They continue to hide their development of these weapons and you know, in spite of their agreement here to reduce the enrichment, the 20 percent stockpile they have enriched, they can go to North Korea and buy that from them in a heartbeat. 

 

Secretary of State John Kerry insisted the agreement includes verification of Iran’s activities. 

 

Afghan President Hamid Karzai now says he will sign a security agreement with the U.S. until there’s peace in Afghanistan. NPR’s Sean Carberry reports Karzai issued his latest position while addressing the closing session of the Loya Jirga or Grand Assembly in Kabul today. 

 

The Loya Jirga that Karzai convened to debate the proposed security agreement overwhelmingly approved the deal that will allow thousands of U.S. troops to remain in Afghanistan after 2014. And they called on the president to sign as soon as possible. Karzai said several days ago he would not sign until after the presidential election next spring. But his latest statements create even more uncertainty. Karzai claims that if the U.S. is sincere and brings peace to Afghanistan, he will sign the security agreement. The U.S. embassy in Kabul says it’s still studying Karzai’s latest speech and says the deal should be signed quickly. Sean Carberry, NPR News, Kabul.

 

Egypt’s interim president is banning public gatherings of more than 10 people without prior approval. Violators face hefty fines and prison. President  Adli Mansour signed the law today as thousands of protestors were in the streets of Cairo. 

 

Voters in Honduras went to the polls today to choose a new president. The election comes four years after a coup. Hondurans have a lot of stake. The country has the world’s highest murder rate, drug trafficking and corruptions are rampant. And as NPR’s Carrie Kahn tells us from Hondurans, the economy is on the brink of collapse.  

 

What they are going to take care of, most definitely the economy. It’s in shambles. And both of the two major contenders those are at the top of the polls say that they need to reengage with the IMF which is most important they lost IMF funding, a cooperation with the IMF after the coup. And they need that money. Honduras is in incredible debt. It can’t pay its workers, it can’t pay its doctors, teachers. It’s borrowing on the international market. Both have said they will engage with the IMF. But that’s a very difficult thing that implies a lot of austerity measures in that country where there is underemployment and unemployment of 2/3 of the people. It’s going to be very difficult to implement all that. So going forward, it’s going to be challenging whoever wins this election. NPR’s Carrie Kahn in Honduras. 

 

This is NPR.

 

The winter storm that’s caused flooding, snow and hundreds of accidents and has linked to at least eight deaths in the western U.S. is now moving south and east. NPR’s Sarah Varney reports .

 

As the storm moves out of the west, it’s expected to create more hazardous conditions on roads and could cause delays for air travel. And according to Brian Cordy of the National Weather Service, the problem with this storm is its timing, right around the busy Thanksgiving holiday travel. 

 

People traveling in the southeastern U.S. on Tuesday and into early Wednesday are going to be affected significantly, and then people in the northeast, basically on Wednesday and then into Thursday are going to be affected. 

 

Among them, many accidents caused as a result of the storm so far, was one that injured three members of country singer William Nilson's band in Sulphur Springs Texas. Sara Wintry , NPR News.

 

The average price for a gallon of gas across the country is reversing course and edging up. Analyst Trilby Lundberg says it’s the first price hike since September 6th.

 

In these two weeks, the price of regular grade is up 3% to $3.25 and just prior to now they had crashed by 37 cents per gallon over nine weeks.

 

Lundberg says crude oil has become more expensive and refiners can’t cut prices any more.

 

The new Hunger Game sequel  Catching Fire is setting a record at the box office.  It’s taking in more than $161 million. The most for a November opening. And Catching Fire is doing far better in overseas than the 2012 original, taking in more than $146 million internationally.

 

I’m Barbara Klein, NPR News, in Washington.