NPR 2009-10-20

In Vienna today, the head of the United Nations nuclear agency said talks with Iran to move most of its enriched uranium out of the country are off to a good start. From Vienna, NPR's Eric Westervelt reports.

Following an afternoon of close-door talks here, International Atomic Energy Agency Director Mohamed ElBaradei said the initial meetings had been constructive 1 and the talks would continue. The delegations 2 from Russia, the US, France and Iran said little afterwards. Tuesday's talks will again center on a proposal to send almost 75% of Iran's declared stockpile of low-enriched uranium to Russia and France for processing into fuel for a medical research reactor 3 in Tehran. Iran agreed to the deal in principle in Geneva earlier this month. If implemented 4, the deal could alleviate 5 fears / Iran could quickly enhance its low-enriched uranium and make a nuclear bomb, the so-called breakout scenario 6. But even if a deal is struck on the low-enriched uranium, some western powers still want a full suspension of Iran's nuclear program. Eric Westervelt, NPR News, Vienna.

With the United Nations-backed fraud investigators 7 throwing out roughly 1/3 of the votes that were cast for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the White House today is calling on Afghan leaders to prove to their people and the world the results of the August election were legitimate 8. The announcement will set the stage for a runoff between Karzai and his top challenger, former Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. Still not clear is whether an Afghan-led independent election commission would totally accept the findings. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today she expects Karzai to announce tomorrow how he plans to proceed.

The Justice Department has instructed federal prosecutors 9 not to go after people who sell medical marijuana in compliance 10 with state laws. That guidance came out today in a three-page memo 11 to US attorneys. More from NPR's Ari Shapiro.

This memo formalizes a position that Attorney General Eric Holder 12 first described to reporters in March. 

"The policy is to go after those people who violate both federal and state law."

That's different from the Bush administration which allowed prosecutors to arrest people for selling medical marijuana even in states where it's legal. Allen St. Pierre is executive director of the group NORMAL, which advocates for marijuana legalization. He believes this new memo is a harbinger of more lenient 13 drug policies to come.

"There have already been invitations made to drug policy groups to meet with the drug policy director, something that hasn't happened in 20 years."

The Justice Department memo says prosecutors should still go after people who use medical marijuana as a front for other illegal activity. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, Washington.

Some strong earnings 14 reports as well as optimistic forecasts from at least one bellwether 15 company helped give the financial markets a lift to start the week. That includes better-than-expected earnings from diversified 16 manufacturer Eaton and newspaper giant Gannett.

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 96 points. The NASDAQ was up 19 points today.

This is NPR.

Supreme 17 Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has temporarily blocked officials in Washington State from releasing the names of people who signed a ballot 18 measure on gay rights. That ruling will temporarily hold a federal appeals court ruling last week that ordered the release of the names. The case involves a state ballot initiative that asked voters to approve or reject the state law that grants registered domestic partners the same legal rights as married heterosexual couples. Kennedy said today the order would remain in effect while he considers a request by a pro-marriage group that asked for the lower court ruling to be reversed.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown today told a meeting of the world's largest economies he's concerned the upcoming climate change summit in Copenhagen may not result in an agreement. Larry Miller 19 has more from London.

Prime Minister Brown said it would be catastrophic if the UN climate change summit in December fails to take strong action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20.

"If we act now, if we act together, if we act with vision and resolve, success at Copenhagen is still within our reach. But if we falter 21, the Earth will itself be at risk. And for the planet, there is no Plan B."

Brown told the 17-nation Major Economies Forum 22 that preparatory talks within the UN are at an impasse 23 with negotiators moving too slowly. Brown appealed over their heads to world leaders to engage directly to break that impasse. For NPR News, I'm Larry Miller in London.

Crude oil futures 24 prices closed higher today. The near-month contract for a benchmark grade crude oil was up $1.08 a barrel today to end the session at $79.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.