NPR 2010-11-09

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

A radical 1 Sunni Muslim cleric born in the US is urging religious scholars to promote holy war against American and Israeli interests in the Middle East. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is in Cairo and reports the cleric also accuses Iran of trying to exert control over Arabs in the region.

The plea by Anwar al-Awlaki appeared in a 23-minute video posted on Monday on Islamic websites. He called on Muslim clerics to do more to encourage attacks on foreign forces in Muslim countries. He also warns Sunni Arabs in the Gulf 2 region to resist the spread of Shiite-run Iran's influence. Awlaki is linked to al-Qaeda, although his role with the group is unclear. He is wanted dead or alive by the United States and Yemen. He's also been tried in absentia in Yemen for plotting attacks on foreigners. Officials believe the video was made before the failed plot to mail bombs to the United States. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, Cairo.

A Connecticut man convicted in the 2007 deaths of a woman and her two daughters is getting the death penalty. A jury decided 3 today Steven Hayes should be executed. But Dr. William Petit, husband and father of the victims, says he cried over the verdict.

"I was very much insulted, when people asked me last year that if the death penalty were rendered would that somehow give me closure. Absolutely not. You know, this is not about revenge. You know, vengeance 4 belongs to the Lord. This is about justice."Authorities say Hayes and a codefendant who will be tried next year broke into Petit's home and beat him. They are accused of sexually assaulting and killing 5 Petit's wife, and prosecutors 6 say the defendants 7 also killed the couple's 11 and 17-year-old daughters, who were tied to their beds and doused 8 in gasoline before the men set the house on fire.

A new study sheds light on what happened to much of the oil that spilled into the Gulf of Mexico this summer. NPR's Debbie Elliott reports it was eaten up by oil-munching bacteria.

Senior scientist Monty Graham at Alabama's Dauphin Island Sea Lab tracked how oil carbon moved through microscopic 9 sea life in the northern Gulf in the wake of the BP oil spill. He says it worked quickly through the ecosystem 10.

"A large fraction of the oil actually probably became food for bacteria and then, then the bacteria in turn got work up through the food web in the Gulf of Mexico."Graham says there's no evidence that toxic 11 elements of the oil have contaminated the food chain. His findings were published in Environmental Research Letters. Debbie Elliott, NPR News.

By the way, a presidentially-appointed commission mostly agrees with BP's own findings about its role in the disaster. In conclusions released today, the commission's chief counsel says the panel could not identify any case when an individual chose dollars over safety.

The Dow's down more than 40 at 11,403.

This is NPR.

Coral reefs are among the world's most endangered ecosystems 12. Almost 20% have disappeared as a result of disease, overfishing and other factors. New research finds that the reefs are struggling to reproduce and recover, as KQED's Amy Standen tells us.

Coral reefs look like they are made of rock or sand, but they are actually formed by tiny sea creatures whose skeletons form the scaffolding of a vast ocean ecosystem. But the ocean is changing, becoming more acidic as it absorbs carbon dioxide emitted by cars and power plants and other sources. And says Rebecca Albright, a Ph.D candidate at the University of Miami.

"The more acidic the oceans become, the more difficult it is for corals to successfully reproduce."Albright says these problems are exacerbating 13 the challenges that coral already faced.

"If you are losing something at an unprecedented 14 rate, you need to be replacing what you are losing at an equal rate, or else you have a net loss."The key, she says, will be finding ways to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. For NPR News, I'm Amy Standen.

Thailand says it has regained 15 control of its borders with Myanmar after witnessing largest one-day influx 16 of refugees in several years. Authorities say thousands of people fled Myanmar after a widely disputed parliamentary election that appeared to lean heavily in the military regime's favor. At least ten people were hurt in clashes along the border. President Obama, who's traveling through Asia, accuses Myanmar's rulers of stealing the election. He also called on the regime to free democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who's been in detention 17 for years. Her house arrest term expired Saturday.