House passes spending bill to fund war, agencies.
Money for troops in Afghanistan and Iraq is no longer likely to be cut. That's because the House approved a $516 billion spending bill yesterday that funds the wars in both of those countries as well as 14 Cabinet agencies. President Bush says he'll sign the measure if $40 billion more is added by the Senate for the Iraq war. The Senate is expected to debate the bill today, and analysts predict that it'll pass. The measure mostly falls within Bush's budget, but does shift billions of dollars into politically sensitive programs he sought to cut.
Bill Clinton says former President George H.W. Bush will pitch in to help him and his wife when they move into the White House. The Democratic president hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton will apparently dispatch Clinton and Bush on an around-the-world mission to repair the damage done to America's reputation by Bush's son, President George W. Bush. Clinton added that that would be his wife's number one priority as president. There's no comment yet on whether George H.W. Bush would chip in when his son leaves office next year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he'll become prime minister if the man he's backing for president wins elections. Dmitry Medvedev is Putin's choice as successor. Yesterday, he was officially confirmed as the presidential candidate for the United Russia Party. Shortly after, Medvedev asked Putin to serve as prime minister if elected. The 42-year-old presidential candidate is expected to win in elections scheduled for next March.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced trip to Iraq earlier today. She visited the volatile northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, then went onto Baghdad to meet with Iraqi officials there. It was reported that she was also meeting with President Jalal Talabani there. The trip comes as Turkish troops recently crossed into Iraq to attack Kurdish separatist rebels. It's a conflict that the U.S., Iraq, and the Kurdish Regional Government don't want to spiral out of control.
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