Thursday: Evidence Points to Taliban Role; Containment Box Arrives in Gulf

Evidence being gathered by investigators increasingly suggests that Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in the Times Square bomb plot, held ties to the Pakistani Taliban, according to reports out Thursday.

Investigators have also discovered that in the days before Saturday’s failed bombing, Shahzad, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, performed a dry run of the attack.

Despite initial doubts, investigators now believe the group may have “helped inspire and train Mr. Shahzad in the months before he is alleged to have parked an explosives-filled sport utility vehicle in a busy Manhattan intersection,” reports the New York Times. “Officials said Mr. Shahzad had discussed his contacts with the group, and investigators had accumulated other evidence that they would not disclose.”

With more signs pointing to a Pakistani connection, the Obama administration is preparing to deliver to Pakistan “a detailed request for urgent and specific assistance on the case,” reports the Washington Post.

“The question of which group, if any, was involved is an important one for the future of the uneasy counterterrorism alliance,” says the Post, because “Pakistan might be more reluctant to take action against other groups, particularly those focused on separating the disputed region of Kashmir from India.”

Containment Box Arrives in Gulf

A specially built containment box has arrived in the Gulf of Mexico and will be lowered to the seafloor Thursday as a stopgap to one of three underwater leaks gushing oil at a rate of 200,000 gallons per day. The 100-ton structure, made of steel and concrete, is designed to funnel oil through some 5,000 feet of pipe to a tanker waiting on the water’s surface.

The U.S. Coast Guard has confirmed that oil from the Deepwater Horizon accident has washed ashore on the Chandeleur Islands off the Mississippi Coast.

Oil reaching the shore is just one concern among environmentalists. Another, as oceanographer Sylvia Earle told the NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff on Wednesday, is the impact of chemical dispersant being used to break up the oil. As Earle explained:

“A lot of people are focusing on the effects when the oil does eventually come ashore. But the real problem is for the ocean itself and the life that is out there. And the dispersants, in a sense, compound that problem. They may help apparently get rid of the oil, but it really breaks it up into smaller pieces and adds additional toxins to the system.”

Jobless Claims Fall for 3rd Straight Week

In an encouraging sign ahead of Fridays report on the nation’s unemployment rate, the number of Americans who filed for jobless benefits last week dropped for a third consecutive week. Initial jobless claims fell by 7,000 to 444,000, the lowest level in a month.

Britons Head to the Polls

Voting is underway across Britain in the three-way race to determine who will be the nation’s next prime minister. Polls show David Cameron, leader of the opposition Conservative party, with a slight lead over Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the Labor Party and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats. With an estimated 4 million voters undecided as of early this week, the final outcomes is still anyone’s guess. As the NewsHour’s Simon Marks reported Wednesday night:

“There is no guarantee that the country will end up with someone fresh when the votes are counted in the early hours of Friday morning. Political analysts say the polls indicate virtually any result is possible: an outright victory by one of the major parties, or a lengthy period of horse-trading that leads to an era of coalition government for the first time since 1974.”

The BBC, the Times and the Guardian are all live blogging Thursday’s election.

Nigeria Swears In New President

Acting president Goodluck Jonathan officially became Nigeria’s new leader Thursday following the death of Umaru Yar’Adua from a long-term illness on Tuesday night. Yar’Adua was 58.

Jonathan, who was the African nation’s vice president, had been serving as its leader since February, three months after Yar’Adua left for Saudi Arabia to be treated for an inflammation of the lining around the heart. It is not clear if Jonathan will run for president in 2011.

In the time Yar’Adua was in office, he helped broker a cease-fire in 2008 with rebels in the oil-rich Niger River Delta. Since then, the main rebel group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, said it was resuming hostilities. Nigeria also is struggling with the effects of a financial crisis in 2008 and 2009 due in part to plummeting oil prices.