March 10, 2005

I am sure Osama will just issue one right back at them... However, this is nice, three and a half years late, but better late than never. Fatwa Issued Against Bin Laden Muslim clerics in Spain have issued the world's first fatwa, or Islamic edict, against Osama bin Laden. According to the Associated Press, the fatwa issued on the first anniversary of the Madrid train bombings, calls bin Laden an apostate and urging others to denounce the al-Qaida leader: Charles at LittleGreenFootballs adds:  "The Associated Press doesn’t tell you this in the article linked above, but the Islamic Commission of Spain also thanked Spain for caving in after the Madrid train bombings, instead of behaving like the Cowboy Chimp Hitler. The Commission has also drawn up a document designed to ‘thank the Spanish people and the government for their attitude towards Muslims’ since last March 11, in particular for not taking ‘disproportionate’ measures similar to those which the Sept 11 attacks sparked in the US. 8:20:24 PM

Are Bloggers Journalists? BusinessWeek Online If a recent ruling holds, it will set a precedent certain to reverberate through the blogosphere: it will mean that under the law, bloggers aren't considered journalists. 1:41:02 PM

Annan calls for treaty outlawing terrorism Globe and Mail, Canada -  UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan proposed creation of a treaty outlawing terrorism Thursday, denouncing attacks that target civilians and arguing  that no political grievance justifies killing the innocent. I like the way that sounds, but can he do more than talk?  1:30:40 PM

Pakistan: Disgraced Scientist Gave Iran Centrifuges Reuters -  Abdul Qadeer Khan, the disgraced Pakistani scientist at the center of a nuclear black market, gave Iran centrifuges, the Pakistani government said on Thursday. Centrifuges are used to purify uranium for use as fuel for nuclear power plants or weapons. Pakistan has admitted in the past that Khan, dubbed the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, smuggled nuclear secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya, but has not given specifics as to what he supplied.   Pakistan refuses to allow experts from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to question him. 9:12:07 AM

Three men admit to biggest ever Warez charges Three men have pleaded guilty in the US to making millions of dollars' worth of copyright material available over the internet. The men claim that they were not doing it for profit, but for fun. 7:12:08 AM