A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Burma’s prime minister to be first civilian president in 50 years
BURMA – Burma prime minister Thein Sein was chosen yesterday to become the military-run country’s first civilian president in half a century.
It’s a cosmetic shift that does little to end the army’s overwhelming influence on politics.
The rise of Thein Sein, a 65-year-old loyalist of paramount leader Snr Gen Than Shwe, offers slim chance of economic and social reforms in the resource-rich country that has wilted under decades of brutal military dictatorships.
“He’s perfect for Than Shwe. He has a good track record, no political agenda, no reform plans and won’t take any initiative,” said Aung Thu Nyein, a prominent US-educated Burmese academic. – (Reuters)
Nine years for cartoonist attack
COPENHAGEN - A Danish court yesterday sentenced a Somali man to nine years in prison followed by expulsion for trying to kill a cartoonist whose 2005 drawing of the Prophet Mohammad provoked Muslim outrage around the world.
The Aarhus city court sentenced Muhudiin Mohamed Geele (29) to be expelled from Denmark and banned for life after serving his sentence, a police official said.- (Reuters)
Giffords' husband to fly on shuttle
CAPE CANAVERAL - The astronaut husband of Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona congresswoman critically wounded in an assassination attempt last month, will be aboard space shuttle Endeavour's final mission in April, NASA said yesterday.
NASA said Mark Kelly will serve as Endeavour's commander. "He is a veteran shuttle commander and knows well the demands of the job." - (Reuters)