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January 21, 2005
Al Qaeda texts to be published in US book Reuters, UK - The original thoughts of Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders will be made available in English next year in a book, "The Al Qaeda Reader", whose publisher says is intended to educate the American people.
The book, which has been criticized by some who suffered in al Qaeda attacks, offers a history of the radical Muslim group, with interviews with bin Laden and his associates and a tract on Islamic struggle by his right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahri.
6:38:19 PM
US crash victim gets $105 mln from concessionaire Reuters AlertNet - The family of a girl paralyzed in a car crash caused by a drunken football fan won $105 million in damages from the concessionaire that sold him beer, and the girl's father said on Thursday the case should have far-reaching effects.
The Superior Court jury in Hackensack, New Jersey, assessed punitive damages on Wednesday against Giants Stadium concessionaire Aramark Corp., for its role in the October 1999 accident that left Antonia Verni, then 2 years old, paralyzed from the neck down.
"I believe the jury accomplished two things," Ronald Verni said in a telephone interview. "It should provide Antonia with the necessary medical care and maintenance for the rest of her life, and send a message to Aramark and other vendors of alcohol at stadiums and arenas in the United States.
"Clean up your act and hopefully prevent other Antonia Verni conditions out there."
Aramark, one of the world's biggest food and beverage providers, said in a statement it plans to appeal.
Trial testimony showed that Daniel Lanzaro, 34, had gotten around a rule allowing the purchase of only two beers at a time by tipping a vendor to buy six. The family's lawyer, David Mazie, argued that Lanzaro was also noticeably drunk at the time.
Archie Bennitz, 84, an ardent hockey fan from Kanata, Ontario, near Ottawa, used his own obituary to blast NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players' Association executive Bob Goodenow, for the lockout which has left fans without hockey this year.
The obituary, published in the Ottawa Citizen, was written by Bennitz's 45-year-old son David, who took dictation at his hospital bedside.
In his obituary, Bennitz called Bettman and Goodenow "skunks for denying him the pleasure of watching NHL on TV this year."
He also asked Bettman to step aside and give retired NHL superstar Wayne Gretzky the top job running the league.
"Of all the different words and profanity to choose from, the word 'skunk' sort of summed up what was going on," David told Reuters on Friday. "A skunk won't kill you, but it sure does smell."
David plans to send the published obituary to Bettman and Goodenow, who have been at loggerheads for months over a new NHL labor contract.
An overwhelming majority of Iraqis continue to say they intend to vote on Jan. 30 even as insurgents press attacks aimed at rendering the elections a failure, according to a new public opinion survey.
The poll, conducted in late December and early January for the International Republican Institute, found 80 percent of respondents saying they were likely to vote, a rate that has held roughly steady for months. [ Washington Post ]
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