NPR 2010-11-18

The man billed as the first Guantanamo Bay terror suspect to face a civilian 1 trial, Ahmed Ghailani, has been found not guilty of terrorism charges today in a federal trial in New York. Thirty-six-year-old Ghailani, a native of Tanzania, was accused of conspiring 2 with al-Qaeda to plan car bomb attacks on embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people. The jury did find Ghailani guilty of one charge of conspiracy 3 to damage or destroy US property by means of an explosive device, although he was cleared of 276 murder and attempted murder counts along with five conspiracy charges. The jury deliberated over seven days.

It appears incumbent 4 Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski has won reelection in Alaska. As NPR’s Martin Kaste reports, Murkowski’s victory defied the odds 5.

Murkowski lost the Republican primary to Tea Partier Joe Miller 6. So in September, she decided 7 to run as a write-in candidate. Political experts called it a long shot. In the University of Minnesota’s Smart Politics blog, Eric Ostermeier wrote an article, pointing out all the prominent Alaska politicians could fail as write-in candidates. Now, Ostermeier calls Murkowski’s win staggering.

"Actually, if you add up all the votes that had been cast for write-in candidacies in Alaska from 1958 until this election, she will probably exceed all those other eight candidacies combined."Murkowski had some advantages. Not only was she the incumbent, but her father Frank Murkowski was also a senator and governor. Martin Kaste, NPR News.

Nancy Pelosi will be the top Democrat 8 in the reconfigured House of Representatives. Pelosi, the first female House speaker, will lose the job in January with the new Republican majority. However, she praised fellow Democrats 9 and said the party, despite its diminished status, is not giving up oncore issues.

"I’m proud to be part of this leadership team. Our consensus 10 is that we go out there listening to the American people. It’s about jobs; it’s about reducing the deficit 11; and it’s about fighting for the middle class."Republicans of their part announced they’ve chosen John Boehner of Ohio to become speaker in the new Congress.

Over a dozen people were arrested in San Francisco in a protest against tuition hikes at the University of California. NPR’s Richard Gonzales reports.

Thirteen people were arrested, including one who allegedly assaulted a police officer by striking him with his own baton 12. Police used pepperspray to break up what they called an unruly and aggressive crowd. Over 300 people demonstrated against a planned 8% hike in student fees, this coming on a 32% increase last year. The UC Board of Regents is scheduled to vote on the proposed tuition hike on Thursday. Richard Gonzales, NPR News, San Francisco.

After recent market volatility 13 sparked by investor 14 concerns about the burgeoning 15 debt crisis in Europe, stocks ended little changed today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 15 points. The NASDAQ gained six points.

You're listening to NPR.

A senior military official is now recommending Army Major Nidal Hasan stand trial in connection with last year’s deadly shootings at Fort Hood 16. According to Hasan’s lawyer, the recommendation was issued by Colonel James Pohl. Pohl reported to be recommending Hasan be court-martialed on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 13 counts of attempted murder in connection with the shootings last November at the Texas Army post. The final decision on whether to try Hasan rests with a commanding general. Federal regulators have given coal mine owner Massey Energy a few more days to avoid a federal seizure 17 of the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia. As NPR’s Howard Berkes reports, that’s the mine where 29 mine workers died in a massive explosion in April.

The possible eviction 18 of all Massey Energy officials from the mine is based on a standoff between the company and state and federal investigators 19. The investigators want to test water sprayers on the longwall mining machine considered a possible source of the explosion. The sprayers help control sparks and explosive coal dust. And some are believed to be clogged 20, broken or missing. Massey has refused to feed water to the sprayers so they can be tested. The company says running the sprayers will compromise evidence it is assessing in its own investigation 21 of the blast. Federal regulators cited Massey for impeding 22 the official state and federal investigation and initially 23 gave the company until noon Wednesday to comply, but federal mine safety officials extended the deadline to Friday. Howard Berkes, NPR News.

The head of the Transportation Security Administration is acknowledging new pat-down procedures (that) airline passengers are being asked to undergo (are) far more intrusive 24 than he thought, TSA head John Pistole telling members of a Senate panel he can understand why travelers are raising concerns, although Pistole told lawmakers the agency does not intend to change the policies.

I’m Jack 25 Speer, NPR News in Washington.