Israel’s Defense Minister is calling for more concrete action against Iran’s nuclear program. As Linda Gradstein reports Ehud Barak says Iran is moving toward a point of no return.

Speaking today, Barak said that Israelis cannot sleep soundly while the Iranians are moving systematically toward a point where Israel won’t be able to do anything. He said Israel will not close its eyes and wait for the Iranians to attain nuclear capability. Barak also addressed Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians, saying ‘we are on borrow time, we will reach a war and we’ll pay the price.’ He said there was Israel’s new expanded coalition of 94 out of 120 members in the Israeli parliament. This is the time to lead diplomatic process. But if that doesn’t work, Barak said, Israel should consider an intra-agreement or even a unilateral move. For NPR news, I’m Linda Gradstein in Jerusalem.

 

 

In New Mexico, a wild fire in the Gila National Forest grew overnight into the largest fire in state history. NPR’s Ted Robbins reports the fire in southwestern New Mexico has burnt more than 265 square miles.

The wild * fires, burning in remote mountainous country. But New Mexico air quality officials have issued smoke alerts for Santa Fe and Albuquerque which is near 170 miles away. The fire was caused by lightening. It’s been burning for two weeks and is still out of control. Part of the problem is the rugged(崎岖的) terrain but fuel on the ground is also burning quickly because of dry conditions. New Mexico is in the midst of a draught and humidity levels right now are as low as 5%. Ted Robbins, NPR News.

 

 

Pope Benedict XVI is speaking publicly about the leak of confidential Vatican documents. Benedict’ butler(男管家) has been arrested in the case. The Pope says he is saddened by the situation but grateful to * who worked faithfully and silently to help him do his job. In comments of the end of his weekly general audience, Benedict described some media coverage as exaggerated, saying the stories are giving a false image of the Vatican.

 

 

Just days after a poll indicated that a pro-bailout party could win Greece’s elections next month, a new poll shows that hard left party that opposes the Eurozone bailout has regained the lead in public opinion. The conflicting opinion polls * Greek stock up this week and then sharply down today.

 

 

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 151 points to 12,433, the Nasdaq Composite Index is down 29 points of 2,840.

 

 

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Space X is getting ready for the return of its history making spaceship Dragon. NPR’s Nell Greenfieldboyce reports that the unman capsule is scheduled to depart from the International Space Station early tomorrow morning.

Astronauts onboard the station have unloaded all the cargo on Dragon and filled it up with stuff to send back to earth. They’ll use the station’s robotic arm to detach it from the outpost. Space X mission director John Couluris says it won’t be long after that before the capsule splashes(溅，泼) down in the pacific.

About 5.5 hours after released from the arm, we should be in the water. Our recovery forces will be standing by lake * late Monday night.

After the ships retrieve the capsule, it will go to a space X facility in Texas for cargo unloading and inspection. Even if their return trip doesn’t go exactly as planned, Couluris says this first visit by a private spaceship to the station will still be considered a huge success. Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News.

 

 

Reuters is reporting that an explosion in northeast Kenya has killed at least one person and left another three people injured. The blast reportedly occurred in a restaurant near the border with Somali. Kenya has been dealing with the wave of explosion since it sent troops into neighboring Somali to battle al Shabaab and * terror group it blames for several kidnappings and cross border attacks. Earlier this week, a Kenyan official said the FBI was helping to investigate an explosion in a building full of small shops in Nairobi.

 

 

Rescue workers in Italy say they have pulled the last body out of the collapsed factory. The death toll from yesterday’s 5.8 magnitude quake now stands at 17. Officials say there are no more reports of missing individuals. The quake is the second in 9 days to hit the same area in collapsed building across the region.