Briefly

Washington, D.C.: Scores arrested at airports

Authorities arrested close to 100 workers Tuesday at airports serving the nation’s capital on charges they lied to obtain security badges that gave them access to sensitive areas.

Those arrested included construction workers, janitors, food workers and at least two baggage screeners.

The arrests were part of a continuing crackdown to increase security at airports across the nation following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Federal officials said that by today, they expected to have arrested at least 138 employees in a sweep called “Fly Trap” at Washington Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Maryland: Sen. Helms to have surgery

Doctors at Bethesda Naval Hospital will perform open-heart surgery on Sen. Jesse Helms as early as this week to replace a worn-out pig valve he’s had 10 years.

The North Carolina Republican, 80, has been in the hospital since Monday undergoing tests after complaining to his wife of not feeling well Sunday.

The worn-out valve is on the left side of his heart between the lower and upper chambers and pumps oxygenated blood into the rest of his body. It is a pig valve doctors used to replace Helms’ mitral valve in 1992, Helms’ chief of staff Jimmy Broughton said.

Washington, D.C.: Service at Reagan airport to return to pre-Sept. 11 level

Full service will return soon to Reagan National Airport, restoring the nation’s commercial air space to pre-Sept. 11 levels, a Transportation Department official said Tuesday.

Pilots will be able to follow the Potomac River rather than fly direct routes in and out of the airport near the nation’s capital, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Resumption to full service will occur as soon as the Federal Aviation Administration can arrange it, the official said.

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta was to make the announcement today at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

Reagan National is the last airport still operating under restrictions following the terrorist attacks.

Uruguay: Diplomatic ties with Cuba cut

Uruguay’s president announced Tuesday that his country was breaking diplomatic ties with Cuba, days after Uruguay sponsored a U.N. human rights vote targeting Fidel Castro’s government.

The surprise announcement in Montevideo by President Jorge Batlle came as the Uruguayan leader charged Cuba with a series of insults against his South American nation.

Uruguay sponsored a resolution targeting Cuba that was passed Friday by the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva. The vote was a tight 23-21 with nine abstentions.

The resolution invited the communist-run country to provide its people with greater civil and political rights. It also exhorted Cuba to allow a U.N. representative to visit the island an idea Havana rejected.