NPR 2009-06-13

The polls have now closed across Iran after a day that saw a massive number of Iranians cast their votes for president. NPR's Mike Shuster reports from Tehran.

From early in the morning when the polls opened until late at night, Iranians besieged 1 the polling stations, in many cases in lines so long they had to wait up two hours to vote. The government kept the polls open for four extra hours to accommodate all the voters. The election was essentially 2 a referendum on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's performance as president. Former Prime Minister and reformer 0Mir-Hossein Mousavi is Ahmadinejad's primary challenger. Mousavi's campaign allowed millions of the president's opponents to voice their disdain 3 for him and his policies. The election was not marred 4 by any major problems, although the Mousavi campaign did complain its monitors were being barred from some polling stations. Iran's Interior Ministry 5 has warned partisans 6 of the candidates not to demonstrate or gather in large numbers while the vote counting is taking place. Mike Shuster, NPR News, Tehran.

Congress has approved and President Obama is expected to sign a bill that will give the Food and Drug Administration broad new powers over the tobacco industry. That will include putting in place stringent 7 new limits on the manufacturing and marketing 8 of tobacco products, something President Obama speaking at the White House today said industry foes 9 have long sought.

"After a decade of opposition 10, all of us are finally about to achieve the victory with this bill, a bill that truly defines change in Washington."

It's estimated that nearly 20% of Americans smoke. Mr. Obama who has admitted his own battles with tobaccos said he looks forward to signing the legislation. The FDA would also have the final say over such claims as light or low tar 11 made by tobacco makers 12.

The UN Security Council has unanimously agreed to put in place new sanctions on North Korea to punish it for its recent nuclear tests. The US ambassador said the sanctions are very tough with, as she put it, "teeth that will bite". NPR's Michele Kelemen has more.

The US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said the resolution that passed 15:0 includes a complete embargo 13 on North Korean arms exports and imposes sweeping 14 new financial sanctions. She described the resolution as innovative 15 and said it sets out a tough inspections 16 regime for any suspicious North Korean cargo 17 shipments.

"We needed to demonstrate and today we have demonstrated, that provocative 18 reckless actions come at a cost and that North Korea will pay a price for its actions."

China's UN ambassador said countries should act prudently 19 with the inspections and he called on North Korea to return to disarmament talks and act with restraint. Ambassador Rice said she wouldn't be surprised if North Korea reacted with further provocation 20. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average wound up the week with a gain of 28 points. The S&P 500 was up a point today.

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Defense 21 Secretary Robert Gates said the US and its allies must do more to reduce the civilian 22 death toll 23 in Afghanistan. Calling such deaths resulting from the ongoing 24 fight with the Taliban, "one of our greatest strategic vulnerabilities", the Defense Secretary made his comments in Europe today, where he is consulting with NATO allies. Mounting civilian casualties have been a source of tension between the US and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Karzai has demanded the US-led coalition 25 forces reduce the number of civilian deaths.

A young US woman standing 26 trial in Italy for the murder of her British roommate today took / the stand. Amanda Knox accused police of beating her and forcing her to make statements against her will. NPR's sylvia Poggioli reports from Rome.

Amanda Knox alternated between English and Italian as she told the court where she was on November 1st, 2007. That's when British exchange student Meredith Kercher was murdered in the apartment they shared in the university town of Perugia. Knox said she and her Italian boyfriend and co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito, were at his apartment where they smoked a marijuana joint 27, had sex and then fell asleep. On the stand, Knox said she was confused that the day after the killing 28, she was beaten by police when she was questioned. “The declarations were taken against my will”, Knox told the court. She said police called her a stupid liar 29 and accused her of trying to protect someone. If found guilty, Knox and her co-defendant could face Italy's stiffest penalty: life in prison. A verdict is expected in the fall. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Rome.

Crude oil futures 30 prices ended the week down slightly. That's after some recent run-ups. The price of crude was down 64 cents a barrel to end the session at 72.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

I'm Jack 31 Speer, NPR News in Washington.