kyrgyzstan is home to a major u.s. air base at manas in the north, critical to refueling ongoing operations in afghanistan. the kyrgyz government appealed to russia to send in troops but moscow has so far demurred. for now, u.n. official officials in the capital bishkek say the situation in osh is somewhat calmer but still fragile. >> in general there is a lot of tension and it is still quite volatile. humanitarian aid is coming there, but it is quite difficult to deliver the aid in a proper way to the people who are suffering. >> warner: but there are also some hopeful signs. residents of jalalabad 25 miles north of osh held a peace and reconciliation ceremony today. >> warner: for more on all of this we turn to fiona hill, a senior fellow at the brookings institution. from 2006 to 2009, she served as national intelligence officer for russia and eurasia, at the national intelligence council. and simon schorno, the u.s. spokesman for the international committee for the red cross, which is one of the few international h

kyrgyzstan is home to the u.s. air transit base at manas, critical to ongoing operations in afghanistan. state department spokesman p.j. crowley spoke in washington. >> we have done our own checking, and report no american injuries or casualties at this point. we are obviously staying on top of that situation. meanwhile, we do continue to talk to the kyrgyz government about the transit center at manas. >> sreenivasan: there was no immediate word on what started the trouble today. but there are long-standing tensions between the kyrgyz and uzbeks. nato forces in afghanistan lost three more troops today, two of them americans. so far this month, 33 members of the international force have died. 23 of those have been u.s. troops. in brussels, belgium, u.s. defense secretary robert gates said the nato allies are "recapturing the initiative". but he also cautioned, "the road ahead will be long and hard." and in iraq, a suicide car bomber killed two american troops and at least three iraqis, and wounded 22 others. the att

. >> is said that you discuss the situation in kyrgyzstan. [unintelligible] be considered the opportunity to involve a military contingent. we have discussed this situation which is difficult at present. the state is not operating as it should. the country is split into parts, and civil unrest and clashes continued. on ethnic grounds, many people have perished and the authorities have been incapable of preventing what has happened. we are interested, but both russia and the states, and in the state's ability to be able to resolve such issues and looked at all the civil rights observed, and the task of ensuring food supplies and basic materials facilities are insured. russia is working with the temporary caretaker leadership of kyrgyzstan. we consider kyrgyzstan to be a strategic partner. them both in terms of money and humanitarian aid. we hope that during the election process, a full-fledged government will be shaped, able to solve and resolve issues that face the state. otherwise, kyrgyzstan will degrade and will break up into parts. all of

and russia have major air bases in kyrgyzstan, and both watched the election closely. gunmen in mexico today assassinated a front-running candidate for governor, rodolfo torre, and four aides. officials immediately blamed drug gangs as tv images showed the bodies of the victims. torre had been favored to win sunday's election in the border state of tamaulipas. president felipe calderon condemned the murders. he said drug lords are trying to interfere in mexico's political process. former vice president dick cheney was released from a washington hospital today. he was admitted friday for a buildup of fluid related to his longstanding heart disease. cheney is 69 years old. he has had five heart attacks over the years. his most recent was last february. on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average lost 5 points to close at 10,138. the nasdaq fell more than two points to close at 2220. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to gwen. >> ifill: now, day one of the elena kagan confirmation hearings for the u.s. supreme court. congressional corresponden

and officials in the central asian nation of kyrgyzstan reported at least 138 people dead and 1,800 hurt in ethnic violence since last week. the newshour is always online. hari sreenivasan, in our newsroom, previews what's there. hari? >> sreenivasan: another soccer story: this one is about north korea as it readies for its first world cup match in 44 years. "art beat" talks to a british filmmaker who was granted rare access to make a movie about north korea's successful 1966 team. find more of jeff's interview with actor laurence fishburne of "thurgood." and on the oil spill, special coverage of the president's oval office address tomorrow, on air and online. we'll stream the president's remarks live and ask experts to react. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. judy? >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. >> suarez: and i'm ray suarez. we'll see you online, and again here tomorrow evening. thank you, and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations