Yoakum residents say the two victims there had predictable routines that made them easy targets.

"Nobody opens the door for nobody anymore," said Armiro Gomez, 57, who lives across the street from one of the Yoakum victims. "After midnight, people have no rights to be walking the streets anymore."

Just across the interstate in Luling, where the last attack occurred in November, a neighbor said it's no coincidence the victim was the only woman in his retirement village with a job.

A year into the case there is still no sketch of the suspect, only a vague description of a thin, young and dark-skinned man who is between 5 1/2- and 6-feet tall. Authorities wrongly arrested one man early in their investigation, and he has since sued over it.

DNA evidence
The assailant left behind DNA and other forensic evidence after some attacks, but authorities have not been able to link the DNA to anything in the state system, said Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Tom Vinger. In addition to the difficult task of investigating attacks that happened as far as 200 miles from each other, authorities have found that some victims don't have the best memories.

"The fact that he is targeting elderly woman at night does make it a little more difficult (to investigate)," Vinger said. "It's a traumatic situation for any age. It's even potentially more traumatic for the elderly."

Walker said a year since the first attack, the fear in Yoakum hasn't waned. Last week, volunteers took down Christmas decorations inside the Yoakum Heritage Museum.

It was the middle of the morning, but the doors were locked. Visitors were let in, one by one, and the door locked behind them.

"These are frail, elderly women. Tiny little things," Walker said. "You just can't imagine why anyone would want to take advantage of them."