Tony Snow resigns
President Bush announced Friday that press secretary Tony Snow (above), who has waged a battle with cancer while manning the White House lectern, will resign and be replaced by his deputy, Dana Perino, on Sept. 14. Snow said his primary reason for leaving for was financial; he said he needs to make more than his White House salary of $168,000.
Sources: Craig to resign
Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig will resign from the Senate amid a furor over his arrest and guilty plea in a police sex sting in an airport men’s room, Republican officials said Friday. Craig will announce at a news conference in Boise on Saturday morning that he will resign effective Sept. 30, four state GOP officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Craig pleaded guilty Aug. 1 to a reduced misdemeanor charge arising out of his arrest June 11 at the Minneapolis airport.
Students indicted on explosives charges
Two Egyptian students at the University of South Florida were indicted in Tampa on Friday for carrying explosive materials across states lines, and one of them was charged with teaching the other how to use them for violent reasons. Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, 24, an engineering graduate student, and Youssef Samir Megahed, 21, an engineering student, were stopped for speeding Aug. 4 in Goose Creek, S.C., where they have been held.
Princess Di remembered
Prince William and Prince Harry led a somber memorial service on Friday in London marking the 10th anniversary of the death of their mother, Princess Diana. “She made us and so many other people happy; may this be the way that she is remembered,” said Harry, 22, in a brief reading that praised the Princess of Wales as “the best mother in the world.” About 500 guests attended the service, which was broadcast live across Britain and beyond.
Thailand lifts YouTube ban
Thai censors lifted their ban Friday after five months of blocking the online video site because it had carried material seen as insulting to the country’s king. The site’s management has agreed to block any future clips that are deemed offensive to Thai culture or that violate Thai law, said Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom, the minister of information and communications technology.
