WASHINGTON – The Bush administration announced Friday that it had reached agreement with India on the terms of a controversial nuclear cooperation pact after India offered to permit international monitoring of a new fuel-reprocessing facility. The agreement, which has been under negotiation for two years, would provide technical aid and fuel to India’s civilian nuclear power program for the first time since 1978, when the United States halted such assistance to protest India’s development of nuclear weapons.
Cheney scheduled for surgery today
Vice President Dick Cheney will undergo minor surgery this morning to replace the battery that powers a defibrillator implanted in his chest six years ago to monitor his heart and deliver a shock if it goes out of rhythm. The surgery will be performed at George Washington University Hospital. Cheney, 66, has a history of heart problems. He has had four heart attacks, quadruple bypass surgery, two artery-clearing angioplasties and an operation to implant the defibrillator.
Bush to reveal Mideast arms sales
The Bush administration next week will announce a series of arms deals worth tens of billions of dollars to Saudi Arabia and the five oil-rich Gulf states, as well as new 10-year military aid packages to Israel and Egypt, in a move to shore up allies in the Middle East and counter Iran’s rising influence, U.S. officials said Friday. The arms deals, which include a variety of sophisticated weaponry, would be the largest negotiated by the administration. The agreements would provide $30 billion in new U.S. aid to Israel and $13 billion to Egypt over 10 years, the officials said.
Arizona: Two news choppers collide
Two news helicopters covering a police chase on live television collided and crashed to the ground Friday, killing all four people on board in a plunge that viewers saw as a jumble of spinning, broken images. Both helicopters went down in a park in central Phoenix and caught fire. TV viewers did not witness the accident because cameras aboard both aircraft were pointed at the ground. But they saw video from one of the helicopters break up and begin to spin before the station abruptly switched to the studio.
California: Costly attack on sea lion
A fisherman was arrested in Newport Beach on Friday for allegedly stabbing a California sea lion repeatedly with a steak knife after the animal stole his bait. The sea lion, a six-foot female weighing about 150 pounds, was severely wounded and later euthanized. The man could face a $25,000 fine and up to a year in prison if convicted on an animal cruelty charge. In addition, he could be charged with violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which could add $12,000 in civil penalties, criminal fines of up to $20,000 and additional jail time.
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