NPR 2008-07-13

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says the leaders of Syria and Lebanon have agreed to re-establish normal diplomatic relations for the first time in years. Sarkozy made the announcement, speaking through a translator after a meeting in Paris. (“D'abord，Je voudrais dire 1 combien pour la France, c'est un progrès historique..”) "First, I would like to say that, from the French point of view, the willingness of President Bashar al-Assad to open a diplomatic office in Lebanon and the willingness of Lebanon to open its diplomatic office in Syria  represent historic progress." However, Syrian President Assad seemed cautious about how quickly the changes might occur.

 The UN Refugee Agency is urging the government of South Africa not to forcibly deport 2 refugees from Zimbabwe. The number of people fleeing Zimbabwe has been on the rise, following the wave of violence aimed at opposition 3 supporters during the days leading up to that country's disputed presidential run-off election. Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva.

 The UN Refugee Agency says an increasing number of families are arriving as a result of political violence in Zimbabwe. Several people have shown signs of beatings or torture. Spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis says many people are entering South Africa illegally. “So, this makes it difficult to give an accurate estimate of the numbers involved. En, they're fearful of arrest and deportation 4. En, they remain underground, making them vulnerable to other forms of violence and exploitation such as rape 5 and robbery.” Pagonis says some 17,000 Zimbabweans have been deported 6 from South Africa through one border post in the last forty days alone. She says these deportations have gone ahead despite earlier calls from the UNHCR to suspend all forcible returns. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Schelein in Geneva.

 Former White House Press Secretary and political commentator 7 Tony Snow has died of cancer at the age of 53. NPR's Barbara Klein has more.

Snow spent more than 25 years in the news business. He became best known as host of “Fox News Sunday”. In an appearance with Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert earlier this year, Snow said he loved being a journalist.

“Are you a journalist?”

“Well, I used to be. I don't think I am any more.”

“When were you a journalist? Cause I was...”

“I was in journalism 8 for about 27 years, I mean I...”

“What did you do?”

“I was a newspaper writer for the better part of 20 years. I was a TV host in ‘Fox News Sunday’.”

“That’s what I thought. OK,you,you,you were a legitimate 9 journalist  going out there, walking the beat. At what point did you say to yourself, ‘this is worthless’.”

(Laughter)“Never.”

Snow was diagnosed with colon 10 cancer in 2005. In a statement,  President Bush said he was saddened by the loss of a dear friend and that the country had lost one of its best writers and commentators 11. Barbara Klein, NPR News, Washington."

Legendary 12 cardiovascular surgeon, Dr. Michael DeBakey, has died in Houston at the age of 99. He pioneered heart bypass surgery and other now widely used procedures.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Vice 13 President Dick Cheney had his annual physical today at the George Washington University Hospital, including an electrocardiogram. Doctors say Cheney's cardiac status is stable. The 67-year-old Cheney has had four heart attacks and quadruple bypass surgery.

North Korea has agreed to complete the dismantling 14 of its main nuclear reactor 15 by the end of October and to allow international inspectors 16 to verify the country's nuclear disarmament. In exchange for the inspections 17, North Korea would get fuel and other economic assistance. The agreement announced at talks in Beijing was short on specifics, however.

NASA is facing a tight timeline to keep this year's spaceshuttle launch schedule on track. Seven astronauts spent time at the Kennedy Space Center this week training for October's mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. As Pat Duggins of member station WMFE reports, a key piece of shuttle hardware remains 18 a concern.

An ocean-going barge 19 is carrying an external fuel tank to the Kennedy Space Center on Florida's Atlantic coast. It’s needed to launch the October mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. The concern for NASA is that two tanks need to be ready to go: one is for Atlantis, and the other is for a rescue shuttle that has to be on NASA's other launch pad. This is especially critical since the Hubble crew can't retreat to the International Space Station in case of launch day damage to the shuttle. Hubble operates in a different orbit and at a higher altitude than the station. The back-up tank is still being assembled near New Orleans and should be delivered in August. The Hubble repair crew will swap 20 out batteries in gyroscopes and install new optics on the aging observatory 21. For NPR News, I'm Pat Duggins, in Orlando.

A wildfire in California's Butte County north of Sacramento is now about 40% contained. Thousands of people who were evacuated 22 as a precaution are being allowed to return to their homes.