Good evening! I am Urmila Nair and here are the week’s top news stories.

In local News

Connecticut had a painful morning yesterday, with an explosion at the Kleen Energy plant killed at least two and injuring nearly a hundred. The gas-based energy plant went up in flames as a gas line exploded shortly before noon. The Middletown Press reported that there were plenty of first responders, and that this minimized the casualties.

“I was seeing a helicopter flying above, a steady stream of emergency response vehicles, search dogs (Chief) Santostefano said that there was about a hundred fire-fighters on the scene.”

Deputy Fire Chief Al Santostefano says a massive search an rescue operation in under way.

Meanwhile Middletown’s Middlesex Hospital has been dealing with the emergencies, and declared the number of injured workers was under 100, unlike initial estimates.

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Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick on Tuesday signed an executive order to help state workers with ties to Haiti. According to the order, workers in Massachusetts can now donate vacation days and personal leave to co-workers with family in or from Haiti, which has been the focus of humanitarian activity since it was devastated by a 7.0 earthquake last month. Patrick also said emergency officials in the Bay State are in daily contact with rescue and recovery groups in the Caribbean nation.

In National News

President Obama on Monday presented the 2011 Budget to the Congress, saying that it was a step towards rebuilding the economy on a new, stronger foundation. In particular, he noted that small businesses are a central component to that foundation.

“Last year the steps we took supported over 47 thousand loans to small businesses and delivered billions in tax relief to small-business owners, which helped companies keep their doors open, make payroll and hire workers.”

While this explained the focus of the budget, there was disapproval to the huge deficit – at 1.56 trillion dollars, this would be a record budget deficit for the United States.

“Small business owners and investors tell me every week – ‘We’re not taking the risk to start or expand a business in this climate.’ We cannot continue on this reckless path, and the American people know it.”

At the same time, however, the budget proposed a major reduction in budget deficit over the next ten years. The debate continues.

And finally in International News

Iran is backing down on its nuclear program. President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad said on Monday that his country is willing to send its uranium abroad for enrichment. This is a major deviation from his long-term opposition of the Western proposal. Western countries worry Iran wants the uranium for nuclear weapons, and hope that enriching it abroad will cut down that threat. Iran still denies the weapon charges.

However, even on Saturday Secretary for Defense Robert Gates said he didn’t see a clear agreement reached.

“Based on the information I have I don’t have the sense we’re close to an agreement.”

Officials said they wouldn’t be satisfied about the safety of the nuclear program until Iran met the conditions laid down in their proposal last April.

And that is the week that was, with Urmila Nair for WBRU News.

The BRU Brief airs weekly on 95.5 FM, recapping the week’s top local, national, and international stories, and taking a closer look at the issues of the day in Southern New England. Tune in on Monday nights at 11:00, or stream live at news.wbru.com.