NPR 2009-09-28

Defense 1 Secretary Robert Gates is raising the prospect 2 of severe additional sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program following the disclosure of a previously 3 secret uranium enrichment facility. Gates says that facility is the latest example of what he called "a pattern of deception 4 and lies” by the Iranian government.

 "It’s no wonder that world leaders think that they have ulterior motives 5 that they have a plan to go forward with nuclear weapons, otherwise, why would they do all this in such a deceptive 6 manner?"

 Gates was on the CNN's “State of the Union”. He said Iran must cooperate with international demands to open the new enrichment site to UN inspectors 7 and to make full disclosures about the facility. Iran's disclosure of the new nuclear site has reignited Israel's calls for tougher action against the Iranian regime. The calls come as Iranian media announce new tests of short-range missiles. NPR's Peter Kenyon has more from Jerusalem.

On the eve of Israel's Yom Kippur holiday, officials and analysts 8 stepped up their calls for the international community to do more to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iranian officials insist that their program, including the newly announced enrichment plant near the holy city of Qom is aimed solely 9 at nuclear power production and has no military application. Israel's hawkish 10 Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israel radio that there is now "no doubt that Iran intends to acquire nuclear weapons". And officials in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Netanyahu told US lawmakers that the time is now to block Iran's nuclear ambitions. Despite fears in the region that a military strike in Iran would sow chaos 11 in the Mideast, Israel remains 12 skeptical 13 that a new round of sanctions would have much impact on Iran's leadership. Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Jerusalem.

 The government of Honduras has given Brazil ten days to clarify the status of deposed 14 Honduran President Manuel Zelaya who has taken refuge in the Brazilian embassy there, but Brazil's president is rejecting the demand from Honduran officials. NPR's Jason Beaubien has more.

 In a communiqué on national television, the Foreign Ministry 15 of the de facto government said that deposed President Manuel Zeyala is using the Brazilian embassy to call for violence and unrest in the Central American country. The communiqué also said that all countries that broke relations with Honduras must reapply immediately to have their ambassadors reinstalled or must take down the flags at their embassies. Brazil suspended diplomatic relation with Honduras on Jun 29. This new order implies that Honduras may refuse to accept the diplomatic status of the embassies of Brazil and other countries that broke off ties. Meanwhile, from inside the Brazilian compound, Zelaya has called for his supporters all around the country to converge 16 on the capital on Monday to mark the 90th day since his ouster. Jason Beaubien, NPR News, Tegucigalpa.

 Pope Benedict says Europe must acknowledge its Christian 17 heritage as it deals with immigrants from other religions. The pontiff was speaking in the Czech Republic today.

 This is NPR News from Washington.

 Voters in Germany have given Chancellor 18 Angela Merkel a second term in office. Her center-left challenger has conceded defeat. Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Party is set to form a new governing coalition 19 with the pro-business Free Democrats 20.

Acclaimed 21 film director Roman Polanski has been arrested in Switzerland after 31 years as a fugitive 22 from justice in the US. He was to receive an award from the Zurich Film Festival. Larry Miller 23 has more.

 Polanski was picked up on arrival at Zurich airport on an outstanding 1978 US arrest warrant. He fled California after pleading guilty to sex with a 13-year-old girl. He claimed he did not know she was underage and that she consented. Polanski avoided countries where he might be arrested and live primarily in France as a French citizen. The director is known for movies including "Chinatown", "Rosemary's Baby", and "The Pianist" for which he received the Academy Award. The Zurich Film Festival said its tribute to Polanski will go ahead. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller.

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist 24 and former White House speechwriter William Safire has died at the age of 79. He had suffered from pancreatic cancer. He was a speechwriter for former Vice 25 President Spiro Agnew and for former President Nixon, and he spoke 26 of those days in an interview on NPR's Morning Edition last year.

"I kind of like innovation, and when I was a speechwriter, I came up with one, because Dwight Eisenhower had used prophets of gloom and doom 27 to attack defeatists. And so I came up with “nattering nabobs of negativism".

 For more than 30 years, Safire wrote columns on politics and language.