NPR 2011-01-26

The first Guantanamo detainee to be tried in a US civilian 1 court is being ordered to serve life in prison for the 1998 bombings of two US embassies. During sentencing today, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan said anything Ahmed Ghailani may have suffered at the hands of the CIA and others "pales in comparison to the suffering and the horror" of the al-Qaeda bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. Two hundred twenty-four people, including 12 Americans, were killed.

The aftershocks of the events in Tucson will be reflected in the State of the Union tonight and not just in the president's words. NPR's Nathan Rott reports on how it'll be evidence in the gathered audience.

As a show of unity 2, some Republicans will sit next to Democrats 3 and vice 4 versa at tonight's State of the Union address. But at least one seat will remain empty. The seat, among Arizona lawmakers, will be left open to honor the victims of the January 8th attack, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who remains 5 in serious condition. It will be one of tonight's many reminders 6 of the tragic 7 event that left six dead and 12 others wounded. Giffords' intern 8 Daniel Hernandez, the parents of nine-year-old victim Christina Taylor Green, and trauma 9 surgeon Peter Rhee who oversaw 10 medical care after the shooting have all been invited to sit with First Lady Michelle Obama during the speech. Nathan Rott, NPR News, Tucson.

Tripoli, Lebanon, site of Sunni protests against Shiite Hezbollah. This as a Hezbollah-backed businessman was named prime minister by Lebanon's president today. He called for a cooperation among the country's rival factions 11, as NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

Telecoms billionaire Najib Mikati is known as a centrist, someone who maintains ties with all factions and regional players. No easy feat 12 in such a divided country. After accepting President Michel Suleiman's request that he begin the process of trying to form a government, Mikati said his hand is extended to all factions to take part and end division. Mikati is a Sunni Muslim, as Lebanon's system requires of all of its prime ministers. But most Lebanese Sunnis support the man he's replacing, Saad Hariri. Hariri lost his job after he rejected Hezbollah's demand that he denounce an international tribunal probing the 2005 assassination 13 of his father. Hezbollah members may be indicted 14 by the international court. Hariri says he won't be part of any government in which Hezbollah has a leading role. Peter Kenyon, NPR News.

Home prices in the country's 20 largest markets are still falling and have apparently 15 fallen at their lowest point in eight of those cities. The Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Price Index dropped 1.6% from October to November. San Diego was the only city where home prices didn't drop then.

At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 64 points or 0.5% at 11,916; NASDAQ down 14 at 2,703.

This is NPR.

Diplomatic moves are still playing out in the political standoff in Ivory Coast with the arrival in Abidjan of the current president of the African Union and a continental 16 summit in Ethiopia starting Sunday. From Abidjan, NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports that a West African delegation 17 is heading to the US.

Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika is the latest high-level regional envoy 18 to come to Ivory Coast. He's here on behalf of the African Union. Meanwhile, West Africa's power broker 19 in Nigeria, the current head of the regional bloc 20 ECOWAS, wants UN backing for a military force and a Security Council resolution on the intractable Ivorian presidential tug-of-war. Nigeria's Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobia is part of a West African delegation planning to meet President Obama and the UN secretary general this week. The Nigerian minister wrote a strongly-worded column in a leading local newspaper Monday, backing military intervention 21 in Ivory Coast to force out the incumbent 22 Laurent Gbagbo who he accused of defying Africa and the world. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Abidjan.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is calling on the Egyptian government and protesters to show restraint after today's demonstrations 23 turned violent. Clinton said she believed the government of Hosny Mubarak is trying to respond to its people's hopes. Thousands flooded the streets of central Cairo today, demanding Mubarak step down.

A day after Moscow's busiest airport was bombed, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is ordering full security checks at all transportation hubs. He says those running Domodedovo airport were also to blame for security failures that allowed a suspected suicide bomber 24 to kill at least 35 people and wound more than 100.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.