NPR 2010-03-02

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Craig Windham.

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev says his country is now ready to consider new sanctions against Iran over that nation's nuclear program. Medvedev says he's still hoping though the tougher sanctions can be avoided. The new head of the new UN watchdog agency Yukiya Amano says Iran is not fully 1 cooperating with the agency. So there's no way to know for sure that the country is using all of its nuclear material for peaceful purposes as it claims. "We are continuing to verify that Iran is not diverting any declared nuclear material for non-peaceful purposes." Amano was countering Iran's claims that his recent report on the country's nuclear program was influenced by the United States.

Chile's government is requesting help from the US and UN as it struggles to deal with the aftermath of the earthquake that hit the southern half of that country. NPR's Jason Beaubien reports rescuers are stepping up efforts to find survivors 2 amid the rubble 3.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet says her country is facing a disaster unparalleled in its history and will need assistance from all sectors 5 to recover from Saturday's 8.8 quake. United Nations says it will rush relief supplies into Chile now that it's clear that the government is requesting international aid. Meanwhile President Bachelet dispatched 10, 000 soldiers to quell 6 looting around the hard-hit city of Concepcion. She also put in place a dusk-to-dawn curfew. While the international airport in Santiago has partially 7 reopened, many bridges and roads are still impassable. All commercial flights from Argentina into Santiago remained canceled Monday morning. Frustrated 8 Chileans mobbed the ticket counters at the Buenos Aires Airport, trying to find out when they'll be able to return to check on their loved ones and homes. Jason Beaubien, NPR News, Buenos Aires.

Workers are starting to hand-deliver census 9 forms to some homes that do not have traditional mailboxes. That's about 12 million mostly rural households around the country. NPR's Pam Fessler reports census forms will be mailed out to everyone else starting late next week.

Census forms this year include only ten questions. That's one of the shortest forms ever. Officials hope that most people will fill them out and send them back by April 1st. Otherwise, census workers will have to visit individual households in person to complete the national count. Census figures are used for distributing federal funds and determining the allocation of congressional seats. But every ten years, millions of people failed to participate sometimes because they were reluctant to give personal information to the government. This year, the Census Bureau's spending tens of millions of dollars on advertising 10 and working with some 200, 000 community groups to improve the count. Most households are expected to receive their forms around March 15th. Pam Fessler, NPR News, Washington.

Stock prices are holding on to moderate gains as the closing bell approaches on Wall Street. The Dow Industrials are up 70 points, the NASDAQ is up 31. This is NPR News.

A federal judge in Salt Lake City says the man charged with kidnapping Elizabeth Smart back in 2002 is competent to stand trial. Attorneys for Bryan Mitchell argued that he is delusional 11 and incapable 12 of participating in his own defense 13. But the judge disagreed. Mitchell could still raise an insanity 14 defense during his trial. Smart was abducted 15 when she was just 14 years old. She was held captive for nine months and raped 16 repeatedly during that time.

Researchers in Florida say shark attacks in the United States declined sharply last year. Phil Latzman of member station WLRN has a look at the numbers from Miami.

The data comes from a newly released annual study conducted by the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File. It says the number of attacks in the US dropped from 41 in 2008 to just 28 in 2009. Of those 2/3 come from the state of Florida, but the total of 19 is significantly less than the 32 reported in the state in both 2007 and 2008. This year though is already off to a deadly start. The report comes about a month after a 32-year-old kite boarder was attacked and killed by a shark off Florida's east coast, the first shark-related death in the state in five years. For NPR News, I'm Phil Latzman in Miami.

New evidence that manufacturing is leading the way in the economic recovery. The Institute for Supply Management says the manufacturing sector 4 expanded in February for the seventh straight month. The pace of growth has slowed somewhat though and the latest numbers fell short of expectations. In another report out today, the Commerce Department says personal spending was up in January by 0.5%. But the incomes of Americans barely budged 17, up just 0.1%.

I'm Craig Windham, NPR News in Washington.