The News in 2 Minutes

From The Associated Press

House passes farm bill, 231-191
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Democratic-controlled House has passed legislation that combines billions in aid for farmers with money for low-income nutrition programs, defying a veto threat from President Bush over the bill’s largesse to crop producers.

The bill, passed on a vote of 231-191, devotes more money to conservation, renewable energy, nutrition and specialty crop programs than in the past but leaves in place — and in some cases increases — subsidies to producers of major crops such as corn and soybeans at a time of record-high prices.

The measure will next go to the Senate, which is due to begin its consideration of the legislation in September. The current farm law expires Sept. 30.

Cheney has surgery to update his heart device
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Vice President Dick Cheney, who has a history of heart problems, had surgery Saturday to replace an implanted device that monitors his heartbeat.

Doctors at George Washington University Hospital replaced the defibrillator, a sealed unit that includes a battery. If the device were to sense an abnormal heart rhythm, it would deliver an electronic shock to reset the vice president’s heart to a normal beat.

“The device was successfully replaced without complication,” said Megan McGinn, the vice president’s deputy press secretary.

Doctors did not replace the wiring attached to the defibrillator. Replacing these defibrillator wires, which thread through Cheney’s heart, would have required a much more extensive operation.

Stunned Ohio crowd sees stunt pilot die
DAYTON, Ohio — A biplane performing stunts for an air show crashed into a runway Saturday in front of thousands of spectators, killing the pilot, officials said.

Jim LeRoy, 46, was in one of two planes making loop-to-loops with smoke trailing as part of the annual air show at Dayton International Airport. His Pitts aircraft slammed into the runway across a field from spectators and caught fire. The crowd stood stunned as the show was shut down.

LeRoy, a Marine veteran who had a degree in aeronautical engineering, was a design engineer with GE Aircraft Engines until he became a full-time stunt pilot in 1997.

He won the Art Scholl Award for showmanship in 2002, presented by the International Council of Air Shows, and the Bill Barber Award for showmanship in 2003, presented by the World Airshow News.

Hezbollah leader says U.S. vision shattered
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Last summer’s war in south Lebanon has left the U.S. vision of a “new Middle East” in shambles, and Hezbollah is ready to strike Israel at any time, the guerrilla group’s leader said late Saturday.

“We will not wait for anyone to defend us. We will defend ourselves and our country,” Sheik Hassan Nasrallah told a mass rally in the southern town of Bint Jbeil. “We possess and we will continue to possess rockets that can hit any area in occupied Palestine if Israel attacks Lebanon,” he said.

Nasrallah did not personally attend the rally, but his speech was relayed to the crowd on a giant screen set up in the town’s main square. Located near Lebanon’s southern border, Bint Jbeil was among the towns worst hit during last year’s 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah that ended Aug. 14 with a U.N.-brokered cease-fire.

Nasrallah said the guerrilla group would never be at peace with Israel. “It is impossible to live with a back-stabbing enemy on our border, who has been assaulting us ever since it was born,” he said.

Ancient whalebone mask found in Unalaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska —Archaeologists working in Unalaska have found the remains of a whalebone mask believed to be about 3,000 years old.

The partial mask was discovered while archaeologists were unearthing an ancient village.

The mask, stained brown by soil, is about 2,000 years older than any known Aleut mask, according to archaeologists. It was created around the time Homer was producing the “Iliad” and “Odyssey.”

The Earth had suddenly cooled, and ice surrounded the Aleutian Islands almost year-round, according to Rick Knecht, an archaeologist and University of Alaska Fairbanks professor.

Residents of the ancient site — a village marked by unprecedented stone houses and ivory carvings — ate polar bears, ice seals that no longer visit the island and a whale that’s never been documented in North American waters, Knecht said.

The village was occupied between 2,400 and 3,400 years ago, but materials found near the mask indicate it is 3,000 years old, he said.

Record 20 bears killed by cars at Tahoe
TRUCKEE, Calif. — A record 20 bears have been killed by vehicles in the Lake Tahoe area so far this year, including two struck last week on Highway 89 near the Truckee River.

BEAR League Executive Director Ann Bryant said the previous record was 19 bears hit in 2005.

Bryant said more bears are coming down to the Truckee River or Lake Tahoe because mountain creeks and streams are drying up.