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US House Passes 459-Billion Dollar Defense Spending Bill
Washington (AFP) Aug 05, 2007 The US House of Representatives early Sunday passed a mammoth defense appropriations bill containing nearly 460 billion dollars in funding for the US military in fiscal 2008, slightly below President George W. Bush's request. The bill that was rushed through in the dead of night contains no money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as they are being funded through separate legislation. The bill allocates 459.6 billion dollars to the Pentagon, against the 463.1 billion dollars the president had requested earlier this year. The measure contains nearly 23 billion dollars to improve health care for members of the military and broaden military medical research programs and 2.2 billion to finance a 3.5-percent military pay rise. Another 925 million are allocated to specifically to address equipment shortfalls in order to help forces meet the demands of overseas deployments and respond to natural disasters here at home. The bill provides six billion dollars to boost the Army and Marine Corps by a total of 12,000 troops in order to reduce the pressure from extended deployments. It funds weapons programs like F-22 combat planes, the Joint Strike Fighter, and the controversial V-22 aircraft that can fly like a plane and helicopter. But it cut allocations for missile defense by more than 883 million dollars arguing that the president's 8.5-billion-dollar request "included unrealistic missile deployment schedules."
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Libya And France Sign 168-Million-Euro Arms Deal
Tripoli (AFP) Aug 02, 2007Libya signed a contract with France on Thursday to buy Milan anti-tank missiles worth 168 million euros (230 million dollars), in the first such deal a European embargo was lifted, a Libyan official said. The contract was signed with European missile manufacturer MBDA, the world's number one maker of guided weapons systems, the official told AFP. MBDA is jointly owned by BAE Systems, EADS and Finmeccanica. |
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