Obituaries in the news

By (AP)

Howard Munson

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) _ Former U.S. District Judge Howard Munson, who presided over trials involving tax protesters and an early Internet hacking case, died Sunday. He was 84.

Munson had served on the federal bench for 32 years, retiring this year.

Among Munson's cases was the prosecution of Cornell University graduate student Robert Morris, who in 1988 crippled thousands of computers with a virus. At the 1990 trial, the defense argued that the Internet, then relatively small, was chiefly a system used by researchers to swap information, including recipes...

Gaffney:  Characters Counts

Story: Sir Paul Newman

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told international leaders on Sunday that isolationism and protectionism could worsen the spreading financial crisis. With a new trading week dawning, U.S. lawmakers urged quick action by the Bush administration on measures to make direct purchases of bank stock to help unlock lending.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, said an administration proposal to inject federal money directly into certain banks, in effect partially nationalizing the banking system, "is gaining steam."

"I am hopeful that tomorrow, the Treasury will announce that they're doing it. And they have to do it quickly ... markets are waiting," Schumer, D-N.Y., said.   Read More...