May 12, 2004

Militants return remains of Israeli soldiers CBC British Columbia, Canada - Palestinian militants have returned the remains of six Israeli soldiers. The soldiers were killed during a raid on Gaza on Tuesday. The decision by the militants to hold their bodies was part of a negotiating strategy that outraged Israelis, who accused them of defiling the soldiers' bodies. The bodies were turned over to Egyptian mediators. The move came just minutes after an Israeli helicopter gunship fired a missile into the Rafah refugee camp on the Gaza-Egypt border, killing seven people and wounding four others. One of the wounded is reported to be in critical condition. 8:04:52 PM

JUST IN THE OFF CHANCE THAT THE EVENT doesn't attract much attention from the print media, sovereignty passed today from the CPA to Iraq's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This makes the Foreign Ministry the eighth Iraqi ministry to quietly, and successfully, assume autonomy in the hands of the Iraqi people. [ OxBlog ] 3:52:18 PM

Three stories of  inhumane acts of murder this week: 1. a 23 year-old Pakistani Christian who died of injuries 2. Al Qaeda-Linked Group Beheads American in Iraq 3. Palestinian "State" endorsed murder, and body parts held for ransom And nothing about any of them on the Human Rights Watch website. 12:58:09 PM

Spokesman Says Berg Never Held by Forces (AP). AP - The young American who was shown being decapitated on a videotape posted by an al-Qaida-linked Web site was never under U.S. custody despite claims from his family, coalition spokesman Dan Senor said Wednesday. [Yahoo! News - World] 9:46:56 AM

Microsoft: No SP2 for Pirate Copies of Windows XP WinInformant.com, OH - This week, Microsoft verified that Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), the company's long awaited security update, will not install on pirated copies of the best-selling OS. Press reports had suggested that Microsoft was going to let pirated versions install the update but the company says that XP SP2 will behave exactly like its predecessor, XP SP1, in that regard.    "Recent press reports indicating Windows XP Service Pack 2 will install on pirated or illegal copies of Windows XP are not true," a Microsoft spokesperson said. "Instead, prior to installing, SP2 will check the operating system's product ID against a list of known pirated product IDs. If the product ID is found to be invalid, SP2 will not install."   9:00:33 AM

Student was sent gun instead of MP3 player Ananova - A Canadian student who bought an MP3 player on the internet auction site eBay, was sent a handgun instead. 8:52:59 AM

Microsoft captures another worm writer The Inquirer - SPINNERS from the software giant known as Vole have claimed that Microsoft was instrumental in capturing the man responsible for writing the worm known as Agobot. 8:50:43 AM

U.S. soldiers battle al-Sadr supporters Lancaster Eagle Gazette - U.S. soldiers backed by tanks and helicopters battled fighters loyal to a radical cleric near a mosque in this holy city Wednesday, hours after Iraqi leaders agreed on a proposal that would end his standoff with the U.S.-led forces. As many as 25 insurgents were killed, the coalition said. The cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, urged fighters in Karbala to resist U.S. troops, comparing their struggle to the Vietnam War. 8:48:52 AM