NPR 2008-06-13

President Bush in Rome, midway through a European trip, says he disagrees with the Supreme 1 Court ruling that says detainees at Guantanamo Bay have the right to use US courts to challenge their detention 2. NPR’s Don Gonyea reports.

 President Bush was meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi when the Supreme Court issued its 5-4 ruling which overturns Bush administration policy. The president was asked about it at a news conference in Rome. “First of all, it’s a Supreme Court decision. We’ll abide 3 by the court’s decision. That doesn’t mean I have to agree with it.” President Bush maintains the now-rejected law had been written carefully to protect Americans from terrorists. He said he may go back to Congress to pursue legislation that would address the court’s concerns and give the government the authority, he says, “it needs”. That would be much more difficult this time around with the president’s public approval ratings persistently 4 at or near an all-time low, and with Congress now controlled by Democrats 5. Don Gonyea, NPR News, Rome. Justice Department today, meanwhile, said US military commission trials of inmates 6 will continue despite the ruling. Justice contends the ruling involves the status of detainees, and not the trials themselves.

 More than a dozen Boy Scouts 8 are still in the hospital, following a tornado 9 touchdown at a remote Iowa camp that left four scouts dead. Official say the four were killed when the twister bore down on them, giving them little time to escape. Ninety-three boys and twenty-five staff members were attending a week-long leadership training session at the Little Sioux Scout 7 Ranch 10.

 As many as 21 tornadoes 11 touched down in Kansas last night. One of them was a half mile wide and tore through the small town of Chapman. More from Kansas Public Radio’s J. Schafer.

 Eighty percent of Chapman was damaged or destroyed and the town’s 1,300 residents were evacuated 12 to nearby towns. Sharon Watson is with the state Adjutant General’s Department. “We had tornado that touched down in several areas. And unfortunately, it resulted in two fatalities 13.” A tornado also ripped through Manhattan, causing 20 million dollars in damage to buildings at Kansas State University. The school’s wind erosion laboratory was blown away. And the building housing the school’s nuclear reactor 14 was hit, but the reactor itself was not damaged. For NPR News, I’m J. Schafer, in Lawrence, Kansas.

 After failing to ram 15 through a measure to extend jobless benefits for an additional 13 weeks yesterday, House lawmakers were able to get the bill passed today. Lawmakers approved the bill on a vote of 274 to 137. New York Democratic Congressman 16 Michael Arcuri says the extra money will make a big difference for people who’ve lost their jobs. “Unemployment insurance can mean the difference between saving a home and failing to make a mortgage payment. It can mean the difference between purchasing needed medications and going without. And it can mean the difference between filling up the car to go out and look for another job and having to stay home.” However, the plan faces slim odds 17 in the Senate and a veto threat from the White House.

 On Wall Street, the Dow was up 57 points. This is NPR.

 Two top executives at investment bank Lehman Brothers have been shown the door. Chief Financial Officer Erin Callan and Chief Operating Officer Joseph Gregory were both removed from their post as the bank seeks to restore investor 18 confidence and recover from a big decline in its share price this week. The firings followed word that Lehman, the nation’s fourth largest investment bank, lost upwards 19 of three billion dollars during its latest quarter. On Monday, the bank announced plans to seek six billion in fresh capital to offset 20 the losses.

 In Colombia, the Supreme Court ruled the head of the secret police accused of collaborating 21 with death squads 22 should be freed on procedural grounds. NPR’s Juan Forero reports from Bogotá.

 Jorge Noguera was head of Colombia’s intelligence service and close to President Álvaro Uribe. Prosecutors 23 said that he also worked closely with right-wing paramilitary groups to target trade union activists 24 and other lefties. Noguera could be freed as early as this afternoon. The court said the attorney general’s office had made errors as it investigated Noguera who had been in jail 11 months. The revelations come as prosecutors investigate ties between more than 60 members of Congress and paramilitaries, most of the lawmakers close allies of President Uribe. Prosecutors said they would continue to mount a case against Noguera and arrest him again. Juan Forero, NPR News, Bogotá.

 Officials in Brazil say two heavily armed men stole two engravings by artist Pablo Picasso from a Sao Paulo art museum. The thieves also reportedly got away with two oil paintings by two well-known Brazilian artists. Museum spokeswoman would only say the art works were taken this morning. She did not immediately say which pieces were stollen from the museum.