■ Canada
Man gets time for pie stunt
A court sentenced a man who crammed a pie into the face of Alberta Premier Ralph Klein to 30 days in jail Monday. Christopher Geoghegan, a 25-year-old clerk at a second-hand clothing store, remained unrepentant about his right to use banana cream as a tool of political protest. He was protesting the province's welfare and environmental policies, which he believes are inadequate. "It's the harshest sentence that has ever been doled out in the justice system," Geoghegan told reporters outside court. "The case precedent is to give a noncustodial sentence, and they've broken that now and set a higher bar to make an example, to stop this form of dissent," he said. Geoghegan is to serve his sentence on weekends.
■ United States
Nader fights to get on ballots
Maryland allowed Ralph Nader on its presidential ballot, and Arkansas knocked him off, a decision that Nader will probably appeal. And he had a mixed result in Pennsylvania, where the state Supreme Court overturned a ruling that barred him from running. The Supreme Court ordered a lower court to review Nader's nominating petitions. Democratic-backed groups contend that two-thirds of the signatures are invalid. Nader is likely to be on the ballot in 34 states, said David Jones, president of TheNaderFactor.com, a group trying to persuade Nader supporters to vote Democratic.
■ United States
Bush ends Libya embargo
US President George W. Bush on Monday formally ended the US trade embargo on Libya to reward it for giving up weapons of mass destruction but left in place some US terrorism-related sanctions. The president's action is partly symbolic because it simply makes permanent his April decision to suspend most commercial sanctions and allow US firms to invest in Libya and buy its oil for the first time since 1986. But the moves, which take effect today, will also end remaining restrictions on US-Libyan aviation and the State Department said they will unblock about US$1.3 billion in frozen Libyan and other assets -- steps Bush did not take in April.
■ United States
Plutonium heads for France
A shipment of weapons-grade plutonium has left the US for processing at a nuclear reactor in France, drawing protests from activists who believe the shipment poses both an environmental and terrorist threat. Officials said the plutonium left aboard an armored ship escorted by a second ship, but they would not say when the shipment departed, citing security concerns. About 20 activists waved signs and banners along the Charleston, South Carolina, waterfront on Monday to protest the shipment.
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