AP - The United States joined European nations Friday in imposing sanctions on Belarus in retaliation for a crackdown on political protesters after an election that the White House said was fraudulent.

Playbill - Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, a rising and prolific young playwright and comic book writer will see his new play, Based on a Totally True Story - about a young playwright and comic book writer - premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club March 23 toward an April 11 opening.

AFP - Violence erupted again during a protest march in central Paris against the French government's youth jobs programme, even as the embattled Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin gave ground by offering open-agenda talks with trade unions and student groups.

AFP - The armed Basque separatist group ETA called Thursday on all Basques to support the fragile peace process after announcing a historic permanent ceasefire to end nearly four decads of bloody conflict.

Reuters - During the half-dozen years it has taken Doug Atchison's "Akeelah and the Bee" to go from script to screen, that old schoolhouse standby known as the spelling bee suddenly became hot property, informing everything from the documentary "Spellbound" to the novel/film "Bee Season" to the hit Broadway musical "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee."