NPR 2008-11-19

Washington attorney Eric Holder 1 will be nominated by President-elect Barack Obama as his choice for Attorney General according to a source close to the transition team. The team has yet to comment publicly. Holder, a former US attorney, also served as the No. 2 official in the Justice Department under President Bill Clinton. Well, that association with the former president could prove to be problematic since Holder helped better presidential pardon for financier Marc Rich that came under intense criticism. If approved, he would become the nation's first black attorney general. Eric Holder is 57 years old and a graduate of Columbia Law School.

Treasury 3 Secretary Henry Paulson clashed with Democrats 5 on Capitol Hill today, who wanted him to use bailout money to slow the pace of home foreclosures. NPR's Jeff Brady has more.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said language in the legislation creating the 700-billion-dollar bailout of the financial industry talks specifically about using the money to reduce home foreclosures. But the Bush administration has been reluctant to do that, instead focusing on investing in banks, hoping that will give them enough financial security to resume lending. Paulson also rejected  Democrat 4's suggestion the bailout money should be used to help the US auto 6 industry. Jeff Brady, NPR News, Washington.

Alaska Senator Ted 2 Stevens has fallen further behind opponent Democrat Mark Begich in his reelection bid. Stevens is the longest serving Republican in the history of the Senate. He now trails his rival by 2, 374 votes during an ongoing 7 count of 24, 000 absentee and other ballots 8. Stevens is seeking a 7th term in office despite being convicted last month of felony charges of failing (to) report more than 250, 000 dollars in home improvements and other gifts from the head of a former oil services company.

US Intelligence analysts 9 are predicting the Middle East will regain 10 an unstable 11 region at least for the next 15 or 20 years with a restive 12 population and ongoing conflicts over natural resources. The grim scenario 13 is outlined in a new report by the National Intelligence Council. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports.

The predictions come in an estimate of how the world may appear in the year 2025. The report won't be released until later this week, but the head of the National Intelligence Council Thomas Fingar previewed the Middle East section. "We see the Middle East as at the center of an arc of instability. Almost every problem that will challenge political leadership anywhere on the globe is to be found there, and many at a higher degree of severity or intensity 14. " Analysts foresee demographic and resource pressures, with a more youthful population and growing competition for water, terrorism is likely to continue. Still the outlook is not totally dark, existing international institutions will prove incapable 15 of solving the Middle East's problems, but regional groups could take their place. Tom Gjelten, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 151 points to close at 8, 424. The S&P 500 climbed 8 points today. This is NPR.

Pirates who seized a Saudi supertanker loaded with 100 million dollars worth of crude oil have anchored that vessel 17 within sight of an impoverished 18 Somali fishing village. At the same time, other bandits are taking control over an Iranian cargo 19 vessel, the 7th ship to be hijacked 20 within the past 12 days. Saudi Arabia now says it will join the international fight against piracy 21 and Somali officials have also vowed 22 to try to rescue the hijacked tanker 16 by force if necessary. The latest seizure 23 marks a first both to the size of the vessel and the fact it was seized well out the sea, some 450 miles off the Kenyan coast.

A day after the US and Iraq agreed to all American forces leaving that country by the end of 2011, Iraq's Prime Minister addressed the nation to defend the accord. NPR's Nashi Dehah reports from Bagdad.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appeared on national television and said that while he had reservations about the accord, it helped build a solid foundation for the future of Iraq. The agreement is before the Iraqi Parliament right now, and do it as expected to pass, that is not assured as at least one group in Parliament opposes it. The accord calls US forces to leave Iraqi towns and cities by the middle of next year, and a withdrawal 24 of all US forces by the end of 2011. Maliki insisted neither of these was negotiable. He reassured 25 neighboring countries that Iraq would never be used to launch attacks on other nations. He also dismissed claims by critics that the deal was negotiated in secrecy 26, or that it had loopholes. Nishion Dehah NPR News, Bagdad.

AAA says even with the recent falloff in gasoline prices, it’s looking for fewer people to travel this Thanksgiving. The travel club says it's forecasting around 41 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles or more from home, that's down from 41. 6 million last year. The economy is being cited as the main reason.