Investigations Read the latest from NPR's investigative team. If you have solid tips or documents on stories we should probe, please send them to us.

Investigations

Tuesday May 31, 2011

Court Documents Allege 'Secret Pact' In Massey Coal Merger

May 31, 2011 • While the mining company says the allegation is "at best frivolous," the court documents filed by some institutional investors claim Alpha Natural Resources' takeover of the company would shield Massey executives from liability.

State Court Declines To Block Massey Merger

May 31, 2011 • NPR and The Charleston Gazette asked for materials to be made public. The justices opened up the initial injunction request and the response to it filed by some Massey executives. Massey operated the West Virginia mine where 29 men died last year.

Friday May 27, 2011

NPR, 'Charleston Gazette' Ask Court To Unseal Massey Merger Files

May 27, 2011 • Massey operated the West Virginia mine where 29 men died in an April 2010 explosion. "The filings in this case likely will shed new light on Massey's acts and or omissions in relation to this tragedy," the NPR-Gazette motion argues.

Wednesday May 25, 2011

Court Papers Signal Concern Over W. Va. Mine Company's Safety Record

May 25, 2011 • Documents unsealed in a lawsuit seeking to block Massey Energy's sale to Alpha Natural Resources reveal deep concerns about Massey's safety record, reputation and leadership — not from critics — but from two Massey board members and from Alpha.

Thursday May 19, 2011

Report Rips Massey For 'Deviation' From Safety Rules

Two officers with the Raleigh County Sheriff's Office stand guard in front of the Upper Big Branch coal mine several days after the April 5, 2010, explosion that killed 29 workers in Montcoal, W.Va. Mark Wilson/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Mine Safety In America

Report Rips Massey For 'Deviation' From Safety Rules

May 19, 2011 • The first independent investigative report about last year's disaster at the Upper Big Branch mine was released Thursday. It details the corporate and government failures that led to an explosion that killed 29 mine workers in West Virginia.

Report Rips Massey For 'Deviation' From Safety Rules

Listen · 3:33 3:33

Transcript

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/136426906/136472761" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Thursday May 12, 2011

Opinion

Foreign Policy: Next, Let's Get Bin Laden's Financiers

Foreign Policy

May 12, 2011 • The killing of Osama bin Laden has prompted many questions about the future of al-quaida. Matthew Levitt of Foreign Policy argues that the most important part of taking down the organization has become locating and neutralizing its financial backers.

Tuesday May 10, 2011

The Two-Way

Transcripts Reveal Details, Drama, Troubles Of Mine Disaster Rescue Effort

May 10, 2011 • They offer a rare peak into the mostly secretive, year-long probe by state and federal investigators into the April 2010 explosion that killed 29 coal miners in West Virginia.

Friday May 6, 2011

The Guantanamo Papers

May 6, 2011 • An NPR investigation of secret military documents from the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay details the system used to assess how dangerous the detainees would be if released.

Friday April 29, 2011

At Guantanamo, Big Threats Found In Small Clues

A group of detainees kneels during an early-morning Islamic prayer in their camp at the U.S. military prison for "enemy combatants" in 2009 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. John Moore/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

John Moore/Getty Images

The Guantanamo Papers

At Guantanamo, Big Threats Found In Small Clues

April 29, 2011 • Hundreds of classified documents from the Joint Task Force at Guantanamo provide a look at how military officials determined whom they had in custody and whether they might have ties to terrorism. Interrogators were trained to look for subtle clues — among them, a Casio F-91W watch, said to be the favored timepiece of al-Qaida bomb-makers.

At Guantanamo, Big Threats Found In Small Clues

Listen · 5:17 5:17

Transcript

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/135815729/135846423" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Thursday April 28, 2011

The Guantanamo Papers

Judges Question Evidence On Detainees

April 28, 2011 • A side-by-side comparison of the Pentagon's secret Guantanamo detainee assessment briefs and federal court rulings shows that intelligence analysts and federal judges can reach starkly opposing conclusions from the same raw intelligence.

Judges Question Evidence On Detainees

Listen · 4:33 4:33

Transcript

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/135776450/135795713" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Monday April 25, 2011

The Guantanamo Papers

'High-Risk' Detainees Released From Guantanamo

April 25, 2011 • NPR, along with The New York Times, is reporting on hundreds of classified documents concerning detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The documents were originally leaked to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, and come from the Pentagon's Joint Task Force at Guantanamo. In the papers, the government assesses the dangers posed by the detainees. An NPR investigation shows that some detainees, considered likely to pose a threat to the U.S. if they were released, were indeed let go.

'High-Risk' Detainees Released From Guantanamo

Listen · 8:55 8:55

Transcript

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/135697167/135697159" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Sunday April 24, 2011

The Guantanamo Papers

Administration Responds To Guantanamo Documents

April 24, 2011 • The Pentagon and State Department provided a statement Sunday to NPR and The New York Times concerning secret military documents about detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay camp.

Detainees Freed, Transferred Despite 'High Risk'

A U.S. military guard carries shackles in preparation for moving a detainee at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. John Moore/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

John Moore/Getty Images

The Guantanamo Papers

Detainees Freed, Transferred Despite 'High Risk'

April 24, 2011 • Hundreds of secret documents show that military and counterterrorism analysts sometimes found it difficult to determine whether those held in the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay were truly dangerous.

Detainees Freed, Transferred Despite 'High Risk'

Listen · 4:55 4:55

Transcript

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/135690396/135714562" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript