Washington in Five Minutes

CONGRESS

Senate OKs India nuke deal

The Senate on Wednesday voted to overturn a three-decade ban on atomic trade with India, giving final congressional approval to a landmark U.S.-India nuclear-cooperation accord and handing President Bush a rare foreign-policy victory in his final months in office.

The accord, which the Senate passed 86-13, will allow American businesses to begin selling nuclear fuel, technology and reactors to India in exchange for safeguards and U.N. inspections at India’s civilian, but not military, nuclear plants.

The pact, which the House approved Saturday, marks a major shift in U.S. policy toward nuclear-armed India after decades of mutual wariness. Mr. Bush is expected to sign the bill.

Congressional approval caps an aggressive three-year diplomatic and political push by the Bush administration. Sen. Richard G. Lugar, Indiana Republican, said the pact protects U.S. national security and nonproliferation efforts while building “a strategic partnership with a nation that shares our democratic values and will exert increasing influence on the world stage.”

Opponents say lawmakers rushed consideration of a complicated deal that they said could spark a nuclear arms race in Asia.

NUKES

Ex-Iraq inspector: Don’t bomb Iran

Iran is two to five years away from being able to produce a nuclear weapon, the former head of the U.S. weapons-hunting team in Iraq said Wednesday. But David Kay said the U.S. should not consider bombing Iranian nuclear facilities unless the weapon was about to be transferred to a terrorist group.

Mr. Kay, who led the Iraq Survey Group from 2003 until early 2004, said the U.S. should line up international support to pressure Iran to give up on a nuclear weapon, while also preparing for the strong possibility that effort will fail. Preparations could include offering security guarantees to Iran’s neighbors and shoring up Middle East stability and economic growth.

Iran is 80 percent of the way to a nuclear weapon, Mr. Kay estimates, but the last 20 percent of development is the most difficult. He noted that Iran has worked on the program for 20 years without successfully producing a weapon.

“You’ve got a clear record of a country that is … determined at some point to develop nuclear weapons,” Mr. Kay said in a talk at the Nixon Center. “The real question to ask is, ’What are the political strategies we can follow now that can lessen the impact?’” of a nuclear Iran.

REFUGEES

U.S. exceeds goal in admitting Iraqis

The Bush administration surpassed by nearly 2,000 its goal to admit 12,000 Iraqi refugees in the last budget year amid criticism it has not set the target high enough for the coming 12 months.

The U.S. allowed 13,823 Iraqi refugees into the country between Oct. 1, 2007, and Sept. 30, according to State Department figures obtained by the Associated Press on Wednesday. This easily beats the goal the administration set for itself last year when it was under heavy criticism after admitting only 1,608.

Refugee advocates, human rights groups and some members of Congress at the time denounced what they said was a dereliction of U.S. responsibility to the more than 2 million Iraqis who have fled their country since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, prompting the administration to streamline the admissions process and expand its processing operation.

On Sept. 12, the State Department announced it had met the 12,000 target with two weeks to go until the deadline. It set a goal of admitting at least 17,000 Iraqi refugees during the next budget year, which runs until Sept. 30.

CAMPAIGN

Michelle Obama courts student vote

BOULDER, Colo. | Michelle Obama urged University of Colorado students to register to vote at an event here Wednesday, underscoring the importance of both Colorado and the youth vote in her husband’s presidential campaign.

“We are just weeks away from the election, and we need to kick some butt,” said Mrs. Obama, echoing a voice in the crowd of about 1,000 students and locals at an outdoor rally at Farrand Field on the university campus.

Mrs. Obama, who was joined on the podium by former Denver Broncos receiver Rod Smith and Colorado first lady Jeannie Ritter, focused much of her speech on getting out the vote.

“Colorado is what we call a battleground state - that means what happens here can set the tone for the rest of the nation,” Mrs. Obama said. “This is a swing state, and we need to do some swinging.”

POLITICS

Edwards says health holding up

CARRBORO, N.C. | Elizabeth Edwards says medical scans taken this week show her health is no worse than when she announced 18 months ago that her breast cancer had returned in an incurable form.

Mrs. Edwards spoke Wednesday at a health care round table discussion in North Carolina.

The wife of two-time Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards was first diagnosed in 2004, and was later declared cancer-free. Last year, the cancer returned and spread to her bones.

Mrs. Edwards supports mandatory universal health coverage and has been speaking out against Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain. Her husband, however, has no public events planned until after the election. He’s been in self-imposed exile since admitting this summer that he had an affair.

MEDIA

Music magazine gives Obama page

NEW YORK | Barack Obama has a message for the readers of Vibe: “I need you.”

In a letter to be published in the November issue, the Democratic presidential candidate is given a page to address the readers of the urban music monthly magazine. In it, Mr. Obama urges them to register to vote, saying, “We are at a defining moment in our history.”

From wire dispatches and staff reports.