Bush issues sanctions
For the second time in two months, President Bush announced sanctions against Myanmar to punish the military-run government and its backers for the recent violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. On Friday, Bush ordered the Treasury Department to freeze the financial assets of additional members of the repressive military junta. He also acted to tighten controls on U.S. exports to Myanmar.
Accused rapist in court
A man accused of raping his daughter and posting videos of the abuse online was arraigned Friday after returning to the U.S. from Hong Kong. Kenneth John Freeman, 45, appeared in federal court in Spokane a day after his extradition. He was indicted in January on one count of producing child pornography and one count of transporting it.
Targeted leader speaks
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, her return from exile shattered by a suicide attack that killed up to 136 people, blamed militants Friday for trying to kill her and said she would not “surrender our great nation” to them. Bhutto said there were two attackers in the deadly bombing, and that her security guards also found a third man, who was armed.
Rage over race remark
James Watson, 79, the icon made famous by his work in DNA, has set off an international furor with comments made to the Sunday Times Magazine of London, which quoted him as saying that he’s “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours — whereas all the testing says not really.”
And finally …
It’s hammer time
She was fined and got a suspended jail sentence, but Mona Shaw says she doesn’t regret using a hammer against a cable company. After waiting days for Comcast to install services before ultimately having her phone disconnected, Shaw went to the company’s office in Manassas, Va. “I smashed a keyboard, knocked over a monitor … and I went to hit the telephone,” Shaw said.
