Iconic US conservative Jesse Helms dies

Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON - Jesse Helms, an iconic figure among hardline US conservatives who served five terms as US senator for North Carolina, died Friday at the age of 86, a spokesman said. John Dodd, president of the Jesse Helms Center Foundation, announced that the senator had died, but did not release the cause of death. Helms served in the US Senate for 30 years, where he was a polarizing force as a hard-right conservative. He was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was the first legislator to address the UN Security Council. Health problems led him to retire in 2003. Helms's Senate seat was picked up by Republican Elizabeth Dole, wife of long-time colleague and former Senator Bob Dole. Myanmar imprisons four Suu Kyi supporters: party YANGON - Four members of Myanmar's democratic opposition... [read full story]