NPR 2010-09-05

Palestinian Authorities continued a crackdown on militants 2 in the West Bank today following the shooting attacks on Israeli settlers this week. NPR's Deborah Amos reports from Jerusalem.

As many as 600 Palestinians have been arrested in the largest crackdown ever in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authorities. The militant 1 group Hamas killed four Israeli settlers, wounded two others, and this week in a news conference in Gaza announced that a new wave of attacks would follow. The killings 3 came as Palestinian and Israeli leaders met in Washington to open direct talks for the first time in years. While the Israeli Defence Forces controlled the area where the attacks took place, renewed violence could derail negotiations 4, and the Palestinians are under pressure to demonstrate they can enforce security in areas under their control in the West Bank, but Palestinian human rights groups have condemned 5 the mass arrests, many without warrants. Deborah Amos, NPR News, Jerusalem.

In the Gulf 6 of Mexico, BP crews are having to wait to hoist 7 the failed blowout preventer to the surface. The 300-ton piece of equipment has been raised to 500 feet below the surface, but it has combustible 8 ice-like crystals on it, so crews are waiting until they melt. Federal investigators 9 consider the blowout preventer a key piece of evidence. Meanwhile, a new blowout preventer has been installed atop BP’s busted 10 well.

A federal appeals court in Denver is throwing out a 900-million-dollar award to thousands of Colorado homeowners, who sued a nearby nuclear weapons plant. NPR's David Schaper reports the homeowners claimed plutonium from the plant contaminated their property.

Some 12,000 property owners downwind from the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plants northwestern Denver sued the Department of Energy, Dow Chemical and the former Rockwell International in the early 1990s, claiming plutonium particles emitted from the facility contaminated their homes and yards. In 2006 after a lengthy 11 legal battle in trail, a jury awarded the homeowners $926 million in damages, but a three-judge panel on the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that the jury reached its decision on faulty instructions that incorrectly stated the law. The judges say the presence of plutonium shows only a risk and not actual damages to residents’ health and properties. And the appeals court ruled that decreased property values cannot be counted as damages. David Schaper, NPR News.

The adult section of Craigslist is shut down for today at least. The classified ad website has made no announcement, but the section is marked as "censored 12". The move comes after 17 state attorneys generals said Craigslist does not adequately block ads that promote prostitution and child trafficking.

A state of emergency and curfew are in effect in Christchurch, New Zealand after a powerful earthquake early Saturday local time. It registerd a magnitude 7.1 and did massive damage.

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Thousands of Muslims in Indonesia are protesting plans by a Florida church to burn copies of the Koran. The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida plans to mark the anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks by burning Islam's holy book.

Britain's former Prime Minister Tony Blair tells the BBC radical 13 Islam is the world's biggest threat and calls it "regressive, wicked and backward-looking". The former British leader's on a book tour for his memoir 14, which is already a best seller after being released this week, but that popularity didn't extend to a Dublin bookstore. When Blair arrived this morning for a book signing, four protesters were arrested. Larry Miller 15 has more.

Despite a heavy police presence outside Eason's bookstore in downtown Dublin, around 200 antiwar protesters hurled 16 shoes and eggs at Blair. They chanted slogans including "Blair, Blair, Bush’s man, blood on their hands". The demonstrators were held back when they tried to push through a security barrier. There were scuffles with police, who were expecting a confrontation 17 and closed off streets to traffic. The demonstrators were, however, outnumbered by 300 customers, waiting to buy signed coppies of the book. They had to leave their bags and cellphones behind, and photographs were banned. Blair canceled a book tour of the UK to avoid similar protests. For NPR News, I’m Larry Miller in London.

Tropical Storm Earl has made landfall in Canada's Nova Scotia, leaving behind little of the damage that was feared along the US East Coast. Earl lost power last night as it passed through the waters of New England. Cape 18 Cod 19, which forecasters thought was in Earl's path when it was still a hurricane, saw heavy rain but suffered no major damage.