NPR 2011-05-04

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

CIA analysts 1 are going through documents and other information taken from the raided compound in Pakistan where US special operations team killed Osama bin 3 Laden 4. NPR's Rachel Martin says the data could give important clues about the state of the al-Qaeda network.

According to US officials, the Navy SEALs team took papers, DVDs and hard drives away from the scene. The Obama administration's top counterterrorism official John Brennan says it's too early to tell how valuable the information is, but officials hope they may learn something about the whereabouts of al-Qaeda's next-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Osama bin Laden was killed with two shots, one of them hitting above his left eye. The White House is still weighing whether to release a photo of the slain 5 al-Qaeda leader as proof of his death. Rachel Martin, NPR News, Washington.

Today, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said bin Laden was not armed when he was confronted by Navy SEALs. Carney also shed light on steps taken to bury bin Laden at sea, a means to preventing followers 6 from turning the al-Qaeda leader's resting place into a shrine 7.

"Aboard the USS Carl Vinson, the burial of bin Laden was done in conformance with Islamic precepts 8 and practices. The deceased's body was washed and then placed in a white sheet. The body was placed in a weighted bag. A military officer read prepared religious remarks, which were translated into Arabic by a native speaker. After the words were complete, the body was placed on a prepared flat board, tipped up, and the deceased body eased into the sea."

Pakistan denies it gave shelter to bin Laden whose compound was less than 40 miles from the Pakistani capital. [The] White House says it'll get to the bottom of whether Pakistani authorities helped the al-Qaeda leader avoid capture.

Ohio and Mississippi River levels are falling today around Cairo, Illinois after the Army Corps 9 of Engineers used explosives to breach 10 a levee downriver to help alleviate 11 flooding. NPR's David Schaper reports, though, the Missouri farmers whose fields were intentionally 13 flooded by the levee breach are filing lawsuit 14.

The corps blew up a wide section of what's called the Birds Point levee on the Missouri side of the Mississippi, just downriver from where the Ohio flows into it, sending a wall of water, cascading 15 over 130,000 acres of fertile farmland and flooding about 90 homes. Officials say the emergency action diverting the water into the designated floodway appears to be working as river levels started dropping immediately. It could be down four feet by Saturday, but the farmers whose crops are being destroyed and whose land will likely be ruined for farming for years to come filed a lawsuit against the Corps of Engineers, claiming the intentional 12 flooding of their land amounts to the government taking private property without due process in violation 16 of the Fifth Amendment 17. David Schaper, NPR News.

US stocks are down today. The Dow's down slightly at 12,807. NASDAQ down 22 points.

This is NPR.

Factory orders are up again. The latest snapshot for March reveals orders rose 3%. NPR's Zoe Chace reports that's an encouraging sign for job creation.

Factory orders, what are they ordering exactly? "Well, you know, what's being ordered? It's a good question. I have to think about it for two seconds." Ken 2 Goldstein with the Conference Board says, "Okay, think about a car." "It's everything from the role of aluminum 18 to the paths that are gonna go into the engine, to an order for a fully 19 assembly car." Goldstein hopes filling all these orders will require more people. "Not in every case, but in some cases, it probably means you have to go out and hire some of the folks laid off over the last two or three years." One downside inflation. "It's continuing to put up with pressure on prices for the raw materials needed in order to produce these things." High commodity prices can hurt a growing business. Zoe Chace, NPR News.

Archer 20 Daniels Midland is posting a 37% gain in its third-quarter profit. The health of the company is a snapshot of agribusiness overall because it is involved as both buyer and seller of commodities. ADM's earnings 21 hit 578 million dollars in line with analysts' expectations.

A more than 1,700-square-foot flag honoring those killed in the 9/11 terror attacks is in Michigan. It is the Patriot 22 Flag's first stop in its cross-country track since President Obama announced that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was dead.

Here's the latest from Wall Street. Dow's up slightly before the close at 12,808, and the NASDAQ still down 22 at 2,842.