October 24, 2002

"A high-level delegation of Christian church leaders from Jerusalem was harassed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and prevented from flying to an important three-day international, interfaith meeting in London," the Episcopal News Service reports. If you've ever flown out of Ben Gurion Airport, you know that everyone gets "harassed," and understandably so, given that Israel is by far the country terrorists hate most. Here's how the ENS reports the Christian leaders' complaints: Security at the airport insisted that the church leaders identify and open their luggage before the flight, in clear violation of normal VIP treatment. The church leaders refused to comply or to allow staff to comply, escalating the incident. Archbishop [Boutrous] Mouallem was asked to provide a certificate proving that he was a bishop, and then asked to step into a private room at the airport for interrogation. The stalemate ended when the church leaders asked for return of their passports and tickets. When told that a supervisor would meet with them, [Bishop] Munib [Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem] said, "It's too late." When they returned to Jerusalem they learned that officials of the Ministry for Religious Affairs had mounted a quick investigation. In other words, they weren't "prevented" from going anywhere; they merely balked at ordinary airport security procedures and demanded, in rather un-Christian fashion, that they be accorded "VIP treatment." One wonders what the Episcopal News Service would think if someone proposed that Christians at American airports should be subjected to less scrutiny than adherents of other faiths. "opinionjournal" 4:14:04 PM

Microsoft, Disney partner on MSN 8. CNET News.com - Mickey Mouse joins the software giant's ISP makeover launch in New York's Central Park, as Microsoft looks to gain on subscriber behemoth America Online. 3:44:41 PM

German prosecutors seeking prison sentence for Becker San Diego Union Tribune - Prosecutors in Boris Becker's tax-evasion trial in Munich, Germany, yesterday sought a 31/2-year prison sentence for the retired tennis star, while lawyers for the three-time Wimbledon champion asked probation. 1:22:27 PM

Source: Police find gun, scope, tripod News 14 Charlotte, NC - A law enforcement source says "we're positive it's these guys." The source is linking two men arrested early Thursday morning at a Maryland rest stop with the string of sniper shootings in the Washington area. The source says police have found a gun, a scope and a tripod in the car the two were found in, a blue Chevrolet Caprice. It appears that a hole was drilled in the trunk of the car, through which the rifle could be fired. 1:02:07 PM

Google excludes sites from French, German listings IT World - Internet search engine company Google Inc. has been discreetly removing over 100 controversial sites from some search result listings on its German and French Web sites, according to a study from Harvard University's Berkman Center. The study found that listings for 113 Web sites that are anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi, or related to white supremacy have been either partially or fully removed from Google.fr and Google.de, though they are available on the U.S. site, Google.com, according to the report posted Tuesday on Harvard University's Berkman Center Web site. 10:02:18 AM

More Bad News From AOL CBS News - (AP) AOL Time Warner plans to restate two years of financial results because of accounting practices at its America Online unit — the latest bad news surrounding the troubled Internet division. 9:20:26 AM

BBC Talk show cleared of guest's death BBC - A US court has overturned a multi-million dollar verdict against American TV's Jenny Jones Show, reversing a ruling that it was responsible for the grudge killing of one of its guests. 9:18:06 AM

Excerpts of draft of new US peace plan for Middle East San Francisco Chronicle - These are excerpts from a draft of a new Middle East peace plan formulated by the so-called Quartet of mediators -- the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia. The document, obtained by The Associated Press, has been presented to Israel and the Palestinians by a visiting U.S. envoy. 9:16:24 AM

Sky News Two Arrested in Connection With Washington DC Sniper Shootings Voice of America - Authorities in the US state of Maryland say two men have been arrested in connection with a nationwide manhunt for a serial sniper who has killed 10 people over the past three weeks. It was just a few hours after authorities issued an arrest warrant in the sniper case that police say a motorist along an interstate highway north of Washington, spotted a car at a rest stop matching a police description. Authorities were quickly called and moved in to make the arrests. UPDATE: The two men detained in connection with sniper killings now considered suspects. UPDATE: Police now believe they have the sniper. 7:57:47 AM