|
|
» 1A » Sports » City | Region » Health | Family » Communities » Free Time » Weekender » Faith | Values » Inside | Out » A la carte » Arts + Life |
HeraldLeaderPhoto.com
 | |
 | |
| »
View slideshows by Herald-Leader photographers including The Week in Pictures Sports Staff Portfolios and more! | |
|
 |
DEATH TOLL IN BURMA CONTINUES TO RISE
BRIEFS
NATION
HOUSING BILL FACES VETO
President Bush said Wednesday he would veto Democrats' broad housing aid plan, saying it wouldn't help struggling homeowners. The measure, aimed at preventing foreclosures, would have the government step in to insure up to $300 billion in new mortgages for distressed homeowners. A House vote is expected by Thursday. The bill by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., would relax standards at the Federal Housing Administration so it could back more affordable, fixed-rate loans.
FRAT MEMBERS FACE CHARGES
- Ten Tulane University students faced felony battery charges Wednesday and their fraternity was suspended after accusations the group burned pledges with hot water and pepper spray during a "hell night" initiation. Police said two Pi Kappa Alpha pledges received second- and third-degree burns last month from boiling water and crab boil, a spice, being poured on their bodies.
WORLD
FREED DETAINEE LINKED TO ATTACK
- A Kuwaiti freed from Guant‡namo Bay carried out a suicide car bombing recently in Iraq, the U.S. military said Wednesday, confirming what is thought to be the first such attack by a former detainee at the U.S. military detention center in Cuba. Abdallah Salih al-Ajmi took part in one of three suicide bomb attacks last month that targeted Iraqi security forces in the northern city of Mosul, said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Scott Rye, a military spokesman in Baghdad. At least seven people were killed in the attacks.
FLAME REACHES TOP OF EVEREST
- An Olympic flame reached the top of Mount Everest Thursday. Live television footage showed a Chinese mountaineering team holding up a specially designed torch along with Chinese and Olympic flags. The Everest torch is separate from the main Olympic flame, which was not taken up because of weather concerns.
TENSIONS HEIGHTEN IN BEIRUT
- Supporters of the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, trying to enforce a general strike called by labor unions, clashed with government supporters and blocked roads in Beirut on Wednesday, escalating tensions as the country remained mired in its worst political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. Hezbollah mobs blocked roads with burning tires and garbage cans, and set cars on fire to enforce a strike protesting government economic policies and demanding higher minimum wages.
