RAY SUAREZ: The military in Myanmar stepped up its crackdown today on protesters demanding democracy. Soldiers clubbed people and dragged them away, and Buddhist monasteries across the country -- also known as Burma -- were occupied to keep monks from leading demonstrations. Dissident groups said up to 200 people had been killed so far.
We have a report narrated by Jonathan Miller of Independent Television News.
JONATHAN MILLER, ITV News Correspondent: Brazen and defiant, the demonstrators taunted and jeered the soldiers who've now sealed off Rangoon thoroughfares, around pagodas that have been the focal point of protest. They played a deadly game of chicken, as troops gave chase, scattering the crowd, which has thinned markedly today, and once again Buddhist monks conspicuously absent.
A city now holding its breath, the possibility of another bloodbath ever present. Suggestions now that what's been going on, more sinister, more deadly than previously reported. Last night, Burmese state TV said nine protestors had been killed.
BOB DAVIS, Australian Ambassador: We spoke to a number of people over night last night before the curfew provisions applied. We have individual reports from them of saying, as I say, significantly more than that number of dead being removed from the scene of the demonstrations in central Rangoon yesterday.
REPORTER: Unofficially, what sort of numbers are you hearing?
BOB DAVIS: Several multiples of the 10 acknowledged by the authorities.
JONATHAN MILLER: Fresh pictures broadcast by the dissident satellite channel today showed security forces opening fire on protestors in Rangoon yesterday. State TV in Burma said troops had acted in self-defense.
The new pictures clearly show yesterday's killing of Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai shot through the heart from behind by a soldier at point-blank range. The Japanese government branding Mr. Nagai's killing "deplorable," and now reviewing its humanitarian aid to Burma.
This isolated state has now sought to isolate itself completely. Public access to the Internet has been cut today. Verifiable information now in diminishing supply, as rumors circulate of other instances of state brutality. One persistent ominous report today from Burmese exile sources, as yet uncorroborated by Channel 4 News from inside Burma, that soldiers opened fire on students at this Rangoon high school yesterday afternoon, leaving many dead.
RAY SUAREZ: On the diplomatic front, the European Union warned of tighter sanctions on Myanmar. And a White House spokesman condemned the move to cut off Internet access. He said, "They don't want the world to see what's going on there." We'll have more on all of this right after the news summary.
Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki today rejected the idea of decentralizing his government. The U.S. Senate called this week for giving more control to ethnic regions. But Maliki said, "Dividing Iraq is a problem, and a decision like that would be a catastrophe."
In Washington, a handful of Senate Republicans called today for ending the U.S. combat role in Iraq, but only after President Bush leaves office. Democrats called that a non-starter.
The U.S. military announced today an air strike has killed a top leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. Military officials said Abu Usama al-Tunisi headed the effort to bring foreign terrorists into Iraq. Defense Department video showed the air strike from Tuesday. Afterward, U.S. ground forces found a letter in the debris believed to be written by al-Tunisi.
In Baghdad today, Army Brigadier General Joseph Anderson said the note showed U.S. pressure has left al-Qaida fractured.
BRIG. GEN. JOSEPH ANDERSON, U.S. Army: They are very broken up, very unable to mass and conducting very isolated operations. And I think what that little note says is that he was very desperate. He wasn't getting the materials and the supplies, and the guidance and information, anything he needed. I think that's probably indicative of how successful we've been with these cells.
RAY SUAREZ: The general said the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq has dropped by half. He said al-Qaida members are leaving Iraq and heading back to Afghanistan to expand operations from there.
A U.S. Army specialist, Jorge Sandoval, was acquitted today of killing two unarmed Iraqis last spring. But the military jury convicted him of planting evidence on one of the Iraqis to cover up the killing. During the trial, fellow soldiers said their platoon leader ordered the shootings. Sandoval could get five years in prison when he is sentenced on Saturday.
Fourteen top terror suspects held at Guantanamo will be allowed to ask for lawyers; the U.S. military confirmed that today. The prisoners include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. The 14 were initially held by the CIA, then transferred to military custody a year ago.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan today refused to block President Pervez Musharraf from running for another term. Opposition parties and lawyers challenged his right to hold both the post of president and army chief. The courts rejected the suits with little explanation. Musharraf appears likely to win another five-year term next week.
Congressional Democrats urged President Bush today not to veto a major children's health insurance bill. Last night, the Senate voted to expand the S-CHIP program by more than the president wants. The Senate margin would be enough to override a veto, but the margin in the House this week was not enough. Still, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held out hope today.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), Speaker of the House: ... 15 Republicans in the House of Representatives. First, may I say, eternal optimist that I am, I still hope the president will sign the bill. I know he's hearing from his Republican friends that this is bipartisan legislation. We all had to make certain concessions to the Senate and to the Republicans for what is in the bill, and it's an excellent bill.
RAY SUAREZ: Pelosi spoke to the president by phone today. She said she told him she was praying he would change his mind. Later, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said that won't happen.
DANA PERINO, White House Spokeswoman: The president has been very clear, for months, that if the bill came to him in its current form, that he would veto it. That is his intention. And I don't see any changing of the minds there. But what he did say is that, "I'm going to veto this bill, and after that, let's see if we can sit down and come to a compromise."
The president's position and the principle that he will stick to is that the neediest children should be served first.
RAY SUAREZ: We'll have more on this story later in the program tonight.
President Bush called for action today by the world's leading polluters, including the U.S. At a Washington conference, he appealed to China, India and Europe to set goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The president said, "We acknowledge there is a problem. And by setting this goal, we commit ourselves to doing something about it."
The president favors voluntary action by each country. Most European states want mandatory cuts.
In further economic news, consumer spending beat expectations in August, despite the credit and housing crunch. The Commerce Department reported it rose 0.6 percent for the best showing in four months. But on Wall Street today, the falling dollar weighed down stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 17 points to close at 13,895. The Nasdaq fell eight points to close at 2,701. And for the week, the Dow gained 0.6 percent; the Nasdaq rose more than 1 percent.
