NPR 2011-04-05

Confronted with significant political opposition 1, the Obama administration plans to refer Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-declared 9/11 mastermind, to a military tribunal at Guantanamo rather than a civilian 2 court in New York. Attorney General Eric Holder 3 says the country can no longer afford to delay the process. But Holder says he still thinks the best course of action would have been to put Mohammed and his four alleged 4 co-conspirators on trial in New York.

"After consulting with prosecutors 5 from both the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense 6 and after thoroughly 7 studying the case, it became clear to me that the best venue 8 for prosecution 9 was in federal court. Let me be clear: I stand by that decision today."

Congress had passed legislation banning any Guantanamo detainees from being transferred to the United States.

In Yemen, a key US counterterrorism ally, anti-government clashes with troops have led to at least 12 deaths. Security forces opened fire today on a crowd in the southern city of Taizz. A reporter for the BBC who is unidentified for security reasons here says local officials deny there were deaths, but witnesses described a far different scene.

One doctor in the city's main hospital told the BBC the injured were brought in with gunshot wounds in their neck and head, and that many had been deliberately 10 shot. A young protester in the city of Hodeidah said he saw snipers shooting at demonstrators from the roofs. People in the capital are furious and vow 11 to escalate 12 their anti-government protests.

The latest account from the BBC out of Yemen's capital.

The United Nations confirms a plane carrying UN staff has crashed in Congo today, killing 13 at least 20 people. The UN mission spokesman says Congolese and foreign nationals were on the aircraft as it attempted to land at the airport serving the capital Kinshasa.

President Obama is asking congressional leaders to the White House tomorrow to talk about the budget. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports that the government will shut down if the parties don't reach a deal by Friday.

A team of White House officials has been meeting on Capitol Hill for weeks. But so far, they've been unable to bring Republican and Democratic lawmakers to a deal. Now, President Obama is getting more personally involved. White House spokesman Jay Carney says the president remains 14 confident that the government will keep running.

"The shutdown is not something we want. Leaders of Congress have said it's not something they want. We believe that it's bad for a number of reasons, but most importantly because it would send the wrong signal about the economy and would have a negative impact on potential job growth in the future."

It's unclear whether Republican leaders can even speak for their entire side of the aisle 15. Some budget hawks 16 in Congress are insisting on deeper cuts than those the leadership might be willing to agree to. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, the White House.

Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow was up 23 at 12,401; NASDAQ down slightly at 2,789.

From Washington, this is NPR News.

President Obama is formally in the race for re-election. Today, he urged supporters via email, text and video to mobilize right away.

Italy is now recognizing the Libyan opposition council as the only legitimate 17 voice in the North African nation. Foreign Minister Franco Frattini says any solution to the civil war in Libya would first require Colonel Muammar Qaddafi to step down and go into exile with his family. Italy joins France and Qatar to give diplomatic recognition to Libya's opposition council.

The University of Connecticut Hustkies face the upstart Butler Bulldogs in a David and Goliath matchup for the NCAA men's basketball championship tonight in Houston. NPR's Mike Pesca says UConn will try for its third NCAA title, and Butler is in the championship game for the second straight year.

No one is sure of the etymology 18 of the label "mid-major" to describe schools from outside the traditional power conferences. But if Butler wins the championship tonight, everyone will know they are the exemplar of term. The 34-year-old coach Brad Stevens will be the second youngest to win a title and the only man ever to take a school with such a relative lack of resources to the pinnacle 19 of college basketball. Already a Hall of Famer, 68-year-old Jim Calhoun, has won two national titles. The list of men who won three or more is small and storied: Wooden, Rupp, Krzyzewski, Knight 20. Calhoun knows that guard Kemba Walker is the key to his offense 21. Stevens knows that nothing is more important than stopping Walker. History hangs in the balance. Mike Peska, NPR News, Houston.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.