NPR 2008-09-13

Hurricane Ike is continuing to move northwest through the Gulf 1 of Mexico. But already winds are picking up with the storm's outer bands pushing waves over Galveston's 17-foot-high seawall even though the storm is more than 100 miles out at sea. In addition to threatening to obliterate 2 some smaller seaside towns, Ike is threatening skyscrapers 3, refineries 4 and docks of the nation's fourth largest city Houston. Officials have ordered upwards 5 of a million coastal 6 residents to evacuate 7, though it was clear late today that many had apparently 8 refused to do so. That's despite a warning from the National Weather Service those who stay behind "may face certain death." Officials expect Ike to crash ashore 9 in the overnight hours. Some 600 miles wide, the storm is taking up almost the entire northern half of the Gulf of Mexico.

People fleeing Ike continued to arrive in Austin, Texas today. Meteorologists say the storm surge could reach up to 22 feet high. From member station KUT in Austin, Crystal Chavez tells us the city has opened 13 shelters.

Most were opened last night after a flood of people came in from the Galveston area. As of 8 o'clock this morning, the Red Cross of Central Texas reports there are currently about 2,500 people staying in Austin. Many of those people arrived on buses from Galveston. People with special needs and who may have disabilities are staying at Austin's Convention Center. Melissa Gray with the Red Cross of Central Texas says people can bring their pets. "We do have some pet-friendly shelters, and so there are areas where they are able to, um, where pet and people are able to, um, stay in the same evacuation center. It's not the same area, but on the same facility, at the same facility, on the same site." Austin is expecting more evacuees 10 today. Central Texas is prepared to open 62 more shelters if needed and can house up to 25,000 evacuees. From NPR News, I'm Crystal Chavez in Austin.

Following reports US Special Operations Forces launched a raid inside Pakistan last week, NPR has learned the helicopter-borne assault was not an isolated 11 incident. Sources confirm President Bush has approved a three-phase plan for attacks in Pakistan. NPR's JJ Sunderland has the story.

The gloves have come off, a source told NPR. Last week, a raid by a Navy SEAL team miles inside of Pakistan was just phase one of a three-phase plan the president approved this summer. The intelligence community already had approval to carry out strikes inside of Pakistan, a key US ally. The new plan, though, gives the military authority to operate inside of Pakistan with special forces. A second source says that lawmakers were briefed on the plan earlier this week, and that CIA personnel from around the world have been sent to the area near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border—a surge of sorts aimed at going after Osama bin 12 Laden 13 and other al-Qaeda figures. Both sources say that people in the intelligence community and on Capitol Hill are raising questions about the political intent of the new plan and wonder why this kind of effort wasn't done earlier. JJ Sutherland, NPR News.

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Officials in Baghdad now say at least 30 people have been killed in a car bomb explosion outside a police station in a mainly Shiite town north of the city. According to a police official, a car laden with explosives blew up near a police station in a commercial area in the town of Dujail. A nearby medical clinic was also reportedly damaged in the blast. Officials say in addition to the dead, more than 40 people were injured in the explosion. The attack was one of the deadliest in months and occurred just before dusk when many people were on the streets after breaking their daily fast during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

In an opinion issued today, Virginia Supreme 14 Court declared the state's anti-spam law unconstitutional. The Virginia Supreme Court decision reverses the conviction of a man portrayed 15 as one of the world's most prolific 16 spammers. More from Rick Mattioni of member station WVTF in Roanoke.

Four years ago, Jeremy Jaynes became the first person in the US to be convicted for sending unsolicited bulk email and was sentenced to serve nine years in prison. Authorities said as many as 10 million email messages were sent from his home each day. In its unanimous opinion, the State Supreme Court ruled Virginia's anti-spam law violates the free speech protections provided by the First Amendment 17. The court found that the law was overbroad in that it prohibits anonymous 18 transmission of all unsolicited bulk email. That would include religious, political and other constitutionally protected speech. Jaynes sent bulk emails advertising 19 various products including those that promise to aid individuals in selecting stocks and software that erases 20 computer Internet searches. For NPR News, I'm Rick Mattioni in Roanoke, Virginia.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 12 points.