NPR 2009-11-30

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says his country will build ten new facilities to enrich uranium. His statement to Iran’s state news agency came just days after the governing board of the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency censured 1 Iran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. Analysts 2 say Iran has a history of announcing such plans and not starting or completing them. But White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said if true, Iran’s plans will be another serious violation 3 of UN Security Council resolutions.

A gunman barged into a coffee shop in Washington State this morning and began firing at four police officers there. All of them, three men and one woman were killed. Paula Whistle of member station KPLU has details.

We do know that these officers work for the Lakewood Police Department. That’s a small police department south of Tacoma. Right now, there is a massive, (a) manhunt for the suspect who left on foot, but is believed to have got into a vehicle. And police say they are looking at a number of vehicles, residences and possible people. Other departments, including the FBI and the state police are helping 4 in that manhunt.
Paula Whistle reporting from Tacoma, Washington.

Voters in Honduras have been casting ballots 5 in a presidential election today. The winner will need to guide the country out of the political crisis that resulted when President Manuel Zelaya was ousted 6 in June. NPR s Jason Beaubien has more.

Nationwide, there are polls for the president as well as for members of Congress and for local mayors. This is an attempt to put behind it the coup 7 that really has paralyzed Honduras for the last five months. At this point, all international flights into the capital have been canceled. Nicaragua and El Salvador also closed their borders, some of their border crossings into the country yesterday and today. In general, people are saying that things seem to be pretty quiet. Basically at this point, the election is taking place; things are moving forward and it seems going well and smoothly 8. There has been no report at this point of major protests or major problems. NPR s Jason Beaubien reporting from Honduras.

A runoff was held today in Uruguay’s presidential election. Jose Mujica, a socialist 9 candidate who once led an armed revolutionary movement there was favored to win. Mujica, who’s known in the country as Pepe , narrowly missed garnering 10 a majority of the votes in the first round of the election.

For a third straight day, golfer Tiger Woods declined to meet with investigators 11 from the Florida Highway Patrol today. They want to ask him about the events surrounding Woods early morning car crash on Friday. Woods disposed a statement on his website today, saying the accident was solely 12 his fault and has become an embarrassment 13. He added that he is human and not perfect. He also praised his wife for helping him when she saw that he was hurt after ramming 14 his SUV into a fire hydrant and a tree. Woods says he considers the matter private.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Investigators in Russia are looking for witnesses and any other information that could lead them to those responsible for the homemade bomb that caused a deadly train derailment. At least 25 people were killed when several cars of the luxury express train jumped the tracks northwest of Moscow. NPR s Anne Garrels has more.

Investigators say they want to talk to a group of people seen close to the bomb site shortly before the train was derailed late Friday night. Officials are calling the explosion the worst terrorist incident in Russia in years though they say there have been no credible 15 claims of responsibility. Officials had recently warned there could be a new wave of terrorism in and around the capital as anti-government violence once again picked up steam in Russia’s predominantly southern Muslim regions, including Chechnya, but some analysts say the bombing could also be the work of ultra-nationalists. Moments of silence were observed before soccer matches and the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church urged the nation not to give in to fear. Anne Garrels, NPR News, Moscow.

Tens of millions of Americans are headed home from their Thanksgiving Holiday travel today. So far, there have been no major hang-ups. Johanna Romero who flew from Toronto to New York’s LaGuardia Airport today said she was surprised by the lack of delays and hassles. “I thought there’s gonna be a little bit more hectic 16, because a lot of people are flying back and forth 17 for visiting their families. But it is actually pretty cool.”

The AAA estimated that 38 million Americans would be travelling away from home this weekend. That’s slightly more than last year, but 20 million fewer than in 2005 when the economy was healthier.

I m Craig Windham, NPR News in Washington.