NPR 2011-07-05

A British soldier has been killed in Afghanistan's Helmand province. NATO forces found the body after an extensive search this morning. Taliban insurgents 1 claim they executed him. This as General David Petraeus attended a re-enlistment ceremony in Kandahar. NPR's Quil Lawrence has our report from Kabul.

General David Petraeus marked exactly one year as commander of the military effort in Afghanistan with an address to over 200 US soldiers in Kandahar, who decided 2 to re-enlist on Independence Day. Petraeus thanked the soldiers for what he called "the most meaningful display of patriotism 3." Taliban sources claimed to have captured the soldier that NATO officials earlier announced was missing. But a Taliban spokesman said that insurgents had executed the prisoner during a firefight with NATO forces in Helmand province. British Prime Minister David Cameron who was visiting Helmand canceled his scheduled trip. So helicopters could be dedicated 4 to the search, which later recovered the body. Quil Lawrence, NPR News, Kabul.

Greek authorities are blocking a ship that tried to leave port to head to the Gaza Strip to deliver aid to Palestinians and break Israel's naval 5 blockade. Greece is banning the flotilla from leaving, but says it will offer to deliver the aid. Greek Foreign Ministry 6 spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras says Greece is trying to avert 7 a crisis.

"I believe that with this initiative, Greece is making an extra step and trying to find a different way to transport the humanitarian 8 aid and at the same time prevent an escalation 9 that could be dangerous for everybody."

Greece says it's banning all boats and the Gaza flotilla from leaving port, citing security concerns after Israeli forces raided a flotilla last year.

Fox News says their Twitter feed was hacked 10 early this morning. NPR's Wade 11 Goodwyn tells us several tweets that Fox calls "malicious 12 and false" reported President Obama had been assassinated 13.

The first post said: "@Barack Obama has just passed. The President is dead. A sad 4th of July, indeed." Later post added false details such as the president had been shot twice in the lower pelvic area and in the neck while at a restaurant in Iowa. President Obama spent part of the 4th of July holiday at Camp David, but was back safely in the White House at the time of the tweets. A hacker 14 group, known as the Script Kiddies, has apparently 15 taken credit. An anonymous 16 spokesman for the Script Kiddies told an Internet investigator 17 that they had targeted Fox because the group figured Fox's security would be as much of a joke as their reporting. Wade Goodwyn, NPR News.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn is expected to face more rape 18 charges. A French novelist is due to file a criminal complaint tomorrow. The former International Monetary 19 Fund chief is vowing 20 to sue her for defamation 21 of character. The news comes after Strauss-Kahn was released from house arrest in New York on Friday.

This is NPR News.

The European Union is sending nearly 15 million dollars in emergency food aid to North Korea, saying at least 650,000 people there are at risk of dying from starvation. The commission says it's putting special monitoring procedures in place to ensure the assistance isn't diverted to North Korea's military.

A new study just released by the Archives of General Psychiatry 22 is questioning the safety of antidepressants in pregnant women. NPR's Alex Spiegel reports the study examines whether prenatal exposure to antidepressants might increase the risk of autism.

According to the small study, it appears that the use of SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy 23, particularly in the first trimester, can modestly increase the risk that the child will be born with autism. To do the study, researchers from Kaiser Permanente Research Division collected medical records from the mothers of around 300 children with autism and 1,500 children without autism and compared them. The authors are clear, however, trying to understand where autism comes from is complicated, and so they say the result of this work will need to be replicated 24 on a much larger scale before the association[s] between antidepressant use in pregnancy and autism are truly established. Alex Spiegel, NPR News, Washington.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is back home, surprising his countrymen who last saw him yesterday in a video posted by the Cuban government's website. Chavez had been in Cuba since June 8th, where he underwent cancer surgery. Just yesterday, the Venezuelan leader said he'd be staying in Cuba to recuperate 25. But he returned to Caracas in the early hours of this morning, saying he's fine.

I'm Barbara Klein, NPR News, Washington.