Wednesday Afternoon Federal Newscast

The National Institutes of Health is getting $5 billion in economic stimulus funds to support research into cures for cancer and other diseases, and to create jobs. The money comes from the $787 billion economic stimulus program that is designed to help create jobs and turn around the economy. The White House says the $5 billion dollars will support some 12-thousand existing projects and create thousands of jobs over the next two years for researchers and educators, as well as medical equipment makers and suppliers. (AP)

The Defense Department says the military has started shipping new equipment to Afghanistan to help troops cope with the increasing threat of improvised explosive devices there. Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told a Defense Department briefing that the first seven of a new model of all-terrain vehicle (MATV), were shipped from an Air Force base in Charleston, S.C. The MATV is a heavily armored multi-purpose all-terrain vehicle. (AP)

The North American Aerospace Defense Command and the Continental U.S. NORAD Region plans a training flight exercise over Washington. The exercise, called Falcon Virgo 10-01, will take place late today and early Thursday. It will include air force F-16s and Coast Guard helicopters. The exercise is made up of a series of training flights held in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Capital Region Command Center, the Joint Air Defense Operations Center, the Continental U.S. NORAD Region (CONR), Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard and CONR's Eastern Air Defense Sector. (AP)