NPR 2008-03-05

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Carl Kasell.

 Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island are holding presidential primaries today. It's a close race for Democrats 1 between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. On the Republican side, John McCain's could officially seal the GOP nomination 2. Mike Huckabee is vowing 3 to remain in the race until a candidate has reached the number of delegates needed to win. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

 Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson is predicting a record turnout in today's presidential primary. Hundreds of thousands of Texans got a jumpstart on the balloting 4 thanks to early voting. Wilson expects overall turnout to top 3 million voters, eclipsing the old record set 20 years ago. Ohio voters also had a chance to vote in advance of today's primary, and many took advantage of that. Ohio election watchers say there were lines out the door at some early voting sites yesterday. The Secretary of State is predicting more than half of Ohio's registered voters will take part in the presidential primary, up from 39% 4 years ago. Texas and Ohio offer the biggest delegate prizes today, but voter interest is high in Vermont and Rhode Island as well. Scott Horsley, NPR News, San Antonio.

 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in the Middle East today, trying to jump-start the peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians, NPR's Michelle Kelemen is traveling with Rice who she says has talk scheduled in Ramallah and Jerusalem.

 She's really trying to get, basically to get the 2 sides talking again over the weekend, the Palestinian authority President Mahmoud Abbas suspended contacts with the Israelis after this um, very bloody 5 of Israeli offensive against Hamas in Gaza, uh, the situation was sort of untenable for the Palestinians to continue this dialogue. Secretary Rice um, has been arguing and, and is trying to make the case to the Palestinians today that the longer the talks are suspended, the more it is a victory for those who do not want to see the peace process succeed and by that she means Hamas. NPR's Michelle Kelemen.

 Police in West Palm Beach Florida say they still don't know why a 60-year-old man walked into a Wendy's fast-food restaurant at lunch time yesterday and began shooting. One man, a paramedic, who was killed and 5 others wounded before the gunman killed himself. Paul Miller 6 is with the County Sheriff's Department.

 "He was carrying a semi-automatic handgun, at least 2 clips uh, we know he fired at least one clip and he may have reloaded a second clip. "

 The gunman was identified as Alburn Edward Blake of West Palm Beach.

 Japanese stock prices closed flat today, rising just 1/10 of 1%. Asian oil markets, uh, held a prices today about steady uh near 104 dollars a barrel over night, but this morning U. S. light crude fell by 26 cents to 102 dollars and 19 cents a barrel.

 This is NPR News.

 California's ban on same sex marriage will be reviewed by the state's Supreme 7 Court today. Justices will hear arguments on whether the ban discriminates 8 against gays and lesbians. From member station KQED in San Francisco Sarah Varney reports.

 4 years ago, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered the city clerk to issue marriage licenses 9 to same sex couples. Some 4, 000 couples wedded 10 at City Hall until the state's Supreme Court put an end to the wedding frenzy 11, and nullified the licenses. In the lawsuits 12 that followed a Supreme Court judge declared the state's same sex marriage ban unconstitutional because it discriminates based on gender 13 and violates the fundamental right to marry. An appeals court later rejected those arguments, saying gay men and lesbians can get most of the rights the state grants to married couples. At the state's Supreme Court today, attorneys for the city and the couples will argue withholding 14 marriage no longer makes sense, given California's long history of granting equal rights to gay men and lesbians. The state and conservative religious groups contend only California voters can change the marriage ban. For NPR News, I'm Sarah Varney in San Francisco.

 A court in Iraq is dropping charges at least for now against 2 former Iraqi government officials accused of allowing Shiite death squads 15 to use ambulances and government hospitals to carry out kidnappings and killings 16. Attorneys say that the officials were released due to lack of evidence. However, the charges could be reinstated if prosecutors 17 successfully appeal. The trial began yesterday after a delay because witnesses failed to show up for the start of the case last month. At the time officials did not say why the witnesses did not appeal. They noted 18 that Iraq does not have a witness protection program.

 I'm Carl Kasell, NPR News in Washington.