NPR News 2012-10-03 加文本

NPR News 2012-10-03

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

New developments in one of the most contentious debates over voting rights in Pennsylvania. Voters will not be required to show a photo ID to cast a ballot in this presidential election. Today a judge blocked most of the act from going into effect by the November vote as NPR's Pam Fessler explains.

Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson says voters can still be asked to show a government-issued photo ID at the polls, but they cannot be prevented from voting if they do not have one. The judge questioned whether there's enough time before the election for every voter who needs one to get a valid photo ID. He noted that he was ordered by the state Supreme Court to block the law if he was not convinced that no voters would be disenfranchised. It's still possible the decision could be appealed to the state Supreme Court, but it was largely a victory for civil rights and other groups that have said the law would prevent thousands of voters from casting ballots. Pam Fessler, NPR News.

Border patrol agents in Arizona are mourning the death of one of their own. Three of their colleagues were responding to an alarm near Naco, where they came under fire. One agent identified as 30-year-old Nicholas Ivie was killed; another was wounded. George McCubin, president of the National Border Patrol Council, says the three were assigned to a station named after the last Board Patrol agent killed in the line of duty.

"We were just there a couple of weeks ago to..., at the renaming of the Naco station to Agent Brian Terry Station. So obviously this is going to hit the Naco family pretty hard."

The border town of Naco is a corridor for of human smuggling as well as drug trafficking.

Republicans on Capitol Hill say they have information that US diplomats in Libya had requested more security at the consulate in Benghazi before the assault that killed the US ambassador and three other Americans. Details from NPR's Michele Kelemen.

Republicans Darrell Issa and Jason Chaffetz wrote a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying there was a clear pattern of security threats in Libya that should have led to stepped-up security for US diplomats. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland says Clinton will cooperate with their committee and with all members of Congress, providing documents and witnesses for an upcoming hearing.

"We want to get to the bottom of precisely what happened and learn any lessons that we need to learn from it. We're taking this very, very seriously."

The House Oversight Committee plans a hearing on October 10th. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

The Iranian government says it's surviving economic sanctions and what the president calls a "psychological war" against his nation after the rial plunged to a record low against the US dollar today. President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad said Iran's central bank had provided enough hard currency to finance imports.

Dow off more than 30 points.

This is NPR.

Pope Benedict's one-time butler is admitting to copying and leaking sensitive papal documents. But he said in a Vatican courtroom today that he was not guilty of stealing. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports the defendant claimed he was subjected to harsh conditions after his arrest in May.

Paolo Gabriele told the court he's innocent of the charge of aggravated theft, but feels remorse for betraying the Pope's trust. He said he had no direct accomplices, but was influenced by others and by a widespread malaise in the Vatican. The butler was arrested after investigators confiscated 82 boxes full of evidence in his apartment, including letters concerning alleged improper business practices at the Holy See. Gabriele also claimed he was subjected to psychological pressure in his first 20 days in detention. He was kept in a room so small he couldn't stretch his arms and the light was kept on 24 hours a day. "As a result," he said, "my eyesight was damaged." The court ordered an investigation. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News.

Police reportedly are taking down the yellow tape around the suburban Detroit site where they thought Jimmy Hoffa might have been buried. The Associated Press is reporting that swell samples have come back negative on traces of human decomposition. The former Timsters boss went missing nearly 40 years ago.

Five of Bernie Madoff's former workers reportedly go on trial next year. Each has pleaded not guilty to a new indictment expanding the charges against them. They are accused of conspiring with the former financier in a Ponzi scheme to bilk investors out of billions of dollars. Madoff is spending the rest of his life behind bars.

I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News in Washington.