December 23, 2003

Palestinian delegation to apologise to Maher Independent Online, South Africa - Cairo - An official Palestinian delegation is travelling to Egypt to apologise to Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher, who was assaulted on Monday by shoe-throwing Palestinians on Temple Mount during his visit to Israel, al-Jazeera television reported on Tuesday. And at the same time: Maher attack in Al Aqsa Mosque: Hamas, Islamic Jihad condemn as some PA officials blame Israel Speaking to Al Bawaba, Palestinian minister of communication and technology, Azzam Al Ahmad, voiced his condemnation, saying “this action is totally refused.” He also lashed out against Israeli authorities, blaming them for what happened and accusing them of being behind the act, “it’s highly unlikely that any Palestinian party could be responsible for what happened.” “This action does not serve anyone except Israel; the incident took place in an area that is not under the Palestinian Authority’s control. No sane Palestinian or Palestinian faction would do such a thing to an Egyptian official,” Ahmad added." We didn't do it, AND we are sorry for doing it.... Dr. Waheed Abul Majeed, political analyst at the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, is sure that the Islamic Liberation Party was responsible for the assault.  He descibes them as "a mentally retarded group of people". 2:43:08 PM

Unexpected twists in Internet law CNET News.com - Internet law in 2003 was full of surprises, with Congress passing an antispam bill, the courts blessing pop-up advertising, the music industry losing lawsuits and the Supreme Court finally upholding an Internet law. And those are just a few of the highlights from a year in which technology and the law saw their biggest clashes yet.    1:07:24 PM

Possession of small amounts of marijuana remains illegal, says top court Canada.com -  Tokers hoping for relaxed marijuana laws instead got a lump of coal Tuesday from the country's high court. It's up to Parliament to decriminalize the drug, says the 82-page ruling - something Prime Minister Paul Martin has signalled could happen with a new bill to be reintroduced next year.  1:04:59 PM

Pakistan Denies Authorizing Transfer of Nuclear Technology to Iran Voice of America - Pakistan says initial investigations show that some of its nuclear scientists may have been motivated by "personal ambition and greed" to share sensitive nuclear technology with Iran. But officials insist the Pakistan government never authorized the transfer of such information. 12:38:01 PM