Bush signs India nuke deal

Bush signs India nuke deal

WASHINGTON — President Bush has signed into law a bill that reverses three decades of U.S. policy and allows American businesses to enter India’s multibillion-dollar nuclear market.

“It’s a big deal,” the president said Wednesday at a ceremony in the East Room. He said the measure would build on the growing ties between the world’s two largest democracies, the U.S. and India.

The signing of legislation approving U.S.-Indian civilian nuclear cooperation is the result of three years of work by Indian officials and the Bush administration, which says the deal will let the U.S. solidify ties with a democratic and responsible rising power. Opponents say it could spur a nuclear arms race in South Asia.

2 U.S. journalists missing

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Two American journalists vacationing in Lebanon have not been heard from since Oct. 1 and are believed missing, the U.S. Embassy said Wednesday, appealing for information on their possible whereabouts.

The two, Holli Chmela, 27, and Taylor Luck, 23, have been working for the Jordan Times and had been expected back in Amman on Saturday, the Amman-based paper’s chief editor told The Associated Press.

The embassy said the two reportedly left Beirut for the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli, a predominantly Sunni Muslim city where militants and Islamic fundamentalists are known to be active.

Earlier this week, the embassy issued a statement warning its citizens about potential violent actions targeting Americans in Lebanon and calling on them to be more watchful.

Ex-Gitmo inmate speaks

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A Sudanese detainee transferred out of Guantanamo has vowed to campaign for the release of the roughly 255 inmates remaining at the U.S. military prison.

Mustafa Ibrahim Mustafa Al Hassan, who arrived Tuesday in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, said he saw soldiers throw a Quran into the dirt during his confinement, part of what he called “all types of tortures” at the Navy base in Cuba.

The Defense Department confirmed Wednesday that it sent one detainee to Sudan and another to Algeria. But Pentagon spokesman Jeffrey Gordon, a Navy commander, disputed the allegations of abuse.

Governor to cut own pay

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine announced Wednesday he is taking a pay cut and curtailing his office and living expenses to begin dealing with an expected multibillion-dollar budget shortfall over the next two years.

Kaine, a Democrat, will be taking a 5 percent pay cut, limiting his staff’s cell-phone costs, ending purchases of bottled water and canceling some newspaper subscriptions. The governor’s salary is $175,000.

Kaine also plans to slash the grocery bill at the governor’s mansion by 25 percent and limit how often linens are sent to the dry cleaners. Eight positions will also be eliminated through layoffs or turnover. The combined reductions will save taxpayers about $1.4 million annually.

Fatal mall shooting

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A customer opened fire in a crowded shopping mall Wednesday afternoon, killing a clothing store employee before he was shot and wounded by police officers, authorities said. Witnesses said the gunfire sent people “stampeding” for cover.

The employee was shot multiple times around 4:20 p.m. EDT after a confrontation with the customer and died at Knoxville Center Mall, police spokesman Darrell DeBusk said. No other injuries were reported.

Two uniformed Knoxville Police Department officers confronted the suspect and exchanged gunfire with him as he exited Reno Menswear, DeBusk said.

The suspect was taken to University of Tennessee Medical Center, where a nursing supervisor said she didn’t have a report on his condition. Police didn’t release the names of the customer or the suspect.

A hold on smoking ban?

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The latest casualty of the economic crisis may be the ban on smoking in Atlantic City casinos.

The city council moved Wednesday night to postpone for a year a law that was to take effect next week banning smoking from the gambling floor. A final vote will be in two weeks.

The casinos and the head of their largest workers union asked the council to put the ban on hold until the economy improves.

They fear deep losses and significant layoffs if smokers take their money elsewhere. Some casinos in nearby states do not restrict smoking.

Combined dispatches