USA
After the Senate overrode his veto of a national nuclear-waste repository on Yucca Mountain, Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn (R) vowed to pursue court challenges to the project. The state is questioning the Energy Department's plans for transporting nuclear waste to the site, safeguards against leakage, and other potential hazards. The Yucca Mountain facility still needs approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a process that could take several years.
Lawyers for a black teenager videotaped as he was hit and thrown against a police car by a white officer in the Inglewood section of Los Angeles were expected to file suit in federal court. The FBI, Inglewood police, and the district attorney are investigating Saturday's incident, which occurred during a traffic stop. Inglewood's mayor said the officer should be fired and charged with assault.
As Congress worked out details on the proposed Department of Homeland Security, President Bush met with some of the 170,000 federal employees whose jobs would come under its sway. Ten House committees were set to vote yesterday and today on their portions of legislation to create the Cabinet-level agency, which House leaders hope to bring to the floor next week. The Senate is expected to have its version ready by the end of the month.
Florida's Supreme Court got its first Hispanic judge with the appointment of Raoul Cantero III by Gov. Jeb Bush (R). Cantero, a Miami lawyer, is a grandson of the late Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista, who was ousted by Fidel Castro in 1959. Cantero has been criticized for defending an anti-Castro extremist.
Disappointed baseball fans booed a decision to end the All-Star Game in a 7-7 tie after 11 innings at Milwaukee's Miller Park. Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig apologized but said he had no choice when both the National and American League teams ran out of pitchers. The only previous tie was in the 1961 game in Boston, which was called on account of rain.
Actor Rod Steiger, who died Tuesday in Los Angeles, was known for playing tough and unsympathetic characters. Steiger won an Oscar for his portrayal of a racist police chief in 1967's "In the Heat of the Night." Among his other films were "On the Waterfront," "The Pawnbroker," "Doctor Zhivago," and "Oklahoma!"
