Deal struck on Iran nuclear fuel
VIENNA, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Iran, the United States, France and Russia have until Friday to approve a draft deal on transfer of most of Iran's nuclear fuel, the U.N. nuclear agency said.
Negotiators for the four countries had been meeting in Vienna the past several days trying to resolve Iran's nuclear fuel issue before the tentative agreement was struck Wednesday, the United Nations said. Western negotiators want Iran to ship its nuclear material to third-party countries so it can be enriched and converted for medical purposes once the material returns to Iran.
While not revealing the contents of the deal, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, in a news release, called it a "balanced approach on how to move forward."
ElBaradei expressed optimism the countries would endorse the draft agreement, which he called a "very important confidence-building measure that can defuse the crisis that has been going on for a number of years and open space for negotiations."
The fuel is used at a Tehran research reactor, which produces medical radioisotopes for therapeutic and diagnostic procedures.
If the draft agreement is approved by the four countries, it would be forwarded to the IAEA Board of Governors for formal ratification.
"I must say that everybody who participated at the meeting was trying to help, trying to look to the future and not to the past, trying to heal the wounds that existed for many, many years," ElBaradei noted.
Iran maintains its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but some Western countries contend it is to develop nuclear weapons capability.
Kerry: Decide troop levels after election
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. John Kerry said Wednesday he'd advise President Obama to wait until after the Afghan presidential runoff before deciding about troop levels there.
"I think you really want to know that this (the runoff election) has worked, and you want to know what kind of government is coming out of it," Kerry told reporters after he met with the president in Washington. "(That's) why this is a very important period of time. And I would absolutely counsel the president to wait until the end of the runoff."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai accepted the country's election commission's call for a new election on Tuesday. The runoff between Karzai and his nearest challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, is Nov. 7.
Kerry, who was in Afghanistan when Karzai announced his decision, said the question about a timetable for Obama's decision whether to send 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan as recommended by Gen. Stanley McCrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.
"I didn't ask the president what his schedule is," Kerry said. "But I would suspect that he will be interested, just a matter of common sense. He's going to want to know what kind of government he's got to deal with in Afghanistan before he makes a decision. So I'd be surprised if he isn't on the same wavelength."
Kerry said his trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan "confirmed to me overwhelmingly ... that the president has been absolutely correct to take this time in order to allow some of these events to unfold and in order to be able to examine our strategy."
Talks fruitful, Biden and Kaczynski say
WARSAW, Poland, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Polish President Lech Kaczynski said discussions with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden Wednesday were good, despite lingering differences on missile defense.
"This conversation is a source of optimism to me," Kaczynski told reporters in Warsaw, Poland, after the two met. While acknowledging "some difficulties" remain to be discussed about a missile defense system, the president said, "We hope they will be resolved."
Biden also called the meeting productive.
"I know of no problem of consequence we have with Poland," he said. "I know of no problem that is not able to be resolved as they emerge."
Biden said they discussed "the leading role that Poland can play if it chooses to play" on a defense system to protect Europe from missile attacks by rogue nations.
"And I welcome the president's support for the missile defense, and for Poland's offer to host a standard missile, this so-called SM-3s, in a third stage," Biden said.
The phased approach to missile defense advocated by U.S. President Barack Obama is "a more adaptable, rational and workable system" that will strengthen missile defense in Europe, Biden said.
"Simply put, it's better for NATO, it's better for Poland, it's better for Europe, it's better for the United States," Biden said.
As he did after meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Biden thanked Poland for its troops deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, stopping to shake hands with several Polish soldiers at the airport before he took off for Bucharest, Romania.
"As my mother would say -- and I don't know how this translates into Polish -- God love you," Biden said.
Obama outlines small-business credit help
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama refocused the U.S. government's $700 billion bailout program, announcing two initiatives to help small-business owners.
Obama announced the plans during a visit Wednesday to Metropolitan Archives, a family-owned business in Landover, Md.
"These companies are the engine of job growth in America. They fuel our prosperity," Obama said. "The problem is, our small businesses have been some of the hardest hit by this recession. ... And because banks shrunk from lending in the midst of the financial crisis, it has been difficult for entrepreneurs to take out the loans they need ... ."
He noted that the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act addressed some issues facing small-business owners and entrepreneurs, but more was needed.
One initiative -- available through the Troubled Assets Relief Program -- would support small-business lending by providing lower cost capital to banks that provide small-business lending plans, and to community financial institutions that lend to small businesses in hardest-hit rural and urban areas, he said.
"The major banks that were in critical condition a year ago need no new assistance from the government, and so we are winding down that portion of the TARP program," Obama said. "But to spur lending to small businesses, it's essential that we make more credit available to the smaller banks and community financial institutions that these businesses depend on."
Obama said he would seek legislation to raise the cap for three types of Small Business loans available that would help borrowers to acquire machinery, land or equipment, or expand payroll.
Finally, Obama said he would direct Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills to convene a conference of regulators, congressional leaders and small-business owners to examine and establish other steps the government can take to help small businesses gain access to credit.
Cocaine allegations leveled at Madoff
NEW YORK, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- A lawsuit filed by a former employee of Bernard Madoff's New York investment firm alleges rampant cocaine use and a rowdy party corporate culture.
The supplemental filings to the suit also add new defendants to the civil case, including Bank of New York and JPMorgan Chase, the New York Daily News said Wednesday.
The plaintiffs alleged that Madoff Securities was ripe with debauchery, including parties featuring topless cocktail waitresses and so much cocaine that the office was nicknamed the "North Pole."
The News said the allegations were filed Tuesday night by an attorney who met with Madoff in prison this summer.
Minor earthquakes hit California, Oregon
BANDON, Ore., Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Geological Survey Wednesday said parts of California and Oregon were hit by 3.3 and 4.0-magnitude earthquakes respectively.
The agency said an early morning quake struck nearly 226 miles west-northwest of Bandon, Ore., with an epicenter 6.2 miles deep in the Pacific Ocean.
The earthquake, which did not result in any reported injuries or property damage, did not prompt a tsunami warning, The (Portland) Oregonian said.
Meanwhile, a 3.3-magnitude earthquake struck the San Bernardino Mountains between Big Bear Lake and Yucaipa, Calif., later Wednesday morning.
The Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise said the quake's epicenter was five miles deep and occurred nearly five miles away from Mount San Gorgonio in the California mountain range.
San Bernardino County Fire Department Dispatch Supervisor Sue Hood said no property damage reports followed the minor earthquake. No injuries were reported in connection with the tremor.
