NPR 2010-12-16

The US government is suing BP as well as eight other companies and subsidiaries over the unprecedented 1 oil spill in the Gulf 2 of Mexico earlier this year. Attorney General Eric Holder 3 says the suit is just the first step in holding BP and others accountable for violating environmental laws.

"We intend to prove that these violations 4 caused or contributed to the massive oil spill, and that the defendants 5 are therefore responsible under the Oil Pollution Act for government removal costs, economic losses, as well as environmental damages."

The other defendants include Transocean and Anadarko Petroleum 6, but the lawsuit 7 did not mention Halliburton, which came under scrutiny 8 in recent months for the role it might have played in the spill. Halliburton did the cementing of the Macondo well, where April's explosion killed 11 workers.

The cold weather blanketing much of the United States is causing new problems in the Deep South. Brett Tannehill of member station WLRH reports the weather generated dangerous road conditions.

As light rain fell across Alabama this morning, it left behind a light glaze 9 of ice that coated roadways, caused numerous accidents and road closures. National Weather Service forecaster Tara Golden says there isn't enough ice to bring down trees, but it's still been a big problem.

"Basically, we just want what people know that if you don't have to be out on the roadway, please don't get out there."

The weather system comes on the heels of unseasonably cold temperatures that grip the South. Some areas have not warned about freezing this week. Conditions should improve as warmer air moves in and the sleet 10 turns to rain. The cold weather has caused more than two dozen deaths across the US over the past couple of days. For NPR News, I'm Brett Tannehill in Huntsville, Alabama.

Legislation to extend all Bush-era tax cuts by two years has the Senate's endorsement 11. Lawmakers voted 81-19 to pass the measure. It heads next to the US House.

Well, that's under way. NPR's David Welna tells us the Senate will turn its attention to a long list of unfinished business the Democrats 12 want to take up in the dwindling 13 days of the lame-duck session.

Before leaving, Senate Majority Leader Harry 14 Reid wants to take up and ratify 15 the so-called New START nuclear arms treaty with Russia, pass a repeal 16 of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", the policy that bans gays from serving openly in the military, and approve a 1,900-page omnibus spending bill.

"Christmas is a week from Saturday. I understand that. But I hope the Republicans understand it also, because we are going to complete our work, no matter how long it takes, in this Congress."

But Senate Republican leaders insist that Congress only needs to do two things before adjourning 17: extend all the expiring Bush-era tax cuts and pass a measure to keep the government running until early next year. David Welna, NPR News, the Capitol.

Dow's down 20 points. This is NPR.

Europe's leading human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, charges the Kosovo Liberation Army killed Serbs and other minority civilians 18 to harvest their organs and sell them illegally. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports it identified Kosovo's US-backed prime minister as the leader of a crime gang that operated the racket.

Dick Marty, a Swiss senator, headed a team of investigators 19 in Kosovo and Albania for two years. His report sheds new light on the KLA, which with US-backing spearheaded Kosovo's independence from Serbia. Marty found detention 20 facilities where captive Serbs and KLA opponents were allegedly killed before being operated on to remove their organs. Tha?i's government brands the report slanderous 21. It comes as a Kosovo court opened a trial on organ harvesting. A European Union prosecutor 22 said the seven defendants including a former Kosovo Health Ministry 23 official offered poor people from Moldova, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey up to $20,000. The money was never paid. While recipients 24 from Canada, Germany, Poland and Israel allegedly paid up to $137,000 for the organs. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News.

Wikileaks founder 25 Julian Assange is staying behind bars for at least another day. Tomorrow, a British court will hear Sweden's legal challenge to a judge's ruling to grant Assange bail 26. Sweden wants Assange extradited for questioning in a sex crimes investigation 27. The 39-year-old Australian denies he did anything wrong. The scandal surfaced after Wikileaks published huge amounts of secret war and diplomatic documents without US authorization 28. The issue raised new questions in weighing national security against the public's right to know.