Peshwar, Pakistan
Journalists may face execution after publishing letter
Five staffers from the Frontier Post, an English-language newspaper, are being held in prison under the nation's blasphemy law, which can carry a death sentence, after unknowingly printing a letter to the editor which defamed the Muslim Prophet Mohammed. Munawwar Moshin-a heroin addict-was just a few days out of detox when he approved the letter by glancing only at its title: "Why Muslims Hate Jews," according to The New York Times. He erroneously assumed "if the letter was negative to anyone, it'd be negative to Jews," when in fact it portrayed Mohammed as a liar, murderer, anti-Semite, Nazi and male chauvinist, according to The Times. The morning the letter ran, an angry mob and outraged law enforcement officials descended on the paper's offices and torched the Frontier Post's printing press using unsold newspapers as fodder for the blaze. Law enforcement was totally unacquainted with newspaper operations, asking questions like "What is email? What is the Internet? What is a server? What makes a page?" and therefore arrested anyone who could have been involved with the incident, according to The Times.
National News
Daytona Beach, Florida
Dale Earnhardt, Sr. killed in final lap at Daytona 500
Legendary NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt, Sr., 49, was fatally injured in a stock car crash during the final lap of the sport's premier event, the Daytona 500. Earnhardt, known as "the Intimidator," was "a ferocious competitor, even in the twilight of his career," according to The New York Times. In a typically daring move, Earnhardt attempted to pass another car for third place when his signature black No. 3 Goodwrench Chevrolet slammed into the wall at 170 miles per hour and was subsequently hit by another racer. No one was overly concerned with the accident because Earnhardt was thought to be indestructible-sometimes refered to as "ironhead"-after surviving many other wrecks, according to The Times. This death, the fourth in less than four years, comes less than a year after Adam Petty, a fourth generation NASCAR driver, was killed in an accident. Amid saftey concerns and criticism, NASCAR officials declared that this weekend's race would continue as planned. NASCAR was already investigating ways to decrease the fatality rate in its races and will step up the effort after this latest tragedy. Earnhardt's son finished a bittersweet second in the race.
National News
Washington, D.C.
FBI veteran charged with spying for Russia
Twenty-seven-year veteran FBI agent Robert Philip Hanssen was charged yesterday with selling secrets that compromised the nation's security and directly led to the death of two Russian double agents, according to the Justice Department. According to The New York Times, FBI director Louis J. Freeh said that Hanssen has sold dozens of classified documents and insider secrets, including information on double agents and a study detailing what the Central Intelligence Agency knew concerning the Soviet KGB's efforts to infiltrate U.S. agencies, for more than $650,000 in cash, an estimated $800,000 in overseas accounts and "large quantities of diamonds," according to The Times. Hanssen could face the death penalty if convicted, as well as fines up to $2.8 million. There is no evidence that any other Americans were involved with Hanssen's spying activities, said Freeh. However, he said there was no way to tell yet because it is possible for double-agents to remain undetected for years-even passing polygraph tests. Although he did take full responsibility for not catching Hanssen sooner, Freeh said, "The buck stops with me. It happened on my watch."