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Bachmann Launches Campaign; Flood Waters Recede In Minot

Floodwater nearly covers a stop sign in Burlington, North Dakota. The Souris River, which runs through Burlington and nearby Minot, crested early this morning after flooding more than 4,000 homes in the two communities.
Scott Olson
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Floodwater nearly covers a stop sign in Burlington, North Dakota. The Souris River, which runs through Burlington and nearby Minot, crested early this morning after flooding more than 4,000 homes in the two communities.

Good Morning.

Here are few of the stories making some noise this morning and that we'll be following throughout the day:

-- Michele Bachmann Set To Make It Official: Bachman will enter the 2012 presidential race, later today in Waterloo, Iowa. And, The Washington Post reports, she's the Iowa frontrunner:

The new Des Moines Register poll, which was released late Saturday night, tells the story.

Bachmann is in a statistical dead heat with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney — she takes 22 percent to his 23 percent. Businessman Herman Cain is the only other candidate to receive double-digit support (10 percent.)

-- Flood Waters In Minot Recede: Praire Public Broadcasting's Dave Thompson reports that the Souris River has crested in Minot, N.D. That news, however, will bring little immediate relief:

The Army Corps of Engineers say it could be two weeks before the Souris drops to a level below Minot's permanent levees. And city officials are concerned about what the high water will do to the temporary dikes.

"You've got the deterioration on the dikes. If you see how fast the water is moving – it's scary. And so we're concerned that we can hold it," said Minot mayor Curt Zimbelman.

-- LulzSec Quits:The group of hacker activists that call themselves LulzSec announced on Twitter that they had disbanded. The announcement comes days after the group released stolen documents that included law enforcement ones from Arizona and a few they said were FBI documents. Last week, British police also said they arrested one of their leaders. The New York Times said the group disbanded after increasing law enforcement pressure, and reports experts don't fully believe the announcement:

Indeed, in its farewell message posted on Saturday, the group, also known as LulzSec, urged other hackers to join the "revolution" aimed at governments and corporations that it started recently with Anonymous, a much larger collective of politically minded hackers from which many of the LulzSec members sprung.

"It looks like these sort of 'hacktivist' ideas are spreading and gaining popularity," said Dino A. Dai Zovi, a prominent independent security consultant. He said that LulzSec appeared to be trying to inspire others to join a sprawling, if fragmented, array of local groups, which could feed more attacks.

-- ICC To Rule On Gadhafi:"The International Criminal Court is due to decide whether to issue arrest warrants for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and two of his confidants for crimes against humanity committed against opponents of his regime.

"A three-judge panel in The Hague, where the Court is based, is expected to announce its decision at 1pm local time (1100 GMT) on Monday." ( Al Jazeera)

-- President To Meet With Congressional Leaders: Looking to come to some agreement on raising the debt ceiling and a budget, President Obama will meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in the morning and Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, in the afternoon.

-- Khmer Rouge Leaders On Trial:"The top four surviving members of the brutal Khmer Rouge went on trial Monday before a tribunal aimed at finding justice for the estimated 1.7 million people who died in Cambodia's "killing fields" of the 1970s." ( Associated Press)

-- New Mexico Wildwire: "Federal forest officials say a wind-driven wildfire has forced the evacuations of about 100 people in northern New Mexico and the closure of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

"U.S. Forest Service officials said early Monday that the fire has burned at least six square miles and is threatening buildings, power lines and natural gas lines." ( AP)

-- Hugo Chavez Still Silent:The Venezuelan people still haven't heard from their President Hugo Chavez. As we reported Chavez, who travelled to Cuba to treat a "pelvic abscess," hasn't made a public appearance since June 4. NPR's Juan Forero says the opposition is saying if Chavez can't rule, he should transfer power to this vice president. Chavez's party, however, says the president is still issuing orders from Cuba.

-- Another Bomb In Nigeria: NPR's Ofeiba Quist-Arcton reports: "Yet another bomb attack last night on a beer bar in the Northeastern city of Maiduguri. It's the second in two weeks. Police are blaming militant sect, Boko Haram. The group claimed responsibility for the bomb attack on police headquarters in the capital of Abuja, earlier this month."

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta
Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.