It’s election day in Iran. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is facing a tough challenge from Mir Hossein Mousavi, a moderate former prime minister. Outsiders may see this as an ideological choice for Iranians, but in fact there are basic pocketbook issues at stake. The economy is in serious trouble, with unemployment at 17 percent and inflation over 23 percent, according to Iran’s Central Bank. Joining The Takeaway to take a look at the election are Afshin Molavi, a Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation, and author of “Soul of Iran: A Nation’s Journey to Freedom,” and Radman Rabii, a Mousavi supporter.

Like many cities, Denver is struggling to connect its suburbs to its downtown, and to create a new kind of city center. Continuing our series on the New Urbanism, The Takeaway talks to Matt Dellinger. He talks about the city's light rail project and the attempt to design and define new communities.

Follow along on The Takeaway's Urban Safari series.

In Denver, Colorado, a group of urban planners and architects gather this week to debate urban design. How can suburbia and downtown get closer? Joining The Takeaway from Denver is Ellen Dunham, the Director of the Architecture program at Georgia Institute of Technology and the co-author of "Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs".

The latest summer blockbuster, which opens today, features a train in a starring role. It’s a remake of the 1974 film "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three," which starred Walter Matthau and the New York City subway. The New York Times film critic A.O. Scott offers his takeaway on the 2009 remake of "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3." (This one stars Denzel Washington and John Travolta.)

Watch the trailer for the 2009 take on "Pelham" below.

Demonstrators are protesting in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, where dozens of assaults against Indian students have been reported in the past year. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says any racist attacks are “deplorable.” Gautam Gupta, a student who was attacked, says the authorities have been too slow to respond, so he’s set up the Federation of Indian Students of Australia to protect Indian students. He joins The Takeaway from Melbourne to talk about the rise in ethnic tensions.

Watch footage from the protests below.

Iran’s media operate under the tight control of a special government court. But many Iranian voters are turning to social media technology to express their views and debate political ideas.

Pooria Jafereh, a journalist with BBC Monitoring, a service of the BBC that listens to media in different countries, joins The Takeaway with a look at the influence of media on this election. We also speak to Afshin Molavi, Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation and author of “Soul of Iran: A Nation’s Journey to Freedom." Also joining the discussion is Shappi Khorsandi, a stand-up comedian and author of "A Beginner's Guide to Acting English," to talk about the comedic aspects of Iranian politics.

The news out of South Africa this week indicates there's something for the HIV-stricken country to celebrate. A new report says that HIV infections among young teens are down. In addition, the Western Cape is seeing fewer transmissions because more males are using condoms, and in the last three years the number of HIV infections has stabilized. Is the march of HIV slowing down?

The Takeaway is joined by Dr. Ernest Darkoh, a global health expert known for revolutionizing Botswana's HIV treatment program, to deconstruct the data. Click through for the full transcript of the interview.

Also, check out some intriguing data visualizations of HIV infection rates plotted against life expectancy, from gapminder.org.

For the last twenty five years, America has built-up the suburbs. But now Americans are beginning to rethink whether these communities are environmentally sustainable. Joining The Takeaway is James Howard Kunstler, one of the urban thinkers gathering in Denver this week for the Congress for New Urbanism. He’s the author of "The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century."

With the auto industry in crisis, Detroit residents are looking to their NHL team, the Red Wings, to bring a smile to their city. Tonight the Red Wings battle the Pittsburgh Penguins for hockey's Stanley Cup. The Takeaway talks to Red Wings fans Michele Rastelli and Jason Dritsan about the city's hopes for a win.

Highlights from Game 6:

Top climate change officials from China and the U.S. met this week in Beijing to hash out a pre-Copenhagen plan for cutting greenhouse gas. The two countries are the world’s top two greenhouse gas emitters, according to the Brookings Institution. Together, they account for more than 40 percent of annual emissions. Any solution to the greenhouse gas problem may require both countries to transition to low-carbon economies.

Just back from a trip to China is Assistant Energy Secretary David Sandalow, who joins The Takeaway to discuss how talks are going. Click through for the full transcript of the interview.