Putin: Off with their hands

Putin: Off with their hands

MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday suggested a striking punishment for Russia’s bribe-hungry bureaucrats: Off with their hands. The quip, less a policy plan than a promise to get tough on rampant corruption, came during a Kremlin meeting with leading lawmakers. Stressing the severity of bribe-taking in Russia, Communist Party chief Gennady Zyuganov said that to put up an apartment house, builders must “put something in the paw” of every official with a say in the matter. “Of course it would be good to chop off that paw, like in the Middle Ages,” Putin said in televised remarks. “That would probably be the best solution of all.” When Zyuganov expressed doubt, Putin insisted, “As soon as you started, the paw would stop reaching for the payment,” the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. More seriously, Putin said that Zyuganov was right and that “we must think about this constantly, react to this.”

3 attack TV news reporter

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Three people upset that a news crew was reporting on the arrest of a relative attacked the television reporter and yelled racial slurs at her and a photographer, authorities said Tuesday. The family members, all white, began yelling and charged at black WSPA-TV reporter Charmayne Brown while she was standing in the street near the family’s home in Union, said news director Alex Bongiorno. Brown was punched in the head, and black cameraman Ti Barnes was also struck as he tried to pull family members off Brown, Bongiorno said. A video of the attack shows Brown, who wasn’t seriously injured, defending herself. “I think she’s more affected by the verbal abuse than the physical abuse. She’s really shaken up,” Bongiorno said. The fight was taped by a white crew from a second television station. They were not attacked. Tousha Smith, 31, Billie Joe Taylor, 31, and Trina Vinson, 48, were being held at a Union jail Tuesday evening on assault and battery charges, authorities said. South Carolina has no law allowing a hate crime charge.

Space shuttle update

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Endeavour’s astronauts examined their rocket ship for launch damage Tuesday as they pursued the international space station to deliver a giant robot and the first piece of a new Japanese lab. Specialists on the ground, meanwhile, scrutinized launch images of a possible impact to Endeavour’s nose. In a rare middle-of-the-night launch, the shuttle blasted off with an almost blinding flash. But the darkness meant fewer pictures than usual to look for signs of possible damage to the spacecraft during the climb to orbit. NASA knew the nighttime launch would come at a photographic cost. But past successes at preventing the shuttle’s fuel tank from losing big chunks of foam insulation during liftoff and the accuracy of heat shield inspections convinced managers the night launch was a good choice.

Top Navy admiral resigns

WASHINGTON — The Navy admiral in charge of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan announced Tuesday that he is resigning over press reports portraying him as opposed to President Bush’s Iran policy. Adm. William J. Fallon, one of the most experienced officers in the U.S. military, said the reports were wrong but had become a distraction hampering his efforts in the Middle East. Fallon’s area of responsibility includes Iran and stretches from Central Asia across the Middle East to the Horn of Africa. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a Pentagon news conference that he accepted Fallon’s request to resign and retire from the Navy, agreeing that the Iran issue had become a distraction. But Gates said repeatedly that he believed talk of Fallon opposing Bush on Iran was mistaken. “I don’t think that there really were differences at all,” Gates said, adding that Fallon was not pressured to leave.

Detainees allowed calls

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — The U.S. military said Tuesday that it will allow detainees to make regular phone calls to their families from Guantanamo Bay prison, where many have been confined in extreme isolation for up to six years. The new policy by the Defense Department, which previously said security concerns prevented such calls, is part of a strategy to ease conditions for frustrated prisoners at the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba. A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, said the telephone policy reflects a commitment to maintaining the health and well-being of Guantanamo detainees. No start date has been set for the program. Inmates’ contact with the outside world generally has been limited to mail delivered by the International Committee of the Red Cross and meetings with their lawyers.

Associated Press