July 5, 2002

Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams dies. Bosox's "Splendid Sprinter", two-time MVP, WWII pilot had heart surgery in '01. He was 83. [ SFGATE ] 12:17:42 PM

The just-released Arab Human Development Report, commissioned by the United Nations and drafted by a group of Middle Eastern intellectuals, utterly confirms the deep pathology gripping the Arab world that Western analysts have long noted. Yet what was truly astounding about the account was less its findings than the honest acknowledgement that Arab problems are largely self-created. "It's not outsiders looking at Arab countries. It's Arabs deciding for themselves." 11:06:28 AM

In their tussle to dominate the emerging industry for Internet-based services, industry giants Microsoft and Sun Microsystems are doling out incentives as they woo programmers worldwide to back their rival software.  The courting is particularly competitive in India, where by some estimates more than 10 percent of the world's programmers work for some of the industry's lowest wages. 9:55:19 AM

Investigators are still undecided, but Israeli officials view the deadly shooting at Los Angeles International Airport as a terrorist act "til proved otherwise." Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, a 41-year-old Egyptian who had lived in the United States for a decade, opened fire at the Israeli airline El Al's ticket counter, killing two people and wounding four others before an airline security officer shot him dead, the FBI said. CNN FULL STORY 9:53:06 AM

A German court on Friday sentenced an elderly former Nazi SS officer dubbed the "Butcher of Genoa" to seven years in prison for his role in the massacre of 59 Italian prisoners in World War II. Friedrich Engel, 93, the wartime leader of the elite SS force in the Italian port of Genoa, went on trial early last month charged with ordering the murders in May 1944 in revenge for an attack on a cinema full of German soldiers. [ Miami.com ] 9:45:27 AM

CNN.com - Los Angeles airport shooting kills 3 - July 4, 2002. LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A gunman opened fire Thursday at Los Angeles International Airport near the ticket counter of Israel's El Al Airlines, killing two people and wounding at least three before airline security personnel killed him, officials said. [Daypop Top News Stories] 8:50:31 AM

Gaza City Car Blast Leaves Two Dead. (AP World News) A car explosion Palestinians blamed on Israel killed a senior militia leader in the Gaza Strip on Thursday night, hours after Israeli officials said nearly all of the most-wanted terror suspects in the West Bank had been arrested or killed. [Palestine & Israel News] 8:49:37 AM