NPR 2010-10-07

A federal judge says prosecutors 1 cannot use a critical witness in a terrorist trial because of harsh CIA interrogation tactics. NPR’s Carrie Johnson reports today’s ruling by Judge Lewis Kaplan delays the first civilian 2 trial of a Guantanamo detainee.

Judge Kaplan rejected the government’s attempt to use a witness it had only learned about after a harsh CIA questioning of a Gitmo detainee. The detainee, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, was sent to New York last year to face trial on charges that he played a role in the East Africa embassy bombings that killed more than 200 people in 1998. Lawyers and human rights groups are following the case for what it says about efforts to prosecute 3 other men at Guantanamo. Attorney General Eric Holder 4 says the government is reviewing the ruling.

“Article III courts are fully 5 capable of handling these matters.”

Holder says it won’t hurt broader efforts to bring terrorists to trial in civilian courts. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.

More attacks on NATO convoys 6 today. An unidentified gunman set fire to about two dozen trucks that were headed from Pakistan to NATO troops in Afghanistan, the latest in a series of strikes in the last week against forces hunting down members of the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

An American soldier in Afghanistan who helped save his comrades by drawing insurgent 7 fire on himself received the nation’s highest military tribute two years after his death. At a White House ceremony today, President Obama presented Sergeant 8 Robert Miller 9’s family with the Medal of Honor.

“Devotion to duty. An abiding 10 sense of honor. A profound love of country. These were the virtues 11 that found their ultimate expression when Rob, just 24 years old and on his second tour, met his testing point on January 25th, 2008.”

Sergeant Robert Miller receiving the Medal of Honor two years after his death.

A report by the federal commission investigating the BP oil spill is highly critical of the Obama administration’s response to the spill. More from NPR’s Ari Shapiro.

Four weeks after the oil rig exploded and sank, the White House said around 5,000 barrels a day were coming out of the well. When independent scientists gave much higher estimates, the White House pushed back hard, even though the higher estimates later turned out to be more accurate. Now, this draft report by the commission investigating the spill says the White House refused to make internal higher estimates public. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric 12 Administration wanted to release worst-case figures, but the White House budget office said 'no'. The White House has always said that flow estimates had no impact on the government’s cleanup operations. But this report says by failing to disclose the higher estimates, the government lost credibility and public trust. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.

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The Supreme 13 Court is considering a lawsuit 14 filed by a fallen service member’s father. Albert Snyder is outraged 15 that a fundamentalist church chose to stage one of its antigay protests at his son’s funeral, calling it a gross invasion of his family’s privacy. But Westboro Baptist Church defends its First Amendment 16 right. Various conservative, liberal and media organizations including NPR have come out on the side of free speech, though they oppose the church’s methods.

A big international lending agency predicts that the global economy will grow this year. As NPR’s Paul Brown reports, the International Monetary 17 Fund believes strength in China and other emerging economies will offset 18 weakness in Europe and the US.

The new IMF forecasts just for world economic growth are 4.8 percent this year. That would follow last year’s contraction 19, the worst since World War II. But the IMF says US and European economies are growing so slowly that Asian economies will contribute much of the expansion. That poses a balancing act. In particular, the IMF says countries with big trade surpluses like China need to increase demand at home as they cut dependence 20 on exports. And it says countries including the US with big trade deficits 21 need to boost their exports. Paul Brown, NPR News, Washington.

US localities are collecting less revenue from property taxes than any other time in the last 25 years, reflecting the sharp drop in home prices across the country. The National League of Cities reports tax revenue fell 1.8 percent in fiscal 22 year 2010.

Last check, the Dow was up 23 at 10,967.